Tanzania

women learning to become tailors through tailoring apprenticeships with Equipping Hope's Business of Hope program in Nyarusgusu Refugee Camp in Tanzania.

November 2, 2022July 1, 2025

One Stitch at a Time: Tailoring Program Impact in Nyarugusu

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.

Congolese refugee students learning English at a Teaching Hope literacy class in Nyarugusu Refugee Camp in Tanzania

September 24, 2022June 28, 2025

Sustaining Hope: Reflections on Three Years of Impact in Nyarugusu

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.

July 1, 2022July 1, 2025

The Power of Presence: Why Small Ministries like Equipping Hope International Matter More Than Ever

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.

Cofounder Alex Harvey at a stateside gift wrapping fundraiser for Equipping Hope International

March 28, 2022June 28, 2025

Why We Teach to Fish: A Reflection from the Cofounder

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.

October 1, 2021July 1, 2025

The Theology of Work in Displacement: Why Skills Matter Spiritually in Nyarugusu

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.

April 1, 2021July 1, 2025

Why Our Christian Identity Matters as an International Nonprofit

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.

Tailoring apprentices and master tailors working together on sewing machines at Nyarugusu Refugee Camp in Tanzania. The apprenticeships are a part of Equipping Hope Interanational's Business of Hope program.

February 1, 2021June 28, 2025

“Fishers of Men… and Tailors and Farmers”: The Vision Behind Equipping Hope

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.

Nyarugusu Refugee Camp residents wearing masks provided by the Protecting Hope Project from Equipping Hope International in Tanzania.

November 10, 2020June 28, 2025

Sewn in Faith: The Impact of the Protecting Hope Mask Project and the Return of Hope

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.

Protecting Hope through mask production during COVID by tailoring apprenticeship graduates of Equipping Hope's Business of Hope program.

June 20, 2020June 28, 2025

Adapting in Uncertainty: How COVID Shifted Our Focus — and Sparked a Special Project

When we set out our goals for 2020, a global pandemic wasn’t on the list. Like so many others around the world, we’ve had to adjust, pivot, and pray our way through every change COVID-19 has brought. In the Nyarugusu refugee camp, where our work is located, the effects of COVID may be particularly difficult to navigate. The camp is densely populated. Healthcare resources are limited.

But amid all the challenges, one thing has remained unchanged: our commitment to equipping hope. And through that commitment, a new opportunity emerged — one that combined our existing programs, responded to the global pandemic in a proactive manner, and empowered our graduates to serve their community in a tangible way.

We call it Protecting Hope.

May 1, 2020July 1, 2025

When the World Stops, Faith Doesn’t

A few months ago, the world paused.

Airports emptied. Schools closed. Streets fell quiet. Nations went into lockdown. And for the first time in a generation, a single crisis touched every continent, every economy, every home.

In the face of COVID-19, many of us find ourselves asking: What now? How do we continue serving when everything feels uncertain? How do we move forward when the world seems to be standing still?

At Equipping Hope, those questions met us right in the middle of our calling.