Here in Swazi, we’ve had the privilege of making friends with a lovely couple from Rwanda. One of the girls from the other team, Lindsay Short wrote this blog about their story. Read here or go to:
http://lindsayshort.theworldrace.org/?filename=using-my-voice-refugee-camps
(Names have been changed to protect their identity.)
Our ministry this month has lead us to a Swaziland NGO called “Hope House”, which takes in recommended patients, allowing them to have a caretaker, providing them a room with beds and a kitchen, and offering medical assistance in the hopes that they will become healthier and return to their normal lifestyle. The House accommodates patients with various ailments or diseases, including: HIV/AIDS, cancer, arthritis, etc.
While doing ministry at the House, our paths were crossed with a refugee couple from Rwanda, Carl and Esther. Carl was admitted to the Hope House, and their story has been one that we will never forget.
The Rwandan couple bonded together two opposing tribes: the Tutsis and the Hutus. A dynamic duo of sorts, Carl and Esther worked simultaneously in the law system for the Rwandan government. Carl and Esther told of how a missile, in 1994, shot down the Presidential plane killing the Rwandan President, a Hutu. The Hutus, assuming the Tutsis were responsible, rose up seeking mass genocide toward all the Tutsis.
Since the real-life Romeo and Juliet worked for the government, they were soon blacklisted. Not knowing what to do or where do go, they took their four kids and fled to a nearby village that they thought to be safe. This village unfortunately had a cholera outbreak, which flooded the streets with dead bodies.
“There were so many corpses that I had to tip toe around them to find solid ground for my children and I to walk on,” said Esther.
Consumed by nightmares, Esther still has to take sleeping pills every night just to ensure a somewhat uninterrupted night of sleep. Through fear that has undoubtedly lasted 17 years, she replied, “My mind is burnt with images of dead bodies that still haunt my dreams.”
Seeking safety for the family, they first went to the Democratic Republic of Congo; however, filled with 300,000 people, they felt that the camp was overpopulated and the UN couldn’t adequately accommodate all of them. Traveling to their next nearest, best option, they landed at the refugee camp in Kenya only to find similar results. Out of close options, they hoped for something smaller, which made them travel as far as Swaziland to find it. With only 300 refugees, this promised them a smaller environment and better living conditions, with the opportunity for their children to go to a good school. Carl, now searching for income, sadly realized that when he and his family crossed the border of Swaziland, the Swazi government denied him a work visa when stamping his passport.
With no income and nowhere else to turn, the Rwandan family lived in the refugee camp for 10 years. After 10 years they were cut off. Exhausted and out of resources, they then turned to the church. Since Carl’s passport was invalid for work, the church provided new living situations for the family within the church and enabled them to volunteer. This lasted seven years.
However, still refugees, the couple’s primary concern was for their children. “We knew there were still some good people out in the world when our children received scholarships to attend school in the States,” said Carl.
Today, one child is working is Swaziland, another child is living in Mozambique, and two out of the four children are in the States with college degrees; however, ironically cannot obtain work visas. Carl and Esther, living in the Hope House, are just trying to get through life one day at a time.
Not confident of where their next step will go, they are fortunately reliant on their Father above.
Upon our departure, they asked us, “When you think of us, please pray for us and for the government, both Rwandan and Swazi-that evil will fall and good will prevail.”
We could not promise them a lifetime of happiness. We could not assure them that God will provide everything that they think they need. But we left them with the safety in the knowledge that good has already prevailed and that we are heirs to a Kingdom greater than anything that we could want on earth. No one, not the government nor the Devil, can take away our comfort in Christ.
As I left, I felt very helpless. They saw us as Americans (aka…money!). Yes, I can pray for them, but I cannot provide for them anything they need: food, shelter, a job, etc. But what I did promise them, something that I could actually do for them, is to use my voice!
Refugee camps are over-looked in many circumstances. In 1994, the world knew about the uprising in Rwanda. In 1999, the media took part in bringing awareness to the people of Rwanda by producing the movie Hotel Rwanda. But in 2012, there are other issues that may seem more pressing in the world and steal our attention. Yet, still suffering, according to Carl and Esther, are the people of Rwanda-and, unquestionably, people of other war-stricken countries-who have been forced out of their homes and into refugee camps. For example, the camp that this family once lived in now only gives its refugees three months of support and then refuses additional help.
There isn’t a solve-all solution or even a first-step process that I could even advise to take toward this issue; however, I’m staying true to my promise and using my voice. Maybe you can use yours too.
We can’t go back and change the past, but we can remember that there are still conflicts, child soldiers, modern day slavery, and genocide going on today. Think of the Congo. Think of Darfur. Think of what you can do. And think of how you can use your voice.
And even when your blogs give us so much to think about that it leaves us SPEECHLESS, we can still use our voice (even if it’s our inner voice) to pray, never underestimating the power of our prayers or doubting for one minute that God hears every one, and trusting that He will answer in His way, in His time.
It’s the situations that leave us feeling so helpless that in fact strengthen our walk when we realize how very much we need our Savior, and are dependent on the love and mercy of our God. For now, I pray that I will be faithful to use my voice to pray for Carl & Esther and the people of Rwanda and for your continued strength and safety as you continue on the last three months of your race.
Love,
Angela