When the word “refugee” makes headlines, it’s usually in the context of an emergency — a border crisis, a sudden evacuation, or a tragic image that briefly captures the world’s attention. But what happens when the crisis doesn’t end? What happens when the cameras leave and the aid slows down?
In part one of our 2022 program reflection, we shared the growth and outcomes of our English education initiative in the Nyarugusu refugee camp. Today, we turn our attention to another pillar of Equipping Hope International’s work, vocational training for women through the Business of Hope tailoring program.
Since 2019, this initiative has equipped dozens of refugee women, many of them widows, adolescent girls, and orphans, with practical sewing skills and the confidence to pursue income-generating activities in a camp where few economic opportunities exist. This program is about more than skills. It is about dignity, security, and future stability.
Since Equipping Hope International launched its first training programs in the Nyarugusu refugee camp nearly four years ago, our mission has remained consistent: equip displaced people with skills and opportunities to rebuild their lives with dignity. Three years in, we are humbled by how much has been accomplished and more convinced than ever that sustained investment in education and vocational training changes lives.
This blog post is the first of a two-part update based on our 2022 field report, highlighting the outcomes of our English and tailoring programs to date. In this post, we focus on the Teaching Hope English initiative and its long-term impact in a camp where barriers to education are steep and opportunities are rare.
In a world of big problems, it’s easy to assume that big organizations hold the keys to change. Massive budgets, global reach, corporate partnerships. These things dominate conversations about international aid and development.
But at Equipping Hope International, we believe in something smaller. Slower. And perhaps even more powerful.
We believe in the power of presence.
In the earliest days of Equipping Hope International, before we had formed a board, launched a program, or drafted a mission statement, I kept returning to a simple but powerful idea, the kind of idea that’s easy to say but hard to live: teach a man to fish.
In refugee camps like Nyarugusu, the conversation around skills is often framed in terms of survival. Learning to sew means income. Learning English means opportunity. Agricultural training means food security.
All of these are true. But at Equipping Hope International, we believe there’s more to it.
We believe work has spiritual meaning.
When people imagine refugee camps, they often picture temporary tents, emergency food drops, and urgent evacuations. The word “refugee” itself conjures a sense of crisis — a moment of upheaval followed, hopefully, by a return home or a new beginning elsewhere.
But in Nyarugusu Refugee Camp, the story looks very different.
At Equipping Hope International, we don’t hide the fact that we are a Christian organization. It’s not a label we add on top of our programs. In fact, it’s the foundation underneath everything we do.
From the structure of our English and tailoring classes to the tone of our leadership and our long-term goals in Nyarugusu Refugee Camp, our commitment to Jesus Christ shapes both the why and the how of our mission.
Here’s what that means, and why we believe it matters more than ever.
In Matthew 4:19, Jesus says to His disciples, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” It’s a call to transformation, to a life spent not just surviving, but leading others into hope. At Equipping Hope International, that call shapes everything we do. But in a refugee camp where survival itself is uncertain, becoming a “fisher of men” takes on a deeper, more tangible meaning.
Yes, we want to help people encounter the love of Christ.
But we also want them to learn how to fish — and sew, and farm, and teach.
In other words: we aim to equip not just spiritual growth, but practical, daily resilience. This is our vision.
Earlier this year, we shared about a new initiative born from a challenging season — our Protecting Hope Mask Project. As COVID-19 swept across the world and into the Nyarugusu Refugee Camp, we knew our mission had to adapt. That shift led us to repurpose our tailoring program, hiring graduates to sew protective face masks for their fellow camp residents.
Months later, we can say this project did more than meet a need. It ignited hope. It created jobs. It protected families. And through it, we saw again that God is always at work, even when the world feels uncertain.
