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| Gihembe Refugee Camp, Rwanda |
For many years my mind has been trained to analyze data, figures, reports
and news. To have a critical mind. As a result it is hard for me to change
from that mindset. It is difficult to
just relax and let God teach. My mind is judgmental, critical and filled with
bias and the need to label everything and to put it into a box. However, these are often the very things,
which prevent me from hearing God talking and teaching me. On this trip I have been forced, by inconsistent Internet, to spend more time observing, experiencing and learning – just listening.
It is a good thing.
We have traveled to the north, east and west of Rwanda, and
experienced a lifetime of memories. Spending time in the refugee camp in Gihembe
was one of the biggest events. As we entered the camp I was studying every building, process, procedure and rule to understand how a refugee camp
can operate for 20 years and keep 15,000 people fed, watered, safe, educated and peaceful on this high dusty mountain top. It is a herculean
task for sure.
The question continually spinning around in my head, as I observed the crowds around me, was why does this camp still exist? The big wars,
and massive violence are no longer making headlines. There are at least two answers I have learned. The first is represented by a story a
family shared this week. They did indeed leave the refugee camp in Gihembe and returned to their family farm
in DRC (Democratic Republic of Congo).
Immediately upon returning the same hate filled, violent people that drove
them to refugee camps in the first place and occupied their farm, organized and sent them a message they would be killed unless they departed immediately. The family fled back across the border to the
refugee camps, leaving their family farm in the possession of these violent
people. They have no real chance of recovering their land, as there is no effective government and their lives would always be at risk. They had no other place to go. That is why the camps continue to exist. Large numbers of people have no place in which to return.
The second answer is refugees have not been offered a home
anywhere else. As a result they are confined to camps, not as second-class
citizens, but as people with NO citizenship.
They are in effect sentenced to a lifetime of poverty, confinement, limitations and rejection. They are constantly made to feel unwanted by the outside world. It is like winning the lottery when a country finally opens their doors and welcomes in refugees!!! Our Congolese friends in Boise have won the resettlement lottery, but they always have to leave behind friends and family. It is both a joyous and heartbreaking experience.
Can you image being confined to a far off distant mountaintop
with no money and no job, and not being welcome outside the
camp as a result? Can you imagine not having
anything? With not even the the opportunity
to work, even with a university degree, because of where you fled from and your status as a refugee? Most jobs go to citizens first and refugees are at the bottom of the list. In addition, you are
not able to travel across borders.
Countries won’t permit you to enter or leave.
As a result of all these tragedies and injustices caused by wars,
trauma and violence, I am deeply thrilled that the USA opens their doors out of compassion and enables a few of these refugee families an opportunity for a new life. These are the homeless of the world and we will not forget them. In the world Shawna and I live in, refugees are always welcome!
Kevin Benedict
Writer, Speaker, Jesus-Fan
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Words on the Way
