Refugee Realities

Hello! My name is Holly and I’ve been interning at Refuge and Hope through the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship’s student program, Student.Go for the last three months. My time in Kampala has been so amazing and I only hope I’ve given back these students half as much as they’ve given me. This is a post I originally wrote for my personal blog about a month ago. Since then my relationship with my students has only deepened and I feel even more blessed to work with these students every day.

Today I had a student tell me some of their story. I’ve heard a lot of their stories from colleagues. I know the life that some students go home to. I know that a beautiful, sweet family we just had join our center owns only one outfit each and eats only one meal a day. I have heard of how they’ve seen their father killed and their mother raped and now be seriously traumatized. It breaks my heart when they greet me with a hug and smile every morning. I know part of their story, but I know it because my boss told me.

But today a few students stayed to ask a question after class. All were from the same war-torn country. One student, quite out of the blue, told me he wants to leave Uganda, but had to flee his country without any documentation so does not think it is possible. He confided that he wants to leave because he is scared that someone from his home country will come to Kampala and kill him, probably in his sleep.

“There are people here that can do that” he said.

His friend now spoke up and said “I will die in my country. This I will do. If I have to go, I will go. But I do not want to go here. I do not want to die away from my country. I have had family die there, you know.”

His friend chimed in “You know that in my country, they have killed 800 people.”

The other patted his back and said “Many more than 800 have been killed, my friend.”

They continued on to say that they have done things that they had to ask God for forgiveness for, things they are “not happy” they did.

All I could say was that we do things to survive. I told them our past is our past but you are still good, and loved, by us and by God. I told them that sometimes people do what they have to do, even if they are not proud of it.

But really I wanted to go sob in the bathroom. I felt sick seeing the stress and fear in their eyes from the legitimate thought that tonight they might be murdered. I just wanted to hug them and cry for them. These students laugh, they participate and they ask questions. Can you imagine trying to learn another language when you believe you might be killed at any moment? Even if this is an irrational fear it is one he believes fully.

The thing is, this is not rare at the center. Most of my students have dark pasts. I often get so frustrated; I’ve already had a hard week with students just not getting it no matter what I do. Some of them look so lost when I’m teaching sometimes and it really upsets me. But I have to tell myself, these are not your average students. If anything, these are students that can’t go home. They are separated from their families, some maybe forever. It’s the reality of this place.

I’m so blessed to get to know them and love them; to get to influence them. I get a chance to make their day a little bit better. Maybe I won’t teach them all the best English they could know, but maybe they’ll all laugh in my class. Then, if only for a tiny second, they might forget that stress or the pain they face every day. Or they’ll talk with me because they realize that somebody cares. I want them to learn English, but I want them to know their value, too, because their value has been stolen from them, in some way, at some point. I hope I’m doing this. I’m just so thankful for this opportunity to try.

Dreams

Here's a wonderful new video of our students by Abby Pratt, a U.S. volunteer through Cooperative Baptist Fellowship who visited us this summer. Through the Center of Hope, we work to empower our students to dream about what's possible in the future! 

The Privilege of Ministering WITH.

 Last month, one of our female students stopped attending English and sewing classes. Whenever this occurs, staff and volunteers within our community follow up just to ensure that the student is OK and to let them know that we care. I became particularly concerned about this student because of previous reports of domestic violence within her home. When I approached our sewing teacher, Gloria, a refugee who also speaks her language, about the situation, she mentioned that she was also concerned because of what this student shared with her in her home. 

Together, we called this student and asked to visit. Due to the trust that had been built in her home, she welcomed and invited us to come and visit. So one Friday afternoon I traveled with Gloria to her home. There sat this student and two other co-wives in the home. Though I had previously visited and connected with these women, Gloria was able to connect and minister on a completely different level because of speaking their language and being from a similar culture. 

As I sat next to Gloria and saw these women connecting and talking, I sat in awe of the profound ways in which God has transformed Gloria and empowered her to share the message of hope, love and grace to other refugee women. Gloria arrived just 8 years ago as a refugee from South Sudan. She has experienced war and discrimination and came to Uganda with the hope and dream of a better life. These experience left her broken and without hope and angry with God. Gloria shared that it was through attending our refugee community center that her relationship with God was renewed and transformed. Through the center, she tangibly experienced God's love and hope. Through these experiences, God healed and transformed Gloria, empowering her with God's hope, love, grace and the tangible skills to be able to make a difference in our community to help others. 

Three years later, Gloria teaches sewing at our community center. She encourages other women to hope in God, love others and work towards their dreams. She is an example of an empowered woman who is empowered to minister with and among other women.

I am privileged to serve with and alongside of Gloria every day at our community center in Uganda. She is a blessing and asset to our ministry here and I believe that God will continue to work in and through her to continue serving and ministering with and among refugee women and girls within our community. 

