STORIES OF CHANGE
May 10 19
Mother and son reconnected after three years of separation
“Mother, I’m fine!” These were the first words Shamsho, 40 years old, heard directly from her son Ibrahim, on the phone, after three years of separation. They lost contact in 2015, while they were living in Kakuma camp, in the Northwestern region of Kenya. Ibrahim, 22 years old, arrived in Kenya with his family in 2008. They were fleeing the civil war in Somalia and went straight to Dagahaley camp, in Dadaab, located in Northeastern region of Kenya. One year later, UNHCR transferred Ibrahim and his family to Kakuma camp. After graduating from secondary school, Ibrahim decided it was time…
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May 6 19
Lost and found within a week
REFUNITE’s Community Leader Network has engaged more than 4000 local leaders. This network has a combined reach to more than 2.4 million people. This allows REFUNITE to support communication around communities and the information can travel fast, since the supported population already knows who they should ask for support. In the Democratic Republic of Congo, parents and children get separated every day while fleeing conflict areas. These families can be scattered  and without any contact for years. Thanks to the REFUNITE Community Leader Network, one of these families experienced the power of the communication among the network. Marcel, his wife…
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Nov 13 18
Somali couple reconnected after 10 years of separation
Bisharo left her hometown, Mogadishu, in Somalia, in 2008. She was fleeing the civil war in her country, which began in 1991. Bisharo had a boyfriend, Abdi, who she loved very much and to whom she was promised in marriage. However, she didn’t have time to say goodbye to him and went to Dadaab refugee camp, in Kenya, with her family. She remained in that camp for almost 3 years and then moved to Nairobi. Feeling safe and secure, Bisharo decided to search for Abdi, but she had no success in her quest. She asked about him to friends and…
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Oct 23 18
REFUNITE team meets community leaders from DRC
Photo: (from left to right) Guillaume Mastaki, Nathalie Badesirhe,humanitaire, Fuego El Mutaz, and Leon Simwerayi. Our REFUNITE team talks to hundreds of leaders every day, on a week basis. Usually, we connect through phone calls, but earlier this year one of our call center agents, El Fuego Mutaz, got the exceptional opportunity to meet up in Gisenyi, Rwanda, with four of our active leaders from the North Kivu Region in DRC: Madame Nathalie Badesirhe, a humanitarian agent from Goma, Maître Bashwira Murhula Zachary, a lawyer from Goma Law Court, and senior member of the national Civil Society, Mr Guillaume Mastaki,…
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May 25 15
‘I Found My Brother on REFUNITE After 8 Years of Separation!”
In 2013, a young man named Haroon attended a community forum in Dadaab refugee camp, where he learned about REFUNITE’s family tracing services. Dadaab is located in Garissa County, approximately 100 kilometers from the Kenya-Somalia border. It is one of the largest refugee camps in the world and is home to more than 500,000 refugees from different conflict zones in East and Central Africa. The community forums are where refugees go to learn about the different services and programs available to them, and it is also where they get the latest news and updates from the agencies that support them. Haroon…
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Apr 2 15
Sisters Reconnected After 9 Years Apart
Photo: Ali Abdi Hassan (left), the Outreach Volunteer who helped Fatuma Abdi (right) reconnect with her sister who lives in the US. After 9 years of separation, Fatuma Abdi, a 19-year-old woman living in a Dadaab refugee camp can finally put a smile on her face after a successful reconnection with her older sister in America through REFUNITE’s family reconnection platform. The temperature outside is 36°C. March is the hottest month of the year in Dadaab, North Eastern Kenya. Fatuma Abdi arrives at UNHCR’s field office just around 10 a.m. for an interview, in which she recounts what it was like to…
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Jan 15 15
Finding Hope: Somali Cousins Reconnect After 17 Years Apart
Zahra Ahmed, a Somali refugee, was reconnected with her cousin through the REFUNITE platform after 17 years apart. Before the civil war broke out in Somalia in 1991, Zahra and Abdi were your typical lively children. They went to madrasa (Islamic school), played and spent a lot of time together. 
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Dec 18 14
Two sisters reconnected after 16 years of separation
Early that morning, Estelle* had gone to fetch some water for her family and five children. When she returned to the village, women, men and children were in total panic. The rebel soldiers were drunk or under the influence of drugs, showing no mercy when raiding the village and torturing the people. Estelle immediately knew that the only option she had was to run for her life. She managed to get her children who were at a neighbor’s house, but had to leave both her parents and siblings behind, including her cousin Patricia*, who had always been like a sister…
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Dec 18 14
Reconnected after 22 years of separation
The following is the story of Rahma* and how she found her father and brother through the online reconnection platform after 22 years of separation. Rahma and her husband, Said, recounted their story on April 4th, 2013.  Please note that this story was told in Somali and has been translated to English for use by REFUNITE. *All names within this retelling have been changed to help ensure anonymity. Rahma was born in Mogadishu, Somalia in 1990. When the war broke out in Somalia, like so many others, her father and brother fled to Dadaab, a refugee camp in Kenya, for their safety. Rahma…
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Dec 18 14
Congolese Siblings Reconnect after Years of Separation
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 the story of Belle and Marie, two sisters currently living in Kakuma Refugee Camp in Kenya. In 2003, the women were separated…
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Hundreds of families are reconnected through our work every month, often after years of searching for their missing loved ones.
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