Bidi Bidi Refugee Camp in Uganda sprang up practically overnight – before what was a sleepy rural countryside was transformed into a 270,000 person refugee camp in just a few short months. And with the incredible influx of people, with more coming from South Sudan every day, that means that new infrastructure needs to be built – and quickly.
That’s where ARC’s construction team comes in. Made up of volunteers – most of whom are refugees themselves – this is the team called when construction needs are at their highest in Bidi Bidi, when the first walls have to go up for service centers, community centers, and more.
“I like doing construction because I like helping the community,” said Joel, the lead for the construction volunteers.
Realizing the incredible contributions this team provides throughout the camp, we wanted to do something to help these hard-working guys do their jobs just a little easier. The ARC team had an idea – field kits.
The kits are like ready-to-go packages of everything they might need out in the far reaches of Bidi Bidi, all in an easy to carry pack. And inside each backpack the volunteers found water bottles, essentials to wash their hands when they’re without water, a hammer, pliers, and other tools.
Within minutes, with backpacks on their backs and tools in hand, the volunteers were out on their latest project site – a new community center in the settlement.
“This has added energy for us,” Aroma, one of the volunteers, said. “It shows the community who we are working with, that they care about us. We can work with morale.”
Supporting the thousands of newly arrived refugees in Bidi Bidi would simply not be possible without incredible volunteers like these. And, showing them our gratitude – in the form of these simple kits – goes a long way toward keeping their spirits high.
