Rhino Refugee Settlement, Arua District, Uganda
The camp, originally opened in 1980, expanded in the wake of the South Sudanese civil war to host the sudden influx of refugees into northern Uganda. The settlement currently hosts more than 116,000 refugees, mostly South Sudanese, and continues to receive new arrivals.
Creative Capacity Building Workshop
In June, 2019, MIT D-Lab Founding Director Amy Smith worked with the Youth Social Advocacy Team and Kulika Uganda to conduct a Creative Capacity Building (CCB) Workshop in Rhino Camp. With the goal of inspiring bottom-up innovation in humanitarian settings, the 25 workshop participants included both refugees and residents of host communities. Women, men, people living with disabilities, innovators, technologists, and entrepreneurs all took part, working in five groups to develop working prototypes, some of which may move on to be the focus of future business ventures. Many of the participants went on to attend the International Development Design Summit: Improving household livelihoods in humanitarian settings, later that summer. Read more.
International Development Design Summit - Uganda, 2019
The International Development Design Summit (IDDS) Uganda 2019: Transforming Household Livelihoods took place from August 21 to September 7, 2019, with 28 participants and 18 organizers from 11 countries. Among the organizers and participants were MIT D-Lab Founding Director Amy Smith and two D-Lab students, Sandy Walter and Megan Ochalek. During this two-week summit, participants learn about design and entrepreneurship by co-creating a technology and developing business models with community members from Rhino Camp Refugee Settlement.
- Ecowuzi - Transforming livelihoods through plarn (plastic Yyrn)
- Mama Makana - Ocea’s salam
- Saka - Organic waste briquettes
- Gelba A Simsim - Simsim sweets for sweethearts
- Drika - Growing mushrooms, growing communities
- Bizra Booster- Turning organic waste into organic fertilizer
More information on IDDS Uganda 2019:
- Read here for more on the teams!
- Read here for post-summit updates about the continuity of the businesses launched by these six project teams, helping to create more livelihood opportunities in Rhino Camp!
- Read here for an interview with Richard, a refugee participant in the summit.
- Read here for a first person reflection from summit participant Faith Kathoka.
Pears Program for Global Innovation Workshop
In November of 2019, D-Lab's Amy Smith and Martha Thompson facilitated a Participation Workshop in which Pears Program for Global Innoavation entrepreneurs met six entrepreneurs from Rhino Camp: Vivian, Phillip, Bayiga, Richard, Nema, and Ester. Thet spent a day exchanging entrepreneurial experiences, presenting and discussing innovations, and practicing participatory tools such as sketch modeling together.
