The global refugee system needs transforming in order to meet the demands of the 21st century and to empower displaced people as humans, rather than seeing them as victims. Listen to the story of Bahati, a refugee in Kenya for 25 years and now an advocate for the innovative Labour Mobility Project, which is supported by Refuge Point as a new legal pathway to safety.
About Refuge Point
Using private funds, RefugePoint was founded in 2005 to identify refugees who fall through the cracks of humanitarian aid. Initially providing life-saving care to HIV+ refugees in Nairobi, Kenya, the agency grew quickly, adding a range of services to support those with the most urgent needs. Over time, RefugePoint developed a unique, full-service response model for assisting urban refugees and facilitating their self-reliance.
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Biographies
Bahati Ernestine
Bahati Ernestine is a Continuing Care Assistant at Glen Haven Manor (GHM) Canada working with a team of healthcare providers to care for residents. Bahati is also a Research Associate at the University of Oxford’s Refugee-Led Research Hub (RLRH). At the RLRH, Bahati supports the Academic and research pillars. Previously, Bahati has served as a UNV with the UNHCR Nairobi Branch Office as the Youth Activities Coordinator. She also worked as a nurse at Kenyatta National Hospital in Nairobi during the COVID 19 pandemic. Bahati has a Nursing degree from Moi University in Eldoret Kenya, a certificate in Project Management in Global Health from the University of Washington, and a certificate in the Kenyan Sign Language from the University of Nairobi. Bahati is a former Rwandan refugee currently residing in Nova Scotia, Canada.
Sasha Chanoff
Sasha Chanoff is the founder and executive director of RefugePoint, a humanitarian organization that finds lasting solutions for the world’s most at risk refugees. He co-authored a new book titled From Crisis to Calling: Finding Your Moral Center in the Toughest Decisions with a foreword by David Gergen.
Sasha is a recipient of the Charles Bronfman Humanitarian Prize, the Harvard Center for Public Leadership Gleitsman International Activist Award, and is an Obama Administration White House Champion of Change. He serves on the steering committee of New England International Donors and is an advisor to the Good Lie Fund, the philanthropic arm of the Warner Bros. film The Good Lie about the resettlement of the Sudanese Lost Boys.
Sasha has appeared on 60 Minutes and in other national media outlets, and has received social entrepreneur fellowships from the Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation, Ashoka, and Echoing Green. His book is about defining moral decision points in leadership, and is based on a life and death dilemma Sasha faced during a US rescue operation into the Congo to evacuate massacre survivors. The story is a featured video on the Women in the World / NYT website. Sasha has also told this story on the TEDx stage, for NPR’s Moth Radio Hour, and in other forums. He lives in Somerville, Massachusetts with his wife and two children.