RYVU GALLERY EXHIBITION:
“Volunteering, Displacement & Livelihoods: Photography by Young Refugees in Uganda”
![Photographer Oliver Waro (Bidibidi) A volunteer of [International NGO] was happy about how volunteering has changed his life and thinking. He has been exposed and learnt from others, especially in coordination meetings that involves the OPM [Uga](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61eeae32478ce801306dbe52/1666097049500-TW675XLOQCSZZZJOO0RG/IMG_1863.jpg)
The exhibition presents photographs taken by 20 young refugees who documented their experiences of volunteering across four locations within Uganda - Bidibidi, Kampala, Nakivale and Rwamwanja. The images presented here were chosen by the young photographers themselves. Alongside the photos are comments from refugees and stakeholders on the meanings of the images and the roles volunteering plays in refugee lives.
The exhibition provides a unique perspective on the ways young refugees use volunteering to build their lives and livelihoods. It challenges existing thinking about who volunteers, why they do it, and the impacts it has. The exhibition highlights the agency, creativity and capacities of young refugees to build lives and livelihoods and the care and support they contribute to their own and host communities’ development. But it also shows that the hopeful and positive image of volunteering should not be a smokescreen for the inequalities and exploitation young refugees experience, and how volunteering can sometimes exacerbate these inequalities.