Kigeme Refugee Camp Training
POST BY BAILEY ADAMS // PUBLISHED 2017
Several weeks ago, Gardens for Health launched a series of innovative new trainings at Kigeme Refugee Camp in Southern Rwanda. Kigeme Refugee Camp, founded in 2011, is home to over 18,000 refugees, most of whom originated from the Eastern provinces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
Kigeme refugee camp is shifting from direct food aid to providing cash transfers. This means people will have much more autonomy in the food they purchase and eat. It also means that we have a crucial window of opportunity in which to ensure that people have the knowledge and skills they need procure healthy food and prepare a balanced meal.
Traditional Food Assistance:
Traditionally, food aid has been a key component of food security strategies in refugee camps. It involves the physical food packages, or rations, distributed to each family on a regular basis. In Rwandan camps, registered refugees receive monthly food rations to meet their nutritional needs.
In Kigeme camp, prior to cash transfers the food basket refugee households received was comprised of 12.5 Kilograms (kgs) of maize grain, 3.7 kgs of beans, 0.9 kgs of oil, and 0.2 kgs of salt per household member per month, with a goal of providing each individual with 2,100 kcal per day.
While food aid has been instrumental in sustaining livelihoods in emergency situations, it is a largely top-down vision of nutrition assistance that provides little room for complex understanding of long-term nutritional needs and the diverse approaches required to meet them. Studies have shown that up to 89% of families in Kigeme camp regularly sold elements of their food package and would use the cash from sales to purchase food and other items from the surrounding economy. Frequently purchased food items included fresh vegetables, potatoes, nuts, rice, cassava, dried fish, sorghum, sugar and sweets, fresh fruits, etc.
The shift to cash transfers empowers individuals with more autonomy to make decisions about how to feed themselves and their families.
The GHI Training:
Over the course of several days, GHI’s Health Team trained 48 people in key nutrition principles, using our four color wheel model and our one pot-one hour-one complete meal livelihood strategy.
Our team worked closely with Inyenyeri, a social enterprise promoting the use of clean cook stoves in Rwanda. Targeting refugees with Inyenyeri stoves, GHI was able to demonstrate how to prepare a balanced meal with limited resources, including just one pot on one cook stove. Inyenyeri staff were instrumental in planning and implementing the training, particularly with troubleshooting issues with the stoves.
Throughout the course of the training participants were taken through the elements of a balanced diet and practiced purchasing healthy foods in a market-like setting, a similar exercise we practice with the caregivers in our core Health Center Program. With the recent shift to cash transfers in Kigeme Camp, this was a particularly vital part of the program.
For the remainder of the training, camp residents gained practical skills in cooking several variations of the One Pot, One Hour meal. We know that for families in Kigeme Camp, virtually every resource – from money, to time, to firewood and water – is limited. Our One Pot, One Hour strategy is principally targeted to address those constraints. Caregivers are taught to prepare a balanced meal using ingredients that are readily available and affordable with the tools they have on hand; often just a single stove and pot. In this way, GHI is promoting sustainable and realistic paths to health for both camp residents and their families.
GHI is committed to reaching the most vulnerable populations through our work. By reaching refugee populations we are doing just that. We hope that this training at Kigeme was the first step in what will be a longer-term engagement with refugees throughout Rwanda. Donate now to help support more programs and trainings like this!
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Kinyarwanda:
Mubyumweru byinshi bishize umurima wubuzima watangije amahugurwa yo guhanga udushya munkambi yimpunzi ya Kigeme iherereye mu ntara yamajyepfo yu Rwanda. Inkambi ya Kigeme ikaba yaratangijwe mu mwaka wa 2011, ikaba itujwemo impunzi zibarirwa ku bihumbi cumi numunani (18,000) by’ abakongomani bavuye muburasirazuba bwa Repubulika iharanira demokarisi ya Congo.
Ikambi ya Kigeme yavuye kuguhabwa inkunga yibiryo, ikaba isigawe ihabwa amafaranga. Bivuzeko burimuntu wese afite uburenganzira bwo guhaha ibiryo bitandukanye kugiti cye. Nanone, bishatse kuvugako tuboneyeho amahirwe yo guha abantu ubumenyi buhagije bujyanye no guhaha indyo yuzuye ndetse nuburyo bategura indyo yuzuye.
