By Kate Orazem, RefugePoint intern There seems to be an age at which refugee girls grow quiet. Toddlers tend to chatter unreservedly and reach up to touch my unfamiliar hair; older girls will ask to play with my camera and giggle when their faces appear on the screen. But by the time they reach eleven [...]
RefugePoint on WBUR’s Here & Now
RefugePoint Founder and Executive Director Sasha Chanoff and Yar Ayuel, one of 89 Sudanese girls who came to the United States along with the “Lost Boys of Sudan,” are interviewed on WBUR’s Here & Now on March 25th in advance of CBS’ 60 Minutes special on the former refugee children resettled to the United States in [...]
Boston Globe: How the lost girls became the forgotten girls
Read Executive Director Sasha Chanoff’s Op-Ed in the Boston Globe about the forgotten refugee girls of Sudan.
The Cracks in Refugee Communities
In my eight months working with RefugePoint, I’ve often been impressed and moved by the strength of the communities refugees have created for themselves in their new home. Most of our clients seem to have a story about other refugees—strangers—helping them in those first desperate hours after arrival, giving them shelter in already crowded rooms [...]
“I hope one day he will be president”
On March 3rd, RefugePoint’s Communication Officer Cheryl Hamilton joined Executive Director Sasha Chanoff as a blogger for the Huffington Post. In her first article, Hamilton recalls a conversation she had with a refugee mother living in the slums of Nairobi and the woman’s dream for her son.
Refugee Women and Civil Society
November 25th is the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, a day that is particularly relevant to RefugePoint’s mission to find lasting solutions for the world’s most vulnerable refugees. RefugePoint has increasingly focused on particularly vulnerable refugee women who are in perilous situations. Exposed to widespread sexual gender based violence (SGBV) and [...]
A universal challenge, childcare poses additional obstacle for refugees
Aliah, a 23-year-old refugee, has a bubbly demeanor that disguises the monumental obstacles she faces every day. As the guardian for her younger siblings as well as her own kids, she has to cover rising rent and food costs in an African city where refugees are rarely able to find steady work. Her neighborhood has [...]
RefugePoint highlighted in Women’s Refugee Commission Report
In a recent report by the Women’s Refugee Commission, RefugePoint is cited as one of a handful of organizations that effectively provides livelihood support to urban refugees. RefugePoint identifies refugees through our urban protection program and offers people life-stabilizing support. The innovative nature of our programs is illustrated in the report by refugees who, when [...]
Survival Sex Often the Only Option for Refugee Women
Refugee women across Africa are subject to a range of gender-based violence from sexual assault to forced prostitution. In the most desperate cases, refugee women become sex workers to earn income in their countries of asylum when no other options are available to survive. This high-risk activity makes these women among some of the most [...]
Father fearful for remaining daughter
In our effort to reach the most vulnerable refugees like the daughter described in this post, RefugePoint often works in difficult environments across Africa. This year in Dadaab refugee camp, there were repeated bomb attacks while in Cairo mass protests routinely affected local travel and staff security. In some countries, RefugePoint officers travel as far [...]
