Why refugee youths need more mentorship interventions to survive

Nairobi, 

Tuesday, 26 December, 2023 

By McCreadie Andias 

Angela Jean(20)left the DRC in 2004 as a young baby girl who probably didn't know about the sudden transition or what fate would hold for her in a new environment. 

Her father had preceded them to Kenya in 2003 in attempts to find his family a safe place to settle amidst heightened civil unrest in the Democratic Republic of Congo that had forced nearly 1 million(UNHCR) to flee their homes to Safety. 

In Kenya, Life was of course difficult with renting, adapting to the new environment and even the Congolese accent felt like a nightmare. 

"Congolese have that accent that when they speak Swahili you will know this one does not belong here." and for Angela that was like a ticket for estrangement, "i felt like I don't belong here" she narrates. 

Life in school in the midst of mockery and alienation . 

For Angela Jean, things began to make more sense as soon as she enrolled at a Primary school in Nairobi, Ngong Forest Primary school, where she went with hope of changing the narrative for her family and her community. 

Being a refugee was not such a 'big deal' for her until some of her fellow students in school made her feel that indeed she was a refugee. 

Angela narrates that at Ngong Forest Primary school where she was enrolled alongside her brother , nobody initially knew they were refugees, her fellow pupils and even teachers initially treated her like a fellow Kenyan but only because they weren't aware she was not. 

"At class six, my dad came to our school for the first time and this made my teachers and fellow pupils realize that we were actually not Kenyans,"Angela says. From this point, the refugee status at school took a toll on Angela and her brother to a point that when they did well in exams other pupils insulted them and felt jealous, "They felt like we had come to defeat them." Angela says "I used to feel like did I chose to be a refugee? " She exclaims. 

Things did not get better for Angela especially after her brother had graduated from primary school and now she was alone with no one to defend her, she was now the only refugee in the school. 

" At a point in class 6 we were studying about creation when the teacher asked us to break into our groups of tribes. I was the only refugee in the class and I was left alone. The day was tough. 

When I went back home I cried and told my sister that I don't want to go back to that school. I felt like I just didn't belong there, I just wanted to go home. I asked myself whether it was a crime to be a refugee. "Angela adds. 

Angela felt depressed and the onset of the incident affected the rest of her studies at Primary school. At the close of Kenya Certificate of Primary education (KCPE) exams. Angela was sent back home to collect 800 shillings for the exams. 

Normally, KCPE exams in Kenya which marks the transition from Primary school to High school, are usually done for free and this is entitled to every pupil irregardless of their tribe or origin but in Angela's case, the Head teacher charged her 800 Ksh because she was a refugee. 

"Did I ask you to become a refugee?!" The Head teacher asked Angela upon her inquiry on why she was charged for the exams. Angela says that the head teacher's words made her fail her KCPE exams. 

Next chapter 

A still bright and determined Angela eventually joined High school but crawling from the scars she had on her like a sheep with a broken foot crawling to the graze field .

She started a journey to achieve her dreams which had faced serious impediments during her time at Primary school. It felt like a slave trying to climb a mountain and cross the other side to her freedom but a mass of heavy chains were dragging her back. Angela's progress faced many struggles. 

She went through three different high schools and the first two felt relief since they had many refugee students from Somalia, Ethiopia and Burundi , this made her feel safe as she was surrounded by people she shared a similar story or perhaps origin. 

What stigma of rejection and exclusion could inflict on refugee girls

These manifestations of enacted stigma as reflected in acts of mistreatment, exclusion, and discrimination on Angela can also be internalized, resulting in feelings of shame that can lead to further withdrawal from social networks and reduced likelihood of engaging in healthcare or accessing social support .

In this way, mistreatment and rejection (enacted stigma), awareness of harmful social norms and fear of mistreatment (perceived or felt normative stigma), and feelings of shame (internalized stigma) are manifestations of stigma that can reduce the likelihood of refugee girls to dream or Find hope. 

"it has been tough being a refugee, it has made me become a liar" 

Her Third school felt like hell especially anytime her business teacher popped into class for business classes, "how is the Congolese currency?" The teacher would make a joke on another Congolese student and this would create a classroom full of laughter and mockery. 

