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With second graders at Shimelba Primary School: The school's teachers come from the refugee community, but there is a major challenge because many have left to resettle in the United States. Many more will be leaving in the coming weeks and months, leaving a shortage of qualified teachers.
A teacher leads pre-school children to have their snack of nutritious porridge, which is a crucial meal of the day for them.
The children eat their porridge from big plastic cups.
Principal Afowerk Gebrehiwet with a fifth grade class. He leads a school of 1,200 refugee children and 47 staff members.
We were entertained by fifth grade children who sang, "Every day I get up. Every day I wash my face and I go to school where I learn."
The IRC runs three "child-friendly spaces" in Shimelba. These are places where refugee children can share their needs and worries in a safe and caring environment.
The IRC also provides vocational skills training to young people aged 14 to 29. The computer skills course is hugely popular.
Young women from a life-skills group invited us to a traditional Ethiopian coffee ceremony that involves preparing and drinking coffee three times. They meet every week over this extended coffee ritual to discuss a specific topic that allows them to share their personal challenges.
During the coffee ceremony the young women talked about one of these challenges: overcoming shyness and fear. They were soon sharing their concerns about the future with us.

Shimelba's children

Ethiopia
03.17.2011

IRC president George Rupp shares photos of his March 2011 visit to classrooms in the Shimelba refugee camp in Ethiopia where the IRC provides educational programs for pre-schoolers up to adults. 

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George Rupp and IRC staff at Shimelba refugee camp, Ethiopia
We had a warm welcome from the staff in Shimelba.
It’s always important for me to meet with IRC staff, to hear their concerns and to also express my appreciation for all the hard work they are doing -- often in very challenging circumstances.
Shimelba camp is a vibrant community with small shops and cafes. People are making the best of their lives here.
The IRC is providing clean water to more than 8,000 refugees in Shimelba
Everywhere we went in the camp, we were greeted warmly by young children.
A part of Shimelba refugee camp with the primary school in the background. The school is supported by the IRC
Another view of Shimelba and its thatch-roofed houses.

Shimelba refugee camp

Ethiopia
03.16.2011

IRC president George Rupp describes his March 2011 visit to the Shimelba refugee camp.  The camp was the first stop on a journey through Ethiopia's northwestern Tigray region,  where the IRC's work  focuses on children, women, health, water and sanitation.  

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The IRC's Tatenda Gonye leads a cholera prevention session in Zimbabwe.
Women participating in the session review a handout about cholera. Cholera is a deadly bacterial disease spread by contaminated water that can quickly cause acute diarrhea, vomiting and dehydration.
A woman being treated for cholera in a rural clinic.
A woman washes clothes in the contaminated Odzi river in eastern Zimbabwe
Cows graze nearby as children pump water in eastern Zimbabwe.
Two boys hold up a banner that reads, "We will not perish from cholera."
A woman writes on a flip chart at a health worker training session

Protecting communities from cholera

Africa, Zimbabwe
03.10.2011

A decade of economic troubles has eroded Zimbabwe's water and sanitation infrastructure, leaving its people vulnerable to cholera and other water borne illnesses. The IRC is working in the country's remote eastern highlands to help restore community water systems and respond to outbreaks of disease.

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Trying to get home

03.07.2011

A transit center set up in Tunisia at the Ras Adjir border crossing has become saturated with people who fled the crisis in Libya -- many of them foreign workers who are trying to make their way home. As the arrivals outpace the departures, the IRC is launching sanitation and shelter services.  Chris de Bode with our partner SV shared these photos from the border.

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A midwife feeding a malnourished infant at a pediatric facility in Monrovia.
Two boys who are being treated for acute malnutrition at a Monrovia hospital
A mother feeds her infant daughter milk at an IRC-supported hospital.
A young girl recovering from surgery in a Monrovia, Liberia hospital.
The IRC's Dr. Jude Senkungu examines a malnourished child.
Dr. Jude Senkungu with young patients at an IRC-supported hospital
A mother tends to her newborn baby in a Monrovia, Liberia hospital.
The IRC's Celia Kohn operates on a woman suffering from internal injuries
The IRC's Celia Kohn (right), one of only three gynecologists working in Liberia
A malnourished baby in a hospital in Monrovia, Liberia
The IRC's Celia Kohn examines a young patient at a Monrovia hospital
Mothers walk by their children’s beds in the pediatric ward
A nurse in Monrovia treats a child suspected of having contracted malaria.

A health system on life support

Liberia
03.04.2011

Fifteen years of civil war left Liberia's healthcare system in ruins.  The IRC is providing medicine, doctors and equipment to 33 rural clinics and five hospitals that serve more than 320,000 people. The IRC also supports the largest pediatric facility in the capital, Monrovia. 

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The IRC's Roxanne Paisible and Pierre Clavens Jean Marie during an activity
One of the groups working on sexual violence issues develops talking points
The IRC's Anne-Carine Larèche (left) with representatives of Kay Famn Limye Lavi
Serge André-Louissaint of CHREDHU and Cleanne Louissaint of SOFA present
Natalie Parke shows Haiti advocacy workshop
A group presentation on gender based violence advocacy strategy.
The group gave the workshop high marks. One participant said, “We like the IRC approach because it reinforces local efforts and works in partnership with them.”

