As a lawyer and activist, Humaira Rasuli has fought for women’s rights from home in Afghanistan and abroad. The Sponsor Circle Program allowed her to continue that battle from the U.S.
As a lawyer and activist, Humaira Rasuli has fought for women’s rights from home in Afghanistan and abroad. The Sponsor Circle Program allowed her to continue that battle from the U.S.
The Self Reliance Index is the first global tool for measuring the progress of refugee households toward self-reliance. It was created to support practitioners in designing and implementing effective self-reliance programming as well as to help build an evidence base of “what works”.
The Self Reliance Index is the first global tool for measuring the progress of refugee households toward self-reliance. It was created to support practitioners in designing and implementing effective self-reliance programming as well as to help build an evidence base of “what works”.
As RefugePoint’s Chief Development Officer, in May I had the opportunity to visit our Urban Refugee Protection Program in Nairobi, Kenya. Early on in my trip, I was able to observe RefugePoint’s food distribution process in the Eastleigh neighborhood of Nairobi, Kenya. When I walked into the food distribution site, RefugePoint staff were busily preparing for refugee families to arrive. Eastleigh, also known informally as “little Mogadishu,” is home to a large concentration of refugees, primarily Somalis and Ethiopians. It is one of the seven locations where RefugePoint distributes food to core clients each month as part of our Urban Refugee Protection Program (URPP).
The room was bursting with activity: RefugePoint Case Managers, Community Navigators, Drivers, and the Programs Associate– everyone pitched in to unload the trucks and set up bags of food: rice, maize meal (used to make a local staple, ugali), beans, lentils, and oil.
Clients began to trickle in. One of the first was Hawo*. An older woman from Somalia, Hawo enthusiastically greeted staff—so happy to be there. When the Community Navigator that serves her neighborhood asked Hawo if she would be comfortable speaking with me, she leaped out of her seat to greet me.
Hawo was a portrait of dignity. When I look at this photo of her, I see her resilience and determination. She may seem fragile, but she threw a large bag of food onto her back with ease! She is strong – both physically and mentally.
In 2021, RefugePoint provided food assistance to 1,608 clients. Why do we distribute food to our clients? RefugePoint’s URPP supports refugees on a pathway to self-reliance, and the holistic, comprehensive case management approach is what sets us apart from many other programs. Our Community Navigators (refugees themselves) seek out the most at-risk refugees in Nairobi – including women, those with protection concerns, those with disabilities, and LGBTQIA refugees. When refugee clients are first identified, RefugePoint’s outreach team assesses their needs. Clients are asked about several different areas of their lives to determine what types of support are needed. The first step in the journey towards self-reliance focuses on stabilization – ensuring that clients are able to meet their basic needs. Often, new clients need support with food and rent, which RefugePoint provides until they can stabilize. Ensuring refugee clients have a roof over their head, food to eat, and access to mental health and psycho-social support, allows them to focus on livelihoods because they aren’t worried about where they will get their next meal. The monthly food distribution events are the primary means of facilitating this and also serve as an opportunity for Case Managers to check in with their clients.
*Name changed
As RefugePoint’s Chief Development Officer, in May I had the opportunity to visit our Urban Refugee Protection Program in Nairobi, Kenya. Early on in my trip, I was able to observe RefugePoint’s food distribution process in the Eastleigh neighborhood of Nairobi, Kenya. When I walked into the food distribution site, RefugePoint staff were busily preparing for refugee families to arrive. Eastleigh, also known informally as “little Mogadishu,” is home to a large concentration of refugees, primarily Somalis and Ethiopians. It is one of the seven locations where RefugePoint distributes food to core clients each month as part of our Urban Refugee Protection Program (URPP).
The room was bursting with activity: RefugePoint Case Managers, Community Navigators, Drivers, and the Programs Associate– everyone pitched in to unload the trucks and set up bags of food: rice, maize meal (used to make a local staple, ugali), beans, lentils, and oil.
Clients began to trickle in. One of the first was Hawo*. An older woman from Somalia, Hawo enthusiastically greeted staff—so happy to be there. When the Community Navigator that serves her neighborhood asked Hawo if she would be comfortable speaking with me, she leaped out of her seat to greet me.
Hawo was a portrait of dignity. When I look at this photo of her, I see her resilience and determination. She may seem fragile, but she threw a large bag of food onto her back with ease! She is strong – both physically and mentally.
