Financial Biographies of People Coping With New Surroundings

Introduction

This collection of profiles examines the lives of migrants and refugees who are managing new environments, be they displaced for long periods, in limbo waiting for the chance to move onward, or settling into their final destinations.

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Key Findings/Methodology

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Article Snapshots

Getting Lucky with Camp Employment

A man from South Sudan shows what financial transitions can look like for highly educated refugees.

Spoon, a male South Sudanese refugee, shows what relatively successful financial transitions can look like for highly educated refugees. Possessing skills that are in short supply in camp, both he and his wife have gotten work with NGOs and, as long as the NGO funding is available, can earn even more than they did back home. Even while Spoon earns a decent living in Uganda, he longs to return home to his land, his extended family, and his cows.

Making Do by Making Brew

South Sudanese mother tries to earn enough to survive by supplementing her food rations with brewing liquor.

Like many South Sudanese women we interviewed... have since settled in Bidi Bidi as well. Easther began to sell high-proof liquor to survive. Despite Easther’s entrepreneurial spirit, to start another business requires capital that is out of reach.

When I Go Back to South Sudan, I Will Implement this on My Own Farm

A South Sudanese man uses his time in the camp to learn skills he can take home with him.

Abdo, a family man from South Sudan, uses his experience in his town’s Village Savings and Loan Association to find employment in the Bidi Bidi Refugee Camp and help his fellow refugees fight for financial security.

The Cow: The Only Thing My Children Have

A single mother of nine serves as her family’s caretaker and breadwinner..

Kadi, who once ran a small but stable business in South Sudan, arrived in Uganda with few resources but abundant tenacity. As a single mother, she balances the family’s short-term expenses with long-term investments to better provide for her children.