Aimerance is a trained actress from Congo. She now lives in Nakivale Refugee Settlement, but she hasn’t forgotten her training.
“I worked for six years as an actress and when I came here I started Refugee Voice. We perform educational plays on issues facing the community,” she explains.
She is passionate about engaging youth in Nakivale. “I often hear about girls who’ve been raped or suffered violence. And I see everyday the problems some youth are having with drugs and alcohol,” said Aimerance, “Our goal is to help these youth – to get them to hospitals or connect them to counseling or other services so they can understand that there is life after what they’ve been through.”
It’s no small goal and in a settlement of over 130,000, it’s difficult for Aimerance and her group to reach all the at-risk youth. “If we had a camera, microphone and kitenge costumes to match, we could make short films of our plays that could be viewed all around Nakivale, all the time.”
We were amazed by Aimerance’s determination and vision for Refugee Voice. So, we got to work getting the equipment they needed.
“Asante sana. We say thank you very much,” said Aimerance, “now, we will be able to do so much for the youth here.”
Aimerance and her team ran in the World Refugee Day 5k in support of their idea. Special thanks to Alissa & Trevor Ombuna and Kris MacDonald who supported the team and helped make their idea happen.
