Posts Tagged ‘Refugees’
Melanie Foreman is an IDEX Intern who is traveling in South Africa. While there she is visiting several of our grantees. She recently spent time with Catalyst Grantee Whole Women’s World Association (WWWA) in Cape Town.
Today I went to the WWWA office in Cape Town and met with Mary Tal, the organization’s director, and 7 members of a women’s refugee support group. The members all come from different countries; today’s participants came from the Cameroon, Kenya, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The group meets regularly and engages in different activities such as writing poems, performing dramas, singing, dancing and drawing. These activities serve as a way for the women to discuss the hardships and negative experiences they have faced. They also serve as a way to heal from the trauma they have been subjected to. One member stated that the group offers “a safe place for us to talk freely, to learn how to forgive and to make better people out of ourselves.” The group brings out the commonalities among the women and encourages them to take what they have learned back to the communities. The women also develop skills and learn how to make different crafts, like pillows and beadwork. They can then sell these to generate some income.
The group’s name is Giemoh, which means “one voice.” The women chose this name to highlight that though the group members come from diverse backgrounds, they speak with one voice. Topics of discussion vary from each meeting, but the goal is to provide the women with inter-personal and life skills. Today’s group was centered on self-esteem. The women took turns sharing their personal stories while the others listened and asked questions. Many of the women expressed how much they had learned and how much their self-esteemed had improved since they had joined the group.
One of the biggest challenges the women face in South Africa is xenophobia. I asked them what some of the problems were as a result of xenophobia. They told me that although the South African government accepts them and tells them that they have the same rights as South African citizens, it isn’t really the case.
Often they aren’t able to open bank accounts or enroll their children into schools. The schools don’t want to accept them for fear they can’t pay the fees. In addition, any qualifications they earned in their home countries are not recognized in South Africa. This forces them to take low-paying jobs that they are overqualified for. Even then a job is difficult to find. One group member told me that she was rejected from a position she’d applied for because the manager said he had hired too many foreigners already.
Access to healthcare is also restricted as a result of xenophobia. The women told me if they fall ill and seek attention from the hospitals, they are sent to the police stations to obtain an affidavit that proves they are unemployed. Often times, they are not able to obtain these and cannot seek treatment. Or if they are able to access treatment, the women told me that they receive lesser quality care than those who pay.
But WWWA group meetings are able to help women. During the gathering, the women talked about their personal growth since joining the group.
Mary, a woman from Kenya, noted that since joining the group, “I have been able to build up her inner strength. Before I was invisible. When you are exposed to others, you are able to grow. I have also learned to be patient and am able to learn from others.”
Another member, Epiphany from the Rwanda, said that “When you meet people in the group, you find other people who inspire you. You are able to share your experiences and you find that together you can sustain hope.”
Fatima, one of the group’s longest members, shared her story with me. Originally from the DRC, she fled to South Africa because she feared for the lives of her family. Her brother had been killed and left on the family’s doorstep. She did not want to leave her whole family behind, but she wanted her children to grow up in safety. Her husband came to South Africa first and she followed with her children. Soon after she arrived, her husband had a stroke, fell very ill and eventually passed.
Fatima had no one to turn to. She used to earn a living doing embroidery, making duvets and other kinds of sewing projects. But she couldn’t find stable work sewing. Because she had no income, a community member suggested that she put her children up for adoption. Fatima felt like she didn’t want to live anymore.
By chance, she met Mary Tal and shared her story. This was the first conversation that she had with anyone about her life and it was a huge relief to tell someone. Mary invited her to join the women’s group and she has been a member now for 5 years. She is very thankful for Mary and the support that she has received since joining the group. She says that now she has hope. Her eldest children, 20 year-old twins, attend university and her other children are in school.
I spent 4 hours with the group talking about our personal experiences and making beaded flowers (a popular craft sold in South Africa). I felt honored to be a part of such an intimate gathering. These women had been forced to flee their home countries for many different reasons. And now face xenophobia in South Africa and receive little support. On top of that, they do not have anyone to talk to so the group really serves to support the women in so many ways. I was truly inspired and humbled by these women and was very thankful to be a part of something so exceptional.
