after the reintegration something has been kicking in my heart saying we must unite but i was thinking on how , it took me days and sleepless nights thinking how are we going to unite. in september 2008 i attended lucca leadership course which really gave me the drive to go to the community and speak to the people then i came out with a plan of having a project .
it only took me a short time to engage youth to come to the project eventually we started with 40 creative and talented youth .
we do our class every day and we teach them ART'S & CRAFT , EDUCATION , HIV & AIDS , SPORTS & CULTURE . RECYCLING
by doing these we try and keep the youth off the streets , reduce crime, bringing peace into the community , creating employment and reducing poverty.
we are asking for any help with second hand tools .--- old textbooks , old computer boxes , old tyres , wire & beads .
by collecting these material it will help us run the project in a proper way.
thank you for reading the post we will be happy to receive your donations.
juma.
Friday, January 16, 2009
Saturday, September 6, 2008
Update: Thanks to all who helped!
Hello again everyone,
It's been three months since I sent out an email appealing for your help as the xenophobic crisis hit Khayelitsha. Your response was overwhelmingly rapid and generous, and has enabled us help the people who ended up living at the Desmond Tutu hall. (By now, most have re-integrated into the community, and about 30 of the original Desmond Tutu hall dwellers are now in the nearby Solomon Mahlangu hall).
In total, IkamvaYouth received R76648.95 from a large number of people. Thank you so much to all of you, and especially to those who forwarded the email on and got your friends and family to donate as well. Thanks too to the people in the UK, Ireland, the US, Antigua and Basque Country who collected funds and transferred money to us. A very big THANK YOU is also due to the ikamvanites (learners, volunteers and interns from Khayelitsha, Cape Town, Ireland and the US) and TAC and other volunteers who gave their time and skills to help.
In the midst of this hugely depressing and disillusioning situation, your response gave hope. And it also provided basic essentials to people who have had everything taken away from them. Please see the break-down of the expenditure of your donations below. Your response to IkamvaYouth's appeal to help us help our neighbours was far larger and more effective than we had anticipated. And the impact was also further reaching. In addition to helping the displaced people, the involvement of our learners and volunteers in purchasing and distributing the food, medicines, kitchen equipment etc, sparked discussions and debate on issues of xenophobia and poverty, and helped to ensure that the Makhaza community was one into which many people have been able to re-integrate.
Please also have a look at the letters of thanks from Willard and Juma, the extremely inspiring young men from Zimbabwe who stood up to lead the community of hall dwellers. Despite the dire situations in which they found themselves, and the daily challenges they faced (one example of many: two women employed by the Department of Housing broke into the kitchen in the early hours one morning and stole the donated groceries), Willard and Juma never failed to put the others in the hall before them, and worked tirelessly to ensure that the hungry were fed and the sick received care.
Willard and Juma's response to the xenophobia that has wrecked their lives is one of forgiveness and reconciliation. In order to rebuild their lives and address the poverty they believe caused the violent outbreak, they have established a wire art project in Makhaza. They are inviting the members of their community to join them (both South Africans and foreign nationals), and the objectives of their project are to provide a means for creative expression, income generation and collaboration for peace and prosperity.
If you would like to help Willard and Juma to purchase materials for their project, please deposit donations into the following account:
WILLARD KAMBEVA
FIRST NATIONAL BANK
ACC NO 62176605940
BRANCH ST GEORGE"S MALL
Unfortunately, the crisis continues. There are still many halls and camps filled with many destitute people. The Treatment Action Campaign's amazing work to help people throughout the Western Cape is completely inspiring. From lobbying the Government in court (http://www.tac.org.za/community/node/2400 ) to continued humanitarian aid on the ground (http://www.tac.org.za/community/node/2392 ), TAC's leadership and action is interminable.
Please help them with the funds they desperately need to continue: http://www.tac.org.za/community/donate
Thanks again!
