"If we ever get out of here."

Follow the lives of three refugees in the Kakuma refugee camp, northwest Kenya, in this documentary by the Church of Sweden, If we ever get out of here. What have they fled? What does their everyday life look like? What are their dreams and hopes for the future?

Just over 181,000 refugees live in Kakuma, having fled war and violence in neighboring countries. Most are from South Sudan, Sudan and Somalia. The camp is also host to refugees from Ethiopia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Burundi, Rwanda, Eritrea and Uganda. 

Filmmakers Marika Griehsel and Lollo Jarnebrink have over the course of two years documented the lives of three of Kakuma’s inhabitants: Klementine, Jackson and Deeqa. We invite you to follow their journeys as they try to steer their lives in the right direction despite harsh circumstances.

Church of Sweden, together with Lutheran World Federation (LWF), has operated in the Kakuma camp since its inception in 1992. A priority focus our joint humanitarian work lies in Community Based Psychosocial Support, an underlying theme in the documentary. How can refugees own capacity to rebuild their lives be enhanced through local support structures? What are the main components and challenges to creating a meaningful existence in a refugee camp or as an asylum seeker in Sweden? These are some of the questions that the documentary means to discuss.

In response to decades-long displacement, the Lutheran World Federation works with refugee and host communities in Kakuma to support their needs and to protect their rights. In partnership with the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, the LWF provides primary education, early childhood development, child protection and sustainable livelihoods programs. 

Watch the Film

English subtitles from Svenska kyrkan on Vimeo