At Nakivale Refugee Settlement in Uganda, we work with a multitude of partners to make sure people’s needs are covered. From healthcare to water systems to community services, it takes a deep level of collaboration to run what is essentially a town of 120,000 people. One of those partners is OPM – the Office of the Prime Minister. They help to coordinate all activities in the camp, making sure that things run smoothly. Their office on what you might consider to be Nakivale’s “main street,” an area with shops, small restaurants, and where both ARC’s and OPM’s offices are located. They get many visitors coming in and out of their office, including lots of ARC staff. And offering a cup of tea or coffee to visitors is a big part of Ugandan culture. But there was one problem – they didn’t have any coffee supplies! For Day 343, as part of our month of gratitude, we’re thanking OPM for everything they do for and with us – by creating a new, coffee-inspired space for their office. … [Read more...] about A Cup of Thanks

Today, we're turning our attention to a woman who makes sure the most vulnerable refugee voices are heard – Maria Nyiraneza, our court interpreter. Maria's worked as an interpreter for seven years, and she speaks all the major languages in the settlement – like French, Swahili, and Kin Rwandan. And she plays a big role in helping victims of crimes, violence, and exploitation get access to justice in court. "The language in court of law is English," said Sonia, one ARC teammate who works closely with Maria. "Interpreters are key to helping refugees who don't speak English communicate in court and be represented in the clearest way possible." So for day 342, we thanked Maria for her outstanding service by giving her a tool to boost her work – a laptop. "I need a computer to keep my data on from court," said Maria as we handed over the laptop and a backpack to go with it. "With this I can improve my work and write reports quickly!" "Maria's the best we've got," … [Read more...] about A Voice for the Voiceless

Prince is unlike anyone we’ve ever met before. He's a 10-foot man in a 5-foot frame. He speaks quickly but is eloquent, and he exudes heaps of positive energy. A refugee from Congo, he now has family in Kampala, Uganda's capital. But he choses to stay in Nakivale Refugee Settlement because of his project - the Wisdom Center. The Wisdom Center’s goal is to keep children’s education going. He focuses on teaching kids English, leadership skills, and simply giving them a place to belong. Running the Wisdom Center is hard work. And it can be exhausting, even for someone as energetic as Prince. When you’re working hard, sleep is the key to staying energized - but it’s hard to sleep when you don’t have a bed. When we learned that Prince didn't have a mattress, we were shocked! Prince is an inspiring guy. So for Day 341, we wanted to thank him for the amazing work he's doing - by getting him a comfy place to rest after a long day of hard work. "I do this because I … [Read more...] about Wisdom Beyond His Years

ARC is responsible for making sure every single refugee in Nakivale has water. And for a responsibility of this size, we look to some amazing people to get the job done. Introducing Akilimali. Akilimali has been working as the Lead Water Operator of Nakivale for an incredible 20 years. He is passionate about his job. He makes sure the water reservoir - which sits at the highest point in Nakivale - is safe, each and every day. The views of Nakivale from that highest point are pretty lovely. But, it’s probably one of the most isolated spots in the settlement. Yet Akilimali lives alone at the reservoir, making sure that nothing happens to the water. So for Day 340, we wanted to make his day a little less isolated. Since water points need to be fixed and the flow of water changed throughout the day, communication is so important for Akilimali and his team. But it’s also a challenge. “We don’t have great ways to get in touch with each other,” he told us. So we … [Read more...] about View from the Top

There’s a lot of behind the scenes work that needs to happen for the water to flow at Nakivale Refugee Settlement – fixing pipes, pumping water from the lake, and treating it with chemicals that make it safe to drink. The water treatment teams who purify the water sometimes have the toughest job – they deal with harsh chemicals that can be harmful if they’re not careful. “These guys work really hard, some of them for over a decade,” said Andrew, our Operations Officer at Nakivale. “They’re the guys who do most of the work here – and sometimes it’s a huge challenge.” For Day 339, we’re thanking the water operators who are key to getting lifesaving, clean, and safe drinking water to people at Nakivale – by getting them new protective boots! We headed to the water station where the treatment teams work, 42 pairs of heavy duty gum boots in hand. They gathered round, eyeing the overstuffed gift bags warily – it’s tricky to gift wrap gum boots, it turns out! But when … [Read more...] about These Boots are Made for…Protecting

But we're about to introduce to you a team of incredible gentlemen that will have you feeling like the luckiest employee in the world. The Nakivale pit latrine cleaners are the unsung heroes of Nakivale hygiene. Human waste is a huge issue anywhere in the world. It has to be disposed of and it has to disposed of correctly. In a refugee settlement, there are no fancy septic machines, so the work has to be done manually. This is not a job anyone grows up dreaming of doing - but one that needs to be done. And this job is so difficult in part because the community does not fully respect the importance of the latrine cleaners. Many people purposely do not associate with them – they're looked down on for their line of work. The pit latrine cleaners take part in a thankless task and are even ostracized for their work to keep Nakivale clean. And for that, we wanted to thank them. On Day 338, we displayed our gratitude to the cleaners by providing each of them with rice, … [Read more...] about The Pits

The school mentors at Nyarugugu Primary School are truly incredible people. They take struggling kids under their wings, encouraging them to keep up their school work and offering emotional support when many kids have none. When we talked to our ARC teammate Sonia about who is most deserving of thanks in Nakivale Refugee Settlement, the mentors were top of mind. “What they do, it isn’t an easy task given our setting here. But they’ve helped those kids stay in school and focus on their academics.” We believe that having a champion cheering them on can mean all the difference to kids facing tough times. If it wasn’t for these mentors, the students we met yesterday might not show up to class each morning. So we put together a little something to show our deep gratitude for two mentors in particular – Generous and James – and met them at school to hand deliver our thanks in person! We presented Generous and James with gift food packages of rice, beans, sugar, and soap – … [Read more...] about Cheering Squad

This month, every single Changemakers 365 idea is about giving thanks, doing the doable for the people who deserve it most. From our partners, to vendors, to the incredible people in the communities we serve, they’re the ones out of the spotlight, but in the center of what we do. For Day 336, we’re giving a special thanks to some of our youngest Changemakers in Nakivale Refugee Settlement – the highest achieving kids in school. These students face a lot of challenges even getting to the classroom everyday, much less excelling at their studies. They're role models for their peers. We had a perfect solution to show our gratitude to these students – solar-powered Watts of Love headlamps, made possible by our amazing friends at the Shine On Project. We met with Edwin, the headmaster at Nyarugugu Primary School, and talked to him about the benefits of having the headlamps. “These kids, they work so hard both day and night,” he said, “but it gets very dark here in Nakivale. … [Read more...] about Watts of Love

A lot of us take being connected for granted. With the world at our fingers through cell phones, it's easy to forget how isolating it can be when you don't have an easy way to connect. But at Nakivale Refugee Settlement, being able to communicate easily is vital. Whether it's being able to move around the settlement more quickly, or communicate from anywhere in the camp, connection is important. One of the vital members of our team, Jimmy Bob, was feeling a bit more disconnected then he would have liked. Jimmy is the Operations Manager at Nakivale, and as you can imagine, there are quite a few operations taking place at the settlement! Jimmy is an incredible manager - with a not so incredible phone. But Jimmy's phone was consistently on the fritz, leaving Jimmy without coverage and without connection to his teams. We thought it was about time we help Jimmy by making his life a little more connected - with a brand new, reliable, phone. Jimmy was ecstatic. "I … [Read more...] about A Phone Call Away