The International Organization for Migration (IOM) has partnered with NGO Heshima Kenya to provide clothing for refugees departing from Kenya and traveling to the United States as part of the United States Refugee Admission Programme.
Every week, Somali, Ethiopian, Sudanese and Congolese refugees from Kakuma and Dadaab Refugee Camps are brought to the IOM’s Transit Centre in Nairobi to complete preparations for their journey to the United States.
Every departing family is given a flight tool kit which includes clothing, shoes, toiletries, diapers, snacks and drinking water. These items are important during the refugees’ journey as often refugees do not have adequate or appropriate clothing for their transition to the life in United States.
The clothing provided for female beneficiaries are made by refugee women through Heshima Kenya’s Maisha Collective. Based in Nairobi, Heshima Kenya provides protection to unaccompanied refugee minors and young refugee women without familial support. The Maisha collective allows these young women to learn job skills and earn an income by making hand dyed scarves and dresses. In 2013 approximately 500 women and girls will receive clothing and scarves made by the Maisha Collective.
Kenya hosts over 600,000 registered refugees, many of who have been living in refugee camps for more than two decades. This year over 10,000 refugees from Africa will resettle to the United States, of these 2000 will be from Kenya.
For more information contact Jenifer Pro on JPRO@iom.int