RefugePoint, Author at RefugePoint

Empowering Refugee Youth with Life Skills

RefugePoint | March 22, 2021

Early morning showers bring the usual confusion on the busy Kayole Spine road, with matatus (vans commonly used for public transport in Nairobi) and buses aggressively angling for space in the long line of vehicles headed towards Nairobi’s Central Business District. Heavy rain turns small dusty pathways into thick mud between the densely packed apartments typical to Kayole, a neighborhood to the east of Nairobi’s center. In the Kayole Catholic Church compound, we hear excited voices emanating from a hall as a group of 23 youth engage in an ice breaker activity. It’s the final day of a three-day life skills training organized by RefugePoint’s counseling department. The attendees are refugee youth who live in the area.

During the life skills training, Clotilda, RefugePoint’s Senior counselor, and James, a RefugePoint counselor, led the youth through activities geared towards empowering them with the skills they will need for a better, brighter future. One session that James led was about the difference between assertiveness, aggressiveness, and passiveness. These types of lessons prepare the participants to prepare for the changes that come with transitioning to adulthood.

“These life skills training gives young people the chance to get to know youth from outside their communities, learn from each other, share their stories, and get outside of their home area to learn something new. They learn how to set goals for themselves and translate them into action,” Clotilda said.

Twenty-two-year-old Didier, a college student, told us about some of the lessons he learned from the training: “I’ll try to be understanding to others. I’ve learned not to go around being angry at everyone because I don’t understand what they are going through. I have learned to exercise self-control, and I think that will make a difference in my life and how I interact with others.”

Nineteen-year-old Kiyobe, a college student, also shared some of her takeaways from the training. “There are pressures we face as refugee youth in interacting with other youth and saying no can be hard. I’ve learned that I can say no, and now I can stand up for myself,” she told us confidently.

The group broke into laughter during a goal-setting session at the end of the day. One of the participants confessed to having the goal of finding a girlfriend, and the group jumped in to see if they could offer advice. It was a light pause among many difficult moments that the group went through during the training, which challenged them to adopt critical thinking, promote introspection on their goals, have self-awareness and assertiveness in dealing with others.

Early morning showers bring the usual confusion on the busy Kayole Spine road, with matatus (vans commonly used for public transport in Nairobi) and buses aggressively angling for space in the long line of vehicles headed towards Nairobi’s Central Business District. Heavy rain turns small dusty pathways into thick mud between the densely packed apartments typical to Kayole, a neighborhood to the east of Nairobi’s center. In the Kayole Catholic Church compound, we hear excited voices emanating from a hall as a group of 23 youth engage in an ice breaker activity. It’s the final day of a three-day life skills training organized by RefugePoint’s counseling department. The attendees are refugee youth who live in the area.

During the life skills training, Clotilda, RefugePoint’s Senior counselor, and James, a RefugePoint counselor, led the youth through activities geared towards empowering them with the skills they will need for a better, brighter future. One session that James led was about the difference between assertiveness, aggressiveness, and passiveness. These types of lessons prepare the participants to prepare for the changes that come with transitioning to adulthood.

“These life skills training gives young people the chance to get to know youth from outside their communities, learn from each other, share their stories, and get outside of their home area to learn something new. They learn how to set goals for themselves and translate them into action,” Clotilda said.

Twenty-two-year-old Didier, a college student, told us about some of the lessons he learned from the training: “I’ll try to be understanding to others. I’ve learned not to go around being angry at everyone because I don’t understand what they are going through. I have learned to exercise self-control, and I think that will make a difference in my life and how I interact with others.”

Nineteen-year-old Kiyobe, a college student, also shared some of her takeaways from the training. “There are pressures we face as refugee youth in interacting with other youth and saying no can be hard. I’ve learned that I can say no, and now I can stand up for myself,” she told us confidently.

The group broke into laughter during a goal-setting session at the end of the day. One of the participants confessed to having the goal of finding a girlfriend, and the group jumped in to see if they could offer advice. It was a light pause among many difficult moments that the group went through during the training, which challenged them to adopt critical thinking, promote introspection on their goals, have self-awareness and assertiveness in dealing with others.

Supporting Our Clients On Their Self Reliance Journey

RefugePoint | March 8, 2021

My name is Muli, and I work as a social worker at RefugePoint. Social workers are the coaches in the case management process here at RefugePoint. Our roles include assessing, planning, implementing, monitoring, and evaluating actions required to meet our clients’ health and human services needs.