Love
Joy
More Zen, Less Phobia
Ikamva Lisezandlei Zethu / The Future is in Our Hands
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Incoming: R76,648.95
Expenditure:
Airtime for people in the hall to contact family members: R559.76
Food, heaters, medicine, baby stuff, kitchen equipment and gas refills: R37,565.82
Money for displaced Zambian learners at IkamvaYoth KZN to replace uniforms and textbooks: R1000.00
Mattresses: R16,950.00
First month's rent for families to re-integrate into the community: R13,583.54
Printing for survey of needs and plans for the future, plus conversion of dv tape to dvd of footage from the hall: R480.26
Transport and telecommunications: R2610.68
Transport for unwell young woman to return to Zimbabwe: R1000.00
Investment in Willard and Juma's arts and crafts project: R1352.18
Bank charges: R565.11
TOTAL: R76,648.95
It's been three months since I sent out an email appealing for your help as the xenophobic crisis hit Khayelitsha. Your response was overwhelmingly rapid and generous, and has enabled us help the people who ended up living at the Desmond Tutu hall. (By now, most have re-integrated into the community, and about 30 of the original Desmond Tutu hall dwellers are now in the nearby Solomon Mahlangu hall).
In total, IkamvaYouth received R76648.95 from a large number of people. Thank you so much to all of you, and especially to those who forwarded the email on and got your friends and family to donate as well. Thanks too to the people in the UK, Ireland, the US, Antigua and Basque Country who collected funds and transferred money to us. A very big THANK YOU is also due to the ikamvanites (learners, volunteers and interns from Khayelitsha, Cape Town, Ireland and the US) and TAC and other volunteers who gave their time and skills to help.
In the midst of this hugely depressing and disillusioning situation, your response gave hope. And it also provided basic essentials to people who have had everything taken away from them. Please see the break-down of the expenditure of your donations below. Your response to IkamvaYouth's appeal to help us help our neighbours was far larger and more effective than we had anticipated. And the impact was also further reaching. In addition to helping the displaced people, the involvement of our learners and volunteers in purchasing and distributing the food, medicines, kitchen equipment etc, sparked discussions and debate on issues of xenophobia and poverty, and helped to ensure that the Makhaza community was one into which many people have been able to re-integrate.
Please also have a look at the letters of thanks from Willard and Juma, the extremely inspiring young men from Zimbabwe who stood up to lead the community of hall dwellers. Despite the dire situations in which they found themselves, and the daily challenges they faced (one example of many: two women employed by the Department of Housing broke into the kitchen in the early hours one morning and stole the donated groceries), Willard and Juma never failed to put the others in the hall before them, and worked tirelessly to ensure that the hungry were fed and the sick received care.
Willard and Juma's response to the xenophobia that has wrecked their lives is one of forgiveness and reconciliation. In order to rebuild their lives and address the poverty they believe caused the violent outbreak, they have established a wire art project in Makhaza. They are inviting the members of their community to join them (both South Africans and foreign nationals), and the objectives of their project are to provide a means for creative expression, income generation and collaboration for peace and prosperity.
If you would like to help Willard and Juma to purchase materials for their project, please deposit donations into the following account:
WILLARD KAMBEVA
FIRST NATIONAL BANK
ACC NO 62176605940
BRANCH ST GEORGE"S MALL
Unfortunately, the crisis continues. There are still many halls and camps filled with many destitute people. The Treatment Action Campaign's amazing work to help people throughout the Western Cape is completely inspiring. From lobbying the Government in court (http://www.tac.org.za/
Please help them with the funds they desperately need to continue: http://www.tac.org.za/
Thanks again!
