TEACHER TRAINING FOR REFUGEES
FROM BOSTON TO MALAWI
JP Centre Yoga trains and employs refugees in the Dzaleka Refugee Camp (Malawi, Africa), sharing the practice of yoga and mindfulness within the camp and providing teachers with living wages.
Teachers offer an average of 30 classes each week for children, adults, and individuals with special needs, reaching approximately 3,000 refugees within the camp on a monthly basis.
The Mission
These initiatives are led by refugees for refugees - founded in collaboration with Donatien Fundi, a Dzaleka refugee whose personal healing journey inspired him to share yoga with his community beginning in 2016. Since our collaborative efforts started in 2023, our mission has been to empower Dzaleka refugees and improve their mental, physical, and emotional well-being through accessible wellness practices such as yoga and meditation. We are committed to fostering sustainable growth by training refugees to teach these practices and providing them with a sustainable salary, ensuring the continued spread and development of transformative wellness within the camp and creating further employment opportunities.
TRAINING FORMAT
Online Classes
Since 2023, JP Centre Yoga voluntarily teaches two online classes per week as part of teacher development and training. Classes are lead by studio co-founder Daniel Max.
In-Person Intensive
In the summer of 2025, we expanded our efforts by running our first 10-day training program within the camp. The focus of this training was on refining teaching skills in both yoga and meditation, as well as providing an experiential restorative journey through twice-daily yoga and twice-daily meditation sessions.
Meals
Given that all participants suffer from severe food insecurity, participants received two meals each day during the intensive and we continue to provide weekly meals to accompany post-intensive ongoing training hours.
MEET THE TEAM
Benenge Willy, Yoga Teacher
Charlotte Neema, Yoga Teacher
Claudine Irakoze, Management
Clemence Kisose, Yoga Teacher & Management
Eliya Kiza, Yoga Teacher
Gloire Masaro, Yoga Teacher
Linda Birindwa, Yoga Teacher
Miriam Nuru Assani, Yoga Teacher
Mussa Abdul Karim, Yoga Teacher
Nicolas Maisha, Yoga Teacher
Olivier, Management
Rachel Kisose, Yoga Teacher
Rehema Songoro
Rene Fundi, Yoga Teacher
Tina Nduwayo, Yoga Teacher
Abraham Dejene, Teacher Training Faculty
Daniel Max, Teacher Training Faculty
Donatien Fundi, CEO and Yoga Teacher
We invite you to
Get Involved
You Can Sponsor a Dzaleka Yoga Team Member
Building personal connections is at the heart of our mission. We have had the privilege of spending time with each of the teachers who receive sponsorship—visiting their homes, meeting their families, and hearing their stories. These teachers are refugees from Congo, Burundi, and Rwanda, each carrying stories of trauma that led them to seek safety elsewhere. Some of them have been there for almost 20 years with limited opportunities for a different future. Despite facing immense hardships such as malnutrition, lack of medical care, and overcrowding, these individuals volunteer tirelessly, offering up to 30 classes each week for both children and adults. Their only source of income is a $10 monthly UN stipend that is not always guaranteed. To give some perspective, $10 can buy 20 bananas, a pair of sandals costs around $15, and a chicken also costs about that much. Many of these families are hungry and struggle daily. They build their homes from homemade mud bricks, which wash away during the rainy season. Building materials are just as expensive as everything else in the camp. JP Centre Yoga Community Members Can Directly Support a Dzaleka Yoga staff members, providing them with living wages for a year.
1x sponsor at $20 each month
3x sponsors at $30 each month
14x sponsors at $50 each month
Since refugees are not allowed to leave the camp or work legally, creating a reliable income within the camp is essential. To achieve this, we have partnered JP Centre Yoga community members with a dedicated Dzaleka Yoga staff member to fund their monthly salary. This sponsorship also pays for the participation in one staff community meal each week, provided for the entire group during training hours.
Paying teachers helps us further expand the yoga and mindfulness programs in a camp, making it more accessible to people who struggle greatly but receive very little support.
STUDIO BUILDOUT
Thanks to community support and a grant from Yoga Alliance, JP Centre Yoga has raised enough funds to establish a dedicated yoga studio within Dzaleka. What was once practiced on dusty ground under a scorching sun is now an enclosed space equipped with yoga mats and props. Although the studio is still in its early stages, this marks a significant milestone for comfort and class growth.
Stage 1
Stage 2
Stage 3
Stage 4
Stage 5
Help Us Build the Yoga Studio
We welcome any donations to help us complete our yoga studio in the camp. We are currently prioritizing completion of the studio’s foundations: sealing the floors, securing the roof, building a drainage system, and finishing the outdoor bathrooms - all to be completed before November, the start of the rainy season and its heavy winds.
