Aimerance is a trained actress from Congo. She now lives in Nakivale Refugee Settlement, but she hasn't forgotten her training. "I worked for six years as an actress and when I came here I started Refugee Voice. We perform educational plays on issues facing the community," she explains. She is passionate about engaging youth in Nakivale. "I often hear about girls who've been raped or suffered violence. And I see everyday the problems some youth are having with drugs and alcohol," said Aimerance, "Our goal is to help these youth – to get them to hospitals or connect them to counseling or other services so they can understand that there is life after what they've been through." It's no small goal and in a settlement of over 130,000, it's difficult for Aimerance and her group to reach all the at-risk youth. "If we had a camera, microphone and kitenge costumes to match, we could make short films of our plays that could be viewed all around Nakivale, all the time." We were … [Read more...] about Refugee Voice

Today, we are excited to be back at Barious' house. There seems to be no limit to the talent among these young Congolese – singing, playing instruments, drama, dancing – they do it all. Darius, is one of the teachers of the hip hop dance crew that meets, learns and practices here. "We learn a lot of our dances from YouTube. We just watch on our phones and then try it out!" Darius said. There is always an event being put on in Nakivale, and Darius and his crew are frequently asked to perform. But, practicing can be difficult when they only have a mobile phone to play the music. "It's hard to dance without music," Darius tell us, "Music gives me the courage to really dance." So, he had a simple idea to get their crew speakers and a recording camera. "We get ideas from other dancers, and we also like to share the moves we're working on. Being able to record ourselves will help us connect with dancers worldwide!" The crew also wanted to look a bit more like a cohesive … [Read more...] about Outfitting the Crew

Back on Day 150 we met Barious. He is a young, talented musician who lives in Nakivale Refugee Settlement. He's a songwriter, composer, singer, dancer and music teacher. His home doubles as a gathering place for other young musicians. We were inspired by his passion to teach and use his talent to promote positive messages in his community. When we first met Barious, he shared his dream to open a music recording studio in Nakivale. "My friends and I want to create a place where young kids can come and we can train younger generations how to compose songs and record music," explained Barious. So, Barious and his team ran in the World Refugee Day 5k on June 20 to make their dream happen. And today, through our community of changemakers, we were able to return to Nakivale and make his dream a reality! Barious, and the other youth that he teaches and composes music with, had already worked together to build a structure that they hoped would become their music studio. With … [Read more...] about Making a Studio

Today, we are returning to Juru Primary School in Nakivale. With nearly 2,000 students, the 26 teachers here have their hands full! To make good use of their energy, they encourage the students to be active through sports. "The chance to play and be active helps them to break their boredom during the school day and pay better attention to their subjects," says Edith, a teacher here at Juru. That's why Edith had the idea to get more sports equipment for their students. "Our students like to play futbol, volleyball and netball. But, we need more balls and nets for all of the sports." Thanks to the ARC community, we were able to get Juru lots of new sports equipment – volleyballs, netballs, a first aid kit, netball jerseys and shoes for the girls netball team! "We encourage all the students in being active – even the young girls. But, the girls netball team had especially old equipment. We are so happy to have some newer equipment for them," said Edith. It's a small gesture … [Read more...] about Netball Anyone?

Medard is an English teacher at Juru Primary School in Nakivale. He's been teaching for the last 9 years, but English isn't the only subject he teaches. Medard doubles as the school's music teacher and he's passionate about the benefits of learning music. "When children are singing, their minds open. Making music helps them excel at all of their other school subjects," he says. He has been yearning to have the students of Juru participate in regional music competitions. "When they excel in music, they feel like yes, I can do many things," he explains. So, Medard and his fellow teachers participated in the World Refugee Day 5k to support their idea of getting more instruments to expand their music program. Now, Juru Primary has a new collection of instruments – including traditional drums, thumb pianos, ankle rattles and adungus, a stringed instrument. "We use the traditional instruments to teach about our culture and to give a foundation from which students can move on to … [Read more...] about The Sound of Music

Samuel is a man of many talents. He grows trees and hopes to one day reforest Nakivale Refugee Settlement where he lives. He’s a caretaker for ill family members. And he’s a contributing member of society, joining his peers to do community service and help the elderly in their community. But when he’s with his friends, he likes to lift weights. “We do what we can,” said Samuel. “We made our own barbells, but they break. And we don’t really know how much they weigh.” For Samuel and his friends, weightlifting is about being healthy, making their bodies stronger and learning from each other. There’s no gym in Nakivale – no place for people to work out, lift weights and build their strength. So, Samuel and his friends had an idea to open their own gym. And they ran in the World Refugee Day 5k on June 20th to try to make it happen. “Our idea is to make a place where anyone can come to lift weights, try yoga and learn from each other about taking care of ourselves,” said … [Read more...] about Pump You Up

Alex Niyonzima is an earnest guy. He’s the coach of the Lions Athletics Club in Nakivale Refugee Settlement. He’s utterly dedicated to his runners, their health and their growth as individuals. His commitment to his runners is where his idea got started. “I’ve been keeping track and I think I’ve noticed something,” he explains as he shows us a piece of paper with dates and his runners’ names listed. “These members, they’ve been sick a lot over the last six months. And I think it’s because of their diet. They don’t eat nutritious vegetables and fruits, and they don’t have enough to eat.” So, Alex told us his idea to plant a garden for the Lions Club, where the team would grow their own vegetables and fruits. He and the Lions ran in the World Refugee Day 5k in support of their idea. And - fast forward - a half dozen generous individuals from around the world donated to make the Lions’ dream a reality. The only problem was the team hadn’t raised vegetables and they didn’t … [Read more...] about An Apple A Day