Refugee Basketball Academy
Empowering Refugee Youth Through Basketball
- Context
- Volunteering for the Refugee Basketball Academy, Supporting Refugee Youth Initiatives
- Location
- Kampala & Nakivale Refugee Settlement, Uganda
- Year
- 2026
- With
- Stephane Kulimushi
- Link
- rba.wnhelp.org
Over a period of six months, a collaborative visual documentation project with Stephane Kulimushi and the Refugee Basketball Academy (RBA) explored the organization’s work empowering refugee and host-community youth through basketball, mentorship, and education. Through photography, video storytelling, and the production of content for RBA’s website and social media, the project aimed to communicate the people, initiatives, and everyday experiences behind the organization. Travelling with the academy to different parts of Uganda, including Kampala and Nakivale Refugee Settlement, enabled the documentation of training sessions, community events, basketball camps, and initiatives such as HerPower, which supports the participation and leadership of girls and young women. Moving beyond sports photography, the project explored basketball as a space for connection, confidence, belonging, and opportunity. An essential part of the process was the development of relationships with players, coaches, and community members over time. These bonds shaped the photographic approach, allowing images to reflect not only athleticism and achievement, but also the trust, joy, vulnerability, and solidarity that emerge through shared experiences. Combining documentary photography, portraiture, and visual storytelling, the project supports RBA’s public presence while making its community-led work more visible. The resulting images and videos seek to amplify personal stories and communicate the transformative potential of sport, highlighting basketball as a bridge to opportunity, social inclusion, and collective growth. The project considers how sustained visual engagement can contribute to the visibility and communication of initiatives working to create meaningful opportunities for refugee youth.