Surprising enough is that at her third High school, the students and most teachers did not know that she was a refugee, They actually though she was from the 'Kikuyu' tribe of Kenya since she would speak the language fluently owing to the 19 years she had lived in the country and her interaction with the Kikuyu's. 

But she would still feel sad and affected whenever her fellow Congolese was mocked and humiliated in class, she shared the pain from inside. 

Angela reveals that she had to hide her nationality and fake her origin to survive the insults and Mockery at school. 

"I used to tell my classmates that im Tanzanian since Tanzanians are not refugees, I had to hide my own origin.''Angela says. 

Family struggles 

Angela joined a refugee girl empowerment organization called Refushe shortly after high school. At this point life was even tough since her dad who was the sole provider of the family had lost his job. 

" My dad was working as a senior pastor at ACK church, he was forced to quit his job in a place he had worked for more than 10 years only because he was a refugee. 

My dad was given an option to work under a Kenyan or quit his job, he couldn't work above Kenyans on the ranks of seniority, like where do you get that right from? "Angela asks.

" He left the job since he felt disgraced "

Angela had to trek on a 90 minute distance to and from school due to lack of transport. Refushe where she was schooling would only provide small transport after two weeks and she was caught in a dilemma on whether to use the money for the intended transport while a pile of expenses and needs were staring at her family. 

This forced her to assume responsibilities at a young age and it stigmatized her. 

Struggles with relationships 

"This thing about being a refugee affected even my relationships" Angela reveals. 

Anytime she met a new partner they would always pop out the question on where she came from. 

Her boyfriend would mock and patronize her for being a refugee and anytime they argued the guy would always remind her that she was a refugee. She got afraid of interacting with the host community, she says. 

"They'd make me feel like I don't belong here, I'm not one of them or I don't deserve to be loved.

I became a loner because they made me feel like I was born to suffer." She says. 

Angela would question why God was not giving one a chance to choose where to be born. 

Attempted suicide and hope again 

It was already too much for already too depressed Angela who had felt like an empty shell with nothing to keep on for. 

" I felt like nobody wanted me and my family." she says. 

The thoughts and reflections of her dad losing his job, her family's plight and her struggles through alienation made her reach a point of attempting her own life. 

With the pills on her hands she was ready to give up but she would again think "what would my parents think about me, would this solve the issues in our life." 

Having a strong father figure is enough to survive anything because she went to her dad and he talked her out of it. 

"My dad told me that life was tough since Congo." 

Her dad revealed to her that her mom had suffered 5 miscarriages before while they were fleeing from the civil war in DRC. 

"One day we will fight for our country and we won't have to be called refugees anymore" Her dad encouraged, but she would still ask, when? Because time was ever moving and the situation never seemed to change. 

Angela listened to a testimony from a local radio and she got back to her feet filled with hope. 

IRC startups funding 

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) was donating funds for business startups for refugees and Angela, who then believed that refugees were people who only lived on aid, rushed to the opportunity. 

Unfortunately she was turned down at the moment since the Organization said it had received enough beneficiaries from the DRC. 

Weeks later she was recalled by IRC and lucky enough granted Ksh 56,000 funding for a business startup. 

Another problem popped out as if it was never there and Angela had to use 30k of the funds to pay off her father's debts which he said would have damaged his reputation and Safety if not settled. 

Angela says that she could not use the funds to open a business store which was originally her plan since the Local government was not issuing business permits for refugees to run businesses freely. This was a set back to her since she had a business idea and of course the funds but a bunch of valid documents would be the only deterrent. 

Wondering how she spent the rest 26k?, she ventured into an online business for shipping clothes abroad which sadly collapsed due to lack of enough stock capital and this took her family back to zero. 

To Host community ; "We do not have money" 

Angela explains the perception where the host community thinks that refugees are people with alot of money. 

She says that the host community believes refugees receive funds from the UNHCR and other organizations which she totally disagrees with. 

Angela urges the host community to shun away from this misleading misconception, she says refugees pay taxes as much as Kenyans do and even suffer more since they don't have formal and sustainable sources of livelihoods. 

Calls for UNHCR to support Urban refugees 

Angela feels like refugees living in the camps receive more support from the UNHCR and this has left urban refugees abandoned and segregated . 

