Build Regenerative Wellness Center for Kakuma Refugees

Since 2017, To:Foundation has been reframing the narrative around what it means to be a refugee by building purposeful spaces in disenfranchised communities, empowering displaced people to regenerate, play, think, & create. Our initiative for 2024 is Regenerate – an ambitious project around mental and physical wellbeing in Kenya’s Kakuma refugee settlement.

Kakuma is the Swahili word for “nowhere”, and Kenya’s Kakuma is one of the world’s largest refugee settlements. For the more than 280,000 children and families - refugees and asylum seekers from several different countries - Kakuma is their only home.

Kakuma is one of the world's largest refugee settlements, providing essential support to children and families who have fled from 19 different countries. Up to 47% of people facing migration are at risk of developing PTSD. This risk can be influenced by the duration of their journey, origin country, destination country, and their status as refugees or labour migrants.

“Since I joined yoga, I have learned to love myself. How to accept myself as who I am. I have a hope of having my own space where it's not an obstacle for some people to come and get my service.” - Rita, Yoga Instructor

Over the past year, we have partnered with local creative activists using yoga & fitness as an outlet for healing to help their peers build healthy new lives. Inspired by their dedication to improving quality of life in the community, we are launching a project to build a multifunction wellness space for Kakuma residents. Sumayya Vally, founder of architecture and research firm Counterspace , will lead the design concept.

This project goes beyond the conventional by addressing the holistic wellbeing of the refugee community. It integrates fitness, psycho-social support, education, and cultural elements in a harmonious and inclusive space, creating zones for calm meditation, reflection, appreciation of the landscape, and lively areas for community expression and interaction.

Facilities include:

Acknowledging the unique challenges faced by residents of the settlement, this project takes a multifaceted approach providing resources and spaces that contribute to personal and community development. The Wellness and Fitness Centre is not only a structure, it is a beacon of hope and resilience, a testament to the strength of human spirit in the face of adversity.

“It will become a safe space to move our bodies and build healthy routines that can have an enormous impact on the communal well being” - Abubakar Rugamba, Kakuma

Our vision extends beyond the physical structure, aiming to seamlessly weave elements of the landscape into the edges of the campus with controlled spaces for agroforestry and planting. Within the facility we are committed to honoring a wide array of cultural practices, particularly ceremonies related to the landscape and nature.

Having already identified a plot of land in Kakuma Zone 1, we are in the process of collaborating with government officials for various approvals. This is a critical moment in any project, and your support now will help propel Kakuma Wellness and Fitness Centre into the next phase.