Refugees

This week we said goodbye to one of our colleagues who is leaving to move to the USA. 

When you work for international organisations and your colleagues come from all over the world these farewells are all to common. However, this relocation is a bit different as Fred and his family are moving as part of a UNHCR (UN High Commissioner for Refugees) resettlement programme.

In the late 1990's Fred, his wife and their young son had to leave their home in the Democratic Republic of Congo due to the on-going civil war in that country. Members of their immediate family had been killed and they feared for their own lives. They walked through the jungle and arrived in Uganda where they slept in the store room of a derelict school, stayed in a refugee camp and eventually ended up In Kampala.

They have built a life for themselves here. Fred has worked with MAF since 1998. They now have five children aged between 4 and 18. They have made friends and been part of the community here.

Some years ago they applied to the UNHCR for resettlement but heard nothing and then, two weeks ago and completely out-of-the-blue, they were told that they were being relocated to the USA. They have had about three weeks to close up their lives here and prepare for their new lives on the other side of the world.

They know they can never go back to DRC and this is a tremendous opportunity, particularly for the children. It is also a huge upheaval and a daunting prospect. Although they will be provided with somewhere to live, be guided through all aspects of life in America and get help finding work, when they board the plane in Entebbe this coming week their lives will never be the same again.