One of the most significant moments in my work recently has been supporting Christine*, a 34-year-old mother of four, on her self-reliance journey. On January 10, 2020, I met Christine for the first time to collect information about her and her household. At the time, she was in her third trimester of pregnancy with twins, and she was sad, angry, frustrated, stressed, and worried. Her self-esteem was also down because she lived with a hostile husband, which affected both her and her 14-year-old daughter’s mental well-being. When she was still at home in Burundi, Christine had specialized in hairdressing and worked at a salon.

My goal as her social worker was to stabilize Christine to be in a better frame of mind to make major decisions about her marriage and the way forward. In February 2020, Christine began receiving individual counseling and food support from RefugePoint. When Kenya announced its first COVID-19 case, my social work sessions transitioned to remote tele-sessions, as did Christine’s counseling sessions. Christine was anxious about giving birth during the pandemic. Christine began receiving rent support, and we arranged for delivery of non-food items, like mattresses and blankets, to her house. RefugePoint’s social work and counseling teams consistently maintained contact with Christine and assured her of our support. In May 2020, Christine gave birth to a baby boy but sadly lost one of her twins due to a complication during delivery. RefugePoint’s counseling team helped Christine cope with the loss, and she was taking it day by day to heal physically and emotionally.

Over the following months, Christine continued to receive food assistance, rent support, and counseling support, and during our regular follow-up call in June 2020, she sounded happy and relaxed. This was the best feeling ever! In July 2020, Christine exited counseling support. Counseling enabled Christine to gain more confidence in herself, be more aware of the choices she had to make to protect herself and her children, and develop healthy positive self-talk and self-validation. Christine remained on rent and food support and received a $350 business grant from RefugePoint in September 2020. This grant allowed Christine to open her own salon, where she is specializing in hairdressing and beauty. Christine has also set up a vegetable stall outside her salon. Starting up a salon of her own amid the COVID-19 pandemic is such a beautiful accomplishment. Now Christine has a smile on her face.

From the day I met her and throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, I have coordinated Christine’s support and ensured that I referred her to different support services at RefugePoint. Christine is now a mentor in her community and works with other entrepreneurial women to buy wholesale products. When I recently visited her, she told me, “When I came to Kenya, I felt like I was low. Right now, I’m a proud woman, and I can now advise other women. If I see anyone who is in trouble, I can now step up and assist them.” I also met her friend, Mama Carol, who helped Christine start the salon. Mama Carol told me, “All women should raise each other. If any woman in the community is suffering, let them speak out and share with their fellow women. If we work together, one for another, we will all move forward as women.”

It is personally so rewarding to know that I made a difference in Christine’s life and that she is no longer stressed but full of positive things to say whenever I call her. Christine’s journey has also proven that collaboration and collective support is essential because the social work team, counseling, medical and livelihoods teams within RefugePoint all worked together to bring about such a positive and beautiful story.

My name is Muli, and I work as a social worker at RefugePoint. Social workers are the coaches in the case management process here at RefugePoint. Our roles include assessing, planning, implementing, monitoring, and evaluating actions required to meet our clients’ health and human services needs.

One of the most significant moments in my work recently has been supporting Christine*, a 34-year-old mother of four, on her self-reliance journey. On January 10, 2020, I met Christine for the first time to collect information about her and her household. At the time, she was in her third trimester of pregnancy with twins, and she was sad, angry, frustrated, stressed, and worried. Her self-esteem was also down because she lived with a hostile husband, which affected both her and her 14-year-old daughter’s mental well-being. When she was still at home in Burundi, Christine had specialized in hairdressing and worked at a salon.

My goal as her social worker was to stabilize Christine to be in a better frame of mind to make major decisions about her marriage and the way forward. In February 2020, Christine began receiving individual counseling and food support from RefugePoint. When Kenya announced its first COVID-19 case, my social work sessions transitioned to remote tele-sessions, as did Christine’s counseling sessions. Christine was anxious about giving birth during the pandemic. Christine began receiving rent support, and we arranged for delivery of non-food items, like mattresses and blankets, to her house. RefugePoint’s social work and counseling teams consistently maintained contact with Christine and assured her of our support. In May 2020, Christine gave birth to a baby boy but sadly lost one of her twins due to a complication during delivery. RefugePoint’s counseling team helped Christine cope with the loss, and she was taking it day by day to heal physically and emotionally.

Over the following months, Christine continued to receive food assistance, rent support, and counseling support, and during our regular follow-up call in June 2020, she sounded happy and relaxed. This was the best feeling ever! In July 2020, Christine exited counseling support. Counseling enabled Christine to gain more confidence in herself, be more aware of the choices she had to make to protect herself and her children, and develop healthy positive self-talk and self-validation. Christine remained on rent and food support and received a $350 business grant from RefugePoint in September 2020. This grant allowed Christine to open her own salon, where she is specializing in hairdressing and beauty. Christine has also set up a vegetable stall outside her salon. Starting up a salon of her own amid the COVID-19 pandemic is such a beautiful accomplishment. Now Christine has a smile on her face.