Advocacy in Haiti

Haiti
02.17.2011

In January, the IRC hosted an advocacy workshop in Port-au-Prince for our local partners and their Haitian staff members working on clean water, health, and women’s and children’s issues. The workshop was part of an IRC initiative that seeks to bolster Haiti’s civil society organizations.

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Phung worked as an electrician in Burma before coming to Charlottesville as a refugee in August 2009. He now works as a Grill Cook at UVA’s Runk Dining Hall and hopes to go into electrical work again in the future.
Clementine, originally from Rwanda, is a very hard worker. She currently works at the University of Virginia Hospital and is pursuing her Associate's Degree at the local community college.
Before he started interpreting for the US Army in Iraq in 2004, Zouzek studied nursing. Here in Charlottesville, Zouzek works as a medical technician at Morningside Assisted Living and frequently serves as an Arabic Interpreter for the IRC.
Phul Maya, a refugee from Bhutan, spoke no English when she first arrived with her family in January 2009. Phul now works as a Housekeeper at the Hampton Inn and her English has dramatically improved.
After fleeing Sierra Leone, Joseph was resettled in Charlottesville by the IRC in 2004. That year, he began working at the Omni Hotel as a Bell Attendant and has worked there ever since. When asked about Joseph, the Omni's HR Manager said, “Having a diverse workforce has made a very positive impact on our entire staff and has been a win-win situation!”
As a Burmese refugee in the Tham Hin Camp in Thailand, Joyna worked as a nurse for Doctors Without Borders. Now, Joyna enjoys her work as a full-time Housekeeper at the Doubletree Hotel in Charlottesville.
Ahmad arrived in Charlottesville in June of 2009 after fleeing Iraq. He now works at the University of Virginia Hospital transporting patients by stretcher and wheelchair.
Byu Lar and her husband arrived in Charlottesville from Burma with their four children and little English between them. Now, Byu Lar is working as a Table Attendant at UVA’s Runk Dining Hall.

Refugees at Work in Charlottesville

US - Charlottesville, VA
02.04.2011

The IRC in Charlottesville provides vocational counseling, resume preparation, job search and placement services, and financial assistance to refugees with the goal of helping them find their first job in America.  For many refugees, earning a livelihood is not only essential to gaining control over their future, but vital to regaining a sense of personal dignity.  Hundreds of refugees have become valued members of Charlottesville's workforce by contributing their diverse skills to over sixty local employers.

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Ma Aye Myint and Pa Pu Yu, Burmese refugees in New York City
Map of Thailand and Myanmar
Mae La refugee camp in Thailand near the Thailand, Myanmar border
Ma Aye Myint, Pa Pu Yu, Ler Pwe Htoo, Mya Thein and Saw Paw Kay at JFK airport
Pa Pu Yu and Ma Aye Myint share photos of their daughters and grandchildren
Burmese refugee Pa Pu Yu rides a New York City bus
Ma Aye Myint tries out an electronic fare card in the New York City subway.
Burmese refugee Ma Aye Myint at her new home in the Bronx
Kids at their new home in the Bronx
International Rescue Committee's Dah Thu checks in on the Mynt family
An International Rescue Committee staff and family with clothing donations
IRC resettlement staff brief the Myint family on school in the U.S.
The youngest Myint children visit the neighborhood school
Staff at the Bronx school welcome the family.
Pa Pu Yu and Ma Aye Myint pick up Saw Paw from his school in the Bronx
After resettling in New York City, the Myint family moved to San Diego, where they were reunited with one of their daughters who was eventually given permission to come to the U.S.. Ler Pwe Htoo -- Pa Pu Yu's oldest son -- now lives in Texas and works at a food processing plant.

One family’s journey

United States, US - New York, NY
02.04.2011

Refugees have been fleeing Myanmar for decades to escape civil strife, political upheaval and economic stagnation. IRC volunteers Steven Carbó and Jaya Jiwatram share the story of one family's first days in the United States after 20 years in a refugee camp in Thailand.

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Leontine Dehoua Lato with other Ivorian refugees in Blemieplay
This room and an adjacent corridor houses 24 refugees.
An IRC medical team carries vaccines and drugs to Blemieplay
An Ivorian refugee receives oral polio vaccine.
An IRC staff member in Blemieplay prepares a vaccination
IRC medical workers assist Liberian health workers and community volunteers
An Ivorian refugee suffering from with malaria is examined
David Ghiah, a health worker, examining an Ivorian refugee
Children are being examined for symptoms of malaria
Ivorian refugee children

Refugees in limbo

Liberia
01.20.2011

Waves of refugees have fled to Liberia after widespread violence broke out in Ivory Coast following disputed presidential elections there. The IRC is assisting uprooted people on both sides of the border.

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A muddy street in Nairobi's Eastleigh neighborhood
A widow from Somalia sits by a sewing table in an IRC-supported shop.
A Somali refugee woman sits next to a table piled high with colorful fabrics
A Somali refugee woman sits in front of a wall of colorful textiles
The front of a school for refugee women supported by the IRC
A young Somali woman shows the henna designs on her hands
A Somali schoolgirl in Nairobi, Kenya

Urban refugees' plight

Kenya
01.19.2011

Today, almost half of the world’s refugees live in cities.  Among them are refugees from Somalia living in precarious circumstances in Kenya's capital, Nairobi.
 

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