May 28 14
Six Reflections from the Tech Team’s Trip to Kakuma
May 28, 2014 — REFUNITE’s mobile platform has always been refined and modified on the ground, encouraging the refugees who registered with us to share their ideas and allowing our staff to meet their changing needs. Though the years, Kakuma Refugee Camp in Kenya has served as an unofficial lab where we test new features and solicit the opinions of the refugees using our platform. That’s why our Copenhagan-based IT Director Julie Rix Bagger and Nairobi-based User Experience Designer Henry Ngari recently traveled to Kakuma Refugee Camp: to learn from the refugees themselves. They were able to touch base with…
May 26 14
REFUNITE Needs You to Name This Mobile Application
Submit your ideas via Twitter using the hashtag #NameThisMobileApp, or by posting on our Facebook Timeline. May 26, 2014 — For weeks now the tech team here at REFUNITE has been diligently working to deliver something amazing: an updated version of our mobile search tool, also known as the “USSD 1.5”. As we prepare to launch this new version, we realize that we have yet to come up with a great name! We’ve decided that “USSD Version 1.5” is simply too geeky and esoteric. If “USSD” means nothing to you, you’re not alone. Fortunately, the explanation is rather simple. Our USSD…
May 1 14
May 1, 2014 — No one understands the day-to-day work of connecting refugees better than REFUNITE’s Outreach Volunteers, who work directly with separated families to provide the support they need to register themselves and their missing loved ones. Follow our new video series, in which our Outreach Volunteers, who are refugees themselves, describe their work, their personal experiences as refugees, and the dedication they feel to ensuring that everyone has access to REFUNITE’s family-tracing platform. Above is the first installment of our Outreach Volunteer interviews. Watch these dedicated men and women share their stories in their own voices. CONTACT…
Apr 30 14
Empowering Families Around the World
Wednesday, April 30, 2014 — Last week, more than 80 influential global policy makers from nonprofits, the private sector, and academia came together to discuss how to empower families around the world in service of broader development goals. The conference themed “Empowering Families: A Pathway to Development” took place on April 16th and 17th in Doha, Qatar. Co-hosted by the Qatar Foundation (chaired by Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser), and the Doha International Family Institute (DIFI), the conference took place on the 20th anniversary of the United Nations International Year of the Family. REFUNITE Co-Founder, David Mikkelsen accepted an invitation…
Apr 24 14
Xavier Project Brings REFUNITE to Refugees
April 24, 2014 — This photo from the Kampala office of refugee nonprofit Xavier Project shows only one aspect of the many services the organization offers urban refugees in Kampala and Nairobi. From primary education support to adult computer training, the Xavier Project provides refugees with the skills they need to be successful and independent. Above, refugees who participate in computer literacy training take advantage of the computer lab, where they are free to check email, look for jobs, and more. As part of the training, these refugees will be guided through the step-by-step process of registering with REFUNITE online — bringing…
Apr 23 14
REFUNITE Outreach in Kampala, Uganda
April 23, 2014 — Last month, REFUNITE Outreach Volunteers in Uganda helped register Congolese refugees at the office of long-time partner InterAid. Home to over 265,000 persons of concern, according to UNHCR, Uganda remains extremely vulnerable to rapid influxes of refugees fleeing violence in their home countries. In July 2013, UNHCR estimates that over 66,000 Congolese refugees fled to Uganda. The duress under which many of these refugees leave their home countries has left countless individuals searching for lost family members. As instability in neighboring countries continues, REFUNITE’s Outreach Volunteers seek to reconnect new arrivals with their lost loved ones as…
Apr 15 14
Congolese Siblings Reconnect after Years of Separation
The story below was recalled by Congolese refugees Belle* and Marie.* The details described are accurate to the best of their recollection. Imagine surviving violent civil unrest only to discover that your sister is missing. Imagine your search for her yields only evidence that she has perished in her attempt to escape. Imagine drawing strength from your one remaining sibling as you arrange for her funeral and perform a traditional burial ceremony in her honor. And imagine learning more than a decade later that the sister whose funeral you arranged is alive and well in the United States. This is…
Apr 4 14
A Mother’s 5 Year Search for Her Daughter
The story below was recalled by Somali refugee Binti. The details described are accurate to the best of her recollection. The REFUNITE mobile application described below is available only to adult (over 18) members of separated families in search of loved ones. This is the story of Binti* – mother of three adult children, victim of war, and refugee – and of her reconnection with her oldest daughter Filan.* After years of searching, Binti discovered REFUNITE and used the mobile family-tracing platform to locate her daughter. For five years, Binti lived in fear that her children were lost forever. Residents…
Apr 3 14
April 3, 2014 — Last week, REFUNITE’s tech team traveled to Eastleigh, Nairobi for a user testing focus group with Somali refugees who were accessing the platform for the first time. Watch this short video to see our team in action, growing our user base while learning how to refine our mobile application and serve even more refugees. More than fifteen Somali refugees joined our focus group to learn how they could take the search for their missing loved ones into their own hands. Video by Carolyn Nash, Communications Coordinator for REFUNITE (cn@refunite.org) (Source: https://refunite.org/)
Mar 28 14
Outreach and Awareness Forum in Ruiru, Kenya
March 28, 2014 — Outreach Coordinator and Community Ambassador Farhiya Shazz Hussein recently participated in a UNCHR-organized outreach campaign in Ruiru, Kenya. The forum provided information to urban refugees living outside of Nairobi in efforts to ensure that all refugees in Kenya have access to the services they need. In response to the worsening humanitarian crisis in South Sudan, the outreach focused on attracting South Sudanese refugees, who are fleeing the country at a rate of nearly 2,000 people per day, according to UNHCR. Above, Farhiya explains the Refugees United platform and encourages participants to register themselves and their missing…
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