Our Impact.

Why does this matter?

For students living in Dzaleka Refugee Camp, access to quality education and creative resources is extremely limited. Classrooms are often overcrowded, underfunded, and focused only on basic learning. Opportunities for self-expression, imagination, and creative growth are limited, yet these are essential for young people who have experienced displacement and trauma.

Art and storytelling give students more than just skills; they provide a voice. Creative spaces allow children to process their experiences, build confidence, and see themselves as a voice that has ideas worth sharing. A dedicated art classroom and a children’s book designed with and for students at Dzaleka create opportunities for expression, connection, and hope.

You can make a change

.

You can make a change .

The Problem

Dzaleka was established in 1994 for people fleeing the Rwandan genocide. More than three decades later, it is home to families from six countries and remains one of the most overcrowded refugee settlements in southern Africa. Every child deserves the opportunity to express themselves through art and to have a space where their creativity can grow.

A camp designed for 12,000 now holds five times that.

60,000

people live in Dzaleka

60%

are under 18

2.00$

is the average amount lived on in a day

Program Outcomes

  • 40+

    students/week in the art classroom

  • 20

    paired poems and artwork

  • 1

    Mural completed

  • Coming soon

    Library restoration goal

WHAT SETS US APART

A lot of organizations show up once, drop something off, and leave. We didn't do that. We started in 2018 with one project, went back the next year, and just kept going — sanitary pads, soap, water filters, devices, and now an art classroom and a children's book, each one built together with students at Dzaleka, not handed to them. Every year we go back, it's not a new group starting over — it's the same partnership, picking up where the last trip left off. The projects have changed as the needs have changed, but the students on both sides doing the actual work have stayed the same since the beginning.