Joselyne's Story
I am Joselyne John, a Burundian refugee sponsored student by World University Services of Canada (WUSC), currently studying at Simon Fraser University (doing my second year in health sciences). I have been a refugee ever since I was six years old until WUSC opened the doors for my post-secondary education and for my permanent residence in Canada. I am one of thirteen children, fifteen family members with dad and mum. I was born in Bujumbura the capital city of Burundi in the year 1987 when the country was just recovering from the 1972 genocide. However, there were still minimal fighting which prompted my family to leave Burundi for Rwanda (the neighboring country to the north) While in Rwanda, I started primary school and in the year 1993 when I was in grade five my family was able to return to Burundi after the Burundian government urged all citizens to forgive each other for the killings that resulted from the 1972 genocide. In the same year (1993) Burundi held democratic presidential elections which were won by the Hutu dominated Front for Democracy (FRODEBU). FRODEBU leader Melchior Ndadaye was the first Hutu President Burundi had ever had since its independence from Belgium in 1962. Unfortunately, Tutsi members of the Tutsi-dominated army assassinated Ndadaye after only 100 days in office. His assassination was followed by a circle of revenge killings that resulted in numerous deaths.
To give some history concerning these political parties, Tutsi and Hutu are two tribes existing in Burundi and have coexisted for centuries. The Tutsi make up about fifteen percent and the Hutu are about eighty-five percent of the population. And yet consistently, over the years the Tutsi have totally dominated the Hutu in terms of politics. As a young Burundian who was brought up outside of the country I find it hard to explain this consistent pattern of domination by a small minority. Along with the murder of the Hutu elected president my family was forced to escape to Tanzania. It was almost impossible to get out of the country. All the roads were occupied by criminals. We separately left home without anything with us. Since I was very young I left with my elder sister who was 14. We had a lot of money but could not use it and yet I used to think that money can do everything! We walked through the forest since it was the only place where killers could not realize our departure. It was always dark because of the trees’ shade, they were no actual path we had to create one, sometimes thorns would hurt us; and forest was stinking dead people. It was the scariest moment in my infancy. We spent a week on the way, did not have access to food, water and shelter. Nothing made sense; we could not sleep except sitting whenever we got tired. I always held my elder sister’s arm and that made me feel somewhat protected. In life we sometimes deserve and believe to get protection from other people who may not even do a single thing to change the situation but only the belief gives us the comfort “just like placebo works” I know my sister could not have done anything in case murders attacked us, in the forest, but was comforted to be with her. My sister had been given the directions on how we could have taken our way through the forest to Tanzania. However she was not sure because she had never used the way before. There was time still in the forest when I was terribly hungry! But when I smelled the stinking of the dead, I automatically lost my appetite and eventually considered getting out of the forest as my food! Fortunately, we reached the border of Burundi and Tanzania and eventually entered Tanzania and people directed us where the refugee camp was situated.
We were happy that we safely passed through the forest, tired and bored because of the conditions throughout the way and worried about the rest of the family. We actually did not know where to find them because everybody left on their own except my young sister, brothers and i who had to be with someone. We reported the situation to the UNCHR agency which was responsible to help refugees settle after such a horrible experience, we wanted to find out if the rest of the family was still alive. Fortunately, the rest of the family was in the camp already. It would be boasting if one of us considered reaching to Tanzania safely as our own achievement, it was by God’s good grace! My family lived in a Tanzanian refugee camp called Lukole for five years. Life in Lukole was not easy. Since we had to leave everything behind in Burundi, it was not easy to adapt to life in the refugee camp. We depended on the UNHCR agency for all of our basic necessities. The organization donated tents, food and other basics living supplies. It was an immense challenge to catch up with the life in the camp in comparison with the life we had before the war. Even though the UNHCR helped refugees, our housing was not provided. Every family had to build their own house. Before we built one, we were staying out side and covered ourselves with the tents in case of rain. However it did not take too much time to build a house since Burundians are characterized by their solidarity and the sense of belonging and the people who were already residing in the camp were ready to help newcomers settle. Most young people were able to benefit from the free education by the UNHHCR agency. For those who were educated when they became refugees, life in the camp was maintained by the slight prospect of earning a living in their previous professional domain, or pursuing additional training. While in Tanzania and Lukule, I managed to complete my primary schooling through the free education provide by UHCHR.