Inkunga yarisanzwe itangwa yibiryo:
Ubusanzwe, inkunga yibiryo munkambi nigahunda yashizwe ho kugirango impunzi zibone ibiryo bihagije. Ibi bijyanye nibiryo babafunyikira ndetse numugabane wibiryo buri muryango ugenewe kubona mugihe runaka. Murwanda, impunzi zibaruye zibona ibyo kurya bya burikwezi kugirango bikemure ibibazo bijyanye nimirire.
Munkambi ya Kigeme, mbere yuko bahabwa amafaranga, buri muntu yakiraga burikwezi: ibiro cumi nabibiri nigice by’ ibigori (12.5kg), ibiro bitatu namagarama maganarindwi by’ ibishyimbo (3.7kg), amagarama magana cyenda yamavuta yo guteka (0.9kg), nama garama maganabiri yumunyu. Ibi biryo byagenwe kugirango buri muntu ajye ashobora kwakira kilo calorie zingana nibihumbi bibiri nijana (2,100 kcal).
Nubwo gufashisha impunzi ibyokurya byifashishijwe nkingamba igamije kurwanya ikibazo cyimirire, byagarayeko atarigisubizo kirambye kubijyanye no kurandura burundu ikibazo cyimirire mu mpunzi. Byagaragayeko 89% by’ imiryango munkabi ya Kigeme bagurisha umugabane muke wibiryo bakiriye bakifashisha amafaranga avuyemo bahaha ibindi byo kurya. Ibyo basanzwe bahaha harimo, imboga rwatsi, ibirayi, ubunyobwa, umuceri, imyumbati, isambaza zumye, amasaka, isukari nibijumba, nimbuto.
Uku guhinduka (kuva kuguhabwa ibyokurya bagahabwa amafaranga) bizafasha benshi guhaha ibyo kurya byishi bitandukanye bitewe nuko babyifuza.
Amahugurwa ya GHI:
Ushingiye kumasomo yose yatanzwe muminsi myinshi ishize, itsinda rishinzwe ubuzima mumurima wubizima (GHI) ryahuguye abantu mirongo ine numunani (48) kubijyanye nindyo yuzuye. Bifashishije uruziga rugizwe namabara ane aranga indyo yuzuye nuburyo bwo guteka inkono imwe mu isaha imwe kandi igizwe nibiryo byamoko yose.
Itsinda ryacu ryifatanyije n’ Inyenyeri (umushinga utanga amashyiga) murwanda. Twifashishije ishyiga ryatanzwe munkambi ya Kigeme numushinga witwa Inyenyeri, itsinda ryacu ryeretse abaturage uko ushobora guteka inkono imwe kushiga rimwe kandi igizwe namako yose agize indyo yuzuye muburyo bworoshye kandi bushobokera buri wese.
Nyobozi yinyenyeri yadufashije gutegura ndetse nogushyira mubikorwa amahugurwa yacu bibanda mukugerageza gukemura ibibazo byamashyiga.
Mugihe cyamahugurwa, nkuko dusanzwe dukorana nababyeyi, abitabiriye amahugurwa bigishijwe kubijyanye no guhaha biganisha kubuzima bwiza ndetse banabishira mubikorwa bahahira musoko ryari hafi yabo. Kandi nanone kuba impunzi zigiye guhabwa amafaranga nibyiza cyane kuko bijyanye na porogaramu yacu.
Abaturage binkambi ya Kigeme bigishijwe ubryo bwo guteka indyo zitandukanye munkono imwe mugihe cyisaha imwe kandi zuzuye. Tuzi neza ko ibintu byose bidahagije munkambi ya Kigeme; amafaranga, igihe, inkwi, ndetse namazi. Niyo mpavu, progam yacyu yinkono imwe iteka mugihe cyisaha imwe yaje ikemura ibyo bibazo byose.
Ababyeyi dukorana twabatoje guteka inkono imwe mugihe cyisaha imwe kandi igizwe nindyo yuzuye hifashishijwe amako yibiryo ashobora kubonwa nabururi wese kuburyo bworoshye.
Ni muri ubu buryo GHI irimo kuzamura ubuzima bwiza bwabaturage batuye mukambi nimiryango yabo.
GHI yishimiye kwagura ibikorwa byayo igera kubantu babaye cyane kandi kuba twaragejeje ibikorwa byacu munkambi ya Kigeme, bivuze ko intego zacu turimo kugenda tuzigeraho. Kuba twarageze munkambi ya Kigeme, nintambwe yacu yambere iganisha kuntego yacu irambye yo kuzageza no muzindi nkambi zomurwanda.
Tera inkunga yawe kugirango ufashe programe nyishi kugerwaho muri ubu buryo.