Bidi Bidi - A Settlement of 270,000 Refugees - What can we do?

 

I promised you in my update last month that I would share Part 2 of my experience in northern Uganda this month, related to the Bidibidi Refugee Settlement. So here it is. Bidibidi was opened in August 2016, 10 years to the day of when I visited it last month. It opened to accommodate a massive influx of refugees fleeing the civil war in South Sudan. While it is being huge 250 sq km in size, it reached its capacity of 280,000 people in just 4 months by December that year, making it one of the largest refugee settlements in Africa and the world. Today, over 270,000 refugee are still there. I wanted to visit it because I had been to Omugo, a neighbouring refugee camp, in 2017 with World Vision. It was one of my most memorable experiences of my time with WV. As I watched the new arrivals get off the bus, I was struck by the women carrying their life possessions on their head, and the men bringing a goat or 2 as they went to their designated tent. All I could think about was I wonder if I could carry all my life possessions on my head .. my frig, bed, sofa ... probably not.

WV had been there since the beginning. I had helped raise funds for its relief efforts. I wanted to see how people were doing today, 10 years later. I did not expect to see what I saw. I guess I was imagining that people would be settled in life, living among their people, speaking the same language and sharing common traditions. And though I figured life still may be hard, I thought they would be accustomed to living outside their homeland and life would be going on. Instead, I found that people are struggling. I mean really struggling. Here's why. In the last 2 years most of the major players and aid agencies have had to pull out or drastically reduce their operations, mostly because of the changes in US policy on foreign aid, and also because there are other pressing needs in the world. This was meant to be a short-term relief effort. Food distribution was not meant to go on over a decade. So when it ended abruptly, people were not prepared.  Let me be clear. I'm not blaming the agencies. I get it. They are doing their best, and they do amazing work. While they are still doing some food distribution and providing fund allowance, they have had to categorize the families based on need. They are also trying to help the families with sustainability, but it's not easy. It's just the need is so big. My heart was broken, and I stood there wondering what can we do? Then I met Flora.  Flora is a mom who fled South Sudan with her husband and 5 children in 2016. She told me the story of how they came through the bush as if they went by road they would likely be killed by the militia. When they arrived at the border, they came to Bidibidi camp and have been here ever since. They depended on food distribution, and have struggled immensely since the changes in the last couple of years.  Listen to this video as she shared her story ... and to her response do my question, "Does God give you any hope at all?"

Flora tells her story.

It was tough to listen to her story. But, then we talked to her about microenterprise. This is one of the ways the community development model CHE, I was trained when I was in Uganda last month, works with vulnerable communities and families to help them create a small business to provide enough income to provide for their children. When we presented the idea to her, she was thrilled. She seemed to be an entreprenuer at heart and was so willing and eager! We left there setting her up to get started. She was going to buy things at wholesale prices then sell them for retail in the local market nearby. I left there, excited for Flora, but still burdened because there are thousands more like her in need. But, then I remembered that Christ didn't heal every person he saw, and certainly not everyone who heard His Good News accepted it, but for the ones that did, their lives were radically changed. Maybe we can't help every single person in the Refugee Settlement or even the many African villages were we serve, but we can help some. Today, her name was Flora. One mom at a time, one children at a time, one family at a time, one community at a time, we can make a difference. So, what happened to Flora? I already got a report that she is doing well. In a few short weeks, she has started her business, set up a table at the market, sells beans and vegetables and is making 5,000 Ugandian shillings/day, 150,000 a month - enough to provide for family and the single mom who lives nearby.

My heart was blessed. I was encouraged. Though the needs are great, and we can't do everything, we can do something. And for those whose lives we can impact, lives like Flora's, it makes a difference.  As I serve here in Africa, I remain committed to do what I can to impact the lives , even if it's just one person at a time, as God helps me. And, you are too, through your support and prayers. Let me close with the encouragement I got from a daily devotion that showed up  in my inbox this morning. It reminded me "Let's not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don't give up." Galatians 6:9 Let's keep going. Let's never give up, and let's always keep the faith that we will reap the harvest when we don't give up. Amen!