After living in the lukole camp for five years the Tanzanian and Burundian government asked to repatriate the refugees. My family became scared because of all the past memories that came back, everything from the memories of deaths and survival. The idea of going back to what we ran way from was strongly appalling. We then decided to move to Malawi. Living in Malawi was also not easy. We had to sell everything we had to be able to afford the cost of transportation to Malawi. We arrived in a Malawi refugee camp called Dzaleka. Life was terrible; we did not have anything; we were forced to start from scratch just like we did in Tanzania. The UNHCR was able to help us out but our housing remained non-existant. We struggled to build a house and settle in the camp. Just like in Tanzanian camp the UNHCR agency provides assistance to us, which is mainly in the form of food. The food is always rice, maize, beans, rentals, sugar, oil, salt and corn flour. The food is distributed monthly, but from my own experiences with my Family, the amount of food we were given is never not enough to survive. We always finished the rations before the end of the month. The shortage of food is not the only problematic issues affecting refugees in Dzaleka refugee camp. Refugees also face blatant human rights violations. Refugees are not allowed to leave the camp and living in the camp is considered a “privilege”. Refugees in the Dzaleka camp have three options: they can live in the camp and forget about exploring other parts of the country, they can go back to their country of origin or they can be sponsored by a community or a country that is willing to commit to making a difference in their lives.
The restrictive policies and regulations towards refugees make it even harder for my family of fourteen to survive. When the ration of food they are given for the month runs out too early, it becomes a struggle for my whole family to survive until the next distribution of food. My dad has tried so many times to travel to other parts of the country to employment in order to be able to provide for my family in addition to small quantity of food we do receive but it have never been a success. He gets arrested followed by a return by back to the refugee camp and told that he does not have to work but live in the camp because that is all that a refugee is entitled to do. Few Months ago I received terrifying news that my Dad was arrested for a couple days just because he was found in town trying to search for a living. Along with human rights violation in the Dzaleka refugee camp there is consideration by the Malawian government for a force repatriation of all refugees in the near future.
In the Dzaleka refugee camp Jesuit Refugee Services is the implementing partner for education. However it only provides education for primary and high school students. After high school it is almost impossible for a refugee to begin post-secondary education. Most of the parents are extremely poor which makes it very hard to invest in their children’s educations. Two of my brothers decided to leave for South African after they realized there was no chance for furthering their education in Malawi. I am grateful for the chance they had to upgrade their skills while in South Africa. One of my brothers is almost finished his degree in medicine and surgery and the other one is almost finishing his high schooling. However, my gratefulness concerning their past and current success is completely driven away as I learn that their doors for further education, peace of mind and safety are completely closed. My brothers are strongly affected by xenophobic violence that South Africa is facing. They are not allowed to be in the country and they technically have no where to go. They cannot go back to Burundi because there is still insecurity and with the condition my family is living in at the refugee camp they are not able to help.
While in Malawi I managed to complete my high school through the Jesuit refugee Service. “WUSC opened my door and granted me the opportunity that would otherwise had been unimaginable” my best friend told me about WUSC. After she told me about it I had to look for the WUSC office to know more about the organization. When I met with them they told me they assist refugee students who have finished their high school but do not have the means to continue their education, I was filled with joy and told myself that “This is a right place to be” WUSC was ready to help and every refugee had the ability to receive such a great opportunity. However, because of the huge number of students in the refugee camp waiting for this opportunity, WUSC is forced to select a certain number of students depending on its resources availability. The selecting process makes the process very competitive and long-term based. It took me a year to go through the whole process. I had to apply, sit for many different interviews and present my high school certificate which followed by multiple exams. After I passed through all of this, here I am on Burnaby Mountain observing how much friendly, busier, colder, more beautiful and snowy Canada is.
During my 12 months in Canada I was able to observe the friendly Canadian environment and their incredible commitment to save lives. I have made friends and I am still making more friends. Everyone I meet I consider to be part of my “Canadian family”. Yet despite having this large Canadian Family around me, I still miss my Burundian family: my family. It becomes confusing when I realize that it is not just about missing my family but also worrying about the rough situation they are going through.
There can be no doubt that my family, are in need of safety and dignity and should be able to determine where they will feel most secure. It is my best wish to sponsor my family in order to come over To Canada. It is my hope that collective humanity and support can go a long way in facilitating the process of my family attempting to rebuild their life.
Thank you for taking your time to read my story and feel free to contact me if you have any questions.
God bless you
Joselyne John
