Welcome to voices
Part of the mandate of JRS is to help give a voice to refugees. This section is dedicated to just that. Here you will find stories from refugees, their successes and the challenges they face rebuilding their lives.
Part of the mandate of JRS is to help give a voice to refugees. This section is dedicated to just that. Here you will find stories from refugees, their successes and the challenges they face rebuilding their lives.
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Democratic Republic of Congo: fleeing domestic violence in the night Goma, 3 May 2012 – A story of domestic violence in a camp for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in eastern Congo, the protagonist, Mama Jocelyne, is an ordinary woman, one of so many forced to bear abuse in addition to living the midst of armed conflict. Read more >> |
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South Sudan: a role model for students and teachers Nimule, 4 May 2012 – Esther is a role model for her community. A secondary education teacher of commerce and accounting at Fulla Secondary School, Nimule, and a mother of three, she exudes happiness, confidence and professionalism. However, as a former refugee, the journey to this point has not been easy. She attributes her success to the support of JRS over a period of nearly 12 years, from 2000 to 2011. Read more >> |
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Ethiopia: recreation eases difficulty of camp life Dollo Ado, 3 May 2012 – My first experience with refugees was in Mai-Aini camp in northwest Ethiopia. I worked with Jesuit Refugee Service as a Sports and Recreational Activities Officer there for just under a year. Eighty percent of the camp residents were young, male Eritrean refugees, most of whom had fled their country for political reasons. The life-affirming challenges I met there prepared me for my current role in Dollo Ado, Ethiopia. Read more >> |
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Philippines: carpentry in a post-conflict and post-disaster community Bubong, 16 April 2012 – Fortunato is the carpenter JRS hired to build permanent houses for the 50 Muslim families who lost their homes during the typhoon Sendong that hit Bubong, Lanao del Sur in December 2011. Read more >> |
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Cambodia: surviving mines and war was just the beginning Siem Reap, 5 April 2012 – "If you write about my story, you'll never finish". Han chuckles, revealing a mouthful of dark, empty crevices. Her teeth are yellowed and cracked, but don't be fooled by her appearance life has not worn her down yet. Read more >> |
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Rwanda: education, a new outlook on life for young refugees Kibuye, 29 March 2012 – For Benjamin Twizere, an opportunity to participate in the JRS cooking and baking course has given him a new lease on life. One of 65 refugee students in western Rwanda offered a chance by JRS to learn a trade; he grabbed it with both hands. Read more >> |
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Burundi: Pascal's story, one of dignity and hope for the future Bujumbura, 20 March 2012 – At the end of 2012, JRS will close its projects in Burundi. After 17 years of providing education and building livelihoods, former refugees assisted by the organisation are now in a position to lead independent and dignified lives with hope for a better future. The family of Pascal Ntirujimana is one of those stories of hope and relative prosperity. Read more >> |
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Cambodia: landmine survivor advocates for change Geneva, 23 November 2011 — With just days to go until the 11th Meeting of States Parties in Cambodia, the International Campaign to Ban Landmines interviewed Song Kosal, from the Cambodian Campaign to Ban Landmines. Here Kosal speaks about her experience after a landmine accident and the need to spread the word about landmines. Read more >> |
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Cambodia: veteran landmine campaigner seeks concrete results from UN conference Geneva, 21 November 2011 — The International Campaign to Ban Landmines recently interviewed Sr Denise Coghlan, Jesuit Refugee Service Cambodia Director – and member of the Cambodian Campaign to Ban Landmines. Sr Denise has been based in Cambodia and involved in the landmine issue and the campaign for more than 20 years. Read more >> |
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Ukraine: refugee family finds no protection Brussels, 29 June 2011 – Hakimi is a 38-year-old Afghan mother of four. She came to Ukraine fleeing from war and danger in Afghanistan, but her journey was not a direct one. Read more >> |
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Thailand: beyond the playground - young girl makes the most of education Bangkok, 03 June 2011 – We first met Khin Chor Su at her elementary school. Her teachers were impressed with her dedication to her studies and thought we should meet her to hear about the importance of education for Burmese migrants in Ranong, Thailand. Read more >> |
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Timor Leste: a new home leads to a new future Dili, 11 May, 2011 – Ms Angelina Fernandes was born in 1970 in a district near Dili. When she got married she and her husband moved to Suco Camea, Dili. Not long after that, her husband died, leaving her alone with her three children, 15, 13 and two. During the 2006 fighting with Indonesia, she fled with her kids and took refuge at the parish of Santa Teresinha in Camea. Read more >> |
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Kenya: Students’ voices from Kakuma Kakuma, 21 March 2011 - Almost 60 refugees now have access to higher education in Kakuma refugee camp, after JRS officially launched a distance-education project with Jesuit universities in the US. While 35 students are enrolled for a three-year Diploma in Liberal Studies course, 21 participate in a three-month certificate course in Psychosocial Case Management. Here are some of their reactions on the day of the launch: Read more >> |
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Thailand: Mary's House is home to many Wiang Hang, 31 January, 2011– Mary shuffles slowly through her home. At 75-years old, it takes her longer to get around than it used to. After running her orphanage – modestly named Mary’s House – for 11 years, she admits that she feels her age. Read more >> |
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Thailand: From fear to future -- becoming a leader after persecution Mae Hon Song, 16 December 2010 – As Khu Bue Reh sits at his desk in the corner of a dusty classroom in Northern Thailand’s Ban Mai Nai Soi refugee camp, the responsibility of his new position ways heavily on his slight shoulders. Read more >> |
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Thailand: Spending teen years detained Bangkok, 14 January 2010 – Looking at Divea, she seems like an average 18-year-old girl. Wearing a fashionable denim skirt with a t-shirt and long, black hair, she could easily fit in at her high school back in Sri Lanka. But after speaking with Divea for a few minutes, you may forget that she is only 18. Unfortunately, she seems to have forgotten as well. After spending over a year detained in Bangkok's Immigration Detention Centre, she says she has been forced to grow up fast. Read more >> |
