REFLECTING ON LIFE AS A REFUGEE

God forbid! If war broke out in your country, what’s the first thing you would carry with you? This is a very difficult question to answer because where you are, you know come what may, you will find a place to sleep, food to eat and tap on social media for the latest drama.

War tone countries suffer a lot of losses. It becomes difficult to think about who to call when a missile landed on a mast right now. The boda you are trying to grab at that moment is either injured, or trying to run for his life as well.

Your well-connected uncle in that moment has probably already settled in the neighboring country figuring out which business to start with his savings.

Your parents are either trying to reach you, or on the next bus to upcountry where they will reach trade off the animals to find their way to another country.

In that moment, every single vehicle is being stopped by military and people are being slaughtered by rebels in your face. It is at that very moment that you realize that you are not any special, you have no career you are building, you are not an influencer, nor the famous business plug in town but a fugitive seeking for safety.

Before you become a refugee, you are a fugitive. You are not safe at all, any country receiving people like you, will question if you are innocent/ harmless, and the people you are running from, want you dead.

Living as a refugee humbles you to the point that even if you were the richest man in your country, the only thing that matters is life. You may be the most famous person today but if war broke out, you become a “wanainchi”, you will beg for food, you will run from your enemy and you will carry your belongings on your head.

No body cares and the people that have lived a rough life will be more flexible at it than you.

Some people often think that they will get back their sovereignty when they get refugee status in another country. That is not the case because every country has its own way of doing things. In some countries Nationals do not receive refugees that well, so being humble is the only way to maneuver life.

Learn to live with the “Wanainchis” because no matter where you go, they will always be your people.

People that have lived as refugees in other countries almost never make it out of poverty especially if there is no NGO to give them education. As long as you have safe water, food, shelter and medical care, that’s all you ever get as a refugee anything else, is a bonus or, you have to really toil to get it.

War is a curse, a scar that can never be covered or removed, choose peace and love your country because home is the only place where freedom exists.

Celebrating “WORLD REFUGEE DAY”