After two days, our cleaning and painting crews have worked miracles improving the shell of the Safe House. But we’re not done yet! Day 3 is all about the furniture. We’re furnishing space for two families for less than $500! When women arrive at the Safe Houses in Nakivale Refugee Settlement, ARC staff do everything they can to support them. They work tirelessly to help the people who seek their care. They provide the counseling they need and ensure that they’re connected to any and all services available. But inside the Safe Houses themselves, one vital element is missing – there has never been any permanent furniture. Instead, when a woman needs to stay in the house, staff scrambles to find anything that the women and children can sleep on…that they can use for some comfort. Because resources are scare, families often end up sleeping on the hard ground. That’s why this stage of the Safe House makeover is so critical. Simple furniture will make the rooms feel … [Read more...] about Furnishing the Safe House

Yesterday, the neighbors who live around the safe house joined the ARC team in scrubbing away years of gunk and grime from the walls, doors and windows – and reconnected on why having a safe place for women and children is so important to their community and the refugee settlement as a whole. They say it’s amazing what a coat of paint can do, and on Day 2 of our Safe House Facelift we put that wisdom to the test. The community came out in support again today! There must have been more than two dozen people there helping throughout the day. Some had been there yesterday, and other new people joined. It was amazing to see their dedication to create a space of dignity, beauty, and freshness for women who have survived dark days. As one volunteer said, “Sometimes people just need a safe space to stay.” With an abundance of energy and determination, the painting crew got to work. With such dark brown walls, they needed to get an undercoat up on the wall first. With brushes … [Read more...] about A Fresh Coat of Paint

Do you want to be part of making real change each and every single day? Then join Changemakers 365 today! Members give a monthly donation of $30 or more – or a one-time donation of $365 or more. Anyone who has ever lived in a refugee camp, anywhere in the world, can receive membership in Changemakers 365 without making a donation. Members see the impact of their support each and every day through stories, photos, and video posted on the Changemakers 365 Blog and by email. To join Changemakers 365, simply make a donation on Alight’s website. … [Read more...] about Join Changemakers 365

The world’s tough problems can seem insurmountable. So at ARC, while we tackle those big problems we also do what’s doable. Right then. And that’s what Changemakers 365 is all about. It’s about doing the doable, effecting real change for $500 or less each and every day. What does $500 worth of change look like? More than you’d think. It looks like cots and mattresses – a soft place to rest – for refugees who’ve just completed their journey to a refugee camp. It looks like art supplies for kids who need a safe place to wait while their siblings and parents receive therapy for malnutrition. It looks like a fresh coat of paint for refugee camp buildings, brightening everyone’s day. It looks like real change – every single day – for an entire year. As they go about their daily work, our staff around the world see new opportunities to do better, to do more. Changemakers 365 is about getting behind our staff and helping them seize opportunities to help people in a big way with … [Read more...] about Introducing Changemakers 365

Welcome to Changemakers 365! We’re kicking things off in SW Uganda at Nakivale Refugee Settlement. The Safe Houses at Nakivale are meant as places of sanctuary and rest. They’re intended for those who are – for whatever reason – no longer safe in their homes in the settlement. Guests may have suffered trauma or violence, and they urgently need some place to go to be safe while they and ARC staff work together on what to do next. The safe houses most often provide a haven for women and their children who have nowhere else. The Safe Houses in Nakivale are spartan – a floor, roof, and walls. The rooms are empty, the floors bare. They provide physical protection from danger and from the elements – but not much else. They don’t address the emotional trauma that women seeking shelter have experienced. A few Changemakers thought the safe house could be a lot better and wanted to make it happen - their idea for the 2016 Changemakers Competition was to do a "Safe House Makeover" and … [Read more...] about Nakivale Safe House