In 2021, RefugePoint provided food assistance to 1,608 clients. Why do we distribute food to our clients? RefugePoint’s URPP supports refugees on a pathway to self-reliance, and the holistic, comprehensive case management approach is what sets us apart from many other programs. Our Community Navigators (refugees themselves) seek out the most at-risk refugees in Nairobi – including women, those with protection concerns, those with disabilities, and LGBTQIA refugees. When refugee clients are first identified, RefugePoint’s outreach team assesses their needs. Clients are asked about several different areas of their lives to determine what types of support are needed. The first step in the journey towards self-reliance focuses on stabilization – ensuring that clients are able to meet their basic needs. Often, new clients need support with food and rent, which RefugePoint provides until they can stabilize. Ensuring refugee clients have a roof over their head, food to eat, and access to mental health and psycho-social support, allows them to focus on livelihoods because they aren’t worried about where they will get their next meal. The monthly food distribution events are the primary means of facilitating this and also serve as an opportunity for Case Managers to check in with their clients.
*Name changed
Amongst the crowd, Alemitu’s smile is the widest. The type of person that lights up everyone around her through her own joy.
Prior to 1992, Alemitu was living happily in Jimma, Ethiopia, running her own restaurant. That year, war forced her to flee from her home. She and other refugees who were fleeing walked for many days through the heat, seeking safety in Kenya. The thorns and stones made the long walk even more difficult. After eventually arriving in South Sudan near the Kenyan border, the group of refugees were taken to Kakuma Refugee Camp in the back of a cargo truck. Alemitu spent 12 years in the camp until interclan violence between the local Turkana community and the refugees forced her to flee once again, this time to Nairobi, Kenya, with her partner at the time, her son, and their adopted son.
Today, Alemitu lives in Nairobi with her daughter, Doreen. After some years of living in the city, Doreen’s father abandoned the family and disappeared. A single mother, Alemitu found it very difficult to work and care for her daughter, who has a disability. RefugePoint provides Alemitu and her family with food, medical, and education support. Alemitu was unaware that her daughter had opportunities for education until she was connected with RefugePoint. Our staff were able to enroll Doreen in a special education primary school. RefugePoint covers Doreen’s school fees, uniforms, and transportation to and from school. “Now, instead of staying home, my daughter can go to school, and I can go to work,” Alemitu told us.
Unfortunately, in Doreen and Alemitu’s neighborhood, there is a significant stigma around disabilities. For years Doreen was very isolated. In school, Doreen can socialize with other children and play in a safe environment. She’s learned to follow instructions, socialize, and next year will begin learning crafts, such as beadwork, that the family hopes will help her future job prospects. Being in school helps reduce Doreen’s risk for abuse in her home and neighborhood when her mother is away. Alemitu tells us that Doreen is very social and loves to dance. Like her mother, Doreen is almost always smiling.
RefugePoint’s support has allowed Alemitu to start her own business making and selling soap. While cleaning the home of a fellow Ethiopian woman, Alemitu noticed the woman making soap and learned through observation. After sourcing the ingredients locally, Alemitu makes small batches of soap in her home, allowing her to care for Doreen while she works. Alemitu then sells the soap in her local community, bringing her one step closer to self-reliance. A few of her top-sellers include Lemon and Orange scented soap. Alemitu loves her work, but unfortunately, COVID-19 significantly impacted her business. Before the pandemic, she used to go door-to-door, making sales while her daughter was at school. At the moment, she’s relying on incoming business from her neighbors. To ensure she has consistent income when soap sales are slow, Alemitu also cleans homes in Nairobi.
Despite the incredible challenges she’s faced, Alemitu has an unwavering spirit and is hopeful for the future, for both her daughter and herself.
Amongst the crowd, Alemitu’s smile is the widest. The type of person that lights up everyone around her through her own joy.
Prior to 1992, Alemitu was living happily in Jimma, Ethiopia, running her own restaurant. That year, war forced her to flee from her home. She and other refugees who were fleeing walked for many days through the heat, seeking safety in Kenya. The thorns and stones made the long walk even more difficult. After eventually arriving in South Sudan near the Kenyan border, the group of refugees were taken to Kakuma Refugee Camp in the back of a cargo truck. Alemitu spent 12 years in the camp until interclan violence between the local Turkana community and the refugees forced her to flee once again, this time to Nairobi, Kenya, with her partner at the time, her son, and their adopted son.
Today, Alemitu lives in Nairobi with her daughter, Doreen. After some years of living in the city, Doreen’s father abandoned the family and disappeared. A single mother, Alemitu found it very difficult to work and care for her daughter, who has a disability. RefugePoint provides Alemitu and her family with food, medical, and education support. Alemitu was unaware that her daughter had opportunities for education until she was connected with RefugePoint. Our staff were able to enroll Doreen in a special education primary school. RefugePoint covers Doreen’s school fees, uniforms, and transportation to and from school. “Now, instead of staying home, my daughter can go to school, and I can go to work,” Alemitu told us.
