We honor World Refugee Day 2020 by addressing the refugee crisis with training & education.

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“71 million individuals have been forcibly displaced worldwide as a result of persecution, conflict, violence or human rights violations. We are now witnessing the highest levels of displacement on record,” according to the UN Refugee Agency.

Did you know that while it is one of the smallest countries in Africa, Rwanda is hosting around 77,000 refugees from DRC, and, 71,000 refugees from Burundi and other countries?

Refugees are at the heart of Same Sky’s mission to empower all women under the Same Sky. The women we originally set out to help 12 years ago were survivors of the Rwandan Genocide. Many of these survivors found themselves seeking refuge after being displaced by this tragedy. Same Sky trained these talented artisans to make jewelry, taught them how to run their own businesses and helped them lift themselves out of poverty.

Today, we continue this work by training Congolese refugee women at the Kigeme and Mahama Refugee Camp in Rwanda. These women escaped harm and persecution in 2012 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and have been at the camps since. They learned new skills, earned an income, became part of a supportive group, and now have hope for a brighter future for them and their families!

"I feel proud and energized in a way I didn't feel before. Part of my responsibility now is to teach others and empower them to do the right thing. I believe in giving others what you have been given." -Spès

"The fact that I am a skilled artisan raises my confidence. Being an independent woman who is able to work in a cooperative with others has helped me feel hopeful for the future. Artisan skills are promising skills to have in this country." -Clementine

"All I can say is that I am happy. I love what I do. Waking up every day and going to work at the cooperative is my proudest achievement." -Beatha

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Let’s use this World Refugee Day 2020 as a chance to raise awareness about the plight of refugees around the world, show solidarity with those who have been displaced, and honor their resilience and determination to keep their families safe.

You can support our mission to give refugee women and hand up, not a handout by shopping the beautiful products made by our talented Same Sky artisans at SameSky.com

You can also help us empower more women refugees through training and education by donating to the Same Sky Foundation today at SameSky.com/pages/make-a-donation

Sources:

https://www.unrefugees.org/refugee-facts/statistics/

https://www.unhcr.org/rw/14222-mahama-refugee-camp-is-taking-a-stepwithrefugees.html

https://www.unhcr.org/rw/refugees