Purpose and stewardship
About the Dzaleka Encyclopedia
A sourced, community-informed reference to Dzaleka Refugee Camp and the people, institutions, events, and public questions connected to it.
Mission
Keep a useful public record of Dzaleka
The encyclopedia brings together dispersed public records and community knowledge in one place. It aims to make Dzaleka easier to understand without reducing the camp to a single crisis, organisation, or statistic.
Entries cover history, law, population, health, education, livelihoods, infrastructure, culture, books, film, organisations, and people whose work is connected to Dzaleka. Claims that change over time are dated, and sources are shown so readers can inspect the basis for an entry.
Editorial principles
Evidence, context, dignity
Make sources visible
Readers should be able to see where a factual claim came from and when it was recorded.
Date changing information
Population, service availability, programme status, and policy can change. Entries state the relevant period.
Value local knowledge
Attributed interviews, oral history, photographs, and community records can document subjects missing from formal archives.
Protect people
The encyclopedia does not publish private case details or information that creates avoidable safety, dignity, or protection risks.
How it works
Community contributions with editorial review
This is not an open-edit wiki. Dzaleka Online Services maintains the collection and reviews proposed changes before publication. That allows people to contribute while keeping sourcing, safety, structure, and dated claims consistent across entries.
Residents, former residents, organisations, researchers, artists, journalists, photographers, and readers are welcome to propose corrections, stronger sources, missing context, photographs, and new entries.
Limits
What the editorial team cannot provide
We welcome constructive comments, questions, and suggestions, but the encyclopedia is maintained with limited volunteer capacity. The team cannot research private family histories, identify or value artefacts, or provide legal, medical, protection, immigration, or emergency casework. Questions in those areas should go to the relevant qualified service.