Yesterday we were helping our Community Activists (or CAs) in Nyabiheke build a kitchen where they can prepare food for their new canteen. But we noticed the inside of their canteen needed some help, too. “We rely on our CAs,” Victor, our Nyabiheke Site Manager, told us. “They do so much for the community. I’ve been wanting to do something nice for them for a long time.” The CA Canteen was actually already open for business. But without a kitchen and a lot of the basics, they had only sodas, bottled water, and a few small bites for sale. They were going to need a lot more things to make their dream of a little restaurant happen. So we brought them the things that could get them started. Our friends from the U.S. arrived at the canteen with arms full – a propane cookstove along with a large propane tank, thermoses for hot tea, a mortar and pestle, silverware, plates, glasses, aprons. And of course, food – we brought sugar, flour and oil enough for the CAs to get their … [Read more...] about Thermoses, Cookstoves and Plates – OH MY!

Community Activists make our programs in Nyabiheke refugee camp possible. These are residents of the camp, who volunteer their time to help when our team there needs a few extra hands – which is pretty often. … [Read more...] about Warm Hearts, Warm Meals

Weddings are one of the biggest events that happen in Nyabiheke Refugee Camp. It’s a huge moment for the bride and groom, of course – but it’s also an important opportunity for the community to get together and celebrate. A wedding in a refugee camp is not so different than a wedding anywhere. The happy couple wants what many pairs tying the knot do – a magical day with all their friends and family surrounding them as they commit themselves to one another. “There’s nowhere to sit,” Victor, our Site Manager in Nyabiheke told us. “Elders, neighbors and members of the community come to celebrate the couple, but they all have to stand.” It was easy to see how we could make a difference here. The first thing we did was buy 50 chairs the community could store at the Community Hall and put in action any time a wedding is held. We also got two larger armchairs complete with white slipcovers, a special spot for the happy couple to rest during the ceremony. Victor also told us that … [Read more...] about Happily Ever After

The very last activity we had planned for the library makeover was a reading hour and grand opening. Sometimes Changemakers 365 and doing the doable doesn’t cost a penny – and this was one of those moments. We wanted to introduce the community to the new library space and get everyone excited about the new resources that were available. We also thought it would be a great opportunity to do some one-on-one reading and playing with kids in Nyabiheke – and give them some one-on-one time with adults that they might not otherwise get. Luckily we had a group of visitors from the U.S. there to do just that. We opened up the library doors and kids, teens and adults came streaming in to check out the murals, look through the selection of books and play with some of the toys and art materials. “The new library is really great,” said Victor, ARC’s Site Manager for Nyabiheke. “I hope we can soon offer more programs and community support here. This is a good beginning.” Our U.S. … [Read more...] about Reading Hour

The Library in Nyabiheke now has all the things you’d think a library needs – books, furniture, some color to spark the imagination. “We can make this a space for the kids to explore and create,” said Jacques, our Partnerships Officer. Without many spots in the camp for kids to learn and explore on their own, we wanted to do a little extra with the library. And add some small touches that would allow children to express themselves and interact with each other. That included an abacus or two, a train set, puzzles, toys and games. We also bought a range of art materials for the library…Easels, paints and smocks… chalk for the veranda outside…crayons, markers, coloring books and lots and lots of paper. The kids loved the materials and got started creating right away. But teenagers and young adults came in and started creating, too. The papers pulled across the library tables were soon crowded with drawings and doodles. And kids were pulling out pages they colored to take … [Read more...] about A Living Space

A good library is never just a warehouse for books, it’s a community spot where learning, engagement and interaction with new ideas happens – at all ages. So, with the kids’ corner of the library really shaping up, we turned our attention today to some older learners in Nyabiheke. All of the school kids in Nyabiheke are learning English as a part of their curriculum. But for adults, there’s no formal mechanism for them to learn and practice English – a skill some of them will really need if they are ever resettled. That’s where Innocent stepped in. Innocent was an English teacher in Congo before coming to Nyabiheke. And for the last couple of years he has been teaching a weekly English class for any adults who want to learn. His only teaching materials – a beat-up old blackboard. Innocent is doing a real service for his community. The least we could do was get him the things he needed to properly teach his class, to recognize the professional he is. We had a new … [Read more...] about A Learning Hub

A library’s just not a library without books. But there wasn’t a book in sight in this library – and that needed to change ASAP! Luckily, our US visitors had filled their suitcases with books for the library – their favorites from when their kids were kids…or even when they were kids…Charlotte’s Web, Where the Wild Things Are, Stuart Little. As we opened up their bags and began putting the books on our new book shelves, the place was finally starting to feel like a library. Green Eggs and Ham, Goat with Many Coats, The Cat and the King, and many more… In addition to the books our travelers brought, we purchased some local favorites and some materials in French and Kinyarwanda. The kids section was pretty well stocked by the end of the day (although, you can never have too many books – especially for a camp of 13,000 people!). “This is going to be magical for the kids,” Jacques Rumanyika told us. “They’ve never seen this many books in one place before.” But this library … [Read more...] about Stacking Up

When it comes to reading, having a comfy spot is actually pretty important. It’s hard to really get into a good story without a nice place to sit. For that matter, the right furniture is crucial for creating a reading and learning environment that’s calming and feels welcoming. Fortunately, the building in Nyabiheke was already equipped with library tables and chairs (too many, in fact – we actually needed to take some away to make the space usable). We just needed to take care of the rest. It was all about shopping locally. We hired refugees in the camp who are expert carpenters and welders to start building a few wooden bookshelves for inside and welding some metal and wood benches for outdoor seating. Then we headed to the camp tailor, and she got to work constructing pillows for the library. Our partner World Vision offered us a few children’s tables and chairs for the kids’ corner. We just needed some armchairs, a few more shelves and some floor mats, so we headed to … [Read more...] about Curl Up With a Good Book

When we arrived in Nyabiheke, we were glad to hear there was a library – that’s not something you usually see inside a refugee camp. But we quickly found out there was a library building – a space built and reserved by UNHCR for a library to someday take shape. We couldn’t resist the possibilities of this blank canvas to benefit the community… First thing’s first, we needed to make the library a place people wanted to be, somewhere their imaginations could be unleashed. We needed color. Thankfully, our artist friends Willy and Isaak were there to help. A group of school kids joined our group of travelers to get some paint up on the walls and a little bit of color in the space. “Just paint what you’re feeling,” Willy told the students. “What does what we’re doing today make you feel? What does it feel like to be making a library for Nyabiheke?” We picked up brushes and rollers and got to painting the walls inside the library – a horizon, people reading, images that … [Read more...] about Shhh…it’s a Library!

We’re here in Nyabiheke Refugee Camp in Rwanda, doing the doable for a few days with a group of visitors joining us from across the U.S. (if you’d like to learn more about our Changemakers 365 trip or any of our other immersion travel, contact Alissa at AlissaJ@ARCrelief.org or (612) 607-6486). First of all, Rwanda has its very own take on doing the doable, and we love it! It’s called Umuganda. Umuganda happens on a single morning each month, when each and every neighborhood in the country gets together to volunteer and take on community improvement projects. When the work is finished, a meeting immediately follows to discuss news, challenges, and build a sense of community. Umuganda includes Rwanda’s refugee camp communities, too. Our group happened to be in Nyabiheke on Umuganda, so we asked if we could join in. We grabbed hoes, machetes, and slashers and got to work alongside the community slashing long grasses, leveling the ground and cutting back underbrush and … [Read more...] about UMUGANDA!