Love
Joy
More Zen, Less Phobia
Ikamva Lisezandlei Zethu / The Future is in Our Hands
------------------------------
Incoming: R76,648.95
Expenditure:
Airtime for people in the hall to contact family members: R559.76
Food, heaters, medicine, baby stuff, kitchen equipment and gas refills: R37,565.82
Money for displaced Zambian learners at IkamvaYoth KZN to replace uniforms and textbooks: R1000.00
Mattresses: R16,950.00
First month's rent for families to re-integrate into the community: R13,583.54
Printing for survey of needs and plans for the future, plus conversion of dv tape to dvd of footage from the hall: R480.26
Transport and telecommunications: R2610.68
Transport for unwell young woman to return to Zimbabwe: R1000.00
Investment in Willard and Juma's arts and crafts project: R1352.18
Bank charges: R565.11
TOTAL: R76,648.95
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Juma's script
Well it only started like fire coming down from the sky when foreigners where attacked by some of the S.A nationals. Property, goods, belongings were stolen we were left with tears.
But if it wasn't lkamvaYouth who provided us with love, kind care and support e.g. money for rent, mattress, stoves, ean, heaters and groceries e.tc some of us would have been dead by now. We really appreciated that.
Yes they did take our staff but not skills and knowledge but what made them griddy l think its poverty, but how can we kill this poverty which leads to xenophobia, crime, drugs abuse and rape. We as lDP we decided it will be good to forgive them and come out with a solution of working together sharing knowledge and skills.
So we decided to do project e.g. art and craft
But if it wasn't lkamvaYouth who provided us with love, kind care and support e.g. money for rent, mattress, stoves, ean, heaters and groceries e.tc some of us would have been dead by now. We really appreciated that.
Yes they did take our staff but not skills and knowledge but what made them griddy l think its poverty, but how can we kill this poverty which leads to xenophobia, crime, drugs abuse and rape. We as lDP we decided it will be good to forgive them and come out with a solution of working together sharing knowledge and skills.
So we decided to do project e.g. art and craft
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Update Re: Desmond tutu Hall
WELL LIFE IN DESMOND TUTU SEEMS TO BE BETTER BECAUSE WITHOUT IKAMVA YOUTH & TAC
SOME OF US WOULD HAVE LONG COMMITED SUICIDE BUT WE REALLY APPRECIATED IKAMVA'S PROMISES AS THEY PROMISED TO PROVIDE MONEY FOR RENT AND FOF REINTERGRATION.
ON 08/07/08 OUR PROMISES WERE FULFILLED BY IKAMVA AS 11 FAMILIES WERE GIVEN MONEY FOR RENT AND READY TO GO BACK TO THE COMMUNITY SO THEY HAD TO WAIT FOR TAC AS THEY PROMISED TO PROVIDE GROCERIES.
IT WAS AROUND 4PM ON 09/07/08 WHEN A GROUP OF SO CALLED COMMUNITY MEMBERS, PASTOR AND A COUPLE OF POLICEMAN CAME AND FORCED AND WERE TREATENING PEOPLE TO MOVE OUT OF DESMOND TUTU TO SOLOMON MAHLANGU HALL WE TRIED TO RESIST BUT THE THREATENING WAS TOO MUCH AS THEY PROMISED TO BRING GANGS DURING THE NIGHT AND KILL PEOPLE. SO WE DECIDE TO MOVE TO SOLOMON MAHLANGU AND THATS WERE WE ARE OVER CROWDED IN A SMALL HALL.
THE PEOPLE IN SOLOMON M WERE 86 SO ALL TOGETHER WE ARE 239 BUT THOSE 11 PEOPLE MANAGED TO MOVE OUT ON THE 10/07/08 .WE ALSO GAVE IKAMVA ANOTHER LIST OF PEOPLE WILLING TO MOVE OUT. ON 12/07/08 SOME SECURITY THREW TEARGAS INTO THE HALL WHILST WE WERE SLEEPING AS RESULTS OF THAT 8 PEOPLE FAINTED AND WERE RUSHED TO THE CLINICS BUT THEY WERE NOT RESPONDED AS EMERGERCY AND SOME WERE GIVEN WRONG TREATMENT, THEN ON THE 14/07/08 A MEETING WAS SET WITH THE SO CALLED ''COMMUNITY MEMBERS'' AND THEIR AGENDA WAS TO PUT THE 25/07/08 AS THE DEAD LINE FOR CLOSING ALL THE HALLS BUT THEY NEVER HAD A SOLUTION ON HOW TO REINTEGRATE THEM.
