A safe, stimulating, and joyful learning space in the heart of Rhino Camp — giving young children access to books, structured play, and early childhood development activities, while providing the wider community with a library and creative learning environment.
The earliest years of a child's life are the most critical for brain development, language acquisition, and the formation of the social and emotional foundations that determine how a child will learn for the rest of their life. In Rhino Camp, many young children grow up in environments where the physical and psychological stress of displacement limits the stimulation, safety, and nurturing that early childhood development requires. Overcrowded shelters, anxious caregivers, and the absence of learning materials create conditions that put children's development at risk before they ever step into a classroom.
The Learning Haven was created to change that. Established and operated by YSAT in Rhino Camp, the Learning Haven is a dedicated library and early childhood development space — a place where young children can play, explore, listen to stories, and engage with books and learning materials in a calm, safe, and joyful environment. For the children who use it, the Learning Haven may be the only space in their daily lives that is designed entirely around their development and wellbeing.
Beyond early childhood, the Learning Haven serves as a community library — giving older children, youth, and adults access to books, reading materials, and a quiet space for study and self-directed learning. In a settlement where educational resources are scarce and reading culture is difficult to sustain without infrastructure to support it, the Learning Haven fills a gap that no other programme or institution in Rhino Camp has filled. It is a permanent investment in the intellectual life of the community — one of the most powerful signals YSAT can send about what it believes that community deserves.
The Learning Haven provides structured early childhood development activities for young children — covering cognitive, language, social, emotional, and physical development through age-appropriate play, creative exploration, and guided interaction. ECD programming is delivered by trained facilitators who create a warm, consistent, and stimulating environment where children feel safe to explore, ask questions, and develop the foundational skills and dispositions that set the trajectory for all future learning.
Regular storytelling and read-aloud sessions build children's love of books and language, developing vocabulary, listening comprehension, and narrative understanding before formal literacy instruction begins. Stories connect children to their own cultural heritage and to the wider world simultaneously — building both identity and curiosity. For many children in Rhino Camp, the Learning Haven's read-aloud sessions may be their first sustained experience of books as a source of pleasure and meaning rather than a school obligation.
The Learning Haven functions as a community library — providing access to books, learning materials, and a quiet reading and study space for school-age children, youth, and adults across Rhino Camp. The library collection is managed and curated to serve the diverse language backgrounds and reading levels of the community, with materials in English and where possible in languages spoken by the settlement's South Sudanese and host community residents. Access to books outside of school hours significantly extends the reach of formal education.
Play is the primary vehicle through which young children learn. The Learning Haven's structured play programme uses games, puzzles, building materials, art, music, and physical activity to develop cognitive flexibility, problem-solving, cooperation, and creativity in children aged 0 to 6. Structured play sessions are facilitated with intentionality — each activity is designed to target specific developmental outcomes while remaining genuinely enjoyable for the children participating, sustaining the engagement and enthusiasm that makes early learning effective.
The Learning Haven provides space and materials for creative expression — drawing, painting, crafts, and other art forms that allow children to process their experiences, express emotions, and develop fine motor skills and aesthetic sensibilities. Creative activities have particular value in displacement contexts, where children may have limited other outlets for emotional expression. The Learning Haven's creative learning programme ensures that every child who comes through its doors has the opportunity to make something — to leave a mark on the world that is entirely their own.
Dedicated ECD and library space — the only one of its kind in Rhino Camp
Programme areas — ECD, storytelling, library, play, and creative learning
Years — age range for structured ECD and play-based learning sessions
Ages welcome — library and creative space open to the whole community