Joseph Kariuki
7 December 2008
Kampala — IN Africa taking care of the family is a man's job and if he fails, he is considered good-for-nothing. But does this law apply to a man in a refugee camp? Where he has to line up with women and children for food?
This is 70-year-old Mahano Karimunda's state at Matanda, a transit centre that caters for 10,000 refugees. He is staying with Bavunga Mengi, his 60-year-old wife.
They stay in a shack made of twigs loosely tied with ropes. A yellow piece of cloth acts as shelter from the sun and rain. Mengi and her eight grandchildren have UNHCR yellow identification tags on their hands.
Mengi tells me since she was relocated to Matanda from Ishasha border she has not had food. She has no tent and has to fight for water. I ask where the man of the house is.
"The old man is sick," she stands up and motions me to follow. When I enter I find the shack has been divided into two by a dirty bedsheet. On one side is 'the kitchen' where there are sooty saucepans and a few dishes.
Mengi leads me to the 'bedroom' where Mahano is sleeping. He looks bad. He tries to look at us, his wife introduces me and he welcomes me.
"I have malaria," he states after I ask him what the problem is. He says he got treatment from a local health centre.
But Mzee Mahano has a bigger challenge.
Since Sunday he has not had food because he is not registered. He says on Tuesday night it rained heavily and they were soaked. He coughs, captures his breath, looks at me and continues.
"I wish I would get a tent but I cannot line up for one, people are too many," he poses. He reaches for the bottle of water I am holding. I surrender it to him and wish I could give him some food too.
His wife, Mengi, says they moved with their grandchildren after their parents were killed in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The family of 10 shares a shack.
"We are depending on the refugees who came here first for food, but they also get little food," Mengi says. I move on after comforting the family.
There are several white tents that have been put up by the Uganda Red Cross Society.
Unicef (United Nations Children's Fund) has constructed 60 latrines in the camp. "We are concerned about child healthcare and that is why we are trying to improve the hygiene in the camp," says Karen Allen , a Unicef official.
Unicef, World Health Organisation and Ministry of Health, are immunising children to prevent spread of diseases.
A stone's throw away from Mengi's shack is Jean Pierre Kiswahili, a disabled refugee, who was pushed on his wheelchair for 60km to Uganda.
The journey took three days. His 'home' is made of grass and twigs. He welcomes me with a big smile. He has a cap written on 'Jesus Loves You'.
But today Jesus is the last person on his mind as he narrated his tribulations. At Matanda, life for a disabled person is a death sentence.
"We are hungry," he says. His grandson Riselle is holding an empty saucepan while wailing for food. Six other grandchildren surround Kiswahili.
"I don't know what to do with these children. Since Sunday we have not had food," he says. Kiswahili and his family have not had a bath since they left DRC one week ago. He says they get drinking water but not water for bathing.
Water at Matanda is a challenge says Stefano Severe, a United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) official. "We have to share the water with the community which makes it hard because we don't want the refugees to finish water for host communities," Stefano said.
While visiting the camp, the minister of disaster preparedness and refugees, Musa Ecweru said the refugees needed more help. He noted that UNHCR and other agencies have done a lot for the refugees in a short time.
"Last week when we came to inspect this place there was nothing. Today there are some tents and water," Ecweru said.
About 27,000 Congolese refugees have fled into Uganda since August according to UNHCR. Of these 9,800 have been transferred to Nakivale, 10,000 are in Matanda, 6,500 self-settled, while 3,700 have remained in Ishasha.
Mzee Kiswahili and Mzee Mahano need help to regain their status as breadwinners for their families. And this is a human right that UNHCR was created for in the 1951 Convention relating to the status of Refugees and the 1967 Protocol.
The convention states: "Asylum seekers and refugees are entitled to all the rights and fundamental freedoms that are spelled out in international human rights instruments.
The protection of the refugee must, therefore, be seen in the context of the protection of human rights." Basic rights include the right to food and shelter.
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