The Streets Are Empty

This photograph was taken by a member of NURU - a youth organisation led by and supporting refugees in Kampala.

NURU is a refugee founded and led organisation based in Kampala. Standing for a ‘Need to Undo Refugees being Underserved’, its members are formed from young people from a range of nationalities fleeing regional conflicts surrounding Uganda (Rwandese, Congolese, Eritrea, Ethiopia and Sudanese, to name some). The aim and ambition of NURU is to empower its members and other refugees in the city, to provide them opportunities and skills to advance the hopes and dreams put on hold because they have been forcefully displaced because of war and violent conflict. Many of the youth have backgrounds in the arts and media. This piece was created by NURU members, who which to remain anonymous because of the precarity and security of their situation.

This photograph was taken to represent the emptiness many of the organisation members felt during lockdown. The Streets Are Empty signifies the isolation and loneliness many refugees felt. Seeing the light on, shows how those closest to us are near and can be seen but we can not be with them.

This material is part of the Covid Chronicles from the Margins project, funded by The Open University and the International Institute of Social Studies in the Hague. The project aims to highlight the impact of the pandemic on refugees, asylum seekers and undocumented migrants.