Unfortunately, in Doreen and Alemitu’s neighborhood, there is a significant stigma around disabilities. For years Doreen was very isolated. In school, Doreen can socialize with other children and play in a safe environment. She’s learned to follow instructions, socialize, and next year will begin learning crafts, such as beadwork, that the family hopes will help her future job prospects. Being in school helps reduce Doreen’s risk for abuse in her home and neighborhood when her mother is away. Alemitu tells us that Doreen is very social and loves to dance. Like her mother, Doreen is almost always smiling.
RefugePoint’s support has allowed Alemitu to start her own business making and selling soap. While cleaning the home of a fellow Ethiopian woman, Alemitu noticed the woman making soap and learned through observation. After sourcing the ingredients locally, Alemitu makes small batches of soap in her home, allowing her to care for Doreen while she works. Alemitu then sells the soap in her local community, bringing her one step closer to self-reliance. A few of her top-sellers include Lemon and Orange scented soap. Alemitu loves her work, but unfortunately, COVID-19 significantly impacted her business. Before the pandemic, she used to go door-to-door, making sales while her daughter was at school. At the moment, she’s relying on incoming business from her neighbors. To ensure she has consistent income when soap sales are slow, Alemitu also cleans homes in Nairobi.
Despite the incredible challenges she’s faced, Alemitu has an unwavering spirit and is hopeful for the future, for both her daughter and herself.
On Saturday, April 30, I joined Humaira Rasuli, a leading Afghan human rights lawyer, at the White House Correspondents Dinner in Washington, DC. Her work to advance the rights of women in Afghanistan put her life at risk when the Taliban overtook Kabul.
As we sat down, Humaira told our table about the hair-raising hours at Hamid Karzai airport in Afghanistan when she was injured during a grenade explosion, and how her family finally made it out.
She was resettled to the US through the Sponsor Circle Program for Afghans. This program, which enables Americans to sponsor Afghans, has also informed the US’s Uniting for Ukraine effort, which provides an opportunity for Americans to sponsor Ukrainians.
We had a chance to share some of Humaira’s story with Dr. Deepak Chopra, actress Drew Barrymore, and correspondents at CNN, ABC, Politico, and many others. Humaira later said that Dr. Chopra’s work has informed the trauma counseling training that she herself has received.
In addition to her ticket to the dinner, Humaira clutched in her hand a speech, and was ready to address the attendees if the opportunity arose. She is an experienced speaker on issues of human rights and recently spoke at the UN.
The evening, of course, was carefully scripted, so Humaira did not have a chance to speak. But if she had, she would have thanked the President, highlighted the dangers other human rights defenders face in Afghanistan today, talked about the brutal challenges under Taliban rule, and asked more Americans to sponsor Afghans.
Our table conversation was interrupted when Kim Kardashian and Pete Davidson swept into the room and were mobbed by a crowd next to next to us. As someone shared with Humaira who they were, my immediate thought went to Armenia, (Kim Kardashian is of Armenian descent) and the genocide there more than 100 years ago.
That might sound like an unusual association, but the day before I had given a speech about refugees on Holocaust Remembrance Day. It’s not only memory that is critical, I had said, but recognizing and acting to prevent modern-day genocide and atrocities in Afghanistan, Syria, Congo, Darfur, Myanmar, Ukraine, and other places where unspeakable tragedies are unfolding.
Humaira now has a new home for her family, which includes her two boys, a middle-schooler and high-schooler, and her husband, who is a doctor. Her sponsor circle formed in association with William and Mary Law School in Williamsburg, Virginia, where Humaira is now a visiting scholar. She’s focused on supporting others in danger in Afghanistan, and doing all she can to make sure America does not forget about her country.
On Saturday, April 30, I joined Humaira Rasuli, a leading Afghan human rights lawyer, at the White House Correspondents Dinner in Washington, DC. Her work to advance the rights of women in Afghanistan put her life at risk when the Taliban overtook Kabul.
As we sat down, Humaira told our table about the hair-raising hours at Hamid Karzai airport in Afghanistan when she was injured during a grenade explosion, and how her family finally made it out.
She was resettled to the US through the Sponsor Circle Program for Afghans. This program, which enables Americans to sponsor Afghans, has also informed the US’s Uniting for Ukraine effort, which provides an opportunity for Americans to sponsor Ukrainians.
We had a chance to share some of Humaira’s story with Dr. Deepak Chopra, actress Drew Barrymore, and correspondents at CNN, ABC, Politico, and many others. Humaira later said that Dr. Chopra’s work has informed the trauma counseling training that she herself has received.
