Guests from Africa Describe Their Work with Refugees
CHICAGO, Ill., Nov. 12 --- Three guests from ecumenical and denominational ministries with refugees in Togo, South Africa and Kenya were introduced to the NCC General Assembly and addressed a luncheon sponsored by the NCC's Church World Service and Witness Unit.
David Kamau, refugee desk coordinator for the National Council of Churches of Kenya, described his work of settling refugees in Kenya or of helping them return to their homes. "The refugee issue is becoming nationwide," he said.
Kenyan churches began assisting refugees from Somalia in the early 1990s. Kamau said they are now using what they have learned to help refugees from Rwanda, Burundi, Mozambique, Zaire and Sri Lanka, as well as internally displaced Kenyans.
The government mandated that the National Council of Churches of Kenya resettle 20,000 refugees in Kenya. Since those refugees are not in camps, the council has become involved in providing resettled refugees with medical care, allowances and educational programs.
Nelson Kumodzi, refugee secretary of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church of Togo, said, "Togo does not close its borders to refugees, but the government provides no assistance." So, the care of refugees becomes the work of the country's religious and other non-governmental organizations.
"We do not have to fight for regulations, but we do have to fight for finances," said Kumodzi. Togo has housed refugees from Ghana, Liberia, Congo, Rwanda, Nigeria and Chad. The Presbyterian church has provided them with health care and immediate assistance, as well as with education programs to help them become self-supporting, he said.
Pastoral care is another emphasis for the churches in Togo, Kumodzi said, not only for the refugees but for the people of Togo involved in that country's political crisis of the early 1990s. "People need help getting rid of the hate in their hearts before they can get on with their lives," he said.
The Rev. White Rakuba, refugee secretary of the South Africa Council of Churches (SACC), said, "We have a problem with xenophobia -- the fear of foreigners -- in the country of South Africa." He said employers must deal with numerous government regulations in hiring South Africans, and it is much easier for them to hire refugees.
Rakuba said Church World Service, the humanitarian arm of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., is helping the SACC work with uprooted people. Since the end of apartheid in South Africa, the country has been flooded with refugees from Africa, Asia and former Communist countries.
The SACC is providing food, shelter and clothing for refugees in South Africa. There is an emphasis on helping them not to depend on handouts, Rakuba said, so there is also help for skilled refugees to start their own businesses. He said the SACC supports literacy and English-as-a-Second-Language programs, while providing pastoral care for uprooted people.
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