KIZIBA YOUTH WORKSHOP

On August, 8^th, 2015, Global Youth Connect (GYC) met the Youth from KIZIBA Refugee Camp.  For the past three years, GYC has been involved in various capacities with the KIZIBA Youth. After introductions, GYC participants and the KIZIBA youth discussed the preconceptions and realities of life within a refugee camp. 

Both local and international participants had a chance to share their opinions about life at the camp.  The local participants described the refugee camp as a place where there is hard work and cooperation; on the other hand, there is malnutrition, unemployment, limited education, etc.  The international participants described the refugee camp as a place of community and security; there is also a lack of resources and improper sanitation.  

The KIZIBA youth then described the life at the refugee camp in three main categories:  health, education, and social life.  In terms of health, the standards are very low, due to the fact that there is only one doctor to treat 17,000 people and he/she comes three days a week.  In regards to education, the resources and staff are limited.  The school is only allowed to teach up to Senior 3 and each class holds seventy students.  Young girls are often faced with early marriages and unwanted pregnancies at a very young age.  As to social life, youth are involved in basketball, volleyball, football, and choir, among other activities.  

At the conclusion of the discussion, the GYC participants and KIZIBA youth reviewed and revised a letter to the UNHCR addressing major issues at KIZIBA.  The KIZIBA youth suggested that it would be more beneficial for them to have a legal status, citizenship, and a place to develop their lives through resettlement.  As proven in a recent UNHCR census, this view is shared by the majority of the community.  

 

 

 

 

Group discussion between GYC participants and KIZIBA Youth   

Social life is most important for me at the camp; if people are happy, then they will be healthy”  -  Nadine