Kakuma refugee camp, located in NW Kenya near the border of South Sudan, is home to over 105,000 refugees from across the continent. Kakuma is a word that means "Nowhere" in Swahili; since 1992 it has been a forgotten warehouse for refugees who have little hope of returning to their home countries due to conflict, strife or political exile. Some people have been there for as long as 18 years, eking out an existence on the very fringes of East Africa’s most promising democracy,...
more »Kakuma refugee camp, located in NW Kenya near the border of South Sudan, is home to over 105,000 refugees from across the continent. Kakuma is a word that means "Nowhere" in Swahili; since 1992 it has been a forgotten warehouse for refugees who have little hope of returning to their home countries due to conflict, strife or political exile. Some people have been there for as long as 18 years, eking out an existence on the very fringes of East Africa’s most promising democracy, dependent on food aid and humanitarian agencies.
Most of the refugees live in mud shelters or UNHCR-provided tents that offer little protection from the elements, insects and reptiles that pose a significant threat. After extensive negotiations with the Kenyan government, UNHCR has begun construction of a new area on the outskirts of Kakuma camp, building houses using a relatively new technology: Interlocking Stabilized Soil Bricks. The bricks are manufactured on-site, using local labour and local soil blended with a small amount of cement and water. It takes 15 seconds to make each brick, a week to let them cure and about a day to build a complete house using the LEGO-style blocks. Human dignity is widely acknowledged to be a fundamental human right, yet there is nothing dignified about the living conditions in Kakuma. This new housing project could help change that.
These homes would also mark something of a policy change for the Kenyan government, who for the past 21 years have resisted providing more permanent dwellings for refugees for political reasons. The government recently instructed all refugees living in urban centres in Kenya to report to Dadaab or Kakuma camps. With both camps already severely overcrowded and resources stretched beyond capacity, these new dwellings may offer a safer stop-gap solution until repatriation or resettlement is possible. Unfortunately, negotiations between UNHCR and the government are proceeding very delicately and for the moment, the homes are reserved for Somali refugees who have been pre-approved for resettlement in the US. This construction would mark the first time that ISSB technology has been approved for use in a refugee camp, and it could change the way we house refugee populations.
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