To spread knowledge and build a sense of community in Kala camp by creating and circulating a refugee-produced news publication.
In the past, refugees in Kala Refugee Camp consistently voiced their concern with their lack of access to current news and information. Since few refugees have the means to travel outside of the camp to obtain a newspaper or find a news broadcast on TV, many refugees ended up feeling isolated and uninformed. Even on a smaller scale, within their own communities, refugees recognized a tendency for rumors to flourish in an environment without a reliable news source. Kala Camp News is a community publication that eases these strains by reporting on local happenings as well as international events. With Editor-in-Chief Kombe le Bon leading and training the staff, volunteer refugee journalists take the publication through each phase of production. The result is a two-pronged effect that meets the immediate community needs for information while simultaneously providing marketable job skills for the staff.
To provide an outlet for creative expression and recreation for residents of Mwange Refugee Camp.
In refugee camps, the opportunities to express oneself creatively are often severely limited. Even those individuals who have the time or energy to devote to artistic endeavors are limited by a lack of resources – no instruments for making music, paint for creating murals, or forums for sharing poetry, rap, or spoken word performances. The Mwange Arts program provides these resources, along with the training to allow refugees to expand their creative abilities and outlets for expression. In a population that has been through such hardship as the refugees of Mwange Camp, creative outlets can prove incredibly therapeutic. Additionally, as refugees begin expressing themselves and their opinions, they grow more empowered to act on their beliefs and push their communities towards their potential. Even women, who often grew up being told that their opinions were inferior, often take to the stage and assert their beliefs – that the refugees of Mwange Refugee Camp are powerful, equal, and capable.
To provide a publication for the community to inform itself, express opinions, and celebrate its successes.
Most of the residents of Mwange Refugee Camp lack access to accurate information regarding the camp, their home country, and the outside world. Journal Mwange is designed to meet this need by giving refugees a forum to report on the issues they find important. Through articles on community role-models, Journal Mwange fosters a sense of pride and hope based on the success and ingenuity of this vibrant community. Additionally, the staff of Journal Mwange carefully and consistently fact-check their stories with United Nations Refugee Agency and its other nonprofit partners in the hopes that their stories can counteract the rumors that sometime swirl through a camp of this size. Ultimately, Journal Mwange is not just a means of receiving information for the residents of Mwange Camp; rather, as the first newspaper that many of the younger refugees have ever read, it represents possibilities and their own potential.
