FilmAid in Kenya
OUR WORK HERE
Started working in 2001
1,638 average number of people at evening screenings
14,835 attended the 2013 Film Festival in Kakuma refugee camp
22 professional cameras and camcorders currently in use by refugees
Kenya hosts more than half a million refugees within its borders. Since 2013, the number of South Sudanese refugees in Kenya has almost doubled, with almost 50,000 fleeing violent conflict and seeking refuge in Kakuma refugee camp, located in Northwestern Kenya. Additionally, continuing violent conflict and famine in the region has also swelled Dadaab refugee camp’s population to more than 450,000 in 2012, making it the world's largest refugee camp.
FilmAid’s programs in Kenya are extensive. We work in Kakuma and Dadaab refugee camps as well as informal urban settlements in Nairobi, to support and empower these marginalized communities.
We work with refugees, volunteers, and full-time staff to deliver life-saving information to those who need it most. Partnering with UNHCR and WFP, we ensure new arrivals have the information they need as soon as they arrive, showing informative films about their rights, responsibilities and what to expect from their new and unfamiliar home.
Our mobile cinema units show uplifting and entertaining cartoons and movies throughout the camps, as well as life-saving PSAs and films on critical health and social issues.
FilmAid’s Filmmaker Training Program gives youth the creative and technical skills necessary to explore the concerns of their own communities and to tell their own stories, in their own voices. The fruits of this program can be seen annually at our FilmAid Film Festival - the only one of its kind worldwide - which showcases the films of young refugee filmmakers from Kakuma and Dadaab.