In addition to her ticket to the dinner, Humaira clutched in her hand a speech, and was ready to address the attendees if the opportunity arose. She is an experienced speaker on issues of human rights and recently spoke at the UN.
The evening, of course, was carefully scripted, so Humaira did not have a chance to speak. But if she had, she would have thanked the President, highlighted the dangers other human rights defenders face in Afghanistan today, talked about the brutal challenges under Taliban rule, and asked more Americans to sponsor Afghans.
Our table conversation was interrupted when Kim Kardashian and Pete Davidson swept into the room and were mobbed by a crowd next to next to us. As someone shared with Humaira who they were, my immediate thought went to Armenia, (Kim Kardashian is of Armenian descent) and the genocide there more than 100 years ago.
That might sound like an unusual association, but the day before I had given a speech about refugees on Holocaust Remembrance Day. It’s not only memory that is critical, I had said, but recognizing and acting to prevent modern-day genocide and atrocities in Afghanistan, Syria, Congo, Darfur, Myanmar, Ukraine, and other places where unspeakable tragedies are unfolding.
Humaira now has a new home for her family, which includes her two boys, a middle-schooler and high-schooler, and her husband, who is a doctor. Her sponsor circle formed in association with William and Mary Law School in Williamsburg, Virginia, where Humaira is now a visiting scholar. She’s focused on supporting others in danger in Afghanistan, and doing all she can to make sure America does not forget about her country.
Mr. Mohammadi, age 20, is one of more than 80,000 Afghans airlifted to the United States after Afghanistan fell to the Taliban last August. He is also one of nearly 360 Afghans being helped through the Sponsor Circle Program for Afghan refugees.
Mr. Mohammadi, age 20, is one of more than 80,000 Afghans airlifted to the United States after Afghanistan fell to the Taliban last August. He is also one of nearly 360 Afghans being helped through the Sponsor Circle Program for Afghan refugees.
Many if not most of the 2 million Ukrainians who have flooded into Poland, it seems, have quickly scattered throughout the country and further into Europe, staying with relatives, friends, or, as in this Florida situation, total strangers
Many if not most of the 2 million Ukrainians who have flooded into Poland, it seems, have quickly scattered throughout the country and further into Europe, staying with relatives, friends, or, as in this Florida situation, total strangers
RefugePoint is excited to announce that we are a founding member of the Global Task Force on Refugee Labour Mobility, which launched today, April 6, 2022, with Canada as its inaugural chair. Only about 1% of refugees have access to resettlement each year, leaving millions of people in limbo and a significant talent pool often untapped. Labour complementary pathways provide an additional way, beyond resettlement, for displaced people to find durable solutions in third countries through labour migration programs. In so doing, they recognize refugees’ skills, experience and talent, in addition to their need for protection.
RefugePoint is excited to announce that we are a founding member of the Global Task Force on Refugee Labour Mobility, which launched today, April 6, 2022, with Canada as its inaugural chair. Only about 1% of refugees have access to resettlement each year, leaving millions of people in limbo and a significant talent pool often untapped. Labour complementary pathways provide an additional way, beyond resettlement, for displaced people to find durable solutions in third countries through labour migration programs. In so doing, they recognize refugees’ skills, experience and talent, in addition to their need for protection.
RefugePoint’s Founder and CEO, Sasha Chanoff, recently spoke with NPR’s Joel Rose on Morning Edition about the Sponsor Circle Program, which makes it easier for Americans to help resettle refugees. As Sasha mentions in the interview: “I think it has the capacity to both expand the scope of where refugees resettle in the U.S. and I also think it has the potential to help far more refugees come here.” Listen to the interview here.
RefugePoint’s Founder and CEO, Sasha Chanoff, recently spoke with NPR’s Joel Rose on Morning Edition about the Sponsor Circle Program, which makes it easier for Americans to help resettle refugees. As Sasha mentions in the interview: “I think it has the capacity to both expand the scope of where refugees resettle in the U.S. and I also think it has the potential to help far more refugees come here.” Listen to the interview here.
WBUR’s Morning Edition host Rupa Shenoy speaks with Sasha Chanoff, founder of Cambridge-based humanitarian organization RefugePoint, on how refugee resettlement and family reunification efforts will be a challenge for years to come.
WBUR’s Morning Edition host Rupa Shenoy speaks with Sasha Chanoff, founder of Cambridge-based humanitarian organization RefugePoint, on how refugee resettlement and family reunification efforts will be a challenge for years to come.
Join us at RefugePoint’s 20th Anniversary Gala on Tuesday, October 14. Tickets are now on sale!
