FilmAid is proud to make two exciting announcements about TEDxKakumaCamp, the first TEDx event ever held in a refugee camp. The theme is “Thrive, a celebration of the resilience, creativity and contribution of refugees.” We are thrilled to be a part of TEDxKakumaCamp and further our core belief that a community that speaks for itself is a community that can change and heal itself.
FilmAid will live stream the first ever TEDx event in a refugee camp on June 9 at 10AM (GMT+3), in 10 locations, six in Kakuma Refugee Camp and four in the Dadaab Refugee Complex.
You can watch alongside the Kakuma community at
two beneficiaries of FILMAID media training programs will take the stage as featured speakers.
Aminah Rwimo, Award Winning Filmmaker AND FILMAID FILM TRAINER
Aminah Rwimo, 24, is a 2015 FilmAid Media Training alumnus, and a refugee from the Democratic Republic of Congo. After completing FilmAid’s year-long media training course, Aminah launched her own career as a successful filmmaker. Her films have won numerous film festival awards including: best picture, best screenplay, best actress, and most recently Aminah herself won an award for Best Emerging Filmmaker at the IOM Global Migration Film Festival in Geneva for her film “It Has Killed My Mother.” Aminah is currently a FilmAid Media Training assistant teaching over 50 students how to use film to tell their own stories, and advocate for their own needs. Aminah is also hard at work on her second short film script and has founded an independent production company in Kakuma called Exile Key Films.
“Aminah has inspired me, and I know her talent and tenacity will inspire the world when she speaks at TEDxKakumaCamp.”
- Stella Suge, FilmAid Kenya Country Director”
Akuot Mercy Mareng - Musician, Activist and Advocate FOR ALL WOMEN
Akuot Mercy Mareng is a talented musician, outspoken advocate and refugee from South Sudan. In 2017, while on stage in Kakuma performing at a World Refugee Day event, Mercy’s outstanding voice and stage presence drew the attention of FilmAid as well as Kenyan hip hop producers Wyre the Lovechild and Jua Cali. A short while later FilmAid teamed up with Wrye to launch the Finding a Star initiative which is supported by the US State Department’s Bureau of Populations, Refugees and Migration. Mercy’s single "Anavonifanya" was produced and released as part of Finding a Star. FilmAid’s students helped produce a highly successful PR campaign that has helped catapult Mercy into the national spotlight in Kenya with appearances on TV and features in the leading national newspapers. Mercy will be speaking about her experience of forced marriage and her passionate commitment to using her music to advocate for the rights of women and girls.
FILMAID PROVIDING LARGE SCALE, SIMULTANEOUS SCREENINGS OF TEDx
250 high-profile guests from around the world will descend on Kakuma to attend the event in person. An additional 5500 refugees in Kakuma and Dadaab Refugee Camps will be able to watch the event live through large screenings hosted by FilmAid and other agencies.
“We are excited to provide large-scale screenings of TEDxKakumaCamp in Dadaab and Kakuma Refugee Camp so the refugee and host community can be inspired by the creativity, courage and contributions of the speakers, especially the four young refugees who will tell their own stories.
- Keefe Murren, FilmAid Executive Director”
GET INSPIRED: WATCH THE FILMAID DOC BELOW TO DISCOVER THE HUMOR, HUMANITY AND DETERMINATION OF THE KAKUMA COMMUNITY
FilmAid documentary about the diversity and creativity of the Kakuma Community. Made possible with support from DFID and UKaid.