THEATRE VERSUS OPPRESSION
Registered Charity SC039092
Using applied theatre to bring about positive change and development

Joseph Munyambanza
Coburwas leader

Joseph Munyambanza was born in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 1989.  When war broke out in 1996 he was forced with so many others to flee his village eventually becoming a refugee in Uganda in Kywangwali.  Despite all the hardships he faced – poverty, hunger, disease – Joseph fought from a young boy to educate himself believing it was the best way to build a future free of hate. With a group of visionaries Joseph helped initiate COBURWAS in December 2005. The name stands for different countries the refugees of which made up the camp - Congo, Burundi, Uganda, Rwanda and Sudan. Realising that the best way to create change was to bring the youth together, they began an education and training programme, encouraging refugees back to school and finding ways to support one another.  Troubled by the situation of females arriving in the refugee camp Joseph went on to create an Anti-Violence Group designed for girls and women to find a safe place of refuge, to support education among females and to find a way to start work initiatives that would make females more self sufficient. In 2008 Joseph was awarded a scholarship to complete his schooling at the newly founded African Leadership Academy in Johannesburg, South Africa. He hopes to receive a scholarship to study medicine and then return to Kywangwali to use those skills to help his people and hopefully, one day, return to his beloved homeland in the Congo.