Inspiring story of RELON’S FOUNDER
RELON’S FOUNDER STORY Amplifying Hope: How RELON Malawi Empowers Refugee-Led Change In the heart of Malawi’s Dzaleka Refugee Camp, a quiet revolution is unfolding. It is not led by outsiders or large institutions, but by refugees themselves—ordinary individuals who have chosen to become extraordinary agents of change. At the center of this movement stands RELON Malawi, a beacon of collaboration and empowerment founded in 2020 with a bold vision: to unite refugee-led organizations (RLOs), amplify their voices, and channel resources directly to those who know their community’s needs best. The Problem: Unheard Stories, Untapped Potential When refugees flee conflict or persecution, they carry more than just survival instincts—they bring resilience, skills, and a deep understanding of their community’s challenges. Yet, for years, refugee-led organizations in Malawi struggled to access funding or recognition. Donors couldn’t hear their impact stories, see their results, or trust their narratives. Without support, these grassroots groups—already stretched thin by scarcity—faced an uphill battle to sustain their work. The RELON Malawi Solution: Uniting Voices, Building Futures RELON Malawi emerged to bridge this gap. Founded by a visionary leader Remy Gakwaya who saw the untapped potential of RLOs, the network began by bringing organizations together. Its mission was simple yet transformative: empower refugees to lead their own solutions. Since 2020, RELON Malawi has: Unified over 100 RLOs, creating a collective force for advocacy and collaboration. Directly funded 17 organizations and provided capacity-building support to 77 others. Equipped leaders with training in financial management, project design, and storytelling, ensuring they can manage resources effectively and share their impact with confidence. “They are already making a difference—we simply amplify their stories,” explains the founder. “Our role is to ensure the world sees their courage and channels support to those who deserve it most” Why Refugee-Led Organizations Matter RLOs are not just service providers—they are lifelines. Run by refugees, for refugees, they understand the nuances of displacement, trauma, and cultural barriers. They know which families need emergency food aid, which youth crave educational opportunities, and which women seek safe spaces to rebuild their lives. In Dzaleka Camp, these organizations plant community gardens, run literacy programs, and offer psychosocial support—all with minimal resources. RELON Malawi steps in to strengthen their efforts, providing tools to scale their impact. “They are the catalysts of hope” the founder emphasizes. “With a little support, their passion becomes unstoppable.” A Call to Action: Invest in Community-Driven Change RELON Malawi’s work proves that the most sustainable solutions are rooted in community. When donors fund RLOs, they invest in trust, cultural fluency, and long-term resilience. The results speak for themselves: A women’s cooperative transforms donated seeds into a thriving farm, feeding hundreds. Youth leaders use art and sports to heal trauma and rebuild dreams. Educators create makeshift schools, ensuring children don’t lose their futures to displacement. “The best day to start is today,” urges the founder. Whether donating directly to an RLO or partnering with RELON Malawi to identify vetted organizations, every contribution fuels this cycle of hope. Join the Movement RELON Malawi invites the world to see refugees not as victims, but as leaders. By supporting RLOs, we honor their agency and courage. Here’s how you can help: Donate: Fund an RLO directly or trust RELON Malawi to allocate resources where they’re needed most. Amplify: Share their stories. Follow RELON Malawi’s updates and help break the silence around refugee-led innovation. Believe: Recognize that refugees are not waiting for saviors—they are building solutions. In the words of RELON Malawi’s founder: “They have decided to be the solution. Let’s stand with them.” Together, we can ensure that hope in Dzaleka Refugee Camp isn’t just sustained—it’s magnified. Visit RELON Malawi today, and become part of a story where every act of support becomes a chapter of transformation.
Refugee Led Organization training
3-day capacity building for refugee le organizations aiming at building their capacity on organization management.
REFUGEE LED ORGANIZATION TRAINING
From 22 to 24 July, Relon Malawi organized a 3-day training targeting 30 Refugee Led-organizations RLOs and the training covered 3 areas. The covered topics related to organizational proposal writing, monitoring and evaluation, and management, budgeting and logistics. The purpose of the training was to boast capacity of the participants so that they can manage their organizations accordingly.
Teacher’s training
Refugee Led-Organization Network of Malawi RELON-MALAWI has today witnessed the launch of DEWEY COMMUNITY CENTER DCC and the kick-off of teacher training.
Thank you goes to UNHCR’s Refugee Led innovation funds for enabling the implementation of this project # ‘’Learning through play’’.
NETWORKING EVENT
Refugee Led-organizations Network of Malawi RELON-Malawi organizes every year a Networking event, this year, the activity was conducted on 25th April, 2024 at Manac conference facility. A networking event is an opportunity for refugee Led-organization RLOs to connect and share their working experience and expose challenges they face in their daily routine. The event aims at fostering connection, interaction collaboration for growth, knowledge sharing and networking opportunity among organizations dedicated to support and empower refugees and the host communities. This year’s event was themed: “connect and interact for collaboration and growth”. During this year’s event, various stakeholders, representative from the department of refugee under Homeland ministry and Refugee Led Organizations RLOs came together and shared experiences and challenges they face in lines of their duties.
NETWORKING EVENT
During the event, Refugee Led-Organization RLOs were given a topic relating to the event’s theme and were grouped in order to discuss together and come up with tangible solutions on issues affecting them. Topics given by Relon-Malawi deputy director Cecile Pango were: For the first group ‘’ Why should we encourage organizations founded by refugees to work” The second group discussed on: ‘’ If we encourage RLOs to work, which impact can they bring to our community”, and the third group discussed on ‘’challenges faced when working as a refugee led-organization”.
2024 NETWORKING EVENT
Refugee Led-organizations Network of Malawi RELON-Malawi organizes every year a Networking event, this year, the activity was conducted on 25th April, 2024 at Manac conference facility.
Capacity building
Given the immense challenges faced by refugees, it is crucial that we empower and support refugee-led organizations that intimately understand the unique needs and experiences of displaced communities.