Nowhere to go, no place to call home... Pt.II

Friday morning, most of us parted ways on our OFF. I headed off to visit a refugee camp in Kikagate, about an hour south of Mbarara, on the border with Tanzania. Two ACTS interns had done some work there in 2006-2007 and I wanted to see if I could also help out as well. Asaph lives about halfway between Mbarara and Kikagate and he offered to meet me and show me the camp since he had been there before.

Ellie, a former ACTS worker who is now the Information and Communications Technician for the UN in Uganda, also offered to come along when I told him where I was going. On a side note, Ellie is a genius when it comes to electronics; he designed a radio transmitter from a calculator circuitboard, and this is without being formerly educated! More importantly, from the few times that I had met Ellie previously, it is clear that he is an incredibly humble and selfless person. He often comes back to help ACTS when we have electrical problems that no one else seems capable of fixing; hence, how I've had the chance to meet him several times before. Anyway, he rode his bike eight kilometers to meet me and Asaph, remarking that if we were willing to come from afar to help these people, it was the least he could do to accompany us.

I must apologize for the perhaps incoherency or rambling in my writing; my thoughts and feelings are still very much in a jumble, as I think is obvious from the tangents that I’ve already taken. As you might have already noticed, this blog is also is a little less... happy… than most other posts. But I think this is what is on my heart right now and it's more appropriate given the nature of the topic. ANYWAY, honestly, I’m not sure what I had expected when I decided to visit the camp; however, I don’t think I was mentally prepared for what I did see. So, as I’ve now learned, the people in the camp are not officially refugees but rather, “returnees”. This is despite the fact that the sign at the camp entrance, which was constructed by the Prime Minister’s office, states that it is a refugee camp. The situation is complicated but in short, and from my limited understanding, most of the “returnees” are originally from Rwanda but fled to Tanzania during the Rwandan Genocide in 1994. About four years ago, the Tanzanian government evicted them from the camps where they had been staying. However, due to fears of retribution and other safety concerns, these people came across the border to Uganda instead of returning back to Rwanda. And because they did not come directly from Rwanda, they cannot be given refugee status, which means that the UNHRC is not responsible of ensuring the welfare of these people.

It seems that these people have essentially fallen through the cracks, victims of our bureaucratic and legalistic society. When these people first arrived in Uganda, the district designated a portion of land for them; however, the local government does not permit them to cultivate the land, even though it is otherwise vacant and unused. Thus, the people have no sustainable source of food; as a result, they go into the Kikagate village each day hoping to find work so that they’ll be able to return home with food to feed their families. The UNHRC dropped off some basic supplies last February, and the Samaritan’s Purse did the same this April. However, other than these extremely sparsely spaced visits, these people receive no other support.

It is difficult to grasp the conditions in which these people are living. Most of the houses, if you can even call them that, are incredibly small mud and stick huts “covered” with the mostly tattered remains of what used to be a tarp. A small 8x12 foot structure could be home to a family of six, or bigger. Most of the children, and adults even, wore old, tattered clothes and when they stood near to me, the number of flies that would accompany them would be nearly unbearable, a sign that they don’t bathe often which isn’t surprising given the level of health and sanitation awareness they have received to date, that is, none.

At this point, I honestly don’t know what to do, I’m not sure what I can do, to help these people. There is no question that the need is there, and it is great, however, I am restricted in many ways: legally, mobility, financially, even politically. Apparently, the funding for our internships is contingent on following strict guidelines that go along the lines of working solely on ACTS related projects. That restricts me from doing anything outside of the month end break. In truth, I am feeling quite disillusioned by the failures of the international community, local government, and NGO’s to help these people. I came to Uganda for the reason that I wanted to use the skills that I have to help people, and although I realize that the work that I am doing with ACTS is benefiting some people, it’s tough to see that the people who are most in need being neglected. Anyway, before I do anything, if I can do anything, I’d first like to find out more information about these people and the camp. I have searched for more information on the internet, but due to connection and information availability constraints, I haven’t had much luck in finding much. So if anyone has the time and ability to look for more information about these people, I’d be most grateful if you could pass it on to me as I would like to know more about history of this camp and the background of these people.