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Kenya: Somali widower counsels community despite caring for five children In May 2010 my wife Foos passed away and left me five children, all underage, while I am at the retired age of 64 years and have no other person who can take care of them if I today pass away. Read more >> |
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Rwanda: former refugee shares her story I was born in 1979 in the district of Kayonza in Kabare II, a sector of Rwanda’s Eastern Province. In 1994, I fled my country due to the war. After moving to Akagera, I crossed to Tanzania with my parents, one brother and two sisters. We left behind two other brothers: one in Kigali, the other in Cyangugu. They both had to flee to Congo but happily in 1995 they could join us in the refugee camp of Cyabarisa II. Read more >> |
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Timor Leste: Returnees find hardship at home Dili, 26 July 2010 – Helena is a 50-year-old widow living in the Timorese village of Becora. Her day starts early. By 6am she is washing clothes for a local laundrette. The small amount of money she receives is just enough to feed her four children and keep three of them in school. There simply isn’t enough money to pay the fees for her 8-year-old son. Read more >> |
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Timor Leste: Ageing couple receive new home Dili, 26 July 2010 – Maria Simao and her husband live with their 40 year-old daughter, Jacinta, in the hamlet of Moris Foun, about an hour’s drive, along a mountainous and pot-holed road, from the capital, Dili. Read more >> |
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Thailand: Sri Lankan refugees left languishing in Bangkok Bangkok, 23 July 2010 – Nathan and his family are recognised refugees. They fled Sri Lanka after Nathan was kidnapped and held for ransom by a paramilitary group known as the People's Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE). Now residing in Thailand, Nathan and his family face a daily struggle for survival in a country that refuses to acknowledge their status as refugees; leaving them exposed to the risks of arrest, indefinite detention and removal to a country where their lives or freedoms would be threatened. Read more >> |
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Cambodia: Without rights and opportunities, integration is an illusion for urban refugees Phnom Penh, 23 July 2010 – Htin and his wife, Myaing, are recognised refugees from Burma. They managed to escape persecution from the Burmese junta for their pro-democratic activities, only to find themselves struggling with day-to-day life in Cambodia. Read more >> |
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Cambodia: Somali refugee resettled in the US Phnom Penh, 23 July 2010 – Omar came to the JRS office the day he was about to leave for America. He brought with him a piece of paper with ‘St Louis’ written on it. He sat in my office and we looked at a map of America and found St Louis. He asked me if it was very cold there. Read more >> |
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Ethiopia: I came with empty hands In 2005, I fled the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) with my wife and three children because of the civil war. It took us weeks to arrive at the Ethiopian border after having crossed Uganda and Kenya. When we finally reached the capital, Addis Ababa, our clothes were tattered and we were weak. We presented our cases and sought asylum. Read more >> |
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Malta: instability hinders integration Jean has a degree in Communications and he worked as a journalist in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). His reporting activities about the events in the DRC resulted in his life being threatened and eventually he was forced to flee the country. Read more >> |
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Kenya: someone who really cares When I fled Somalia I did not do so because of the war. You get used to gunshots and shelling. I fled because of personal problems. My stepfather owed money to a certain man who kept asking my mother for it, long after she had been divorced from him. Read more >> |
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Thailand: Living in fear of detention and deportation Az Bhatti fled Pakistan due to religious persecution in September 2008. He is one of an estimated 2,600 urban refugees and asylum seekers living in Bangkok, Thailand. Az Bhatti is from a religious minority group called the Ahmadiyya who are considered heretical by orthodox Muslims in Pakistan. A number of laws have been passed that make it a criminal offence for Ahmadis to profess, practice and preach their faith. “We can’t use Muslim verses. We can’t even say salaam alaikum,” says Az sadly. Read more >> |
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South Africa: success stories of refugee integration Being in a foreign country as a refugee, a migrant or an asylum seeker is not as easy as one would think. We always wonder what it would be like to go to another country to seek refuge, safety and protection. We are sure that many people like us asked themselves these questions, but unfortunately today we find ourselves in a foreign country. Read more >> |
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South Africa: fear of the unknown My name is Tshela Mukendi and I am a single mother of six from the Democratic Republic of Congo. I have seen death; I have smelt it and I have touched it. Through the grace of God, I was able to survive. I found refuge in South Africa. But today I am afraid. I am afraid of death. I thought I could put the thought of death behind me but here I am today in South Africa living in fear of death. Read more >> |
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Venezuela: without documentation, rebuilding the lives of refugees is anything but easy “I used to live in Cúcuta (Colombia) until I was forced to come here after being threatened by paramilitaries. I had a brother who was demobilised (from the paramilitaries); he had stepped down and they were looking for him. For them it was easier to find me because my husband was a musician at the time. He was playing in village called, La Floresta, when they realised he was my husband. Read more >> |
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Panama: living in safety, but denied his rights "I used to live in Juradó, Colombia. We fled there due to insecurity caused by subversive, guerilla, and paramilitary groups. There were some many abuses of authority. They obliged people to supply them with services. If they refused, there were consequences. If you agreed to supply one group with services, you would have problems with another. They would kill you. It was a real problem to be there. We were caught in the middle. On 12 December 1999, Juradó fell to the guerillas and they took all the food and the petrol. Subsequently, they forced us, the whole population, to leave the area. At that moment we decided to flee to nearby Panama. Read more >> |