SO PEOPLE ARE PRAYING THEY CAN ALL GET MONEY FOR RENT AND STUFF SO AS TO END ALL THIS CONFLICTS.
SOME OF US WOULD HAVE LONG COMMITED SUICIDE BUT WE REALLY APPRECIATED IKAMVA'S PROMISES AS THEY PROMISED TO PROVIDE MONEY FOR RENT AND FOF REINTERGRATION.
ON 08/07/08 OUR PROMISES WERE FULFILLED BY IKAMVA AS 11 FAMILIES WERE GIVEN MONEY FOR RENT AND READY TO GO BACK TO THE COMMUNITY SO THEY HAD TO WAIT FOR TAC AS THEY PROMISED TO PROVIDE GROCERIES.
IT WAS AROUND 4PM ON 09/07/08 WHEN A GROUP OF SO CALLED COMMUNITY MEMBERS, PASTOR AND A COUPLE OF POLICEMAN CAME AND FORCED AND WERE TREATENING PEOPLE TO MOVE OUT OF DESMOND TUTU TO SOLOMON MAHLANGU HALL WE TRIED TO RESIST BUT THE THREATENING WAS TOO MUCH AS THEY PROMISED TO BRING GANGS DURING THE NIGHT AND KILL PEOPLE. SO WE DECIDE TO MOVE TO SOLOMON MAHLANGU AND THATS WERE WE ARE OVER CROWDED IN A SMALL HALL.
THE PEOPLE IN SOLOMON M WERE 86 SO ALL TOGETHER WE ARE 239 BUT THOSE 11 PEOPLE MANAGED TO MOVE OUT ON THE 10/07/08 .WE ALSO GAVE IKAMVA ANOTHER LIST OF PEOPLE WILLING TO MOVE OUT. ON 12/07/08 SOME SECURITY THREW TEARGAS INTO THE HALL WHILST WE WERE SLEEPING AS RESULTS OF THAT 8 PEOPLE FAINTED AND WERE RUSHED TO THE CLINICS BUT THEY WERE NOT RESPONDED AS EMERGERCY AND SOME WERE GIVEN WRONG TREATMENT, THEN ON THE 14/07/08 A MEETING WAS SET WITH THE SO CALLED ''COMMUNITY MEMBERS'' AND THEIR AGENDA WAS TO PUT THE 25/07/08 AS THE DEAD LINE FOR CLOSING ALL THE HALLS BUT THEY NEVER HAD A SOLUTION ON HOW TO REINTEGRATE THEM.
SO PEOPLE ARE PRAYING THEY CAN ALL GET MONEY FOR RENT AND STUFF SO AS TO END ALL THIS CONFLICTS.
Monday, July 14, 2008
A small but useful hand-up
IkamvaYouth is using the rest of the funding it has received (almost R80 000!) from its friends and supporters for the displaced people in the Desmond Tutu hall to cover the costs of one month's rent for families who wish to be re-integrated into the community, but lack the financial means to cover rent.
So far, 11 families have moved back into their homes, and IkamvaYouth has paid the rent directly to the landlords. The TAC provided transport and food parcels.
This seems to be the only sustainable solution to this problem, and we hope to be able to help more families to return, re-integrate and re-build their lives.
So far, 11 families have moved back into their homes, and IkamvaYouth has paid the rent directly to the landlords. The TAC provided transport and food parcels.
This seems to be the only sustainable solution to this problem, and we hope to be able to help more families to return, re-integrate and re-build their lives.