From the day I met her and throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, I have coordinated Christine’s support and ensured that I referred her to different support services at RefugePoint. Christine is now a mentor in her community and works with other entrepreneurial women to buy wholesale products. When I recently visited her, she told me, “When I came to Kenya, I felt like I was low. Right now, I’m a proud woman, and I can now advise other women. If I see anyone who is in trouble, I can now step up and assist them.” I also met her friend, Mama Carol, who helped Christine start the salon. Mama Carol told me, “All women should raise each other. If any woman in the community is suffering, let them speak out and share with their fellow women. If we work together, one for another, we will all move forward as women.”

It is personally so rewarding to know that I made a difference in Christine’s life and that she is no longer stressed but full of positive things to say whenever I call her. Christine’s journey has also proven that collaboration and collective support is essential because the social work team, counseling, medical and livelihoods teams within RefugePoint all worked together to bring about such a positive and beautiful story.

Diane

RefugePoint | March 1, 2021

In 2015, Diane was forced to flee from Burundi to Kenya with her three children. Diane’s husband died during the war that forced them to flee their home, and Diane, far from her family and friends, found herself without a support network in Nairobi. Since Diane wasn’t fluent in Kiswahili or English, she wasn’t able to find a good job and was paid very little. She was struggling to survive. In 2019, Anne-Marie, a RefugePoint Community Navigator in her area, identified her as a refugee in need. After an initial assessment, Diane and her family began receiving food support and rent assistance. Diane also completed RefugePoint’s Business Development Skills (BDS) training and was awarded a $300 grant to start a small business selling African print fabrics, also known as kitenge. RefugePoint also supported Diane with counseling services so that she could learn skills to cope with her situation, including the loss of her husband. Diane’s children re-enrolled in school through RefugePoint’s support of their school fees.

“My life has changed. I used to be in a mabati (a house made of galvanized iron sheets) for so long. It was so bad. Now I’ve moved into a single-roomed stone house. My children were so happy to get out of there. They encourage me to try my best so that we never have to go back there. Our future will be better,” she told us with a smile as we spoke to her at her home in January 2021. The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic brought a slowdown in Diane’s kitenge business, but she was proactive and began making and selling mandazi, a type of deep-fried dough snack, to supplement her income. This fried snack is a favorite in her neighborhood. Now, Diane makes at least $5 per day, which she puts towards rent, necessities for her family, and paying her children’s school fees.

Cover: Diane prepares some mandazi at her home in Kawangware.

In 2015, Diane was forced to flee from Burundi to Kenya with her three children. Diane’s husband died during the war that forced them to flee their home, and Diane, far from her family and friends, found herself without a support network in Nairobi. Since Diane wasn’t fluent in Kiswahili or English, she wasn’t able to find a good job and was paid very little. She was struggling to survive. In 2019, Anne-Marie, a RefugePoint Community Navigator in her area, identified her as a refugee in need. After an initial assessment, Diane and her family began receiving food support and rent assistance. Diane also completed RefugePoint’s Business Development Skills (BDS) training and was awarded a $300 grant to start a small business selling African print fabrics, also known as kitenge. RefugePoint also supported Diane with counseling services so that she could learn skills to cope with her situation, including the loss of her husband. Diane’s children re-enrolled in school through RefugePoint’s support of their school fees.

“My life has changed. I used to be in a mabati (a house made of galvanized iron sheets) for so long. It was so bad. Now I’ve moved into a single-roomed stone house. My children were so happy to get out of there. They encourage me to try my best so that we never have to go back there. Our future will be better,” she told us with a smile as we spoke to her at her home in January 2021. The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic brought a slowdown in Diane’s kitenge business, but she was proactive and began making and selling mandazi, a type of deep-fried dough snack, to supplement her income. This fried snack is a favorite in her neighborhood. Now, Diane makes at least $5 per day, which she puts towards rent, necessities for her family, and paying her children’s school fees.

Cover: Diane prepares some mandazi at her home in Kawangware.

Empowering Urban Refugees with Business Skills

RefugePoint | February 22, 2021

RefugePoint’s Livelihoods program aims to enable urban refugees to achieve greater self-sufficiency and a better quality of life. Our Business Development Skills (BDS) training empowers our refugee clients with the necessary skills to run a successful business in the harsh business climate of Nairobi, Kenya. The training is a critical component of RefugePoint’s Livelihoods program and covers topics such as the qualities of an entrepreneur, goal setting, pricing, and the importance of saving. The facilitators present the curriculum in an easily understandable format for clients of all educational backgrounds and literacy levels.

