wfn.org | FEATURE: Ailing Nyakayombo Hoped for a Better Life

["Frank Imhoff" <FRANKI@ELCA.ORG>]

LWF Responds to Refugee Influx into Zambia

UKWIMI, Zambia/GENEVA, 31 October 2001 (LWI) - Nyakayombo Mutete is
one of the settler's wives in the refugee camp at Ukwimi in Zambia's
eastern province. Emaciated, she sits in the doorway of her
grass-thatched house. She came with her two children to join her
husband who was among the first batch of Angolans to arrive at the
camp when it was reopened in December 2000 to accommodate another
influx of refugees into Zambia. The tuberculosis (TB) that has
ravaged her body so did not deter her from making the 1,400-kilometer
journey to start a new life.

Life here is still far from what she had hoped for. Her husband has
to walk long distances in search of odd jobs for extra income to
supplement their mainly vegetable diet. When her husband is away,
their children, aged three and five, carry out the household chores.
Their mother is too sick to help.

Nyakayombo is a recipient of the high-energy protein supplements
provided by the World Food Program and distributed by the Lutheran
World Federation/Zambia Christian Refugee Service (LWF/ZCRS). The LWF
program also provides counseling services intended to encourage her
to follow her TB medication strictly.

Rev. Enos Moyo, LWF Department for World Service (LWF-DWS)
representative in Zambia, tells Nyakayombo's story to illustrate the
concerns he raised at a meeting of the Program Committee for World
Service during the LWF Council meeting in Geneva last June. He hopes
to gain support for those he names "the forgotten people." It is
estimated that there are over 260,000 refugees in Zambia. Among these
are 78,000 refugees in the western, northwestern and eastern
provinces where the LWF/ZCRS is working.

The Ukwimi Resettlement Scheme currently hosts some 2,300 refugees, a
majority of whom are Angolan. It was originally established as a
refugee camp for Mozambicans but following their massive repatriation
in 1994 the Zambian government converted it into a resettlement
scheme for locals, reopening its door to refugees about a year ago.

Moyo says it is generally assumed that settlements like Ukwimi are no
longer needed since most of the refugees who came during the
liberation struggle in Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Namibia and South Africa
had returned home. The one exception is the Angolans who came into
Zambia in the sixties. "They are still here," he says.

Since the beginning of 2000 the number of refugees in Zambia has
doubled mainly due to continuing internal conflicts in some
countries. The Angolans have now been joined by Congolese,
Burundians, Rwandans, Somalis, Sierra Leoneans, Liberians, Sudanese,
Ugandans, Mozambicans, Namibians, two South Africans and a
Zimbabwean. The LWF/ZCRS provides emergency help for new arrivals and
is responsible for local integration of the refugees, particularly
those who have been in Zambia for a longer period.

Such work does not attract much attention, Moyo says. Funding is
unreliable and erratic. Of a total budget of USD 3,047,479, in 2000
only USD 797,285 was realized. So Moyo tells Nyakayombo's story,
hopeful that someone will listen. Then LWF/ZCRS can adequately
provide the help that she and other refugees urgently need.

(Written for LWI by Rev. Kenn Ward, editor, Canada Lutheran - a
magazine of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada.)

(The LWF is a global communion of Christian churches in the Lutheran
tradition. Founded in 1947 in Lund (Sweden), the LWF now has 133
member churches in 73 countries representing over 60.5 million of the
64.3 million Lutherans worldwide. The LWF acts on behalf of its
member churches in areas of common interest such as ecumenical
relations, theology, humanitarian assistance, human rights,
communication, and the various aspects of mission and development
work. Its secretariat is located in Geneva, Switzerland.)

[Lutheran World Information (LWI) is the information service of the
Lutheran World Federation (LWF). Unless specifically noted, material
presented does not represent positions or opinions of the LWF or of
its various units. Where the dateline of an article contains the
notation (LWI), the material may be freely reproduced with
acknowledgment.]

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