Update re: Desmond Tutu Hall
Things are going from bad to worse. Some of the problems facing the hall dwellers over the past two weeks include:
... The TAC, of course.
TAC was (as usual) quick to respond, but we lost the battle... there was no choice. TAC facilitated the move, and there are now 200 people at Solomon Mahlangu.
- Severe shortage of food (TAC is struggling to keep up with the demand, and the Mustafadin foundation's food is unfamiliar to most of the hall dwellers, and is causing diarrhoea)
- Theft by local officials from the department of housing: Two ladies went into the kitchen at 5am, put all the food donations into black bags, bribed the security guards, and wheeled enough food to feed all 150 people for two days in a trolley. There were a number of witnesses, and the theft has been reported (to their superiors and the police), but nothing has happened.
... The TAC, of course.
TAC was (as usual) quick to respond, but we lost the battle... there was no choice. TAC facilitated the move, and there are now 200 people at Solomon Mahlangu.
Update from Durban Against Xenophobia
Things seem even worse in KZN...
------------------------------------------------------
From: Anthony Collins <anti@webafrica.org.za>
Date: Sat, Jul 12, 2008 at 12:04 PM
Subject: its friday night in albert park
Its Friday night. Its cold. It looks a bit like rain.
Somewhere in the dark in Albert Park are about 120 refugees, mostly
women and young children.
Its been a long day. We've phoned all the numbers. We've called in all
the favours. We talked through all the angles.
Its late and we (we who already had breakfast and lunch today) are hungry.
Its late and we (we who have homes) want to go home.
There is no good outcome.
Somewhere in the dark in Albert Park are about 120 refugees, mostly
women and young children.
These are not young jobseekers from Mozambique and Malawi, doing the
African renaissance equivalent of a post-degree work holiday in
London. These are documented refugees from the worst civil war of the
last decade - a war that has already claimed 4 million lives. A war,
as Human Rights Watch has already documented, funded in part by South
African mining companies paying warlords in the Congo for the right to
plunder the local mineral wealth. These are people who escaped with
their lives after their families and communities had been destroyed.
These are capable entrepreneurs who want only an opportunity to live
in peace. No Mike Sutcliff, they don't want the handouts you claim you
cannot give them. They just want to be safe. They just want to not be
murdered for having committed the offence of already being so
desperate that they are prepared to work even harder for even less pay
the people around them. They just want the world to not suddenly again
turn into an insane nightmare that tries to destroy them. They just
want to war to be over.
We don't understand, they say. We thought there were human rights in
South Africa.
I don't understand either.
Six weeks ago they were attacked. They fled to church. There they
waited while KZN province promised to set up a shelter. Nothing
happened. Eventually the church left them on the steps of the city
hall. The city dumped some them in what had been the old SPCA
building. No food. No electricity. Then they evicted them. They were
offered 3 days accommodation in a shelter in town. Then they were
evicted. They went to the city hall. They were assaulted by city
security. The slept outside the city hall. This afternoon police came
and loaded them into vans, telling them they were being taken to
Albert Park to meet with officials to organise their accommodation. It
was a lie to get them into the vans without causing a public
spectacle. There were no officials at Albert Park. There was nothing
at Albert Park. There is nothing at Albert Park. Nothing except 120
refugees, mostly women and children.
Sipho is quiet but looks visibly upset. He lives a block away. He
warns us about the gang that operates on the other side of the park.
I'm worried about the women and children, he says, its not safe here.
We hear stories of murder and rapes in broad daylight.
I don't understand, he says pointing to the enthusiastic church
service that is gathering momentum in the tent nearly. This is my
church, he says.
Its not just the indifference of the worshippers, its that their
security were told lock the toilets and deny water to the refugees.
Didn't Jesus feed the hungry, he asks. Doesn't the bible tell us to
protect the weak?
Sipho is visibly upset. He tries to come up with suggestions. We've
tried them all.
