Shelter & Built Environment

Constructing shelters in refugee camps is sometimes thought of as an emergency response. It can be, as was the case for the emergency construction of the Mahama Refugee Camp after an influx of refugees in 2015. But for the Rwanda team, “shelter” also means making a deliberate decision to maintain and improve the built environment in the places we work, whether that be roads, modern hospitals, or repairing dilapidated buildings.

Rwanda’s mountainous landscape can make infrastructure a challenge. But our engineers have worked diligently to construct over 41 kilometers of road (and counting), 38 bridges, over 12,000 permanent shelters for refugee camps, as well as social halls, banks, health facilities, maternity units, dental units, safe houses, nutrition centers, soccer fields, youth centers, and even cinemas! It’s all a part of making refugee camps and host communities not only safe, secure places, but places where people can build a meaningful life, too.

Building Community Economies

Strengthening one’s livelihood—the way someone creates, learns, contributes, and supports themselves and their family—is key to helping people, refugees included, to build a life full of meaning. The Alight Rwanda team knows the power of a thriving, confident livelihood. And through multiple approaches, they do their best to help refugees get there.

The Stepped Approach to Improved Livelihoods program (SAIL) is one way. SAIL is a competitive business grant program designed to empower entrepreneurs through small business grants. Budding refugee and host entrepreneurs also receive training to support their small businesses, which provide services like hairstyling, mobile phone services, shoe repair, masonry, carpentry and transportation.

Through Village Savings and Loans Associations (VSLAs), communities can pool money into a group-managed trust, enabling members to invest in small businesses, school fees, and social events that are crucial for displaced persons to regain a sense of normalcy.

Technical and vocational training is also key. We’ve partnered with several accredited Rwanda academies to provide training in high-demand skills for the local and national labor market, like electronics repair, tailoring, carpentry, masonry, engine repair, and hairstyling.

Safe Water, Sanitation and Hygiene

Getting safe drinking and household water to families is vital to maintaining a healthy, thriving community. Right now, Alight is providing essential water, sanitation infrastructure and hygiene services in three refugee camps in Rwanda—Kiziba, Gihembe, and Nyabiheke. This includes managing the camps’ water supply through boreholes and natural sources, maintaining water infrastructure like showers, taps, pipes, reservoirs, and purifications, as well as regular water testing and quality control.

Sanitation and hygiene go hand in hand with safe water and healthy living. Alight teams ensure that there are clean and safe latrines available for both men and women, manage waste disposal, and build knowledge of best hygiene practices to prevent the spread of diseases.

Under Umuganda (Rwanda’s country-wide community clean-up initiative), the Rwanda team continues to train refugee communities to contribute to the maintenance of the water and sanitation systems. Every month, we work with refugee volunteers to test and purify water sources, monitor water points and latrines, and participate in hygiene promotion campaigns. It’s a group effort!

Protecting Communities & Prevention of SGBV

Life in a refugee camp can present a new level of challenges for already-vulnerable people—especially for women and children. Across all refugee camps and in urban settings in Rwanda, Alight teams actively work to reduce the risk of gender-based violence through a community-led approach, promoting resilience, fostering community activism, and enabling survivors and those at risk to access care and support.

We are heavily invested in GBV (Gender Based Violence) prevention. Alight has provided case management and psychosocial support, caring for those who have experienced trauma such as rape, emotional abuse, physical assault, and sexual assault, including children. By practicing survivor-centered care, Alight focuses on a holistic approach that provides clear, coherent pathways for continuing support and using trained staff to provide the safety, security, and confidentiality they need to survive.

WOMEN ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT

Alight Rwanda acknowledges and supports the role of women in building local economies. Investing in women’s economic empowerment sets a direct path towards gender equality, poverty eradication, and inclusive economic growth. To this end, we work with women to enhance their economic empowerment by first understanding the barriers and identifying context specific opportunities. We facilitate building financial and digital literacy by addressing social norms and underlying societal barriers to gender equality and supporting women in establishing their own income generating activities as well as beneficial financial practices.

SUPPORTING CHILDREN OUT OF SCHOOL

In Rwanda, most children drop out of school due to a late start, which contributes to feelings of being out of place and a lack of enthusiasm, particularly primary-school-age children. Permanent dropouts tend to happen around the transition from primary to secondary education contrary to the notion that “older children drop out.” Through various interventions, Alight Rwanda seeks to identify and support children in returning to school.

SAFE, CLEAN, AND RELIABLE ENERGY

Alight Rwanda works with stakeholders to provide safe, reliable, and clean energy to communities who are not connected to the national grid. These interventions seek to provide access to opportunities that can only be realized by having a sustainable source of energy, such as schools, businesses, health centers, energy facilitated agriculture, or household access to digital services.