The Challenge

Design School was created to transform humanitarian response by empowering refugees to design solutions for their own communities. Instead of top-down aid, the program centers human-centered, localized, and sustainable design, grounded in real needs, lived experience, and local knowledge.

Developed in partnership with Opportunigee and the Wakati Foundation, Design School brings together young refugees and design specialists to co-create practical innovations that improve daily life in Nakivale.

Our Approach/How it Works

Design School intersects with the three focuses of Every Shelter — design, build, and supply — training participants not just to imagine solutions but to prototype, test, and refine them in their own context.

During this first implementation of the project, our classes happened three times a week within the period of 9 weeks, when students were guided to move from learning Human-Centered Design fundamentals to forming interest-based groups, conducting community research, and developing solutions that are:

• Desirable — rooted in real community needs;

• Feasible — affordable and buildable with locally available materials;

• Viable — maintainable and capable of supporting long-term impact.

In Design School, the line between “student” and “teacher” disappears. Learning becomes collaboration.