I'll stay here as long as I can, he says. I'll come back in the night
and see if everything is okay.
These are my people, says Sipho in desperation. These are my people he
says, meaning the refugees.
But he means only this: when they sleep out here, they feel the same
cold that I would feel if I had to sleep out here. When strangers come
with knives and guns, they feel the same terror that I would feel.
Those mothers are worried about their children in the same way that my
mother worried about me when I was a child.
But Sipho is not the mayor. Sipho is not the head of disaster
management. Sipho is not in the Office of the Premier.
Sipho is just a someone who happens to live a block away from Albert
Park, who happened to be in there tonight. Sipho is just someone who
can imagine what is its like to be cold, and what it is like to be
scared, and what a mother feels when she realizes she may longer be
able to protect her child from the kinds of nightmares that are not
supposed to happen, but sometimes do.
And Sipho, like us, is worried, and slightly desperate, and doesn't
know what to do.
anthony
-------------------------------
It's 3am. I can't sleep because of what we've seen and heard tonight.
This evening, we went to Albert Park to see what we could do. The
refugees said that two women were injured. So we offered to take them
to hospital. I'll call these women Sophie and Marie (not their real
names). Sophie's two young sons came with her to our car. There was no
room for them and the other refugees assured Sophie they would look
after her sons until her return. Sophie was moaning and unable to
walk. "Who did this?" I asked the boys in my rusty French? "The
police".
Sophie and Marie moaned softly as we drove to McCord hospital. When we
arrived, we were glad we'd opted for McCord's as the staff treated the
two women with great care and compassion. The nurses were shocked to
hear it was the police who has assaulted them. Marie's hands were cut
and swollen and severely bruised. She told me that the police had
slammed her hands closed in the van door when they were manhandling
the refugees into the van to take them to Albert Park. The doctor said
that Marie's hands will be painful for the next six weeks. She also
diagnosed her with a chest infection - likely the result of her recent
living conditions (many of the refugees are coughing). The doctor told
Marie to drink at least a litre of clean water a day to prevent a
kidney infection. When I translated this for her, she said "Where will
I get water in the park?" I didn't have an answer.
The doctor who treated Sophie said that she had sustained damage to
the ligament of her knee and that she had blood on her knee. She
moaned as he drained the blood off her knee. The doctor said she'll
need to use crutches for two weeks and that she'll be in a lot of
pain.
While we were waiting for Sophie, Maire told me a little about her
experiences in South Africa. She said that she's been here for 3 1/2
years and that she has eked out a living selling goods on the
roadside. She told a story of constant police harassment of her as a
"foreigner" and how she had to keep paying the police "taxes" to be
allowed to stay in business. Marie recounted an incident where she was
picked up by the police for being a foreigner. They threw her goods on
the ground and took her to the Broad Street police station. At the
station, they wrote out a long statement in English and told her to
sign it. She explained to them that she didn't really understand
English and asked for a French translation. They took her by the
throat and crushed her windpipe and forced her thumb onto an ink pad
and onto the statement. She couldn't eat for 4 days afterwards because
of the damage to her throat.
When we took Marie and Sophie back to the park, the refugees were
huddled together under blankets. A UN rep was there talking to some of
them. We told Marie and Sophie we'd be back in the morning with some
medicine. We said we were sorry and we came home and tried to sleep.
I don't know what's happening in the park right now. I just hope it's
nothing too bad.
I know that all of us in the this group lead busy, demanding lives and
that many people have already given so much time and effort to this
refugee crisis. I know that's it's exhausting and depressing. But, if
you can, please let people know what is happening - phone or write to
the media and anyone you know you might be able to publicise this
issue or offer some humanitarian assistance. If you can, please go to
Albert Park tomorrow and ask the refugees how they are and how they
think this situation could be alleviated - I think just giving people
a chance to talk about what's been happening is valuable.
