From hardship to hope in the classrooms of Tanzania’s biggest refugee camp

A safe haven

Nyarugusu is Tanzania’s largest refugee camp and the fifth largest in the world. In 2018 it was home to over 150,000 displaced people, many of whom are fleeing war, atrocity and civil unrest from neighbouring countries Burundi and Democratic Republic of Congo. Hundreds of people arrive to the camp every day.

Children of Nyarugusu

For a refugee, the camp becomes not only their new home but their whole world, particularly for those born and raised there. Many of Nyarugusu’s youth do not know anything else. The average stay of a child in a refugee camp is 17 years. Of the 68 million displaced people on the planet, over 50% of them are children.

Classroom in a box

In March 2016, Vodafone’s Instant Network School’s Programme brought a unique and innovative educational solution to Nyarugusu with their Instant Classroom, otherwise known as the ‘classroom in a box’. Designed to be easy to charge, store and transport, each Instant Classroom is equipped with a laptop, 25 tablets pre-loaded with educational software, a projector, a speaker and a hotspot modem with 3G connectivity.

66,000 dreams

Join #CaseForChange as we visit Nyarugusu to meet some of the young refugees attending school there. Discover how, despite the unimaginable struggles they have endured, their newfound digital education has provided them with hope, opportunities and the possibility of a successful future. As of 2018 there are 31 Vodafone Instant Network Schools in 7 refugee camps in Tanzania, Kenya, South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo, benefitting over 66,000 students across the African continent.