In October 2020, in response to challenges related to having face-to-face trainings as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, RefugePoint’s Livelihoods team in Nairobi, Kenya, began rolling out a new iteration of its BDS training. In addition to holding a socially-distanced in-person training for a limited number of participants who don’t have reliable internet access, the team concurrently conducted an online version of the training for our tech-savvy clients connected via Zoom. The in-person training remains essential for participants who need closer follow-up, whether it’s the need for translation/interpretation services or personal attention to reiterate certain concepts. The combined approach ensures that social distancing requirements can be strictly complied with during in-person training sessions and enables us to retain the number of participants we had in training before the pandemic.

“I have learned how to attract customers and how to save money so that I have funds to rely on in case of problems. What I have learned will help me in my life,” said Julie, a refugee client who participated in the in-person version of November’s training. Participants from the October and November trainings reported that the online lessons allowed them to quickly get back to their businesses since the classes began early in the morning and ran through mid-morning. Trainees who are parents also praised the virtual course because it eased their worries about finding child care. Virtual participants were able to submit their assignments directly to the facilitators via Whatsapp. The RefugePoint trainers administered the class from a joint Whatsapp group to ensure that any follow-up questions were addressed quickly.

Speaking about the future of the blended BDS training, Belinda, RefugePoint’s Livelihoods Program Officer, said, “We will keep testing it out and keep iterating until we get it perfect. Digital classes have become the norm, and we don’t see ourselves going back to exclusively in-person trainings.”

RefugePoint’s Livelihoods program aims to enable urban refugees to achieve greater self-sufficiency and a better quality of life. Our Business Development Skills (BDS) training empowers our refugee clients with the necessary skills to run a successful business in the harsh business climate of Nairobi, Kenya. The training is a critical component of RefugePoint’s Livelihoods program and covers topics such as the qualities of an entrepreneur, goal setting, pricing, and the importance of saving. The facilitators present the curriculum in an easily understandable format for clients of all educational backgrounds and literacy levels.

In October 2020, in response to challenges related to having face-to-face trainings as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, RefugePoint’s Livelihoods team in Nairobi, Kenya, began rolling out a new iteration of its BDS training. In addition to holding a socially-distanced in-person training for a limited number of participants who don’t have reliable internet access, the team concurrently conducted an online version of the training for our tech-savvy clients connected via Zoom. The in-person training remains essential for participants who need closer follow-up, whether it’s the need for translation/interpretation services or personal attention to reiterate certain concepts. The combined approach ensures that social distancing requirements can be strictly complied with during in-person training sessions and enables us to retain the number of participants we had in training before the pandemic.

“I have learned how to attract customers and how to save money so that I have funds to rely on in case of problems. What I have learned will help me in my life,” said Julie, a refugee client who participated in the in-person version of November’s training. Participants from the October and November trainings reported that the online lessons allowed them to quickly get back to their businesses since the classes began early in the morning and ran through mid-morning. Trainees who are parents also praised the virtual course because it eased their worries about finding child care. Virtual participants were able to submit their assignments directly to the facilitators via Whatsapp. The RefugePoint trainers administered the class from a joint Whatsapp group to ensure that any follow-up questions were addressed quickly.

Speaking about the future of the blended BDS training, Belinda, RefugePoint’s Livelihoods Program Officer, said, “We will keep testing it out and keep iterating until we get it perfect. Digital classes have become the norm, and we don’t see ourselves going back to exclusively in-person trainings.”

Fostering Refugee Financial Inclusion

RefugePoint | February 15, 2021

Access to financial services, like bank accounts, helps refugees to cope with shocks, reduces exposure to risk, and stimulates local economies. This enables refugees to become self-reliant and productive members of society who contribute towards economic development. Access to bank accounts not only gives refugees a safe place to keep their money, but it also fosters a savings culture and allows them to separate business operating capital from personal expenditure. Most importantly, a bank history serves as a foundation upon which refugees can build credit and eventually access lines of credit for business growth and development.

Since 2019, RefugePoint has been collaborating with Postbank, a savings bank, to enable our clients in Nairobi to open bank accounts. RefugePoint is also now able to deposit rent assistance, emergency aid, and small business grants directly into clients’ accounts, rather than relying solely on cash transactions or mobile money solutions like Mpesa (a mobile money transfer service in Kenya). Access to bank accounts saves both time and money for RefugePoint and our clients. Clients do not need to physically present in the office to receive payments, saving time as well as bus fare for the visits.

