Musina is a town on the South African side of the
border between South Africa
and Zimbabwe.
It is a small town, but flooded with people mostly from neighboring countries
such as Zimbabwe, Zambia, Congo Malawi etc. as well as people from
Pakistan, Bangladesh, China
and India.
Already one can imagine what goes on in this little town. On one side of the
coin the mixture enables people to learn about different cultures and those
with businesses flourish rapidly. On the other side of the coin shocking and
frustrating things are happening. I hear about and see a lot of mercilessness,
brutality and inhumanity. We all are aware that today women and children are
the most vulnerable group in society; as a result they are the victims of these
merciless and brutal and inhuman actions.
As a social worker I work closely with some of these
victims and survivors at the Catholic Women and Children Transit Shelter in
Musina. One can already imagine what kind of cases I have to deal with almost
on a daily basis. I work mostly with migrants from Zimbabwe
and refugees from the DRC and also a few Ruanda,
Burundi, Malawi, Zambia and other neighboring
countries.
The majority of these migrants do not have documents,
but they get asylum here at Home Affairs. The main push factor is the shortage
of employment and economic problems at home; as a result they cross the border
illegally looking for green pastures. Unfortunately, many attempt to cross
through the Limpopo
River where there suffer
all kinds of abuse at the hands of a notorious group of lawless gangsters known
as ‘Maguma-guma’. They face rape which
sometimes results in pregnancy, brutal beatings, robbery, being stripped naked,
being held in captivity and custardy starved for some days. They are sometimes
driven around Musina and then told that their money has finished. Apart from
these abuses, some of these women and their children face abuse from their own
husbands or boyfriends and the children from their fathers such as being beaten
to the point of losing their teeth or an eye. Losing consciousness and waking
up in hospital.
Refugees from war torn Congo have especially heartrending
experiences: some have lost members of their family, while running away they
take different directions thereby missing each other. Some arrive at the
shelter with open blisters and wounds on their feet as a result of walking for
such a long time; Their clothes are
filthy and ragged and they themselves are dirty and starving, with white dry
mouths from hunger. It is indeed pathetic to look at these poor women and their
children. Few of them women understand a little bit of English, some know few
words of Shona – my mother tongue. Their own languages are French and
Kiswahili. I am trying to learn French for their sake. So far I can speak just
the basics. Body language mostly with my hands and eyes is a great help.
A listening ear and being there is vital in these
cases, not forgetting the other crucial role; linking clients with resources.
Besides listening to them and counselling I link them with different resources according to
their different cases and needs. Thank God, Musina is really blessed with
numerous NGOs which cater for different services. Among them are: Thuthuzela
Centre which deals mainly with people who have been raped; Lawyers for Human
Rights assist especially those who give
birth here to get some kind of documents; Doctors without Borders normally help
with those who need medical attention as well as access to ARVs; The
International Organization for Migration (IOM) and UNHCR both work closely with
refugees and migrants; The Musina Legal Advice Office
(MLAO) with whom I work closely mostly in burial procedures when women lose
their babies. I, myself, conduct the funeral service when no pastor is
available.
In addition to these NGOs I work also with people from
the Legal Resource Centre based in Johannesburg.
This group frequently visits the shelter. They take some cases to court such as
cases for women who were locked in a ‘Mukuku’ (Shack) for about 3 days by
‘Malaichas’ without food only water. Whilst all
these are a great support to my work, of crucial importance is the support of
our Catholic Diocese of Tzaneen channeled through Sr Anita O’Leary and Fr Michael Bennett, representing the Bishop, who not only
provide some funding and material needs but patiently listen to my sharing and
often give words of encouragement. The Provincial Leader of the Holy Cross
Sisters and the Sisters in our Holy
Cross Province
support me in many ways.
These miseries come to the shelter on a daily basis;
most of them appear at the gate with sad faces that portray little hope for the
future. Within a few days, these same faces begin to slowly lighten up. This
gives me inner joy as I realize that my efforts do not go in vain. As a result
I indeed find joy in my work. I mostly share my experiences of the day with my
Holy Cross community members and I bring all to the Lord in my prayers where I
drew strength from Him for the next day:
he was also the friend of the marginalized.
Sister
Rudo
