AT A GLANCE
Partner since: 2018
Refugee origin: DR Congo, Ethiopia, South Sudan, Somalia, Burundi
Refugee location: Nairobi, Kenya
RefuSHE is a not-for-profit based in Nairobi, Kenya that protects, educates, and empowers orphaned, unaccompanied, and separated refugee girls and young women to build healthier and more resilient futures for themselves and their children.
RefuSHE is redefining models of refugee protection and support through a one-of-a-kind holistic approach. This includes running a safe house, delivering legal aid, providing mental health support, offering education and childcare, supplying community protection, and creating livelihood opportunities. As part of this service model, RefuSHE established a social enterprise called the 'Artisan Collective' that empowers refugee women to become skilled, confident, and economically independent entrepreneurs. The collaborative arts-based curriculum allows Artisan Collective members to express themselves creatively through the design and production of hand-dyed scarves and textiles, acquire transferrable leadership and business management skills, and earn an income to support themselves and their families.
Refugee Artisan Group
RefuSHE’s Artisan Collective is comprised of young Congolese, Burundian, Sudanese, Somalian, and Ethiopian refugees based in Nairobi, Kenya. On average, the Artisan Collective employs 25 young women a year, most of whom learned artisan skills through RefuSHE and now work together to produce hand-dyed accessories and home décor items using centuries-old African textile traditions like resist-dyeing.
We want to use our hands, not just wait for handouts.
