Hub transforms refugee youth

IN a bid to transform the lives of refugee youth, Tongogara Refugee Camp has established a Transformation Innovation Hub (TIH).

According to the co-founder of TIH, Evode Havyarimana, the initiative seeks to make youth have a purpose in life.

“We envision that a society with purposeful youth will build the future and develop their countries. As progressive youth, we noted that youth were adopting negative coping mechanisms due to idleness and unemployment.

“This is affecting youth, especially from the age of 15 to 30 years, with consequences such as teen pregnancies, increase in sex work, teenage marriages, theft and drug abuse. This often results in the spread of HIV/AIDS, youth incarceration, drug addiction and hopelessness,” said Evode.

The hub was constructed using mortar and compacted 40,000 plastic bottles. The hub construction exercise employed 100 youth from the camp.