Mapendo International
Encyclopedia
RefugePoint is a non-profit organization
Non-profit organization
Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...
that "works to fill the critical and unmet needs of people affected by war and conflict who have fallen through the net of humanitarian assistance." RefugePoint is based in Boston, Massachusetts, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, and Nairobi
Nairobi
Nairobi is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The city and its surrounding area also forms the Nairobi County. The name "Nairobi" comes from the Maasai phrase Enkare Nyirobi, which translates to "the place of cool waters". However, it is popularly known as the "Green City in the Sun" and is...
, Kenya
Kenya
Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
. They have worked primarily in East Africa
East Africa
East Africa or Eastern Africa is the easterly region of the African continent, variably defined by geography or geopolitics. In the UN scheme of geographic regions, 19 territories constitute Eastern Africa:...
and are now expanding their work to include other parts of Sub-Saharan Africa
Sub-Saharan Africa
Sub-Saharan Africa as a geographical term refers to the area of the African continent which lies south of the Sahara. A political definition of Sub-Saharan Africa, instead, covers all African countries which are fully or partially located south of the Sahara...
. RefugePoint is a member of Refugee Council USA, a coalition of U.S. non-governmental organizations focused on refugee protection.
History
RefugePoint was founded in 2005 by Sasha Chanoff and Dr. John Wagacha Burton. While conducting refugee rescue operations with the International Organization for MigrationInternational Organization for Migration
The International Organization for Migration is an intergovernmental organization. It was initially established in 1951 as the Intergovernmental Committee for European Migration to help resettle people displaced by World War II....
(IOM), Sasha became aware of the unseen and therefore unmet needs of the many refugees living in urban settings.
Since its inception, RefugePoint has engaged in a strategic partnership with the Institute for Global Leadership at Tufts University
Tufts University
Tufts University is a private research university located in Medford/Somerville, near Boston, Massachusetts. It is organized into ten schools, including two undergraduate programs and eight graduate divisions, on four campuses in Massachusetts and on the eastern border of France...
, building off of their common goal to engage others in critical thinking about all sides on an issue.
RefugePoint continues to evolve and serve the needs of refugees both from their office in Boston, Massachusetts and from their clinic located in Nairobi, Kenya.
In 2006, RefugePoint won an Echoing Green
Echoing green
For the electronic band, see The Echoing Green , for the poem see The Echoing GreenEchoing Green is a twenty year-old global non-profit organization operating in the area of early-stage social sector investing...
Fellowship and was named a Waldzell Institute "Architect of the Future." RefugePoint received a Draper Richards Fellowship in 2007. In 2010, RefugePoint's efforts were awarded with the Charles Bronfman
Charles Bronfman
Charles Rosner Bronfman, is a Canadian businessman and philanthropist. With an estimated net worth of $US 2.0 billion , Bronfman was ranked by Forbes as the 15th wealthiest Canadian and 595th in the world....
Prize.
On June 29, 2011 Mapendo announced that they have changed their name to RefugePoint, "in order to better reflect its core mission of protecting the world’s most vulnerable and forgotten refugees."
From Sasha Chanoff, RefugePoint’s executive director, explained that the organization’s staff have been impressed for years by the many refugees who relate that contact with RefugePoint became the turning point in their lives. “Our effort,” he says, “is to provide lasting solutions for people fleeing from persecution, war, and genocide. The new name, RefugePoint, reflects the moment when those most at risk see the possibility of deliverance from lives of fear and desperation and a path opening up toward new lives for themselves and their families.”
Projects
RefugePoint (formerly Mapendo) works in East Africa to identify and assist refugeeRefugee
A refugee is a person who outside her country of origin or habitual residence because she has suffered persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or because she is a member of a persecuted 'social group'. Such a person may be referred to as an 'asylum seeker' until...
s who are at high-risk for personal harm. Because of the very sensitive nature of RefugePoint's work, specific operations concerning those RefugePoint is assisting must remain confidential. Broadly, RefugePoint's work revolves around the needs of displaced people. They care for immediate needs through their clinic in Nairobi, while searching for more durable solutions.
The Clinic
The medical clinic in Nairobi was created to provide health care to marginalized and impoverished refugee survivors of trauma. Staffed by Kenyan medical professionals, it serves HIV positive people, torture survivors, widows with children, and others at risk who have urgent medical needs and no access to health care.
Rescue and Protection
RefugePoint identifies and assists individuals, families and groups of people fleeing war and conflict who need urgent and lifesaving assistance. They work with governments, the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
, and other aid agencies to identify durable solutions for people in danger. They are actively assisting refugees across east and central Africa through this initiative.
Awareness Programs
RefugePoint seeks to raise awareness and understanding for marginalized refugee communities. To this end, they have undertaken a series of photography and video projects. The information is exhibited and distributed in the United States through collaborations with refugee resettlement agencies and community-based organizations.
Media
The Boston Globe featured an article on Mapendo International's (now RefugePoint) efforts on its front page on June 18th, 2009.The New York Times cited Mapendo's (now RefugePoint) involvement in the effort to resettle survivors of the Gatumba
Gatumba
The village of Gatumba lies on the western side of Burundi, near the border with the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The place is known for a massacre that took place at a refugee camp connected to the village.-Massacre:...
camp massacre.
The Skoll Foundation
Skoll Foundation
The Skoll Foundation is a social entrepreneurship foundation based in Silicon Valley, California, with a mission to drive large-scale change by investing in, connecting, and celebrating social entrepreneurs and other innovators dedicated to solving the world’s most pressing problems...
's Social Edge highlighted Sasha Chanoff and Mapendo (now RefugePoint) in a video on their website.
Elle Magazine in France wrote an article on Mapendo's (now Refuge Point) efforts in the April 23rd, 2007 edition.
Leadership
- Sasha Chanoff, Executive Director
- Amy Slaughter, Director of International Operations
- M'Imunya J. Machoki, Kenyan Board
- Anne Marie Burgoyne, Portfolio Director, The Draper Richards Foundation
- Richard Wayne, Co-founder, Capital Crossing Bank
- Lorna Brett Howard
- Wendy Ettinger
- Désirée Younge