Kathleen
Anthony Collins
School of Psychology
Howard College Campus
University of KwaZulu-Natal
Durban
4041
Durban Action Against Xenophobia
http://durbanaction.wordpress.com/
or on facebook
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/group.php?gid=18209392749&ref=mf
ph 031 260-2539 fax 031 260-2618 anti@webafrica.org.za
skype: anthonycollins gtalk: tardive
"Cricket civilizes people and creates good gentlemen. I want everyone
to play cricket in Zimbabwe; I want ours to be a nation of gentlemen"
Robert Mugabe
------------------------------------------------------
From: Anthony Collins <anti@webafrica.org.za>
Date: Sat, Jul 12, 2008 at 12:04 PM
Subject: its friday night in albert park
Its Friday night. Its cold. It looks a bit like rain.
Somewhere in the dark in Albert Park are about 120 refugees, mostly
women and young children.
Its been a long day. We've phoned all the numbers. We've called in all
the favours. We talked through all the angles.
Its late and we (we who already had breakfast and lunch today) are hungry.
Its late and we (we who have homes) want to go home.
There is no good outcome.
Somewhere in the dark in Albert Park are about 120 refugees, mostly
women and young children.
These are not young jobseekers from Mozambique and Malawi, doing the
African renaissance equivalent of a post-degree work holiday in
London. These are documented refugees from the worst civil war of the
last decade - a war that has already claimed 4 million lives. A war,
as Human Rights Watch has already documented, funded in part by South
African mining companies paying warlords in the Congo for the right to
plunder the local mineral wealth. These are people who escaped with
their lives after their families and communities had been destroyed.
These are capable entrepreneurs who want only an opportunity to live
in peace. No Mike Sutcliff, they don't want the handouts you claim you
cannot give them. They just want to be safe. They just want to not be
murdered for having committed the offence of already being so
desperate that they are prepared to work even harder for even less pay
the people around them. They just want the world to not suddenly again
turn into an insane nightmare that tries to destroy them. They just
want to war to be over.
We don't understand, they say. We thought there were human rights in
South Africa.
I don't understand either.
Six weeks ago they were attacked. They fled to church. There they
waited while KZN province promised to set up a shelter. Nothing
happened. Eventually the church left them on the steps of the city
hall. The city dumped some them in what had been the old SPCA
building. No food. No electricity. Then they evicted them. They were
offered 3 days accommodation in a shelter in town. Then they were
evicted. They went to the city hall. They were assaulted by city
security. The slept outside the city hall. This afternoon police came
and loaded them into vans, telling them they were being taken to
Albert Park to meet with officials to organise their accommodation. It
was a lie to get them into the vans without causing a public
spectacle. There were no officials at Albert Park. There was nothing
at Albert Park. There is nothing at Albert Park. Nothing except 120
refugees, mostly women and children.
Sipho is quiet but looks visibly upset. He lives a block away. He
warns us about the gang that operates on the other side of the park.
I'm worried about the women and children, he says, its not safe here.
We hear stories of murder and rapes in broad daylight.
I don't understand, he says pointing to the enthusiastic church
service that is gathering momentum in the tent nearly. This is my
church, he says.
Its not just the indifference of the worshippers, its that their
security were told lock the toilets and deny water to the refugees.
Didn't Jesus feed the hungry, he asks. Doesn't the bible tell us to
protect the weak?
Sipho is visibly upset. He tries to come up with suggestions. We've
tried them all.
I'll stay here as long as I can, he says. I'll come back in the night
and see if everything is okay.
These are my people, says Sipho in desperation. These are my people he
says, meaning the refugees.
But he means only this: when they sleep out here, they feel the same
cold that I would feel if I had to sleep out here. When strangers come
with knives and guns, they feel the same terror that I would feel.
Those mothers are worried about their children in the same way that my
mother worried about me when I was a child.
But Sipho is not the mayor. Sipho is not the head of disaster
management. Sipho is not in the Office of the Premier.
