Braiding home with hope: Training and employing Burundi's refugee women.

 

Donatha is a 30-year-old mother of 5 children living at Rwanda's Mahama Refugee Camp after fleeing poverty and violence in Burundi.

 

For just $500, Donatha can continue artisan training courses so she can provide her children with food, clothing, shelter, and education. Can we count on you to help us make Donatha's dreams come true? 

 

 

 

The Same Sky Foundation has partnered with Indego Africa to offer Burundian women refugees crucial skill-building training.

Together, we are providing 15 women with access to vocational training at the Mahama Refugee Camp's Women's Center in Rwanda. This six-month course will allow them to develop a mastery of weaving sweetgrass, a skill makes the most of abundant, low-cost materials. Sweetgrass weaving has been used to make a wide range of consumer goods including some of Indego Africa's top-selling products. 

ALINE 28 years old Mother of 3	ARLENE 24 years old Mother of 1	BEATHE 35 years old Mother of 1
CELINE 30 years old Mother of 2	CLAUDINE 19 years old	CONSOLATRICE 27 years old Mother of 2
DELPHINE 25 years old Mother of 1	DONATHA 30 years old Mother of 5	FALORIDE 29 years old Mother of 3
JEANINE 26 years old Mother of 1	JEANNE 23 years old Mother of 1	MENADORE 35 years old Mother of 2
SPECIOSE 21 years old Mother of 1	SPES 35 years old Mother of 4	VESTINE 36 years old Mother of 4

The women of the Mahama Refugee Camp are now two months into their training program. With instruction from Indego Africa's partners at the Imirasire cooperative 5 days a week, they are making wonderful progress. Over the next few months, we'll be sharing updates on the growth of this program along with stories from our new artisans – stay tuned! 

 

 

Life as a refugee

Crossing borders, you seek safety in camps that too often are depleted of supplies or swell beyond capacity. Some even become sites of violence themselves. Families you know are scattered, burdened by the struggles of displacement, and you fear for your loved ones. If you were to envision your future, all you would see is a blank page. 

This is what life is like for Burundian refugees.

 

 

The crisis of our time

According to a report from the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, in 2017 alone 65.6 million people were forcibly displaced by conflict, violence, persecution, or other human rights violations. The eyes of the world have opened to unimaginable horrors in Syria and Bangladesh, casting light on other lesser-known emergencies worldwide. With countless tragedies happening each day, the time has come to act. With your support, we can help give the women, children, and families of the refugee crisis the chance to regain stability and create financial independence as they adjust to new lives.