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Arts Community and Culture Humanitarian Services Kakuma Town and Kenya News Updates

Public speeches made by Camp Authorities on World Refugee Day 2022

June 21 Speeches Compiled by Tolossa Asrat – KANERE Staff Volunteer Writer, 2022

World Refugee Day 2022 ceremony commemorated at Kalobeyei village 2 with the theme of ensuring every person has the right to seek safety whoever they are, wherever they come from and whenever they are forced to flee.

During the commemoration, various guests including Government representatives, UNHCR County representatives, UNHCR partners and other humanitarian organization representatives, goodwill Ambassador Yiech Pur Biel, refugee leaders from Kakuma and the new settlement attended and made speeches at the event in Kalobeyei settlement, Village 2.

Caroline Van Buren of UNHCR Kenya Country Rep speaking during the World Refugee Day, commemorated at Kalobeyei, Turkana – Photography by Tolossa Asrat / KANERE 2022
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Arts Community and Culture Opinion

Rise Kakuma!

By Fantaye Agaro – KANERE Poet January 2023
Tilting Cages book, Page 72/1992
Kakuma Refugee Camp

Kakuma, a desolate wilderness,
a blazing fire, an earthly furnace,
venue of day darkness.
Don’t shut your eyes blind!
Speak the truth loudly!

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Arts Opinion

EMPTY SPACE

By Noel Bol – KANERE Volunteer Poet, September 2021

This Empty Space!
Silence!
Empty space and still,
Silence!

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Arts Humanitarian Services News Updates

Beyond Training: Supporting Refugee Girls Who Believe in Themselves

By Tolossa Asrat KANERE Volunteer Writer, June 2021

In Kakuma and Kalobeyei, which host over 200,000 refugees, women and children comprise 76 % of the total refugee population. Of this sum, 49% are women living in dire circumstances which most people would never even wish to visit.

Winnie Achola a resident of village 3 of the Kalobeyei settlement is a beneficiary of live-skill trainings by camp agency: Photo By Tolossa Asrat / KANERE
Categories
Arts Health Opinion

Numb, Calm

By Noel Arow Bol – Kakuma resident 
I am tuned in, Radio and TVs
News of death after death, death
Italy, Spain, world grieves in tears
Lives claimed by corona, no proper burial
Grief after grief, grief

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Arts Community and Culture

NEXT CIRCLE

By Okelo Sejo – Kakuma Refugee Camp

There is time for more

And time for less

Time for war

And time to seek refuge

Time to collect ration

And time to starve

Problem is there is just no time

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Arts Contributors Letter from the Editor News Updates Opinion

To: The Editor of Kakuma News Reflector

I have been a reader of KANERE for a long while. Many refugees like myself feel that KANERE is the only independent media that gives voice to refugees in both the Kakuma camp and the Kalobeyei settlement.

I would like to raise some concerns about the different ways that refugees all over the camp have been suffering, sometimes due to oppressive humanitarian policies. We hope future publications will cover these issues:

The first issue is about the rations on which we survive in Kakuma. You are denied a ration card if you have missed two food distributions. If you miss, your ration card is permanently deactivated and you are told to register anew. Imagine, someone has stayed ten years and then misses just three months, and they are required to start everything as if they are a newcomer.

The ration system becomes a way to police people, as if we are locked up in the camp. I know a family of five who were in Nairobi for medical reasons. When they came back to Kakuma, they discovered that their ration card had been deactivated. After staying months without a ration, the card was finally activated but recognizing only two people in the household. What kind of humanitarian treatment is this? I have attached a photo of a family begging to the agencies to open up their ration card. I hope you will find a space to publish that photo.

The second issue is about mental health. A lot of people who have been suffering due to mental illness, and the numbers of suicides are rising. It is good to create awareness about suicide prevention, but doing this only occasionally cannot help us. Refugees need counseling, and I hope KANERE will raise this issue in future editions to sound the alarm for organizations and donors.

The third issue concerns documentation. The Refugee Affaires Secretariat (RAS) is understaffed. They need to add additional employees and budget so that they can more adequately serve refugees. It takes so long for us to retrieve vital documents and permissions. The latest figures that I have seen show that around 23,000 asylum seekers are waiting for decisions on their status. They lack interpreters, and this is a big challenge especially for those who do not speak Kiswahili.

Finally, the issue of Coronavirus: Refugees both in Kakuma and Kalobeyei are panicking due to news of the pandemic. I do not think the agencies will save us if the virus reaches here. Please let the world know that we have nothing to rely on. May Allah protect all of us.

I hope you will publish the above message.

Yours faithfully

Essa Suliyman – Kakuma Refugee Camp

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Arts Community and Culture News Updates

Community Radio Established in Kalobeyei Settlement

By KANERE staff writer

REF FM, a new community radio for and by refugees in the Kalobeyei Settlement, is now ready to commence broadcasting for refugees and the host communities.

Categories
Arts

I am not a Failure

By Okelo Sejo KANERE contributor, April 2019

With all due respect

Am not a failure

Failure is an event

Not a person in fact

To be precise its a line

Of graduation right below pass

And its not a virtue

Categories
Arts Community and Culture

All in my thought

By Gidi Abamegal – Tilting cages, Kakuma refugee camp

In front of my tilting cage,

That little but of plastics,

So not to suffer from loneliness,

I travelled far and wide,

All in my thought.