Mariam Namwebya is a Public Health Engineering Assistant in Rhino Camp Refugee Settlement in West Nile in Uganda. She joined Oxfam as a graduate Trainee in 2020 and has been working in the humanitarian sector since then.

I started working in Rwamwanja refugee settlement where, we were doing WASH activities, ensuring provision of water supply and latrines, support supervision of water resources and extending water in schools and communities.

I have worked in different refugee settlements such as Kyaka II and Rwamwanja in South Western Uganda.

In Rwamwanja, we were providing slabs to the new arrivals, both the plastics and concrete for constructing latrines among others.

I am currently working in Rhino Camp in Arua, mainly extending water and facilities to different villages, ensuring that the water reaches the most vulnerable and hard-to-reach places.

When you see a pattern of change in people’s lives, when you see people who have been walking kilometers to fetch water, get it near their home, it gives me a sense of fulfilment. When I am doing the extension of water in the communities like schools, it is not about the money, but it is about impacting communities.

Working in the settlement can be challenging, people are from diverse cultures, they speak different languages, and the roads sometimes are in a bad state, but the more you interact and hear from them, the more you learn that every single act you make changes someone’s life for good. This pushes me to do more.

A lot needs to be done, we need to focus on training the people on how to sustain themselves and not just giving them aid. This will be possible if there is funding.

No matter who, no matter where and no matter what, we are all human, everyone needs deserves to live a decent life.

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humanitarian assistance