How We Started
The founding journey of Emelda Napeyo Patrick: From Kakuma refugee camp to building peace and climate resilience in South Sudan.
Emelda Napeyo Patrick
Peacebuilding Graduate (PUR Kigali) • Born in Kakuma Refugee Camp
“Local knowledge, led by women and youth, is the most powerful engine for transformative change.”
My name is Emelda Napeyo Patrick, and my journey to founding EcoRise South Sudan is deeply rooted in my studies in peacebuilding at the Protestant University of Rwanda (PUR) in Kigali, and in my own origin story, as I was born in Kakuma refugee camp.
Rwanda taught me the profound meaning of resilience and renewal. Immersed in the theory and practice of rebuilding a society, I saw a living testament to the possibility of transformation. I returned home to South Sudan not just with a degree, but with a mission: to build an organization that addresses the interconnected crises my people face.
In South Sudan, I saw clearly that our struggles could not be compartmentalized. The fight for sustainable peace is inseparable from the fight for a livable environment, for digital opportunity, and for gender justice. A young man displaced by floods, with no livelihood, becomes a fracture line in our social fabric; a woman excluded from resources faces violence that undermines our entire community's resilience. Our peace is threatened as much by shrinking rivers and scorched fields as by bullets.
EcoRise South Sudan was born in June 2024 (formally registered with RRC Registration No. 5927 in May 2025) from this integrated conviction: that local knowledge, led by women and youth, is the most powerful engine for transformative change. Guided by integrity, inclusion, and innovation, our strength lies in connecting the frontline realities of our communities with larger systems of support.