The Safe House: An Enclave of Peace and Hope

Mary and her sister sister lived fairly well with their parents. Their father was a prominent lawyer and politician in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo and their mother was a business woman. During the war in November 2013, their father was captured and killed by rebels. The rebels proceeded to go to their home to look for their mother who had already been informed by her neighbors before the rebels arrived. She escaped leaving her two daughters in the house. When Mary realized their mother was gone, she and her sister went to take refuge in a local Catholic church where a priest offered them shelter. The next morning, the priest introduced them to a man called Gilbert who was travelling to Kenya via Uganda. They took a flight from Kinshasa, the capital city of DRC, to Goma. From Goma, they used a truck that transported them through Kigali, Rwanda, then through Kampala, Uganda and finally arriving in Nairobi. Martha states that during her journey to Kenya, she had a lot of mixed emotions about where they were going, leaving everything she knew behind and not knowing how she would deal with living in a new land. Unfortunately, the man who helped them get to Kenya, Gilbert, disappeared and left them stranded at a bus stop in Nairobi. A Kenyan woman called Yvonne took them in and lived with them for nine months in Kawangware.

Mary found a caregiver in Nairobi to work for. They sold African fabric and would walk home together in the evening. One day from work, they were confronted by a moving car and at a gun point, they were told to get in or else they would be shot. Their heads were wrapped the entire way until they were put in a room. She was questioned about her mother and they wanted to know where she was. They were beaten and Mary was sexually assaulted. The next day, they were dropped off at the local mall at 5 in the morning. Where they were dropped off was near the same place they had been kidnapped so they easily found access to their home. Later in the day, they reported the matter at a police station. Yvonne called her friend, who then advised Martha to go and get tested for HIV. She went for tests and put on drugs to prevent HIV after exposure. She also underwent intense counseling.

Mary mentioned that she had lost all hope in life and reached a point that she did not care about what happened to her. The police referred her case to the UN and in turn, the UN referred her to the RefuSHE safe house along with her sister, Faith.

After arriving at the RefuSHE campus, Mary and her sister began to assimilate with the group of girls in the safe house They started to feel a sense of family and Martha’s personality begin to positively change. Martha became the comedian of the group and a leader in the Artisan Collective.  They both have been living in the safe house and are part of the education program of RefuSHE.

In the future, Mary states that she plans on being a good person to other people. When she resettles, she wants to enroll into nursing school and wants to specialize in nutritional nursing.