Zaynab is a Somali refugee mother in Kobe Refugee Camp, Dollo Ado, Ethiopia. Here she stands in the light of a solar lantern with her baby daughter on her back, in her refugee shelter. Photo credit: IKEA Foundation
‘My hope and my dream is to see lights in all the camps,’ says Juliette Murekeyisoni. Juliette is a protection officer working for the UN in the Tindouf refugee camps sheltering Sahrawi refugees in western Algeria. Her job is to help keep the residents safe.
She is talking about a project to bring solar street lights, indoor lanterns and fuel-efficient cooking stoves to UN refugee camps in countries including Ethiopia, Chad, Bangladesh and Jordan. The lighting will be funded by IKEA – for every LED light bulb from its LEDARE range sold between 3 February and 29 March, the Swedish furniture giant will donate €1 to the agency. The UN said that as the fund-raising campaign is only half way through, it’s not possible to reveal how much has been raised so far.
Formerly a refugee herself, Ms Murekeyisoni has worked for the UN in refugee camps since 2005. So she is in a position to know exactly how important these type of lights really are. ‘I can tell you from me, it is very, very important. I know from being in the dark and also having the light, it’s very, very important,’ she says, speaking by phone from Algeria. She used to work at the Kobe camp in Ethiopia, one of the refugee camps to get solar lanterns under a previous IKEA-backed initiative (see below: Amir’s story).
‘Refugees coming, they are put in the place where there is no tent, there is nothing. There is just a field,’ she explains. ‘It’s in the dark. It’s completely in the dark.’
Shelter, sanitation and the basics of life must be built up around them. And street lights usually don’t end up one of the priorities. Ms Murekeyisoni says that until street lights were installed at Kobe, she’d never seen a camp with street lighting before.
Lighting can make it safer for particularly women and children living in the camp to leave their tent during the night, for example to go to the toilet. ‘You don’t know who can be around. If you have a light you are seeing around you.’ This makes it harder for any potential attacker to sneak up on you.
Light also allows children to study after dark, replacing the previous source of light which would have been a wood fire. And it can bring back some of the ordinary, everyday things of life – for example, making it safer for women to socialise with their neighbours. ‘They can have a normal life,’ as Ms Murekeyisoni puts it.
Or, as the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, António Guterres says: ‘Together, we hope to be able to transform the lives of many refugees.’
Amir’s story*
When the sun goes down, Somali refugee Amir (36 years) stands in the spotlight of a solar powered street light in a refugee camp in the isolated Somali region of Ethiopia. Sitting on the ground at his feet, engrossed in their studies, are 30 adult students learning English and mathematics at his street night classes.
Amir has lived in the refugee camp in Dollo Ado since August 2013 but has been a teacher for more than four years. The private but affordable night classes he runs are a vital source of extra income for him and his family, as well as an important service to the community.
But, this unlikely school under the spotlight of a solar street light, has only been made possible thank to the fact that a set of solar street lights have been installed in his refugee camp and that, for the first time, Amir also has solar powered light at home
‘Before we had the solar lights at home we went to bed at around 8pm,’ says Amir. ‘Now that we have solar lighting in our home and the street lights outside we have more time to do tasks in the evening.’
‘For me this means I can prepare lessons for school the next day and also teach the evening classes under the solar street lamp.’
In the non-electrified refugee camps of Dollo Ado, southern Ethiopia lighting has been a significant barrier for community development and safety. The IKEA Foundation has been working with the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) to improve lighting within refugee camps, and with the launch of the new IKEA campaign, called Brighter Lives for Refugees, many more families and residents living in refugee camps will benefit. The impact for refugees like Amir, his family and community are significant.
‘Refugees face many challenges,’ explains Amir. ‘Many families often have to sell food rations to pay for other essential items like torch batteries. Batteries are expensive. The solar lights have helped.’
‘Education can’t die – it is always with you until you die. I hope that with these night classes I can improve the standard of education for people in the camp and also make a better life for my family.’
While the future is still uncertain, Amir and his wife Saafi are clear that education will help them to succeed.
‘I left Somalia because I wanted an education and it was getting more and more insecure for educated people to live there. Here, life can be difficult but we have shelter, water and access to education but I think more women and girls need access to education,’ says Amir.
‘We want our son to receive a good education so that he can help himself and others. My dream is to go to University in another country like Australia or the US. I only hope that when I leave this place I go somewhere better, but not back to Somalia because I don’t want to lose my life. I want to follow education.’
*Please note that all names have been changed and Amir’s story was written and supplied by the IKEA Foundation
