To be a refugee

Thursday was World Refugee Day- a day to commemorate the 10.5 million refugees in the world. This number continues to grow with the Syrian crisis as there is a new refugee every 4 seconds. But who are these people? The UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) defines a refugee as one who has fled his or her country due to a “well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion” and thus is unable to return. As this is the case, they are left vulnerable as they are dependent upon other countries to provide protection which they can no longer find in their homelands. This leads to a whole new struggle of finding new housing and jobs, often learning a new language, facing unwelcoming natives, negotiating a new set of systems, all in a place that is not home.

At work we coordinated a function to remember the refugees in South Africa as well as in the world who struggle dealing not only with their past, but trying to negotiate whatever their new situation is. We remembered their flight by a walk done together and then celebrated their displaced heritages by song and dance.

As I reflected on the significance of this day as well as on the many stories I have heard of refugees from many different backgrounds, I wrote a poem to relate pieces of stories I have heard:

The place I call home

Is suddenly gone

Torn by hate and by war

The place I once loved

I can no longer stay

I must flee that my life may be spared

In the blink of an eye

All I once knew

Is filled with terror and strife

Where peace once had reigned,

Now the sword was the king

And has taken many a life

My brother is missing

my sister is gone

an orphan cries softly at night

I fled in the dark

Fearing what lay behind

yet hoped for what was ahead

Could I find peace

In a new strange land

Rest for so weary a soul

Now here will I stay

As I muddle through life

Finding my place in this land

Only God knows

If I’ll ever go home,

But till then, here it must be

International Women's Day!

As some you may know, Friday March 8^th was International Women’s day. Throughout the history of mankind, women have been significantly disadvantaged and under-recognized for their great contributions to our world. Even now, women fight for equality in many places all over the globe. In light of this, it is fitting that we would celebrate women as those with great strength who are still fighting for equality in a broken world.

On Saturday, I was fortunate to participate in a Women’s Day function which both celebrated women, and discussed the weighty issue of violence against women. In my time here in South Africa, I have frequently been confronted with this issue as violence against women occurs at a much higher rate than in North America. It is much more widely discussed, yet almost every day in the news there are new stories of women abused, assaulted, and raped, and murdered by men in heartless, inhumane ways and sadly, this has become a norm here in South Africa. While it can be a heavy topic to discuss, I felt I wanted to share about this struggle here as it is a significant part of my experience here in South Africa. 

After a recent string of rapes followed by gruesome murders and other types of assaults, I saw on the news an elementary school protesting against this social abhorrence after a local girl was raped and murdered in a school yard.  Young girls who were only 7 or 8 years old gathered together shouting in unison“Don’t rape me.” That children this age would know about rape and have to fear it is a clear indicator of the issue here. Another story told was of a mother whose 2 year old daughter sang a little song she learned in daycare about inappropriate touch- “Please Uncle don’t touch me here, here, here, or I will call the police 10111, and you will get locked up, weee, weee, weee.” Yet another instance of children having to know all too much all too soon.

In working with refugees, the issue of violence against women is even greater. There are more risk factors such as high tensions related to financial struggles, as well as stress and trauma which remains undealt with from the conflict which caused them to flee their homes.

 In the local communities, refugee women also experience greater risk as foreigners. Those who come as refugees or economic migrants into South Africa are viewed quite unfavorably. As this is the case, it is not uncommon for refugees to be attacked, abused, or taken advantage of. Even the police are less likely to assist refugees who come to report a crime.

These larger social issues along with some individual stories of violence against women, deepened my understanding of this issue, as well as encouraged me to grapple with my role in standing against this. I was given hope as a few strong women stood and shared their stories—stories of overcoming. These small steps reminded me that we must make it ok to talk about this issue. While I know that violence against women is a much larger issue in South Africa, it is all over the world, yet in some places- it remains a secret.

A poet read a powerful poem which relayed the power that women have given to this issue. In one line she stated that “your silence made you a lady.” But then she continued, “what is the point of being a lady?” I have hope that as time marches forward, women not only in South Africa, but around the world will reject this idea of “being a lady” and speak out against the violence which has gone on for too long!