Steven in front of a shelter home in construction. Photo: CARE

by CARE Uganda

Protection in Emergencies

CARE International in Uganda is reaching out to the most vulnerable in the emergency response following the influx of thousands of South Sudanese Refugees into northern Uganda. CARE is providing shelters, each built with a latrine, to persons with special needs living in the Rhino Refugee Settlement. CARE target beneficiaries include women heads of households, single mothers, pregnant and lactating women, the elderly, and the disabled.

Steven Gai is 27 years old and lived in Juba, South Sudan when he had to flee the fighting that erupted in the city in late 2013. After a transit in Adjumani, in the West Nile region of Uganda, he finally reached the Ocea Refugee Reception Centre in Arua district, where he found himself alone, having left his relatives in South Sudan.

Steven can be found at Ocea Reception Centre volunteering with the screening and registration of new arrivals or assisting health staff tending to fellow refugees. As such, he has become a community leader in the settlement.

“I am recognized as being one of the leaders of the refugee community because I help people,” he says.

CARE Supports Persons with Special Needs

Steven used makeshift crutches, before receiving a wheelchair in 2005 while being a refugee in eastern Kenya. He has been using the same chair ever since.

“CARE provided me with a newly built shelter, repaired my wheelchair, and trained me to be a Hygiene Promoter.”

Today, Steven lives in his shelter home provided by CARE, situated near the office where he volunteers. Now he can better access the services available in the refugee settlement. His new role as a Hygiene Promoter allows him to develop new relationships and be a more effective community leader.