Balolwa is a RefugePoint client who has benefited from access to financial services. In 2014, Balolwa fled to Kenya due to insecurity in her home, the Democratic Republic of Congo. In February 2020, she received a grant of $300 after completing business skills training. Because we helped Balolwa to start a bank account, her grant money was wired directly to the account. She used this grant to expand her vegetable business by purchasing more tomatoes, garlic, and onions. Balolwa’s business was doing well, especially during the first few months of the COVID-19 pandemic. Unfortunately, in May 2020, all of Balolwa’s stock was stolen in the market. However, because Balolwa had savings in her bank account, she was able to restart her business. She also used some of her savings to build a strong lockable storage box to prevent future incidents of theft.

“Having a bank account allows me to have the discipline to put money aside for future use. I think that my life in the future will be much better than it used to be” Balolwa told us.

Refugees like Balolwa are often excluded from setting up bank accounts due to the fact that many of them lack the necessary identification documentation. Additionally, refugee entrepreneurs face difficulties accessing capital to start or expand a business. Since the majority of refugees do not have tangible assets to serve as collateral, lenders consider them to be high-risk. Refugees may also be more likely to use informal financial structures due to low literacy levels, informational materials being unavailable in their language, fear of discrimination, and cultural beliefs and norms related to debt and interest. As a result, refugees often end up relying on informal structures for both personal savings and lending.

These informal structures tend to be risky and exploitative. Loan sharks tend to offer higher interest rates than formal lending structures. Some refugees rely on local chamas (self help groups) and associations for loans. To access these, refugees must be confident enough in their business to ensure they can repay the loans within a specified period of time. Others rely on their fellow refugees and community members to lend them soft loans, which may not be enough to fully satisfy their needs.

Since helping refugee clients to establish bank accounts, RefugePoint has seen fewer incidences of payments being diverted because of incorrect information or clients relying on neighbors and friends who are registered for Mpesa services. Clients’ access to secure bank accounts is especially crucial during the COVID-19 pandemic since the use of cash is highly discouraged. Bank accounts enable clients to have a secure financial platform where they can save and access their money using their debit cards at select ATM outlets and with countrywide agents.

Access to financial services, like bank accounts, helps refugees to cope with shocks, reduces exposure to risk, and stimulates local economies. This enables refugees to become self-reliant and productive members of society who contribute towards economic development. Access to bank accounts not only gives refugees a safe place to keep their money, but it also fosters a savings culture and allows them to separate business operating capital from personal expenditure. Most importantly, a bank history serves as a foundation upon which refugees can build credit and eventually access lines of credit for business growth and development.

Since 2019, RefugePoint has been collaborating with Postbank, a savings bank, to enable our clients in Nairobi to open bank accounts. RefugePoint is also now able to deposit rent assistance, emergency aid, and small business grants directly into clients’ accounts, rather than relying solely on cash transactions or mobile money solutions like Mpesa (a mobile money transfer service in Kenya). Access to bank accounts saves both time and money for RefugePoint and our clients. Clients do not need to physically present in the office to receive payments, saving time as well as bus fare for the visits.

Balolwa is a RefugePoint client who has benefited from access to financial services. In 2014, Balolwa fled to Kenya due to insecurity in her home, the Democratic Republic of Congo. In February 2020, she received a grant of $300 after completing business skills training. Because we helped Balolwa to start a bank account, her grant money was wired directly to the account. She used this grant to expand her vegetable business by purchasing more tomatoes, garlic, and onions. Balolwa’s business was doing well, especially during the first few months of the COVID-19 pandemic. Unfortunately, in May 2020, all of Balolwa’s stock was stolen in the market. However, because Balolwa had savings in her bank account, she was able to restart her business. She also used some of her savings to build a strong lockable storage box to prevent future incidents of theft.

“Having a bank account allows me to have the discipline to put money aside for future use. I think that my life in the future will be much better than it used to be” Balolwa told us.

Refugees like Balolwa are often excluded from setting up bank accounts due to the fact that many of them lack the necessary identification documentation. Additionally, refugee entrepreneurs face difficulties accessing capital to start or expand a business. Since the majority of refugees do not have tangible assets to serve as collateral, lenders consider them to be high-risk. Refugees may also be more likely to use informal financial structures due to low literacy levels, informational materials being unavailable in their language, fear of discrimination, and cultural beliefs and norms related to debt and interest. As a result, refugees often end up relying on informal structures for both personal savings and lending.

These informal structures tend to be risky and exploitative. Loan sharks tend to offer higher interest rates than formal lending structures. Some refugees rely on local chamas (self help groups) and associations for loans. To access these, refugees must be confident enough in their business to ensure they can repay the loans within a specified period of time. Others rely on their fellow refugees and community members to lend them soft loans, which may not be enough to fully satisfy their needs.

