P-World of Design Free Skilling Camp for Nakivale Refugee Settlement

AllAfrica
7 min readFeb 5, 2023

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Located in Nakivale Refugee Settlement in Uganda, the P-World Of Design Free Skilling Camp is making a significant impact on the lives of refugees. Founded by interior architect and entrepreneur Dr. Phiona Charlene Namanya, the camp has successfully trained 250 refugees in a variety of skills in its first month-long cohort — this graduation ceremony was aired on NBS TV and UBC TV. The camp is set to take place every three months, and later on expand into other refugee camps across Uganda with the goal of empowering as many refugees as possible in skills such as tailoring, basketry, soapmaking, crafts, bricks and pavers making, baking, I.T, English language and financial literacy.

The P-World Of Design Free Skilling Camp provides refugees with the opportunity to gain valuable skills that can help them become self-sufficient and build better lives for themselves and their families. Participants in the camp have reported feeling more confident and empowered as a result of the training they have received, some have found jobs and others started their own businesses.

Uganda needs more of Dr. Phiona Charlene Namanya: The Interior Architect Empowering Refugees Through Design

In addition to the practical skills training, the camp also offers financial literacy and English language courses to help refugees understand how to sell their products, manage their money and plan for their future. The impact of the P-World Of Design Free Skilling Camp is evidently already being felt in the Nakivale Refugee Settlement, and with plans to continue the camp every three months, the hope is to empower as many refugees as possible through the power of education and skill development.

“Uganda needs more of Dr. Phiona Charlene Namanya: The Interior Architect Empowering Refugees Through Design”

Nakivale refugee settlement was established in 1958 and officially recognized as a refugee settlement in 1960 through the Uganda Gazette General Notice №19. Nakivale refugee settlement is the 8th largest refugee camp in the world. Largest in Africa.

Nakivale refugee settlement is approximately 200 km away from Kampala, Uganda’s capital. It is one of the oldest refugee settlements in the Uganda — the oldest refugee camp in Africa. It is estimated at well beyond 180 square kilometres. This enormous area is geographically divided into three administrative zones — Base camp, Juru and Rubondo. These three zones, in turn, contain a total of 74 individual villages.

It currently hosts 129,587 refugees from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi, Somalia, Rwanda, Ethiopia, Eritrea, etc. Although many refugees in the area have been living there for several years, recent conflicts in nearby countries are increasing the number of arrivals per day. The majority of refugees in the settlement are Congolese although the population is largely heterogeneous with many cultures and groups from different nationalities. The settlement is divided into 79 villages with an average of 800 to 1,000 people per village.

A special thanks to the Ugandan Government For it’s hospitality towards refugees. Uganda is one of the largest refugee-hosting nations in the world, with 1,529,904 refugees (as of 28 February 2022). The vast influx of refugees is due to several factors in Uganda’s neighboring countries such as associated economic crisis and political instability in the region. Uganda has relatively ‘friendly’ policies that provide rights to the refugees, such as rights to education, work, private property, healthcare and other basic social services. This model emphasizes self-reliance and community-based approaches, with a focus on providing refugees with the opportunity to work and support themselves. However, despite these efforts, many refugees in Uganda continue to face significant challenges, including limited access to education and employment opportunities.

Objective: To provide refugees in the Nakivale settlement with free, high-quality skills training, in order to improve their entrepreneural culture, employability and overall quality of life.

Mission: Our mission is to empower refugees in the Nakivale settlement through the acquisition of valuable skills. We believe that everyone deserves the opportunity to reach their full potential, regardless of their circumstances.

Activities: Our skilling camp will offer a range of skills , including tailoring, basketry, soapmaking, crafts, bricks and pavers making, baking, I.T, English language and financial literacy. Classes will be held for a whole month, on a quarterly basis and will be taught by experienced industry professionals and volunteers. In addition to technical skills training, we will also offer workshops on topics such as Emotional and Social intelligence, start -up business strategies, resume building and job search strategies to help our students succeed in the job market.

Impact: We expect that our skilling camp will have a significant impact on the lives of the refugees in the Nakivale settlement. By providing them with valuable design skills, we hope to improve their employability and overall quality of life. In addition, we believe that our camp will help to foster a sense of community and belonging among the refugees, as they learn and grow together.

The increasing costs of hiring instructors, purchasing supplies and materials, graduation ceremonies, a small start up package for every graduand, daily food and security, workshops and building a facility to host the classes required that we get as much support from donors as we possibly can.

Dr. Phiona Charlene Namanya is a successful Global Award Winning Interior architect and entrepreneur in Uganda with 13 years of experience tucked under her belt and a Doctorate Of Organisational Leadership with a number of Global Awards such as 28C.O.E — Credentials Of Entrepreneur “Seral Entrepreneur Africa Award based in Malaysia, Chamber Of Young Entrepreneurs- Innovative Brand Of The Year and Influential Brand Award Of the Year but she is also making a significant impact in her community through her charitable work.

Phiona is also making a significant impact in her community through her charitable work. As the director of P-World Of Design Limited, Namanya founded the P-World Of Design Free Skilling Camp for Nakivale Refugee Settlement, which has successfully trained 250 refugees in a variety of skills in its first month-long cohort. The camp is set to take place every three months, with the goal of empowering as many refugees as possible in skills such as tailoring, basketry, soapmaking, crafts, bricks and pavers making, and financial literacy.

As an interior architect, Namanya brings a unique perspective to her charitable work, incorporating elements of design and sustainability into her projects. With the P-World Of Design Free Skilling Camp, she is not only empowering refugees with practical skills, but also providing them with the tools and knowledge they need to create sustainable, self-sufficient lives.

Established in 2009, P-World Of Design is a boutique interior design and space planning partnership, passionate about creativity and cutting edge corporate design. P-World Of Design is an entity dealing in Interior Architecture Design, Exterior Design: From Corporate Office Design, Residential, Recreational, Events Management and design of all styles.

A fully registered and qualified, fully fledged team of Interior designers, space planners, Construction engineers, Electrical Engineers, Plumbers, Painters, Carpenters etc all experts combined to ensure our number 1 goal — Client satisfaction.

Namanya’s commitment to giving back doesn’t stop with the free skilling camp. She has also supported a number of charity organizations by providing funds for school fees for 200 orphans, skilling disadvantaged women, widows, and children, and even constructing a borehole for the Kiboga Community to provide free access to clean water.

We hope that this proposal has provided you with a clear overview of our NGO and the work that we do. We are confident that our skilling camp will have a positive and lasting impact on the lives of the refugees in the Nakivale settlement and the overall Social and Economic development of Uganda at large.

We are grateful for any support that you can provide.

P — World Of Design Limited

+256776090707 / +256759090707 / +256776546104 / +256759649945

P.O. Box 36179, Kampala, Uganda

Email: phionarlene@gmail.com

Twitter: @pworldofdesign1

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100087926037304&mibextid=ZbWKwL

Instagram: https://instagram.com/pworldofdesignfreeskillingcamp?igshid=OGQ2MjdiOTE=

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