Kavira

Just a few years ago, Kavira was fleeing for her life.

In Congo, running a business made her a target. “When you sell today, and they see you bringing food home, that night they visit your home, and if you are lucky, they can leave you alive, or if unlucky, they kill you.”

She fled with her children to Kenya, where they moved through refugee camps and reunited with her brother before settling in Nairobi. There, grief and illness followed—her brother died, and Kavira’s health collapsed.

While seeking medicine at a Nairobi hospital, Kavira met Anne-Marie, a former Community Navigator with RefugePoint. “She told me about RefugePoint and how they give medicine to sick refugees and how they could assist me,” Kavira said.

Anne-Marie followed up, and soon RefugePoint’s medical team visited Kavira at home. “They found me sleeping… My children would come home for lunch to give me medicine and porridge, then put me back to bed.”

Following that first visit, Kavira received medical care, food and rent assistance, and counseling. As her health stabilized, she also received a grant to restart her business.

“I was supported through that process until I felt hope in my life… RefugePoint stood with me as a parent does for a child. They never got tired of me.”

In October 2023, Kavira and her children began a new chapter: they were resettled to Canada.

Kavira’s health is now stable; the children are enrolled in school and activities, and they’ve found community. Neighbors check in regularly, offer rides, and local kids stop by to see if her children can come out and play.

“It’s a huge difference,” Kavira reflected. “Life in Nairobi was far from ideal. It was difficult to get an education, food, and a decent way of life. We lived in one room, a whole family. It was a life of survival. But I see a great difference in how life is here. I am very thankful. Truly, I have hope for tomorrow.”

Her children are hopeful, too. Rachel, now in high school, dreams of medical school. Paul loves math and wants to be an engineer. Daniel is thrilled to have his own bike—which he recently learned how to ride— and neighborhood friends to play with.

Refugees like Kavira are doing everything they can to rebuild their lives—but rebuilding takes more than determination. It takes community.

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