Guest-blogger and Project Coordinator, MariaSole Dall’Oro reports from Dadaab, Kenya, the world’s largest refugee camp.  

The impressions that hit you upon arrival in Dadaab, Kenya, are those of endless bush, incredible heat, tons of United Nations convoys, police officers and, not least, a seemingly infinite number of families who have been forced to flee their homes.  Dadaab now hosts 450.000 refugees, many of which have lost touch with their loved-ones when fleeing conflict and war. 

The impressions described above also summarize how the Refugees United’s East Africa team and I felt when we arrived in Dadaab last week. We traveled to Dadaab to kick off our new mobile operations together with our Outreach Volunteers who will be going from tent to tent with a mobile phone to connect families separated by war and conflict. Supported by Kenya Red Cross Society (KRCS), the team and I carried out a 3 days training of the Outreach Volunteers, teaching them about our family tracing system, Refugees United’s work, and how to implement the operations. We received a lot of positive feedback and we are now about ready to launch the mobile operations in the camp. The team is excited and engaged, and we all have a clear feeling that the mobile operations in Dadaab will be a success… So lets roll up our sleeves and get to work! Check out this video by FilmAid and learn more about Dadaab refugee camp.