Since helping refugee clients to establish bank accounts, RefugePoint has seen fewer incidences of payments being diverted because of incorrect information or clients relying on neighbors and friends who are registered for Mpesa services. Clients’ access to secure bank accounts is especially crucial during the COVID-19 pandemic since the use of cash is highly discouraged. Bank accounts enable clients to have a secure financial platform where they can save and access their money using their debit cards at select ATM outlets and with countrywide agents.

RefugePoint’s 15th Anniversary Refugee Stories

RefugePoint | January 13, 2021

Ajah

RefugePoint | December 31, 2020

On August 10, 2009, Ajah, a refugee from South Sudan, was finally on her way to reunite with her son and her mother, from whom she’d been separated for more than ten years.

Many years earlier, when violence broke out in her village in South Sudan, Ajah managed to escape with her mother and son, who was just an infant at the time. The family sought refuge in a camp for displaced people. One morning, when Ajah went to a food distribution center, she was kidnapped by a group of armed men and torn away from her family. Ajah was held captive for many years until she managed to escape and flee to Nairobi, Kenya.

At the time they lost Ajah, her family was forced to flee South Sudan. In 2003, Ajah’s mother and son resettled in the US. Meanwhile, in Nairobi, RefugePoint began supporting Ajah with food, rent, counseling, and medical assistance. However, Ajah remained in an extremely dangerous situation, as her captors continued to search for her. While in Nairobi, Ajah discovered that her mother and son had been resettled in the US, and she desperately wanted to join them.

Just as we’ve done with hundreds of other families, RefugePoint helped reunite Ajah’s family by facilitating her resettlement. Nearly a decade after being torn from her family, Ajah landed in North Dakota and was reunited with her mother and 10-year-old son.

On the night that Ajah saw her son for the first time, she wrote to us and said: “I have been waiting my whole life for this moment. Now my life is complete.”

On August 10, 2009, Ajah, a refugee from South Sudan, was finally on her way to reunite with her son and her mother, from whom she’d been separated for more than ten years.

Many years earlier, when violence broke out in her village in South Sudan, Ajah managed to escape with her mother and son, who was just an infant at the time. The family sought refuge in a camp for displaced people. One morning, when Ajah went to a food distribution center, she was kidnapped by a group of armed men and torn away from her family. Ajah was held captive for many years until she managed to escape and flee to Nairobi, Kenya.

At the time they lost Ajah, her family was forced to flee South Sudan. In 2003, Ajah’s mother and son resettled in the US. Meanwhile, in Nairobi, RefugePoint began supporting Ajah with food, rent, counseling, and medical assistance. However, Ajah remained in an extremely dangerous situation, as her captors continued to search for her. While in Nairobi, Ajah discovered that her mother and son had been resettled in the US, and she desperately wanted to join them.

Just as we’ve done with hundreds of other families, RefugePoint helped reunite Ajah’s family by facilitating her resettlement. Nearly a decade after being torn from her family, Ajah landed in North Dakota and was reunited with her mother and 10-year-old son.

On the night that Ajah saw her son for the first time, she wrote to us and said: “I have been waiting my whole life for this moment. Now my life is complete.”

RefugePoint’s Top 15 Milestones to Celebrate our 15th Anniversary

RefugePoint | November 16, 2020

We’ve accomplished so much since we began in 2005, and we invite you to explore this timeline, which highlights our top 15 milestones over the past 15 years.

In 2005, RefugePoint (which at that time was known as Mapendo) was founded to serve a small group of refugees in Nairobi, Kenya. These refugees had been attacked in refugee camps in Kenya and had been ostracized from their communities because many were HIV positive. They had fled to Nairobi and lived in desperation. They had nowhere to turn for help since no aid organizations served such individuals outside of the refugee camps. With private funding, RefugePoint began providing them with medical assistance and helping to resettle them.

In 2005, we had a team of five staff members. Fifteen years later, we now have more than 115 in the RefugePoint family. Early on, a clear mission emerged: to reach those in peril — the overlooked, the forgotten. We wanted to help those stuck indefinitely where they were to build better, more normal lives, and to relocate those who could not stay safely where they were to countries like the U.S. and Canada.

Since 2005, we’ve helped more than 87,000 refugees to access resettlement. Through training, global policy influence, and other activities, we’ve contributed to a system that has referred 1.5 million refugees for resettlement in the past 15 years. Collectively, we’ve worked in 214 locations across 45 countries.

We’ve also started expanding relocation opportunities by helping refugees with family reunification, labor mobility, and education visas. We help an additional 12,000 refugees a year take steps towards a better life and self-reliance through our Urban Refugee Protection Program in Nairobi. We’ve used our success there to build a global effort, in collaboration with partners, called the Refugee Self-Reliance Initiative, the goal of which is to enable refugees to stand on their own two feet.

