Glimmers of hope
During 2020, the number of people forced to flee passed 80 million, and Covid-19 became a protection and livelihoods crisis as well as a global public health emergency.
For us at NRC, job number one has been to “stay and deliver”. Despite restrictions, lockdown and fear, we have been able to give life-saving aid and hope for the future to displaced people in more than 30 countries.
“I could never have imagined living in such a house”
DR CONGO: For Monique, home means a lot more than four walls and a roof. After fleeing her village, losing her husband and spending five months hiding in the bush, home to Monique means safety and stability.
Today, Monique stands inside her brand-new house full of pride. And though the house is still mostly empty, she has big dreams about the furniture that she will eventually fill it with and the finishing touches that she has planned, including a paint job.
“Compared to how I was living before, in this new house, I feel special and proud. I could never have imagined living in such a house,” says Monique.
“I can now stand on my own”
NIGERIA. A former tailor and fashion designer’s apprentice, Philemon saw his life turned upside down when violence broke out in his village in north-east Nigeria. Years of repeated displacement took him more than 1,000 kilometres away from his five children and even further from his dream of becoming a fashion designer.
Just over a year ago, when the situation in his village started to stabilise, Philemon decided to move back home. Soon after he got back, he saw an opportunity to follow his passion. He was selected to take part in a business programme funded by the European Union and organised by the Norwegian Refugee Council.
“Thank God, I still have my business now and I can resume working,” Philemon says.
The girls in the Afghan dream academy
AFGHANISTAN. Forty pairs of shoes are neatly lined up on a concrete staircase outside a simple grey entrance door. This is no ordinary school. It is the home of a generous neighbour who has made parts of her house available to 40 girls dreaming of an education and a profession.
Most of the girls are between 10 and 16 years old and come from families forced to flee the conflict in Afghanistan. Now they are participating in a programme organised by the Norwegian Refugee Council, where they have the opportunity to make up for lost schooling.
They want to be teachers, doctors and everything else that girls dream of becoming.
A mobile lifeline for Malak
JORDAN. When the pandemic struck and their school closed, the family’s only mobile phone became a lifeline for Malak, 14, and her seven siblings.
Only 12 days after the first case of Covid-19 was detected in Jordan, the authorities closed all the schools in the country. Shortly after that, the Zaatari refugee camp was also locked down.
More than 76,000 Syrian refugees were literally locked in, with no possibility of leaving the camp. At the same time, a large number of teachers and humanitarian aid workers lost the opportunity to work in the camp.
“When I teach, I am free”
UGANDA. Dugale, 38, fled South Sudan with nothing, but as soon as he arrived in Uganda, he began teaching. He believes in the next generation, and he will stop at nothing until every child can return to their community ready to face the future.
“I have lost a lot of things,” he says, “but when I enter the classroom, I leave all that behind me. I teach like I would normally, and I am free.”
“I dream of becoming a doctor”
COLOMBIA. Landmines on the route to school. Armed occupation of the classroom. Getting caught in the middle of crossfire. This is the situation affecting thousands of school children in Colombia. But this does not stop children like Wendy, 9, from dreaming of a bright future.
Wendy lives in a remote part of Colombia. For the first nine years of her life, she never had the chance of going to school.
“We will be the ones to build our country”
UGANDA. David, 22, fled from South Sudan to Uganda in 2014. Now he’s studying computer science and plans to go to university in Kampala to pursue his dream of becoming an engineer.
Young people who have been forced to flee often struggle to get the education and training they need. Only 3 per cent of young refugees have access to education after finishing school, compared to 36 per cent of young people across the world.
David is one of the lucky ones. A resident of Nyumanzi refugee settlement, he completed high school at a local school in Uganda. He went on to enrol on a computer science course run by the Norwegian Refugee Council in partnership with Arizona State University (ASU)
“I believe in a brighter future”
UGANDA. As a young mother, a student and a refugee, Athieng carries a heavy burden of responsibility. But there’s a sparkle in her eyes. Her gaze is held firmly on her future.
Athieng, 20, is a gentle and quiet young woman who rarely talks about her difficult past. Conflict in her newly independent homeland of South Sudan forced her family to flee six years ago. Staying put would have placed their lives at risk.
But Athieng does not crumble under the weight of responsibilities. “When I dream, I dream about my future,” she asserts, courageously.