Umoja Hope Restoration
Location
Rwamwanja Refugee Settlement
Founder
Shukuru Upendo
Uganda/Umoja Hope Restoration
Where is beauty here?
Over five weeks, Umoja Hope Restoration led conversations, interviews, and observation walks with 99 refugees and host community members across seven villages of Rwamwanja, working closely with handcraft groups, cultural dance troupes, choirs, and artisans.
People located beauty in cultural practice above all, in drum making, Intore dance, and crafts, and in everyday acts of care like planting trees and turning discarded bottles into ropes, hats, and bags. Again and again, beauty meant dignity, identity, and the feeling that a place is worth staying in.
"When a place is cared for and children have space to learn and play, people begin to feel that this is truly home."
— Community member
"People overlook planting trees and flowers while they bring oxygen, rain, create shade, and make people feel they can stay."
— Harera Noah, Duterimbere Choir Youth Group
"Intore dance is not only for income-generating activity, but also physical exercise for youth. It is an art of peacebuilding, social cohesion, and it makes people feel happy."
— Munyantore, 82, traditional drum maker and Intore dancer
What they’re building
Two things kept coming up: skilled youth with no space to practice, and young mothers who cannot take part without somewhere safe for their children.
So the community is building both at once, a Community Creativity Space where youth and teen mothers train in arts, crafts, and tailoring, with a child-friendly play and learning space alongside it and an outdoor gathering area for everyone.
Umoja Hope Restoration
Umoja Hope Restoration is a refugee-led organization based in Rwamwanja Refugee Settlement, Uganda, founded by Upendo Shukuru.
Rooted in lived experience, the organization works to restore dignity, strengthen community leadership, and support vulnerable groups. Through youth engagement, savings groups, and community initiatives, Umoja builds cooperation and resilience, helping people move from being seen as vulnerable to becoming active contributors shaping their own future.
“When refugees are trusted and supported, they lead meaningful change. We are not only people in need, we are partners capable of building solutions that strengthen our communities.”
Photo credits: Umoja Hope Restoration - 2026
— Shukuru Upendo