Mahama (Rwanda) : the camp is equipped with a computer and multi-service center

It is Save the Children, an NGO partner of the UNHCR that financed the project run by two refugees, a young Burundian and a Congolese woman. It is a computer and multi-service center. Refugees hope to benefit from this center.

INFO SOS Médias Burundi

The center is built in village 11, Mahama II zone. It was officially opened at the beginning of December.

It offers several services : Cyber ​​café, production of videos and photos for various events, government services that are provided online such as requests for civil status certificates or tax returns, business registration with RDB (Rwanda Development Board), battery charging for mobile phones, printing and production of several computer documents…..

There is also a language learning program such as English and French or an introduction to basic and maintenance computers.

The project is funded by Save the Children, a partner of the UNHCR.

The NGO launched a tender and two refugees, a young Burundian and a Congolese woman, won the competition. And then, Save the Children granted its funding and purchased equipment to make it available to these entrepreneurs.

Even though the center was officially opened at the beginning of December, it has been operational for almost three months. The performance is satisfactory according to humanitarians who are closely following this project.

And for beneficiaries, it is a sigh of relief.

“Its services are useful, essential, at our disposal, at a low cost and in a timely manner”, indicate Burundians and Congolese who live in this camp.

Several refugees are jostling for cyber-internet.

“We already have three shifts of learning English, French and computer science for the day. There is also a request to open another class for the night reserved for people who do not have time during the day, this shows that inhabitants of Mahama benefit from our services”, explained an agent of this center called “Be-Smart Digital Center”.

And this is all the more so since most of these services were provided in Kigali or in the center of the Kirehe district, far from Mahama.

Addition for Mahama Elite

Maison Shalom had already set up a similar center in the Mahama camp four years ago, an offer that is nevertheless far from meeting the demand.

A former community leader puts things in perspective.

“At Mahama Elite, you can’t spend a lot of time on a computer because first of all there aren’t many of them while those who need them are more numerous. Then, it’s a small space for several activities. Not everyone has access to it and finally on weekends, Mahama Elite is closed,” he explains.

On the contrary, he adds, at Digital Center, “it all depends on your means. And the more money you pay, the better the service. At Digital Center, for example, there are banking and tax declaration services that are not offered by Mahama Elite.”

For him, even other centers of this kind are welcome to entertain and strengthen the capacity of refugees, in a camp that is growing day by day.

Mahama currently shelters more than 65,000 refugees including more than 40,000 Burundians, the rest being mainly Congolese.

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The new center of the Mahama refugee camp in eastern Rwanda (SOS Médias Burundi)