Published on
May 2, 2025
Imagine waking up in a home not in your ancestral homeland, where the roof leaks when it rains, the walls are cracked, and termites silently eat away at what little structure is left.
This is the daily reality for many in households in displacement communities, where "home" means living in constant discomfort, danger, and despair. It's more than annoying-it's exhausting, unsafe, and unfair.
The Problem
In Nakivale Refugee Settlement, poor shelter conditions are putting lives at risk and limiting the potential of families to recover and thrive.
64% of households report structural issues such as leaking roofs, cracked walls, termite damage, and weak doors.
100% of focus group participants expressed dissatisfaction with their current shelter.
Common issues include mud floors, lack of windows, and overall instability.
These conditions negatively impact mental and physical health, compromise safety, and reduce overall well-being.
A woman named Liberata sits in front of her home, which has a leaky roof and structural issues. She lives with her two grandchildren in a mud house that was given to her because of her physical disability and inability to build a home for herself.
Our Opportunity
Refugees in Nakivale have built homes with the limited materials available. Many prefer to stay in these self-built shelters rather than start over. This presents an opportunity to support their efforts through thoughtful repair, skill-building, and community-led improvements.
Our first cohort of Shelter Repair trainees working on Liberata's home.
Our Approach
Assist Refugees in Their Solutions
We support families in repairing and improving the shelters they’ve already built, respecting their agency and the ways they’ve adapted to meet their needs.
Capacity Building
By training refugees in construction and shelter repair, we equip them to improve their own homes, support others in the community, and gain marketable skills for future employment.
Incremental Shelter Improvements
Targeted repairs—like reinforcing walls, improving floors, or adding ventilation—can significantly raise the standard of living and create safer, more dignified spaces.
support Shelter Depot
Every Donation will impact our ability to fund the shelter depot efforts as well as train refugees to build and maintain their homes.
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The Impact
This program is about more than fixing structures—it’s about restoring dignity, promoting resilience, and building pathways to a better future through shelter that lasts.
Here’s a Google Map showing the homes we’ve repaired so far. There are six marked at the moment, but we’ll continue adding more as the work progresses. Click on each pin to view photos and learn more about each site.
Liberata, standing in front of her repaired home with a Bashe Bora (Swahili for better tarp) roof.
Why It Matters
Shelter is more than a roof—it’s the foundation for safety, stability, and recovery. When families live in unsafe or failing homes, every other aspect of life is affected. By helping refugees repair and strengthen their shelters, we restore dignity, improve health outcomes, and foster long-term resilience in communities that have already endured so much.
How You Can Help
Partner with us to invest in practical solutions that empower refugees. Your support can fund our shelter repair program, which provides hands-on training and critical assessments to ensure homes are safe and sustainable.
Together, we can transform unsafe structures into spaces of hope and strength.
