Alexander Harvey

When we first started Equipping Hope International in 2018, we didn’t begin with a long strategic plan or big donor campaign.  We began with a friendship, a shared burden, and a simple desire to do something that mattered.  Five years later, our work in the Nyarugusu refugee camp has grown into a small but deeply rooted effort to equip refugees with skills, opportunity, and spiritual hope.

Serving in Nyarugusu, one of the largest and longest-standing refugee camps in Africa, has taught us more than we ever expected.  And as a Christian nonprofit working in Tanzania, we’ve had to unlearn some assumptions, deepen our commitments, and trust God to multiply however much we bring.

Whether you’ve been walking with us since the beginning or are just now learning about our mission, we want to share five of the most important lessons we’ve learned since launching educational and vocational programs in a refugee camp setting.

1. Relief is not the answer — People Need Agency

Nyarugusu was established in 1996 and today shelters more than 150,000 people from the Democratic Republic of Congo and Burundi. Most refugees here have lived in the camp for years, if not decades.  The emergency phase is long over, but the needs remain.

We quickly learned that while relief meets an immediate need, it cannot restore what has been lost.  True empowerment begins when people are given the tools to participate in rebuilding their lives.

That’s why our two core initiatives — Teaching Hope (English education) and Business of Hope (vocational training, including tailoring) — focus on more than just relief and aid delivery.  They focus on restoring agency, building confidence, and preparing students to lead within their community and beyond.

“The generous will themselves be blessed, for they share their food with the poor.” — Proverbs 22:9

Sometimes the best way to share is to teach someone how to plant, grow, and cook their own food, metaphorically and literally.

2. Restoration begins with local leadership

From day one, our programs have relied on the talent and leadership of people who actually live in the camp.  Our English teachers are themselves refugees.  Our tailoring instructors are themselves refugees, who were once students.  Our program coordinators speak the language, know the culture, and understand the unique constraints of life in a refugee camp, because they are refugees, too.

This approach hasn’t just helped us operate more effectively, it’s helped build trust.

Too often, nonprofit work in refugee camps is done to people instead of with them.  But when leaders come from within the community, participation rises, confidence grows, and the work sustains itself long after a project ends.

If we’ve learned anything, it’s this: success doesn’t come from exporting expertise.  It comes from expanding on the wisdom already present.

3. Small wins matter more than big headlines

In a world dominated by large-scale initiatives and fast results, it’s easy to forget the power of quiet, steady progress.  But in Nyarugusu, success is often slow and deeply personal.

        • A student reading a sentence in English for the first time.
        • A graduate starting a small sewing business to support her siblings.
        • A former refugee teacher now guiding the next class.

These aren’t headline-grabbing moments.  But they’re signs of hope taking root.

As a Christian nonprofit in Tanzania, our goal isn’t to scale fast. It’s to serve faithfully. And the fruit of that faithfulness isn’t always flashy — but it is real.

4. Education unlocks more than opportunity — it restores hope

Many of our students are youth who have aged out of traditional schooling, young women who have missed years of education, or individuals who never had the chance to complete primary school.

Through our educational programs in refugee camps, particularly our English training initiative, we’ve seen how learning rekindles hope.

For many, English is the key to:

        • Enrolling in a Tanzanian university
        • Qualifying for a resettlement program
        • Communicating in their host or future resettlement country
        • Participating more fully in camp-based programs or services

In the 2020–2021 academic year, 14 of the 21 students selected for the prestigious DAFI scholarship (sponsored by UNHCR) were graduates of our English program.  That’s not just a statistic, it’s a testament to what’s possible when educational access meets student dedication.

5. The Gospel is most powerful when paired with presence

Equipping Hope International is unapologetically Christ-centered.  But we believe evangelism must be embodied.  Not just taught, but lived.  Not just declared, but demonstrated.

We don’t run a church.  We run English and tailoring classes.  But those spaces become sacred when our staff prays with students, listens without judgment, and walks with people through real struggle.

“And if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness.” — Isaiah 58:10

In Nyarugusu, light shines quietly.  It looks like a graduate teaching her neighbor how to sew.  A student choosing hope over despair.  A community beginning to believe that change is possible because of the hands God has equipped.

What Comes Next

After five years of serving in Nyarugusu, we’re more committed than ever to our mission. We want to continue:

But we can’t do it alone.  This work continues because people like you pray, give, and care.

If you’ve walked with us for one year or all five, thank you.  And if you’re just joining the journey, we invite you to be part of a mission that doesn’t just respond to crises.  We invite you to be a part of a mission that responds with compassion, consistency, and Christ.

With gratitude,


The Equipping Hope Team