A broken lifeline: Fixing humanitarian aid’s missing link

In late 2016, soon after I arrived at Uganda’s Rhino Camp Refugee Settlement, a friend of mine was charged 200,000 Ugandan shillings ($55) to regain access to a phone he’d been locked out of. It was more than he could afford, and the technician refused to explain how the repair was carried out.

That moment was a turning point for me. For refugees and migrants like myself, phones and other digital technologies are an invaluable lifeline; they’re vital for staying in touch with loved ones left behind, for learning, job opportunities, social cohesion, and healing. Yet repair and maintenance services remain largely overlooked in humanitarian aid – and replacing a broken phone isn’t a realistic option for many refugees. 

Broken devices are often discarded prematurely or carried long distances to cities in the hopes of finding someone to fix them at a somewhat affordable price, worsening refugees’ digital exclusion, financial strain and data loss. As Peter Gift, a member of the Refugee Welfare Council, said: “A damaged phone means no contact with loved ones, lost memories. A faulty solar lamp means a child studies in the dark.”

I knew I had to do something. I secretly observed the repair, later retracing his steps to check I could redo the fix myself if needed. That moment sparked a journey of learning through YouTube videos and hands-on practice. 

For millions of refugees and migrants, digital technology is not always positive; it can also be a tool of surveillance, exclusion, and control. Navigating this contradiction is often a lonely journey. 

In March 2018, for example, Uganda’s government, in partnership with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the World Food Programme, launched a nationwide biometric verification and profiling exercise for refugees. We were forced to register in order to access humanitarian assistance and basic services, such as receiving food rations or opening a bank account or registering a SIM card, but it posed serious privacy risks, and at the time, we were not given the option to consent or refuse the collection of our data, and most refugees had little or no visibility into how their personal data was managed or shared. Some people were reluctant to raise concerns about the system during community meetings, worried that their identities could be traced and that they might be denied essential services if they were seen as critical.

Despite the challenges technology can present, it remains vital. Months after I taught myself how to repair my friend’s phone, a woman approached me desperately asking me to fix hers so she could contact her son, who was still in Yei, South Sudan. Soon, more people came forward looking for help with their broken devices. Armed with just a screwdriver, a toothbrush, a wire cutter, and scissors carried in a zip-lock bag, I began repairing devices under a tree in the camp. Each repair restored more than hardware; it restored connection, dignity, and hope.

The following year, in 2018, the idea of a repair café emerged during a digital skills training in Rhino Camp organised by the #ASKnet project, a cross-border consortium of community-driven organisations. When we organised such an event weeks later, more than 300 refugees brought radios, phones, and computers, as well as solar lamps and other basic electronics that refugees receive upon registering at the camp, which don’t come with instructions for maintenance or repairs.

This experience led me to found the Community Creativity for Development (CC4D) and the Community Repair Café Center in Eden Zone, Rhino Camp. Today, we provide daily repair services, access to tools and computers, and training in electronics repair, upcycling, and digital skills. 

Our mission is simple yet transformative: to connect communities through creativity, technology, and repair. Whether fixing a broken radio or co-designing an open-source Internet of Things project, we use practical innovation to connect people across divides of displacement, nationality, and experience.