A house built on lived experience.

Born in the border town of Kaya and brought to Uganda as an infant, Barnabas Samuel spent his early childhood as a refugee. His early life was shaped by movement, uncertainty, and adaptation, experiences that would later define his lifelong understanding of displacement and survival.

Following the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), Barnabas Samuel returned to South Sudan with high hopes for stability and a new beginning. However, that peace was short-lived. When renewed conflict erupted in 2013, he was forced to flee once more, returning to Uganda in 2016 to rebuild his life within refugee-hosting communities.

Rhino Camp

While living in the Rhino Camp Refugee Settlement, Barnabas became deeply embedded in community work and advocacy. Having co-founded the Community Development Centre (CDC) in 2014 before his return to Uganda, he and his team established the CDC Uganda node upon his arrival. This work placed him at the heart of grassroots refugee life. Working closely with young people, families, and community leaders, he witnessed firsthand how displaced populations navigate daily challenges while fiercely holding onto their ambitions.

Through this intensive frontline work, Barnabas Samuel saw both the structural limitations placed on refugee communities and the extraordinary potential locked within them. He saw brilliant ideas that never reached support systems, natural leaders who lacked platforms, and vibrant businesses that struggled to scale despite clear talent and determination. These realities forged a profound conviction: refugee response must go beyond mere survival. It must actively enable self-reliance, leadership, and sustainable systems of opportunity.

A house in the truest sense

Refugee House was born out of this vision: a "house" in the truest sense, a shared space where refugees can think, organize, create, and lead. It operates as a home for ideas, initiatives, and impact, where lived experience becomes the very foundation for policy, cultural heritage, enterprise, and innovation.

Today, Refugee House stands as the continuation of that journey, deeply rooted in lived experience, shaped by community realities, and driven by a vision of refugee-led transformation and collective progress.