Moses, Antony, and Vanessa

“RefugePoint gave us medical assistance, and one of the most important things that they provided for us was the National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) card. Having that card means that I do not have to pay out of pocket for medical care for my siblings or me when I visit a government hospital.” Orphaned after both of his parents died as a result of injuries inflicted by Mai Mai rebels in Congo, Moses is an unaccompanied minor in Nairobi, Kenya who cares for his younger siblings Antony and Vanessa. Accessing medical care through the NHIF fund is just one critical aspect of the holistic range of services that the family receives, including rent support, business training, counseling, and education support for Vanessa.

In 2014, after three years of advocacy, RefugePoint brokered an agreement with Kenya’s National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF), allowing refugees to access the same inpatient hospital insurance benefits as Kenyans, for just $5 a month (a cost covered by RefugePoint for 600 of our core clients).  

The 2014 deal with NHIF meant that for the first time, all refugees in Nairobi were able to access free inpatient health services. This is an example of the type of social change that RefugePoint is influencing – where refugees have access to the same basic services as residents of the countries in which they live. RefugePoint’s system helps to create a future of inclusion for refugees, rather than one of helplessness and dependence.

Antony also shared with us that, “one of the things that has been most important to us is counseling, which has helped us to cope with all of the things we went through.” The majority of refugees and asylum seekers, including Antony, Moses, and Vanessa, suffer from some degree of residual trauma from their experiences of persecution in their home countries. Many are re-traumatized in Nairobi, suffering targeted attacks, violence and xenophobia. RefugePoint’s counseling staff offers individual and group counseling sessions to help clients process and heal from the trauma that they’ve experienced.

Given the right support, many at-risk refugees can rebuild their lives in their host countries. We support refugees to become self-reliant as quickly as possible so that they no longer need to depend on aid. Ultimately, the physical and mental health of refugee families is a critical component of self-reliance.