Kakuma and Dadaab Refugee Camps are home to almost 411,000 refugees, who have fled conflict and food shortages in South Sudan, Somalia, DR Congo, Ethiopia, and other countries. Quality inclusive education, support to improve people's psychosocial wellbeing, and care for those with special needs are vital.
What
Integrated Refugee Assistance Project – Kakuma; Refugee Support Program – Dadaab
Where
Kakuma Refugee Camp, and Kalobeyei integrated settlement; Dadaab Refugee Camp
Who
Kakuma - 13,052 people; Dadaab - 44,093 people
Partner
Lutheran World Federation Kenya-Djibouti-Somalia
Donate Now
Help refugees in Kakuma and Dadaab today!
Welcome to your kitchen!
This is where you will work in the Reception Centre at Kakuma Refugee Camp in Kenya.
Outside the fence are more than 183,000 refugees.
The good news is you don’t have to cook for all of them. Your job today is simply to prepare lunch for the 1,211 new arrivals the LWF team you support has welcomed at this Reception Centre.
Helping you cook lunch today is Regina. Regina is a refugee from South Sudan, and as you two stir lentils together, she tells you why she left:
“I came here from South Sudan in 2014. Life was good there. It was one of the best places to live. We had goats, cows and chickens. There was plenty of food.
Before, it was very peaceful. But then the war began. There was a lot of fighting. There were bombs coming from the sky. When the bombs started dropping, the children were not at peace. They couldn’t go to school. They saw a lot of very bad things, and saw our neighbours die.
That is when we decided we must leave. So we could find peace, and they could have an education.”
Regina’s journey to Kakuma was far harder than yours.
Her husband was a fighter in the conflict, and stayed behind. Regina gathered up the children, and they walked for two days out of the bush. When they found a road, they were given a ride with the cattle on the back of a truck. They reached South Sudan’s capital, Juba, and stayed there two months before they could find a way to continue. A kindly lorry-driver gave them a lift to Nadapal, over the border in Kenya.
Here, an LWF team you help support, welcomed them with food, water and sleeping mats at the Nadapal Transit Centre.
“I was praying very hard God will bring me a job because I did not have any money to help my children.
I kept coming here asking for a job. They kept saying no. But I kept asking and asking.
I begged the Officer, even if you don’t pay me, let me work here for just a little extra food I can give my children.
I worked for one month without pay. They saw my efforts, and my good work, and so they gave me a job.
My biggest priority is education for my children. I will do whatever I have to do, go wherever I have to go, so they can have a stable education.”
Now, it is time for you and Regina to serve the lunch you have cooked. The line is already long, the children hungry.
1,211 people who lost everything enjoy a hot meal because of your kindness.
Regina speaks for all when she says to you:
“I want to say thank you very much to the people who give. You really help us so much.
There are children here who have lost their parents, but at the end of each day they have a plate of food because of you.
God bless you.”
Find out more about...
Kakuma Refugee Camp
- 4,151 refugees and asylum seekers supported in both Kakuma reception and Nadapal transit centre
- 1,333 persons with specific needs received medical care, counselling, and psycho social support
- Daily living materials for 59 children with intellectual disabilities
- 240 workbooks and writing materials and 105 designs (previously known as syllabus) to support 164 learners with disabilities
- 37 wooden sets of tables and chairs for 148 learners
- 118 teachers trained in competency-based curriculum
- ‘Kakuma Got Talent’ Season 7 conducted virtually with participation of 597 children and youth
- Peace committee training for 60 participants
- Water pipeline extension of 0.36km, a 10m3 plastic water tank and stand for drip irrigation
- 140 community members trained at Agis and Highland villages to eradicate open defecation
- Training on Fashion and Design for 40 tailors from Kakuma Refugee Camp and Kalobeyei Settlement.
Dadaab Refugee Camp
- 80 people supported in vocational training skills – tailoring and dress making, ICT, and dyeing skills
- 123 continuing and graduate tailors, make 300,000 reusable masks for PPE
- 697 people with disabilities reached in the camps
- 120 older people reached with essential services and psycho-social services, to develop resilience and coping mechanisms
- Training for 30 caregivers on care of older persons
- Training for 100 community staff in accessing resources to assist people with disabilities
- 50 assistive and mobility aid devices (elbow/axillary crutches, walking sticks, white canes) distributed to 50 clients
- Rehabilitation services to 647 people with disabilities.
Thank you!
Kakuma Refugee Camp
The COVID-19 pandemic greatly affected project implementation as many of the activities are trainings and school for children.
We learned to adapt to Government restrictions and to provide services in other ways, such as providing access to educational radio lessons for children while schools were closed.
Dadaab Refugee Camp
As part of the infection, prevention and control measures for COVID-19, LWF adopted new approaches like digital learning platforms. This enabled virtual meetings and trainings, Radio lessons for students, and psychosocial support/physiotherapy/Occupational therapy sessions using Telehealth, amongst other tools.
We learned that a successful transition to virtual programs is reliant on everyone having access to the right technology and internet connectivity.
Kakuma Refugee Camp
During COVID, the project ensured continuity of education through radio broadcasted lessons for children in the camp. Clean water was provided for livestock and agricultural use, so that people could grow and produce their own food.
Dadaab Refugee Camp
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, the program pivoted to meet changed and critical needs. 123 tailors trained through the LWF Vocational Centre, along with 127 labourers from the refugee and host communities produced 300,000 re-usable face masks.
This helped prevent COVID-19 transmission, and the wages paid supported families, and contributed to the local economy.
Donate Now
Gifts of Grace
$12
- Learn more
Gift in your Will
Lives you touch
How do you want to be remembered?
Now you can keep blessing others with a gift in your Will...