This she says is because the UNHCR thinks urban refugees are well off and have better means to support their livelihoods. 

Angela urges the UNHCR to stop over-prioritizing refugees in the camps and also shift focus to urban refugees since they are exposed to much more barriers to support themselves. 

Angela and many more

Angela shares her story with thousands of other refugee girls who have experienced the same plight, rejection, alienation and lacked enough support systems to maneuver through their girlhood or enough support to respond to their adolescent needs, enough mentorship to sweep away the stigma and depression and enough guidance to respond to heavy and early responsibilities. 

Nawezaa mentorship programme 

Nawezaa, a refugee youth-led organization in Dagoretti, Nairobi, formed in 2020 by a group of proactive refugee youths works along media and mentorship lines to provide voice and share stories for refugees as well as empower, guide,support, and mentor girls like Angela. 

Nawezaa's mentorship program re-aligns with the needs of girls who have undergone the plight of Displacement and responds to their needs along sexual reproductive health training , support and awareness for menstrual Health , pad drive initiatives and girl-talk sessions to support, encourage, mentor and guide these young girls to find hope, survival and growth in the midst of these pre-existing challenges. 

Nawezaa's sexual reproductive health training titled She-world conducted on April this year supported girls like Angela (who was a participant) with the necessary skills, ideas and knowledge to tackle an array of issues surrounding refugee girls which would rather not be supported or addressed due to pre-existing barriers in the local systems for example expensive or free but inaccessible sanitary pads for refugees , stigmatization in schools, alienation, depression and poverty. 

The three day training impacted 300 girls with forced displacement experiences. The training covered knowledge and ideas on business startups, guidance on relationships and sexuality, managing emerging issues like early pregnancies, miscarriages and menstrual education, self-awareness, Tackling stigma in schools and learning to manage through underlying home challenges. 

Such many more trainings could reach, Impact and change the lives of many more girls if they get enough and quality support. 

Angela shares that she gained a lot of experience from Nawezaa's She-world project. She once thought contraceptives and family planning were the same but she now learned the difference. 

She regrets the five miscarriages her mother went through and feels that if more girls are more aware and get knowledge on sexual - reproductive health then such cases can be reduced or could not happen . 

"I learned that sex should be consensual and should be based on willingness. I have met many manipulative partners before who feel like having sex with a girl is a right they could demand for." 

She now feels like she can say NO to things she does not feel like doing including sex. 

Is there real hope for Angela

Angela feels sad when this question comes up, but why? 

Angela feels there's little hope for her to grow, achieve her dreams and maybe help her community and this is due to the scarce support and pre-existing barriers in the host country that she feels make it difficult for refugees to grow, especially girls. 

She feels like if a chance to go abroad and work to save her family won't come through then maybe she will eventually get married to a Kenyan. 

But why married to a Kenyan? 

Angela believes that if she gets married to a citizen then her children will not have to undergo the plight that she has gone through and this is because African Cultural dynamics makes a child /children from a couple from different tribes be attached to the father's tribe since the woman is not much recognized in the African culture. 

So this will make her Children Kenyan by Nationality and they won't have to be rejected in schools, mocked, alienated, excluded or abused because of their mother's roots.

But at the same time maybe Angela could still believe in hope and possibilities to achieve her dreams like in the words of Fatima, a Syrian refugee student 

"I believe in something : Being a refugee does not mean that you cannot have a dream. You need to dream big in order to achieve big. The future waiting for us." Fatima said in an interview with UNHCR. 

Why more support for refugee girls projects. 

Maybe if there could be more mentorship for refugee girls like Angela, she doesn't have to lose hope, she doesn't have to feel like her only way to find identity or to survive or to find sanity is to end up in marriage by a citizen. 

Projects like Nawezaa's She-world would give these girls more hope to still emerge as queens who can still be able to shine away from home or maybe one day go back home and rebuild their communities, girls like these could get knowledge to respond to their challenges and challenges affecting their own families, they could be she-warriors who can conquer and de-colonize the barriers that take a toll on refugees and refugee girls. 

There are still thousands of refugee girls out there who's hopes to survive in a strange country are slowly fading away due to lack of enough mentorship, support, and guidance to win. 

The Humanitarian sector responding to the refugee crisis should push more interventions and projects that protect, uplift, mentor and support young girls affected by Displacement like Angela. 

