Bringing Light to Lives: The Impact of Plastic Bottle Skylights
In refugee settlements like Bidibidi and Nakivale in Uganda, the inside of homes are dark and unlit. Without access to electricity, daily life is a constant challenge. Refugees rely on hazardous lighting sources such as kerosene lamps and candles, risking fire and health issues, while plastic waste piles up in their environment. These conditions limit […]
An update and a milestone: we bought an ugly building.
The short update: We bought a building! When we’re done with it, we’ll save 27% of our overhead costs every year. The long update: Every Shelter has had five official addresses for our office headquarters in the last five years. As we’ve grown both as staff and in our mission, each new office move has added complexity to […]
Shelter Depot Nakivale Open for Business
After the Bidi Bidi Shelter Depot proved successful, we, alongside our partner Alight, launched a new flagship store in Nakivale, a large refugee settlement in south Uganda. Nakivale is one of the oldest refugee settlements and the 8th largest in the world. It is home to 171,387 refugees from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi, […]
Empowering Refugees While Preserving The Planet.
In today’s world, where climate change and the issue of millions of displaced persons are growing concerns, we believe that finding effective yet earth-conscious solutions is essential. This Earth Day, here are three ways we are empowering refugees while preserving the planet. Reforestation: Nurturing Communities and Nature In places such as Uganda, the threat of […]
3 Myths About Displacement
Imagine the last time you went camping. The feel of grit on your skin, the smell of campfire smoke on your clothes, and aches in your hips and back from sleeping on a thin pad probably got old after the second day. Maybe you didn’t have the right gear and felt like you were going […]
World Refugee Day Shelter Tour
Everyone has the right to adequate housing. This right is affirmed in dozens of international treaties, conventions, charters, policies, and laws. But what does adequate actually mean? Is it purely subjective, or are there standards to which we can hold one another accountable?
Host A Shelter Tour
Everyone has the right to adequate housing. This right is affirmed in dozens of international treaties, conventions, charters, policies, and laws. But what does adequate actually mean? Is it purely subjective, or are there standards to which we can hold one another accountable?
Every Shelter Wins Second Place at Dubai’s International Humanitarian Hackathon!
Every year, world leaders gather in Dubai for the Dubai International Humanitarian Aid and Development conference and expo. It’s a massive event that brings together representatives from all across the spectrum of aid and development — from top UN officials to donor organizations to field workers from nongovernmental organizations — ready to discuss the biggest […]
Billboards and Tarps Nerd Session
Using Billboards for Tarps TLDR: Using discarded billboards for tarps wasn’t our idea. We saw refugees using them, and unlike the standard shelter tarps, these lasted for years and not months. To be clear, if the world has tarp experts, it’s these families. They’re forced to rely on these thin membranes for years on end. […]
Summer 2019 Co-Creation Internship
We are gearing up for a fast-paced, exciting summer. In May, a group of interns pursuing architecture and engineering degrees will join us for a three-month internship to develop prototypes of brand new products to pilot in Uganda with the American Refugee Committee (ARC) in Uganda. This is our first big “co-creation” project, and we […]
