Olive Bukuru

Olive Bukuru
Delegate for Oregon
Resettled Refugee from Burundi

Olive Bukuru is the Refugee Congress Delegate for Oregon. Born in Burundi, Olive and her family resettled in the U.S. in 2007. 

After surviving a dangerous trek to Tanzania in 1996, Olive’s family established themselves in the Nduta Refugee Camp. Prior to this, Olive’s parents had spent over 25 years in and out of refugee camps in Tanzania. Though life in the camp was not great, Olive recalls having great friends, and having both parents -- something that most children did not have, due to the war.

Even though girls were pressured to take care of the home and not encouraged to attend school, Olive never missed a day of school. To prove that she could excel in education, she always made sure to be in the top 5 students in the school.

On March 3, 2006, the U.S. granted a resettlement opportunity for Burundians who fled during the 1972 massacre in Burundi. Olive had heard stories that living abroad was like heaven – that people had access to almost everything they desired, and that anyone could get a better education and a good job. 

After the extensive resettlement process, Olive and her family arrived in the U.S., where Olive continued proving her excellence in education. She learned the English language and made excellent grades, graduating from Hillsboro High School with a chancellor’s diploma in 2014. She then earned a bachelor's in public health education from Oregon Health and Science University-Portland State University School in 2018, and a master's degree in public health, with a concentration in behavioral health and science, from the University of Memphis in 2022. She plans to begin a PhD program in leadership, advocacy and equity  in the fall of 2022 at Tulane University School of Public Health & Tropical Medicine.

Olive’s life’s goal is to reach unserved and vulnerable communities who do not have access to important health information in Oregon and beyond. Her passion for public health inspires her professional and volunteer work in the community. She provides free evidence-based health education on topics such as diabetes, heart disease, vaccines, and COVID-19 to help her community better understand ways to protect themselves and live longer, healthier lives. Additionally, Olive enjoys driving community members to and from appointments and utilizing her skills as an interpreter.

“....refugee resettlement is essential, because it literally has the power to pull someone from the brink of death back to living a decent life, by providing them many opportunities and resources that they could only have dreamed about.” 

In the News:

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