Rigorous approaches should be conducted and more funding pushed into community mentorship projects like the she-world. 

It's High time we make the Angela's feel loved, protected, cared for and supported. 

What else can mentorship offer to refugee youths ? ; shifting focus to Sports mentorship and Talent Development for refugee youths 

Unlike other key sectors where humanitarian interventions in response to refugee crisis and its advocacy have been top priorities especially Refugee education, access to health care services , access to public services, economic integration, social integration and refugee security. Talent Development for refugees is often underlooked despite many refugees being skilled with different talents and sporting activities. 

In Nairobi, only a handful of active refugee sports teams are formally operational . It does not mean that refugees are not talented in football or other sports activities just like the hosts nor does it mean that this community is not interested in sports. There is little progress in Advocacy and empowerment for refugee sports. 

Here in Kenya professional refugee leagues are yet to be formed and would they be allowed or maybe how much investment or empowerment would be rained into them if they happen to be there. 

To be honest, activities like sports are better ways of healing for communities like refugees.It is through sports that they can recover from the memories of their past dark stories. Sports will make them feel welcomed and accepted in what they can call a "new home" . 

Through sports, refugees can also network with each other, develop their talents, Connect with their communities and most importantly shun away from negative community vices like drug abuse. 

About Nawezaa's sports flag RUIS 

Nawezaa being a media and mentorship initiative has identified sports as a gap in terms of refugee inclusion in Kenya, Nawezaa realized that refugees, just like the host community, are blessed with amazing talents that if nurtured can enable them to heal and support their well-being. 

As far as they need better education, healthcare and social Inclusion. Refugees talents can not be allowed to fade away.  

Nawezaa took a step that has not been identified by many to form a refugee sports flag, The Refugee United In Sports Initiative (RUIS) which is tagged under Nawezaa's mentorship program primarily focuses on empowering refugee sports and talents in different sporting activities like football, volleyball. 

In 2022, Nawezaa held a RUIS football tournament for refugees and host community whose objective were to support integration between refugees and host community by bringing them on the same platform through sports and also nurture their talents. 

RUIS Tournament brought up 16 men's refugee football teams from within Nairobi and 16 refugee girls teams blended by both refugees and host community. 

About 268 refugees youths both boys and girls participated in the three month tournament with the boys and girls tournaments being held separately. 

Under RUIS we acknowledged the fact that refugees indeed have talents and can perform in sports if given the opportunity. 

The boys tournament was won by a refugee team, Unity FC, built by refugees from South Sudan,. Unity sailed past teams from the host community and defeated yet another refugee team, Kikuyu FC, in the finals. 

The ladies tournament saw impressive talents from refugee teams which also proved that refugee girls can do well in sports provided the opportunity and support. 

The project showcased impressive talents from refugees who outshone the host community to reach the finals but also proved how they can Integrate and co-exist with the host community peacefully through sports. 

What sports empowerment for refugees can achieve 

RUIS tournament was able to achieve its main objective of integration through sports and talent Development for refugees since most of the teams formed during the tournament are still running and Training. 

Advocacy for refugee sports can not only support what RUIS achieved but can also expose exceptional talents to local scouts that can earn refugee sportsmen and women professional deals with professional sports clubs. 

Sports can also empower refugee talent to an international level where they can get motivated to participate In the Refugee Olympic Team in the future or even one day represent their home countries in international football. 

Sports not only nurtures talent but support integration 

Kenyans interaction and relationships with refugees has been significantly improving for the past few years. Kenyans are learning to see refugees as fellow Africans who are not here by choice but pushed by inevitable circumstances. The spirit of Africanacity has begun to tower among Kenyans who are now seeing refugees as part of their own despite a huge difference in the story line.

RUIS has been monumental in pushing this integration agenda and to strengthen relations between the host Community and refugees whilst supporting talent Development. 

Shifting interventions in refugee responses 

Nawezaa believes that localized mentorship can achieve a greater impact on refugee youths if its given the attention and support it needs. 

The general Approach on mentorship be it in sports, Sexual reproductive health for girls or psychosocial support can support refugee youths to change the narrative on how they are perceived and push them to be people who can lead solutions to their own challanges.