Sipho is just a someone who happens to live a block away from Albert
Park, who happened to be in there tonight. Sipho is just someone who
can imagine what is its like to be cold, and what it is like to be
scared, and what a mother feels when she realizes she may longer be
able to protect her child from the kinds of nightmares that are not
supposed to happen, but sometimes do.
And Sipho, like us, is worried, and slightly desperate, and doesn't
know what to do.
anthony
------------------------------
It's 3am. I can't sleep because of what we've seen and heard tonight.
This evening, we went to Albert Park to see what we could do. The
refugees said that two women were injured. So we offered to take them
to hospital. I'll call these women Sophie and Marie (not their real
names). Sophie's two young sons came with her to our car. There was no
room for them and the other refugees assured Sophie they would look
after her sons until her return. Sophie was moaning and unable to
walk. "Who did this?" I asked the boys in my rusty French? "The
police".
Sophie and Marie moaned softly as we drove to McCord hospital. When we
arrived, we were glad we'd opted for McCord's as the staff treated the
two women with great care and compassion. The nurses were shocked to
hear it was the police who has assaulted them. Marie's hands were cut
and swollen and severely bruised. She told me that the police had
slammed her hands closed in the van door when they were manhandling
the refugees into the van to take them to Albert Park. The doctor said
that Marie's hands will be painful for the next six weeks. She also
diagnosed her with a chest infection - likely the result of her recent
living conditions (many of the refugees are coughing). The doctor told
Marie to drink at least a litre of clean water a day to prevent a
kidney infection. When I translated this for her, she said "Where will
I get water in the park?" I didn't have an answer.
The doctor who treated Sophie said that she had sustained damage to
the ligament of her knee and that she had blood on her knee. She
moaned as he drained the blood off her knee. The doctor said she'll
need to use crutches for two weeks and that she'll be in a lot of
pain.
While we were waiting for Sophie, Maire told me a little about her
experiences in South Africa. She said that she's been here for 3 1/2
years and that she has eked out a living selling goods on the
roadside. She told a story of constant police harassment of her as a
"foreigner" and how she had to keep paying the police "taxes" to be
allowed to stay in business. Marie recounted an incident where she was
picked up by the police for being a foreigner. They threw her goods on
the ground and took her to the Broad Street police station. At the
station, they wrote out a long statement in English and told her to
sign it. She explained to them that she didn't really understand
English and asked for a French translation. They took her by the
throat and crushed her windpipe and forced her thumb onto an ink pad
and onto the statement. She couldn't eat for 4 days afterwards because
of the damage to her throat.
When we took Marie and Sophie back to the park, the refugees were
huddled together under blankets. A UN rep was there talking to some of
them. We told Marie and Sophie we'd be back in the morning with some
medicine. We said we were sorry and we came home and tried to sleep.
I don't know what's happening in the park right now. I just hope it's
nothing too bad.
I know that all of us in the this group lead busy, demanding lives and
that many people have already given so much time and effort to this
refugee crisis. I know that's it's exhausting and depressing. But, if
you can, please let people know what is happening - phone or write to
the media and anyone you know you might be able to publicise this
issue or offer some humanitarian assistance. If you can, please go to
Albert Park tomorrow and ask the refugees how they are and how they
think this situation could be alleviated - I think just giving people
a chance to talk about what's been happening is valuable.
Kathleen
Anthony Collins
School of Psychology
Howard College Campus
University of KwaZulu-Natal
Durban
4041
Durban Action Against Xenophobia
http://durbanaction.wordpress.
or on facebook
http://www.facebook.com/home.
ph 031 260-2539 fax 031 260-2618 anti@webafrica.org.za
skype: anthonycollins gtalk: tardive
"Cricket civilizes people and creates good gentlemen. I want everyone
to play cricket in Zimbabwe; I want ours to be a nation of gentlemen"
Robert Mugabe
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