This post was written by Missy Ward, the Refugee Women's Advocacy Coordinator at Refuge and Hope. Missy is developing a new women's ministry program that will focus on ministering among refugee women within our community who are experiencing violence or exploitation. To receive more information or receive Refuge and Hope's women's ministry updates through a monthly newsletter- please e-mail missyinuganda@gmail.com or visit www.missyinuganda.com for more information. 

A Refugee Youth's Vision for a Better World For Women and Children

The following blog was written by Abby Pratt, a Student.Go/ Faith to Action intern currently serving with the Center of Hope in Kampala. Abby is focusing her work and training on learning about our initiatives with vulnerable children amongst refugee communities. 

"What do you do to your country?"

This question was presented to me while visiting with refugee youth at the Center this afternoon. Not quite sure of how to answer or what specifically my new friend was inquiring about, I asked him to clarify. He wanted to know what I was doing or planned to do in order to make my home a better place. What a daunting and humbling question from a young boy who has had to leave his home due to war. While I struggled to respond, he quickly replied by saying, "I want to end the abuse of women in my country." Another boy quickly added, "and children."  

At this moment I felt a new and radical sense of solidarity. Not only do CBF field personnel, Student.Go interns, divinity school students, ministers, and UNICEF employees have a vision for homes in which women and children no longer suffer and endure violence as a result of poverty, war, and corruption but teenage boys in Uganda do too. Can you imagine the insight, motivation, and passion of these young people? I asked my friend what he wanted to do as a means of living out his dream. He told me he was still developing a plan. Voices like his have been and still are being silenced due to starvation, disease, lack of education, and lack of nurturing communities. I am thankful that the Center of Hope is a place of refuge for him and will nurture his hope for the future. Change cannot come without his voice. We come from different countries, different religions, and different families but we share a common vision. So in the words of John Wesley, "If your heart is as my heart, give me your hand." 

What I want to do to my country, my world, my home is be part of partnerships in which all people, regardless of gender, ethnicity, religion, and age come together to create communities of love, peace, and justice.

In Memory

       

Martha along with her two daughters at the Center's  International Women's Day celebration 

         There are very few moments that are quiet and still at our community center. It is usually a place full of laughter, greetings, teaching and learning. Tuesday, June 5th was one of the rare instances that you could literally hear a pin drop as students gathered to remember and celebrate the life of Martha, one of our beloved students and community members.

        Martha has been attending our refugee community center in Kampala for the last two years. She had a bright smile, loving and compassionate personality and welcoming presence. As a single mother raising three children on her own, she worked extremely hard to provide a safe shelter, food and education for her children. She was someone who inspired and touched the lives of many students throughout our community.

        Martha was also a strong Christian. She was someone who loved God and took seriously Christ’s command to love others. She was a person who saw as Jesus saw, welcoming people no matter their ethnicity, religion or economic background. She also heard as Jesus heard, inviting people to her home to share bread and food with their family as she listened and supported them.  Though Martha is no longer with us, the fruits of the ways that God used her are far and wide.

       I am personally grateful to God for the privilege of knowing such an amazing woman who became as a mother to me. She is someone whose strength, love and compassion has inspired me and given me hope.  She is someone who lived life to the fullest and someone who impacted many to the glory of God.
Posted by MIssy 

A Dream Come True

The following essay was written by Loyce, one of the first English students who enrolled in classes at the Center of Hope ( our refugee community center in Kampala, Uganda). Over the last three years, Loyce has worked very hard to learn English, computer and sewing skills. She has recently become a teacher at our refugee community center, working with the most beginner English students. Loyce’s story is an example of the difference that your investment in God’s hope and love is making in the lives of refugees in Uganda.

        I was born in Lui Wastern Equatoria South Sudan on May 5^th 1972. I have five brothers and one sisters. My father and all of my brothers died in the war. It is only my sister, mother and myself who have survived. I am a mother of four children, two boys and two girls. I also take care of two children of my elder sister. I love my family.While living in Munduri, I worked with children, youth and women. I loved this work. It gave me great joy and happiness. It is rewarding. I love teaching. God willing, I will start a school in Munduri for adults and children in nursery school. I feel especially drawn to working with women who are struggling to do something because of their lack of education. I always feel pain in my heart for them. I want to help but I have not been able to because of my lack of education. I did not receive a high level of education but I am now working hard and praying to God that one day I will receive a diploma in teaching. One day, I want to work with a group of women in South Sudan. When I went to South Sudan, I met very many people who asked if I could come and teach them. They wanted to have a workshop about healthy eating, sanitation, self-reliance and Bible. 

            I am so happy for having joined the Center of Hope because it has helped me a lot. It is God’s grace that I am at the Center. I am lucky because I have very good teachers at the Center who are God- fearing people. It was a dream come true when I began teaching at the Center last summer. I believe that this dream will not end here.

     

International Women's Day Celebration

For the last three years, our community has celebrated International Women’s Day on March 8th with a large community celebration. This year, over 150 women from over 10 countries gathered at our NEW community center to celebrate God creating women in unique and beautiful ways. There was lots of games, laughing, talking, eating and dancing. Please click here to see a highlight video from the day.