Kiziba, Gihembe, and Nyabiheke Refugee Camps
Due to high altitudes and ample rainfall, the entirety of the Rwandan landscape consists of lush countryside, permitting bountiful agriculture for those with the means for cultivation. All of the refugee camps are surrounded by farmland and small private dwellings. Both the Kiziba and Gihembe camps are fairly isolated, while Nyabiheke is located on the outskirts of a nearby village.
All three of the camps are considerably congested, with only narrow walkways serving as barriers between homes. Over-crowding hinders the camps’ ability to receive new refugees, drastically limits new construction of schools, medical buildings or latrines, and bars the refugee population from any subsistence gardening, whatsoever.
The three camps are home to nearly 55,000 refugees, almost entirely from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Many had fled the DRC in the late 1990s due to political turmoil and violence in the eastern region of the country. Despite the 2008 peace agreement between the DRC government and 22 armed groups, violence has reignited on numerous occasions, and as recently as late-2012, resulting in the opening of a fourth camp (information forthcoming). As a result, the number of Congolese displaced internally, as well as those forced to flee to neighboring countries, has remained in flux for nearly two and half decades.
Education for refugees living in Rwanda’s three camps follows the curriculum and policy standards set forth by the Rwandan government. Schooling is free and compulsory for the first nine years, which includes all of primary school and lower secondary school. In 2008, the government established English as the nation’s official language of scholarship, requiring teachers to transition their instruction from French to English.
In order to fulfill the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees mandate of providing primary education to refugees, both Kiziba and Gihembe camps offer schooling within the camp, whereas refugee youth in Nyabiheke camp are integrated into local Rwandan primary schools. Due to Kiziba’s and Gihembe’s geographical isolation, access to post-primary education is highly limited. The town nearest to Nyabiheke camp provides schooling for refugee and Rwandan students through Grade 9. However, schooling beyond Grade 9 is not yet available for either Rwandan or refugee students due to a lack of funding and resources.
The Rwandan government has made significant strides in recent years to ensure that all children in Rwanda have access to education, and has implemented policies reflecting those aims. However, rural villages and smaller communities have yet to receive the necessary resources to meet those standards, leaving refugee youth, and disadvantaged Rwandan youth, with little hope of receiving an education beyond Grade 6.
The challenges facing refugee girls, as well as their families, are manifold and impede their ability to complete their education. Such obstacles include, but are not limited to:
Family Survival Needs
- Locating and hauling firewood, requiring girls to venture into remote areas of the camp, often at great risk to their physical safety.
- Walking great distances to communal spigots to fill jerry cans with water.
- Cooking and preparing meals within a confined space with limited tools and equipment. Often the girls are required to withstand extreme heat and smoke from the cooking fires, due to a lack of ventilation and periods of high outside temperatures.
- Maintaining the order and cleanliness of the family compound, including washing the family’s clothes by hand.
Education & School-based Challenges
- An interruption in education as a result of their displacement and detention upon arrival in Rwanda. As a result, students must often repeat grades or withstand a gap in learning.
- Learning the official language of instruction, if different than the official language of instruction in country of origin. Students are frequently held back until they achieve reasonable proficiency.
- Classroom infrastructure deficits, including a shortage of desks and chairs, as well as teaching and learning materials.
- Poor teacher motivation.
- Hunger, due to a lack of food access, leaving students fatigued and unable to fully concentrate.
- Poor, or no, access to feminine hygiene products, causing young women and girls to be absent from school for multiple days each month.
- Colder temperatures that leave students chilled and unable to focus due to lack of appropriate warm clothing.
- The transition of instruction from French to English, leaving untrained teachers struggling to communicate with students not yet proficient in English.
- Limited access to education after Grade 6 due to geographical isolation, limited resources within the host village, or inability to pay school fees.
Organizations working within Kiziba, Gihembe, and Nyabiheke
The following is a list of organizations that are currently working within the Rwandan refugee camps, providing various services to those living within the camp:
- The United National High Commissioner for Refugees
- United Nations Children’s Fund
- Jesuit Refugee Service
- American Refugee Committee
- Adventist Development and Relief Agency