IDEX Program Officers, Kat and Vini are on field visits in South Africa to research groups IDEX could support through our catalyst grants program.
Today we drove to Woodstock, one of the oldest neighborhoods of Cape Town. We are there to visit Whole World Women Association, (WWWA) which is an organization that works with refugee communities to prioritize women’s issues.
Founded in 2002, WWWA initially served as a self-help and support group for refugee women. The organization raises awareness on the plight of ordinary refugee women, the impact of war and trauma on the human psyche. Their membership is open to refugee women of all ages and backgrounds, as well as refugee children who are living at home with their parents or in foster homes and shelters.
We were invited to participate in one of their monthly meetings with WWWA staff and peer coordinators. Peer coordinators were developed to encourage refugees who had received support from WWWA to share the skills training and awareness with their respective communities. Each peer coordinator comes from a different country and gives the training in their native languages, ensuring that all refugee communities are reached.
This particular workshop addressed HIV/AIDS and the struggle to reduce the number of infected women. Many refugees are already infected and affected by the HIV pandemic and require training on how to deal and live with this situation. Working with existing organizations, WWWA offers training in the management and prevention of HIV/AIDS.
Mary Magdalene Tal, founder and director of WWWA, shared how WWWA has seen a positive change in people attitudes to learning about HIV/AIDS. At first it was hard to encourage refugee women to go to HIV/AIDS awareness workshops as they were scared to be identified as an infected women. But now, 90% of calls WWWA receives are from people wanting to learn more about HIV/AIDS.
Mary is a refugee from Cameroon and as educated as she is, she found it so hard to get any type of support. She was inspired to create an organization that provided support especially to refugee women. Mary worked before with the Human Rights Media Center as a refugee project coordinator and at Ilitha Labanthu, where she gave legal advice and assisted abused women and children with their court cases.
Towards the end of the workshop, the facilitator had us participate in different team-building activities that involved putting together a lego-like toy. After the exercise, we all reflected on what made the exercise a success or not, bringing up the main idea of how when people are trusting each others strength and knowledge, as well as respecting each other, we can achieve many things.
It’s great to see that WWWA has hired staff members from different refugee communities, DRC, Cameroon, Nigeria, and many more. Mary shared with us that the “common goal is to keep the war behind us and find peace by building trust.”
As Epiphanie Mukasano, a Rwandan refugee and WWWA member writes,
“I am the woman
you despised the other day
throwing out wicked words
which cut like a sharp knife
I am that woman
at whom you threw burning pots
and whose clothes you scornfully tore away
chasing me with a broom out of your house
I am the woman
who wandered naked
in the dark street
wondering where to go
I am the woman
full of scars, but
I do not hold a grudge
Today I am stretching out my hand
Will you take it?”
IDEX has funded groups in Zimbabwe for many years. Under the current political climate we have not been able to expand our grantmaking there and instead are researching organizations in South Africa that are supporting refugees. In Johannesburg, IDEX Program Officer, Vini, met with Group of Refugees Without Voice (GRWV).
GRWV was established in September 2002. It supports refugees, particularly women from Congo, Burundi, Sudan and Zimbabwe, in skill building for employment in South Africa and to support them in integrating into South African society. When refugees started trickling into South Africa to escape war and repression they found that South Africa was not always the safe haven that they imagined. GRWV supports long-term, durable solutions to end poverty for these families and build bridges with South Africans.
South Africa’s vibrant civil society continues to work diligently to hold up the promise of a rainbow nation. But the rise of migrants and refugees from Somalia, Congo and Zimbabwe are triggering xenophobic violence in the country. Last year South Africa saw an unprecedented escalation in violence towards migrants when on May 11, 2008 a gang of young men from the Alexandra township of Johannesburg initiated merciless attacks on migrant workers living in a hostel. These attacks soon spread to provinces of KwaZulu Natal, Eastern and Western Cape. There were over 60 casualties, a third of them South Africans but ten of thousands of refugees were once again displaced.
