A Warm Welcome in a Distant Land

Upon arriving in Solwezi, Zambia, Dou Yuchen had little idea of what to expect. A philosophy major from Tsinghua University's Rixin College, she had traveled far from her Beijing campus to begin a six-month internship with the UNHCR Field Office Solwezi. What she found was unexpected warmth—the Head of Office waiting at the airport, a guided tour of the office, and dinner at one of the town's few restaurants. That evening, her supervisor brought eggs, rice, and soy sauce — small comforts that made her new surroundings feel a little more like home.

Her first visit to Meheba Refugee Settlement revealed a world of contrasts. Meheba, established in 1971, is now home to more than 40,000 refugees. Instead of the chaos she imagined, she found children in school uniforms walking home past livestock and small market stalls. Yet beneath this orderly surface lay deeper challenges—generations of refugees limited by legal status, and schools where two teachers might serve hundreds of students in classrooms without windows or electricity.