The Safe House: An Enclave of Peace and Hope

Christine* is a 19-year-old young woman originally from the Democratic Republic of Congo. After having lost her entire family in the war, she had no other choice but to move in with a family friend. Christine’s stay was comfortable at first, but eventually her friend began to resent having another person stay in her home. Christine decided to take on a job as a house maid for another family to save up enough money to move out of her friend’s home. 

Once Christine had enough money saved, she began to embark on the journey to Kenya as she had heard that Kenya was a much better place than the Congo. However, her journey to Kenya was extremely difficult. She travelled alone and first walked for many weeks before catching a bus to take her to Uganda. From Uganda she travelled via motorbike to Kenya. Throughout her entire journey she had to remain discreet as she did not have legal documentation to be travelling and was afraid of being picked up by the police. 

When Christine arrived in Kenya she was sexually abused and became pregnant with her son. Christine had no stable home while pregnant and often slept on the street hungry and afraid. Eventually an incentive worker found Christine and referred her to RefuSHE’s Safe House for unaccompanied and orphaned refugee girls and their children. Christine was admitted into RefuSHE’s Safe House program in September of 2020. 

Christine feels a lot happier and secure now that she lives in a home with other young women who have gone through similar experiences. She is content knowing she has the support and resources she needs in order to care for her 18-month-old son David. Christine also attends RefuSHE’s Girls Empowerment Program (GEP) where she is happy to be enrolled in school again and learning about her favorite subject – biology. Once she graduates from the GEP, Christine plans on becoming a car mechanic, but not just any mechanic. With a passion for cars and fixing things, Christine hopes to become “one of the best mechanics in the world.” 

*her name has been changed due to safety and protection reasons 

Links:

• RefuSHE website
• Learn about RefuSHE's Safe House Here
• What Does Home Mean to You?

Josephine is a 19-year-old girl from the Democratic Republic of Congo. She had to leave her country due to war. She vaguely remembers having to run from her house at night when she heard gunshots. Her family members scattered, and she found herself in the forest with neighbors. On the first night, the walked without stopping because they really needed to get away from the danger. The next morning, they slept on the side of the road as they waited for transportation to take them to the next town. When the transportaion came, they were able to go to the next town where she recalls staying for a couple of days and then they escaped to Uganda.

In Uganda, they spent the first night at a motel and the next morning, when she woke up late, Josephine found herself all alone. After some time, two Kenyan ladies offered to travel with her to their home in Kenya. 

While traveling to Uganda  she lost track of time as she slept most of the time. When she finally woke up, they were arrived in Nairobi. The 2 ladies she travelled with took care of her. While living with them, she did most of the household chores but she did not have a pleasant experience with them. She found a church that was predominantly attended by the refugee community and it is there where she found her “home.’” She always look forward to Sunday’s because she would meet other people like her from the DRC.  

One Sunday during announcements, she decided to seek help in finding her family. She was really taking a chance because she had not been in contact with anyone. Luckily, her uncle found her following the church announcement. She then went to live with her uncle and began communicating with her mother. 

After a couple of months, she came into physical contact with her mother and siblings and they moved in together.  

While living with her family, she met a young man and with the blessings of both families, decided to get married. The marriage was good, and she recalls being very happy until the man changed and became violent towards her. He would come home drunk and if anything made him unhappy, he would hurt her. She recalls feeling so ashamed and could spend most days sleeping. After about four months of enduring this abuse, she went back home and told her mother what was happening and her mother took her back in. The husband and his family came overto wokr it our and her husband appreared sincere in his apologizes. They talked and at the end of the day, Josephine decided to give him a second chance. 

For several months, her husband had stopped drinking and treated her well. She discovered that she was pregnant and when she told her husbamd, he began drinking again. He would come home late and the abuse would start One day, he beat her so badly, she thought she would pass out. That night, she bled and was in a lot of pain. She went to hospital the next day and and found out she had miscarried. 

She went straight to her mother’s home and said she would not go back with her husband. The husband’s family came back pleading for her, but she had already made up her mind.  Her uncle insisted she goe back to her husbands home stating that according to the African culture it is a disgrace for a married woman to leave.  

Josephine refused and contacted their community leader who referred her to the RefuSHE safe house. 

She was taken into the safe house where she underwent intense counselling sessions and has been recovering.

Josephine says that during her first month at the safehouse, she really missed home, missed her husband, and considered asking to leave and reunite with him. However, over the months she stayed, she reflected on her life and interacted with people who have been in similar circumstances, she made the decision to pursue better for herself.  

While at the safe house, she has explored her love for cooking and has learned to love herself. 

Once she exits, she has decided to go back to her mother and is determined to talk to her family members about her dreams of starting a catering business. 

 For now, she says “understanding yourself as an individual is really important, you will not allow people to take advantage of you.” 

It is clear that Josephine is progressively healing from her past experiences, with her determination and kind heart, she is set to make a good life for herself in future.