REFUGEE CAMP, AND A BIT MORE!

Three dirty and tired children placed in the back of a vehicle. Sitting close to each other, and staring a bit afraid on the mzungu that’s also sitting there. It looks like they are trying to comfort each other. There’s plenty of space, but the children, and three women together with matooke (banana for cooking) and a bag with some belongings, is squeezing themselves together in the very end of the vehicle. This is a refugee family that we (Kathrine and I) met while we visited a refugee camp.

It all started out with a visit of a friend of ours (Swiss), working with a local NGO, who told us that his boss was going for a meeting in the Nakiwaru refugee camp the next day. If we wanted to join in he could arrange it for us. Off course we wanted! So Friday 3.November we went. This refugee camp is, if I’m told correctly, the biggest one in Uganda. It inhabits between 20–30000 refugees from eight different countries; these are DRC (Congo), Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi, Sudan, Tanzania, Ethiopia and Eritrea. It took us about three hours from Bushenyi to reach it, whereas two of them were on a quite bumpy road.

The meeting was held by a representative from UNHCR for representatives from each of the zones the camp is divided into, in addition to some other people. It was mainly budgeting. Not so very interesting for us, but an honor to be allowed to join in. What stroke me was that it was talk about so little money (for them; much, but not enough)! During the brake Kathrine and I went down to the nearest trade centre/zone. Walking done the “street” we found ourselves surrounded by kids. I counted about five children holding only in one of my arms/hands. I keep wondering what the mothers of the children are thinking… Us mzungu’s coming there “gathering” a group of children…

Here’s a picture of Okoth Andrew (5years) and Steven Douglas (8mns) taken outside where the meeting was held (notice the WFP (World Food Program) tin-box…):



After the meeting one of the organizers for the camp gave us a tour around the camp. We drove in a car to different places. It’s quite strange; if I haven’t been told that this was refugees living there I wouldn’t have guest it. From media back home we imagin people living together more slums like, but it wasn’t like that at all. The different zones actually looked like a typical Ugandan village. And the camp stretches over a so big area that they almost live together with the nationals. But it must be said that people have been living there for an average of ten years, so you get really settled…

An overview of some of the houses:



And a close up:



At the end of the tour we were told that a new family had arrived from DRC. We were to pick them up at the base and bring them out to a receivement camp. This was more alike what you imagine a refugee camp is from back home; “ware houses” with half walls, where they slept, and ate. It turned out that this place lay almost an hour from base. A tour that was intended to take 1,5 hours forth and back, turned to be 4 hours. We experienced three flat tires. One before we let the refugees off, one in the camp (which was patched there) and one on the way back to base. We then had to be picked up by another car, and leave the one originally traveling in behind, because we didn’t have anything to fix it with there. We found ourselves standing on a national’s compound waiting for the car to pick us up. It was a really surrealistic feeling standing there, in the middle of nowhere with mud huts, a group of goats and some small bonfires surrounding us (the time had passed about nine in evening).

While they were fixing the tire in the recievement camp, we got the chance to interact with some of the refugees staying there. Kathrine immediately got contact with some of the kids and were dancing and singing together with them. I talked with some of the adults, trying to practice some of my French. Since most of them were from DRC they spoke little English, but French… It was fun trying… One thing that surprised me, I learnt as I was talking with one man, was that it didn’t seem like anyone of the ones working in the camp knew how to speak French. Off course there are many languages when you come from so many countries, but although… French is a big language worldwide… Language difficulties create some problems trying to communicate i.e. with a doctor, trying to tell how you feel…
One other thing was that although people are refugees, and has experienced so many things, they looked really happy. The ones we came with were smiling now and then, and I just thought “wow/amazing, how is it possible…”

Things we saw all over were tins with WFP stamps on, or USA… They were used for patching houses, making doors etc. It was a bit strange to see it with your own eyes.

Right: a gate
Under: One of the tents used by the doctors while their house were reedone (their accommodation, not hospital):

“A BIT MORE”

This last week we have been typing stories when there has been power (picture: me and some of the files that we shall write stories from) Other things we have done are visit a school for taking picture of some children for their reports (stories)… We've also done some waiting and some reading… That’s basically it…

This day we’ve spent at a farewell-gathering for our friend from Switzerland. He has been here for almost 6 months now and is finished with his exchange program. We’ve been enjoying some food, “played” volleyball, and I personally consumed several mapera (a fruit) from a tree standing where we played volleyball… It is a good fruit, but I think I enjoy it the most because I remember that I really loved it as a child…

I wanna end this section with a picture of som happy children from Uganda: