Born and educated in South Africa during Apartheid (legalized racism), Nkazi Sinandile received a degree in Nursing. Nkazi fled from South Africa to the United States and obtained her nursing degree in California. In 2005 she was stripped of her work permit and became an undocumented person for over a decade. During this time she made a decision to help others in her same situation and began volunteering to serve refugees, immigrants and asylum seekers, and local homeless. She established the New Mexico Women's Global Pathways and in 2011 her husband and she co-founded the Immigrant and Refugee Resource Village of Albuquerque (IRRVA). IRRVA provides skills development services to people from around the world in Albuquerque.
Many immigrants like Nkazi Sinandile come with skills and abilities to the United States that they are not always able to perform as undocumented individuals.
Nkazi and her husband began by helping another African with his health needs and soon recognized that many immigrants and asylum seekers had similar needs; they decided to support them in their transition to the United States.
Nkazi is the co-founder of the Immigrant and Refugee Resource Village of Albuquerque (IRRVA).
IRRVA provides provides job and educational skills development, most recently in collaboration with the Southwest Organizing Project. African and Afghan women and girls, together with many volunteers, sewed over 18,000 masks for the general population in Albuquerque.