DEC 7 2022
My name is Saratiel Mugisha, I was born in Rwanda. I was young when I left in 1994 after the genocide.
We went to the northern part of Rwanda and stayed for a while and went back [home] in ’96 when things cooled down. Due to issues of insecurity, in 1999 we went as refugees to Kenya through Tanzania.
When we left in 1994, we were separated from our father. Our mother was everything to us. As kids, she would feed us, make sure we went to school- and she was on her own. We experienced insecurity at home that she couldn’t bear, so she decided to move. [We were in] Tanzania almost a month and things were not good – they were chasing refugees back to their homelands. That’s why we decided to go to Kenya.
I was in Kenya for 22 years.
When when we were registering as refugees in the camp, we [realized] our father was in the same camp. We mentioned his name and they found him also in the system. The last time we [had seen] him was in ‘94. It was surprising- happy, and also shocking – to unite with him again in 2000.
When I went to Kenya, I was something like nine years old. [When I left last year,] I had been in Kenya for 22 years. Of our eight siblings, our firstborn died when she was 12. Two others [went missing] on a big night for running away. We later came to know one is in Mozambique.
Being in the camp for more than 20 years is not easy.
The camps are located in the northern part of Kenya, which is the desert. There is no farming, there’s no cultivation that can be done. Most of the people depend on donated food given by UNHCR. People felt very unsafe. Political and religious insecurity is a big issue- Muslims who became Christians would be attacked. [It is dangerous] for people who are LGBTQ, and for people who start a business because they are believed to have money. People are living in fear. Those who come [from jobs in] politics always live in fear, knowing tomorrow [they could] be attacked. Neighbors can’t be trusted, so even leaving your kids for school is a problem. Weather can cause insecurity, medication is poor- people die everyday in the camp because of the lack of medication and hospital facilities. Life was horrible.
So just getting to the [resettlement] process was kind of hard. [We tried] the first process as a family, but there was a lot of corruption. If I’d like to get a case, I have to pay something to the processing officers. If you don’t have money to give them, that means they will mark your case pending and give a chance to other people that have money. That’s what happened [to us] from 2012 to 2017.
In 2017, they let me have my own case – as one person. My mom died in December of 2018 due to an issue of insecurity. My dad remained in the camp with my siblings.
I came to the U.S. on the second of December, 2021. Just last year.
[When I got the call,] I was very excited and happy. I knew I was getting a chance to move to a place where I would feel safe. I had moved to Nairobi due to insecurity at the camp, but even going on a walk or associating with the people was hard. Life there is about connections, if you don’t know someone to get a job, it’s hard to go ask someone for assistance especially during COVID. If people come to find out you’re a refugee, they will pay you less or mistreat you.
In Africa, when you think about America, Canada, Australia, other countries, we feel excited. We know there’s a lot of achievement there. I felt so happy when I arrived, and it was okay, it was good for me, but it was also a very big challenge. I arrived during the winter season and there was nobody [who spoke] my language. For two weeks, I felt by myself with nowhere to go, no one to talk to- it was challenging. I came to know my co-sponsors after two weeks, and they became my friends. My Case Manager would come to see me once or twice a week. It felt like a ghost town. It felt totally silent.
The first two months, I had a lot of stress, but with time, I started meeting people, including my co-sponsors, I got a job, and things started to change.
Getting work has made me forget some of the things that happened and some of the stress. Now I get to spend time with people, to talk and occupy my mind with work to do. And most of [the stress] went away.
I appreciate Canopy a lot and I feel happy when I’m serving our clients or refugees because I know the life they underwent. It helps me to know that I can assist them.
[My first language] is Kinyarwanda. I also speak Kiswahili and English. [There are other languages] I can understand but replying can be hard. [I learned] Portuguese when I traveled out of the country to Mozambique to meet my sister in 2015 – it had been 20 years since I had seen her. I went to college in Kenya [to study] Electrical and Electronic Engineering, but what I went through before coming here, the stress and hardships, might make me change and do something else. I’m planning to go to school, maybe to do International Relations and Business to help my family and others in the camp.
It is important to me to exercise equality and treat people as the same. People in the community who may be refugees or may be outcast, when they are shown love and care, you see they’re just people.
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