Kiryandongo Refugee Settlement Project

When the Kenyan refugees arrived at the Kiryandongo Refugee Settlement in 2008, there was very little support in terms of school fees for their children and there was no provision for a nursery school at the settlement.

The Kiryandongo Refugee Settlement in Bweyale, Uganda, is a UNHCR managed refugee settlement that provides shelter, land and support for more than 25,000, comprised of Ugandan IDPs and refugees from Kenya, Congo, Rwanda, Burundi and Sudan.  RMF has partnered with UNHCR in supporting Kiryandango and the greater surrounding community of Bweyale (an additional 30,000 residents) with health care, education and vocational training since 2008.

Vocational Training Program

RMF initiated a new Vocational Training Program at the Kiryandongo Refugee Settlement after being presented by the refugee community with issues surrounding the lack of skills and vocational training for students graduating from the settlement high school. After researching which skills and programs might provide the quickest income earning opportunities for the students and the most economic investment requirements for RMF, and with the feedback from the community we narrowed the programs down to two: Hairdressing/Beauty and Tailoring Training.  With the generous support of World Children’s Fund, we renovated a disused building in the camp, purchased tailoring and hairdressing supplies, and funded the salaries of four vocational tutors. 

This program is part of the economic component of RMF’s overall humanitarian vision, the ‘focus on the person as a whole’.  The longer term vision for this vocational training center is to be one of several models for income generating opportunities for the populations we are supporting around the world so they eventually can be self-sufficient again.