DATE: 16/02/1996
Ludwina Ryckeboer, MMS
Ludwina Ryckeboer, MMS
My work for women and girl refugees in Malawi
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In Malawi Ludwina Ryckeboerts work with the Jesuit Refugee Service supports an educational program for women and girl refugees
My work is in the Jesuit Refugee Service JRS) office in Limbe, Malawi. I am connected with the Mozambican Open Learning Unit (MOLU) project. My work consists in correcting tests, supervising the printing of the schoolbooks and distributing them to the different centers, and purchasing of school supplies and other supplies.
Although the work I do is really in the background, it supports the promotion of women refugees/returnees. For me it is more than worthwhile work that we do here. In the Mozambican society, girls are usually not supposed to attend secondary schools. JRS started MOLU in the refugee camps and has now implanted ten secondary schools as Open Learning Units in Mozambique. Throughout their work in the refugee camps and in resettlement in Mozambique, JRS has been promoting the education of girls and young women. Still the percentage of girls in these schools is very low, only three percent.
Refugee women are often said to be one of the most vulnerable groups in camp situations. Unlike male refugees, female refugees flee not only war, violence and drought, but they also flee gender-based persecution and gender-related discrimination. Yet the traditional socioeconomic anomalies women have come to bear as a result of their gender, coupled with the largely male-targeted refugee assistance policies, have made them extremely dependent on male members in terms of camp bureaucracy and facilities.
Traditionally African women are closely associated with land which is the exclusive source of food, and this gives them a position and power in their community. Therefore, life in exile means detachment of women from their traditional land. This, in addition to the replacement of 'land' by 'ration cards' largely issued to male members, has not only deprived women of their position and power, but has also accentuated their dependence.
Repatriation a mixed feeling
Refugee women view the question of repatriation with mixed options. First, there are those who have male companionship (husband, father or elder brothers)) this group greets the idea of repatriation with ups and certainty.
Repatriation means their return to the old traditional Land to start the rebuilding of a long anticipated future. For them, life in exile has promised neither present nor future. Surprisingly, the presence of male members in the family has made them more vulnerable and more dependent. Most of them hardly step outside the family circle. This has somewhat obstructed them from taking some of the very few opportunities available to learn new skills and make new friends.
The role women play to organize their families is a full-time job. However, this is often not only taken for granted, but is also underrated. Yet the very survival of a household depends on how hard they perform their daily domestic chores - gathering firewood, cooking, cleaning, child-bearing and rearing_which are extremely time-consuming. Secondly, for those who have no male relatives and partners, they view repatriation as a bed dream coming true. For them repatriation is to leave behind a safe haven where their past is buried and the present is furnished with positive achievements.
Ironically, however, the absence of male members in the family has not been a problem. On the contrary women have coped extremely well; they have sufficient time to learn new skills, make new friends, and establish a network of female support. They are rated from best survivors to good achievers and from less vulnerable to less dependent. For them repatriation is to lose a future they have already achieved or are in the process to accomplish.
(This testimony of missionary activity in Africa is taken from "INTERCONTINENT",
the Medical Missionary Society Communications )