In photos: Kristin Davis visits refugees in Rwanda

In December 2016 UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador Kristin Davis travelled to Rwanda to visit refugees from Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Images from the trip, along with some of the stories of the individuals Kristin met, are below:

Rwanda. UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador Kristin Davis visits refugees

Kristin joins UNHCR Representative in Rwanda Saber Azam at a press conference in Gihembe refugee camp.

Kristin meets 16-year-old Burundian refugee Pelagie in Mahama refugee camp. She came alone to the camp: her mother had left her and her father died during the Burundian civil war. She was completely vulnerable until UNHCR joined her up with 3 other young girls and a foster carer.

Kristin visits Paysannat school in Mahama refugee camp, where over 20,000 Burundian refugee children (at the time of writing) are being supported in school by the Government of Rwanda and UNHCR. Constructing more than 100 classrooms in the local school near the camp, today this is the largest school in the country, and thanks to the Government policy of integration, refugee children attend classes alongside Rwandan host community children.

Kristin meets Jeannine from the women survivors project at the Mahama refugee camp. She told Kristin she had been raped and had become pregnant and that the baby was born disabled. Since coming to the camp, her husband did not want to support her or the baby and she felt utterly alone. She said 'I wanted to throw myself into the river and I felt no peace. Now I am here with this group, I no longer feel alone and feel these other women have had the same experiences'. UNHCR provides support, counselling, legal information and hospital referrals.

Kristin Davis joins Congolese refugee Catherine to understand her daily life in Gihembe camp. Catherine was waiting for the date to be resettled to the USA, having lived in the camp for 20 years. She was subsequently resettled in January 2017.

Kristin meets baby Eny, 5 months old. Her mother, Beatrice, is a foster carer for 4 unaccompanied girls who came from Burundi to Mahama camp in May 2015.

Kristin meets Marie Therese in Mahama refugee camp. Marie Therese is 72, and has just moved in to her semi-permanent shelter from a tent. She fled Burundi after her husband was murdered and her belongings were stolen. She told Kristin that UNHCR had given her back her dignity, and clothes, and she felt safe after being on the move so long.