It’s taken private funding, innovation, determination, collaboration, and a moral conviction that our purpose is to find solutions for those who have no one else.

If you’d prefer to download a PDF version, you can do so here!

We’ve accomplished so much since we began in 2005, and we invite you to explore this timeline, which highlights our top 15 milestones over the past 15 years.

In 2005, RefugePoint (which at that time was known as Mapendo) was founded to serve a small group of refugees in Nairobi, Kenya. These refugees had been attacked in refugee camps in Kenya and had been ostracized from their communities because many were HIV positive. They had fled to Nairobi and lived in desperation. They had nowhere to turn for help since no aid organizations served such individuals outside of the refugee camps. With private funding, RefugePoint began providing them with medical assistance and helping to resettle them.

In 2005, we had a team of five staff members. Fifteen years later, we now have more than 115 in the RefugePoint family. Early on, a clear mission emerged: to reach those in peril — the overlooked, the forgotten. We wanted to help those stuck indefinitely where they were to build better, more normal lives, and to relocate those who could not stay safely where they were to countries like the U.S. and Canada.

Since 2005, we’ve helped more than 87,000 refugees to access resettlement. Through training, global policy influence, and other activities, we’ve contributed to a system that has referred 1.5 million refugees for resettlement in the past 15 years. Collectively, we’ve worked in 214 locations across 45 countries.

We’ve also started expanding relocation opportunities by helping refugees with family reunification, labor mobility, and education visas. We help an additional 12,000 refugees a year take steps towards a better life and self-reliance through our Urban Refugee Protection Program in Nairobi. We’ve used our success there to build a global effort, in collaboration with partners, called the Refugee Self-Reliance Initiative, the goal of which is to enable refugees to stand on their own two feet.

It’s taken private funding, innovation, determination, collaboration, and a moral conviction that our purpose is to find solutions for those who have no one else.

If you’d prefer to download a PDF version, you can do so here!

Nanziza

RefugePoint | August 27, 2020

In 2016, Nanziza* and her six children were forced to flee their home in the Democratic Republic of Congo when rebels attacked their neighborhood. Nanziza’s husband was at church at the time of the attack, so Nanziza was forced to flee without him. After more than a month of traveling, Nanziza and her children arrived in Nairobi in February 2016. RefugePoint began working with Nanziza and her family eight months later, in October 2016. At that time, Nanziza was taking care of three unaccompanied minors in addition to her six children.

Nanziza ran a successful business selling oranges in Nairobi for many years. After receiving RefugePoint support for two years, including counseling, education assistance, food support, and livelihoods support, Nanziza became self-reliant and exited from social and livelihood services in September 2018. Despite being sick for more than a year, the family had been doing quite well.

During her illness, two of Nanziza’s children worked to support the household expenses, and RefugePoint supported the family with a one-off food intervention and medical support.

Due to the pandemic, the two children who had been working were forced to stop due to a lack of employment opportunities. With no source of income for the household, Nanziza decided to approach her suppliers and negotiate with them for a line of credit for supplies to help her get back on her feet. Since Nanziza had built a strong relationship with the suppliers, they did not hesitate to advance $80 worth of goods to Nanziza to help her restart her business.

Nanziza now earns close to $4 a day, which allows her to cover household needs and slowly repay her suppliers. Nanziza demonstrates self-reliance through her ability to utilize social capital to get the necessary financial capital to revive her business. This is the resilience that RefugePoint is proud to see in clients after they’ve graduated from services.

*Name changed for protection

In 2016, Nanziza* and her six children were forced to flee their home in the Democratic Republic of Congo when rebels attacked their neighborhood. Nanziza’s husband was at church at the time of the attack, so Nanziza was forced to flee without him. After more than a month of traveling, Nanziza and her children arrived in Nairobi in February 2016. RefugePoint began working with Nanziza and her family eight months later, in October 2016. At that time, Nanziza was taking care of three unaccompanied minors in addition to her six children.

Nanziza ran a successful business selling oranges in Nairobi for many years. After receiving RefugePoint support for two years, including counseling, education assistance, food support, and livelihoods support, Nanziza became self-reliant and exited from social and livelihood services in September 2018. Despite being sick for more than a year, the family had been doing quite well.

During her illness, two of Nanziza’s children worked to support the household expenses, and RefugePoint supported the family with a one-off food intervention and medical support.

Due to the pandemic, the two children who had been working were forced to stop due to a lack of employment opportunities. With no source of income for the household, Nanziza decided to approach her suppliers and negotiate with them for a line of credit for supplies to help her get back on her feet. Since Nanziza had built a strong relationship with the suppliers, they did not hesitate to advance $80 worth of goods to Nanziza to help her restart her business.