The advisor to the board of directors, Norman, is from Johannesburg and explains the “majority of South Africans feel threatened because of high unemployment. They see refugees employed and think that jobs are being stolen when in reality refugees are willing to do even the most demeaning of jobs just to survive. We try and educate S. Africans about the plight of refugees. We try to remind folks that until not so long ago, all black South Africans, we were refugees ourselves in our own land.”
Since 2002, GRWV has trained 150 people, along with a computer education program, they also pay school fees, provide stationary and transportation for refugee women to send their children to school.
A sewing project they established now works closely with businesses to encourage vocational training of women. Young women also learn dressmaking, fashion design and cutting skills. The organization actively encourages interaction and apprenticeships between refugee women and S. African women to build greater understanding.
A focus on advocacy in schools and vocational training with women has been key. Through schools, GRWV found that children would bring more inclusive attitudes towards refugees home to their parents and help parents build greater awareness. Also, instead of just helping refugee children, the group intensified its efforts to ensure that all children have access to supplies and books.
In the future, GRWV hopes to begin a small business seed capital loan and microcredit program to support the newly skilled graduates in launching their own businesses. Since employment through mainstream channels are not often available to refugees. As yet, this kind of funding is not available to the organization.
GRWV reaches out to refugees through refugee camps, informal settlements, markets and schools. Their list of people who need help continues to grow. Temporary support is given to refugees via UNHCR and Jesuit Refugee Services along with the Home Affairs Refugee Desk; a monthly stipend of roughly $80 for a family of four barely covers food.
Refugees in camps do not even receive stipends, only rations, thereby increasing dependency. It can take up to 12 years for refugees to have their case for asylum case heard. During this time work and housing are hard to find.
Chrispin Milengechi, the Congolese director of GRWV, tells us his own story. He had been a successful business owner in the DRC. He fled the war and came to Johannesburg where he hoped to live with dignity. But he found that all he could afford was a 30-foot square room, which he shared with 12 other refugees. His experiences in the DRC and as a refugee horrified him and he decided to live and work as a human rights activist, co founding GRWV with others.
GRWV has a waiting list of 100 people who need its service. 40 people are being actively enrolled and supported through their fledgling vocational skills program. The organization has gender parity in staff and board membership. Men and women treat each other with respect and kindness. There are important and needed financial, reporting, entrepreneurial and management skills on the board. Some members are also invited to the meeting.
We met Nora a young Congolege woman originally from Lumbumbashi. Nora is single and 19 years old. Initially hesitant she begins to tell us her story. She fled Lumbumbashi, DRC in 2003 with her mother, sister and brother. All three siblings are in college in South Africa.
Nora is studying fashion design and contacted GRWV in 2008. “I wanted them to assist me with my college fees. They haven’t been able to assist me yet, but I pray that they will soon.” She has attended university off and on for the last year due to lack of school fees. “This program should take three years to complete but it will take me longer because I have to keep dropping out. I just don’t have enough money.” Nora hopes to become a fashion designer. “Also, I want to do catering and interior design. I love making things beautiful. Sometimes, I get small jobs to create table settings for formal functions and I love it.” These jobs offset the cost of her school fees. “At the end of a job, I may earn up to 400 ZAR ($44 US), but typically you earn only 100 ZAR ($11 US), for an entire day of work.”
Nora is optimistic and upbeat about her future despite having to flee her country and the obstacles she is currently facing in South Africa. On this day, GRWV is holding a mini-workshop on effective communication in and between refugee organizations. Nora is an active participant. She gives valuable input on what is effective and ineffective communication and draws upon her experiences in college to inform the discussion.
In spite of a xenophobic environment and entrenched inequalities, the refugees in South Africa and the organizations that support them have hope. The organizations and the beneficiaries are vibrant and joyful and committed to a vision of a more inclusive South Africa, where the dignity and creativity of all her people are equal.
