US funding cuts threaten youth programmes at Kenya's Kakuma refugee camp

Africanews (in English)

US funding cuts threaten youth programmes at Kenya's Kakuma refugee camp  Kenya's northern Kakuma refugee camp is home to more than 300,000 people, who've fled conflict in dozens of east Africa countries. For the children there, traditional and modern dances are helping them to distract themselves, as they face an uncertain future due to funding cuts.  READ MORE : http://www.africanews.com/2025/06/27/us-funding-cuts-threaten-youth-programmes-at-kenyas-kakuma-refugee-camp  Subscribe on our Dailymotion channel and receive all the latest news from the continent.    Africanews is available in English and French.  Website : www.africanews.com  Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/africanews.channel/  Twitter : https://twitter.com/africanews

Transcript

00:00Life here at the Kakuma refugee camp in northwestern Kenya has never been easy.

00:05But recent cuts to USAID programs have made it much harder,

00:10with food rations cut to just 30% of recommended basic needs.

00:15For these young residents of the camp, learning and practicing traditional dance

00:19is helping distract them from hunger and keep them away from abuse and crime.

00:25They have to keep the culture alive because of the moral values, they learn from it,

00:30and also message your peace, convey message your peace,

00:33and then convey message your forgiveness on how they can be able to socialise with other communities.

00:40That's one of them.

00:41And also when children learn through cultures, they are able to showcase their heritage.

00:47The dances they're learning belong to the Ocholi culture from South Sudan and northern Uganda.

00:52Gladys says dancing helps keep her Ugandan roots alive.

01:02I got here when I was 12 years old, and now I'm 20.

01:08I like the traditional dance, because when I was home, I liked the traditional dances.

01:14Just five kilometres away in a neighbouring village,

01:21five boys are practising a very different dance in a small hall.

01:25The centre used to offer a range of activities for local youth,

01:29but the freeze on USAID means it's now under threat.

01:33Now, we are not reducing some of the activities because we are few.

01:42The staff are few, and even per day, there's only one staff who is remaining in the centre.

01:49And it is really hard for him or her to contact 500 children.

01:54We do duties, like other children, they can stay outside the fence,

02:01and maybe after 30 minutes, we remove them,

02:06and we also allow others to come and practise.

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