Refugee Primary School students hard at work in Kibondo District

TCRS has been one of the UNHCR's primary implementing partners in operating the refugee camps in Kibondo District since their formation in 1993/1994. At the height of the refugee crisis, the Kibondo Refugee Project (KRP) was maintaining an active presence among the hundreds of thousands of refugees living in the five camps that had been established in the District. In addition to officially managing Kanembwa, Karago, Mtendeli, and Nduta Camps, TCRS responsibilities and scope of refugee activities included the storage & distribution of food & non-food items, providing water & sanitation services & facilities, operating primary, secondary, and post-secondary (vocational training & adult education) schools, constructing residential and communal shelters, encouraging Income Generating Activities (IGAs), advocating for improved agricultural and environmental practices, promoting HIV/AIDS awareness, facilitating transportation and voluntary repatriation, and offering logistical support to the various humanitarian and governmental agencies working in and around the camps.

Refugees prepare to board a repatriation convoy

However, as peace and political stability have gradually began to take root throughout much of the Great Lakes region in recent year, Kibondo's refugees slowly started returning home and one by one the refugee camps began closing. Karago Camp was the first to close its gates in May of 2005. Then, in the spring of 2007 both Mkugwa and Mtendeli followed suit, and in November of the same year Kanembwa was also closed down and handed over to the local authorities. With the closure of Nduta in December 2008, the last of the five camps that together once housed more than 250,000 refugees now stands empty, its vacated buildings a silent reminder of the atrocities that were endured and witnessed by their former occupants - and of the hope for a better future that the successful voluntary repatriation effort has demonstrated.

While the camps have all been officially closed, approximately 2,000 refugees still remain in Kibondo, waiting to be resettled to third countries. In cooperation with the UNHCR and the International Organization for Migration (IOM), TCRS is continuing to provide support to this small group, ensuring that they have access to adequate health care, water & sanitation facilities, housing, and food.

Motor vehicle mechanics, secretarial studies, carpentry & joinery, tailoring, and electrical wiring are some of the courses offered at the vocational training centres in Kibondo

Additionally, in recognition of the lasting impact of refugee presence of the local host communities, TCRS has made a point of complementing its refugee activities with a number of initiatives in the villages surrounding the camps. Many of these programs have been designed to produce results on more than one level: community sporting events that disseminate HIV/AIDS messages while encouraging friendly relationships between community members and refugees; Income Generating Activities (IGAs) like tree nurseries and beekeeping that increase household income while counteracting deforestation; the construction of communal water & sanitation facilities that promote healthier lifestyles, lead to increases in primary school attendance, and serve as examples for future construction efforts; vocational training centres that will decrease unemployment while offering scholarships for vulnerable and handicapped students who would not otherwise have access to such institutions. Due to the continuation of these activities, our staff at the KRP remain busy in spite of the diminishing scope of operations directly related to refugees.