Nanziza now earns close to $4 a day, which allows her to cover household needs and slowly repay her suppliers. Nanziza demonstrates self-reliance through her ability to utilize social capital to get the necessary financial capital to revive her business. This is the resilience that RefugePoint is proud to see in clients after they’ve graduated from services.

*Name changed for protection

Fredric and Dalia

RefugePoint | June 15, 2020

“I have always wanted to change my daughters’ name from Victorie Fredric to Victorie Fredric RefugePoint,” Fredric said, laughing hysterically. “I want to add RefugePoint to her name because if it wasn’t for RefugePoint I don’t know where she would be today. RefugePoint gave us food, rent, money to grow my business, and most importantly medical care for my daughter.”

In 2015, Fredric and his wife Dalia were forced to flee their home country of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) due to inter-clan fighting. They sought safety in Nairobi, Kenya, and began to grow their family and had two children, Prince, age 4, and Victorie, age 2. From birth, Victorie experienced delayed developmental milestones. Despite her parents’ constant attempts to seek out services and medical care for her, Victorie was unable to sit up unassisted, unable to communicate, and would often cry. The family had lost hope that they could access the care that Victorie needed, and had no stable means of income.

Although Fredric had a small stock of phone accessories, he was not able to sell his products since he was spending so much time focusing on caring for his daughter. Carol, Fredric’s caseworker, worked with the family to develop a plan to support Victorie’s access to physiotherapy services and improve her nutrition status. At the same time, Carol worked with Fredric to develop a plan towards self-reliance.

“I learned about RefugePoint in 2018 when a friend of mine saw our child and informed us that there was an organization that could assist us. My wife then took our child and went to the RefugePoint office. At that time we were in a difficult place. Our daughter is two years old and she was very unwell at the time. Before she was born I was already doing business, selling phone accessories and chargers, but one month after her birth is when we began to notice that there was something wrong, and we started to take her to hospitals, all our savings and business capital went into her care. At the time my wife visited RefugePoint we didn’t even have food in our house. We had spent every waking moment taking her to different hospitals, so we had no income. RefugePoint immediately put us on food support for 9 months. They gave me training in business and an initial business grant of $200 in August 2018 to restart my business. RefugePoint also referred us to Kenyatta National Hospital so that our child could be seen by a specialist.”

Fredric’s business grew and by the end of the year his business was flourishing and he was making average monthly profits of $250. This was mostly through his hard work and determination. He would often travel out of Nairobi to cities almost 500 km away to the Coast region and Rift valley region to a niche market of clients in rural areas, unable to make trips to Nairobi to purchase their mobile phone accessories. With the profit he made he decided to open a small general shop for his wife. He was able to buy a bed, a gas stove, and a television set for the family. Meanwhile, his daughter’s health began to improve as she received nutrition care, referral for physiotherapy, and medical care through RefugePoint’s Health department. After a few months of medical intervention, the child was able to make physical movements, sit up unassisted, and make sounds to communicate. Dalia, her mother, was trained in community-based rehabilitation to do basic physiotherapy at the household level. In addition, their son Prince enrolled in an early childhood development school, and his school fees and uniform were paid for by RefugePoint. Dalia also attended group and individual counseling sessions to help her cope with caring for a child with a disability.

Fredric told us, “From the moment we began to receive assistance from RefugePoint, a lot of things in our lives have changed for me and my family. We were able to move from the small house we were living in, and now we live in a nice two-bedroom house. My daughter is getting better, my son is enrolled in school, and his school uniform was provided by RefugePoint. I thank RefugePoint, I thank my Case manager Carol and my Livelihoods manager Damaris. They held our hands, advised us, guided us, cared for me and my family. I know that we are loved by RefugePoint.”

Dalia also opened up to us and said: “I can now help others. If I see someone in need, without food, I can share a little bit of what I have, I can not let them sleep hungry if I have something I can share, because RefugePoint taught me about caring for others.”

Due to his great business acumen, we granted Fredric an additional $400 in June 2019, which enabled him to set up a physical shop to sell his goods. He has mentored many young men in his neighborhood on how to start and run their own mobile phone accessory businesses.

Just like the vast majority of refugee families, Fredric and Dalia are now struggling as a result of the impacts of the pandemic, but they are resilient. Due to low sales, they had to temporarily close their shop, but Fredric continues to travel to remote rural areas outside of Nairobi, where he has found a niche market in which to sell his mobile phone accessories. Dalia is also helping to support the family by selling watermelon in their neighborhood. Though Fredric and his family are now stable, their caseworker continues to engage with the household to follow-up on Victorie’s physiotherapy progress.