During his visit to the CMS Oxford offices, Africa News in-terviewed long-standing friend of CMS and former CMS scholar, Rev Desire Mukanirwa (above), vicar of Goma, the capital of North Kivu province in eastern DR Congo – an area beset with ongoing inter-tribal violence. Rev Desire accompanied Bishop Baha-ti Bali-Busane of Bukavu Diocese to the UK for the Archbishop of Canterbury’s enthronement and a roundtable discussion at Lambeth Palace on the security situation in DRC, along with CMS executive leader Philip Mounstephen and CMS transcultural manager for Africa, Stephen Burgess.

What is the nature of your ministry?

We are involved in many activities - mainly working with displaced people who come from different villages. They have fled the war and they are scattered everywhere in the town - some are living with families, who give them some room in their land and houses and others are based in camps.

How many people are in camps in DR Congo?

According to UN statistics, there are about 700,000 people in camps and in and around Goma there are about 250,000 displaced people in the camp (Mugunga). But others are not registered. They are living in people’s homes. They don’t go to get registered because of fear.

What is life like in the camps?

Those living in the camps are suffering. You live outside in the coldness, there are women who are ready to deliver children – bad situation, I cannot express.

Sometimes they get food, and sometimes they don’t. Some of those living in camps are raped, because the rebels invade the camps and rape women: elderly, teenagers and children, some as young as 10 years old. They need medical supplies and care, they need clothes. They have no hope and ask why they come to this earth. They ask “why are we forgotten?” They cry for peace.

I am not really happy when I see these people and when I go there I don’t sleep very well. Sometimes I cry. But my prayer is to see how these people can go back home and try to live as it was before. Who is carrying out the violence?

There are many militia groups - some are backed by other coun-tries. People come with machine guns, shooting, killing and raping.

We don’t know who is fight-ing against whom. We just see rebels, soldiers with machine guns – we wonder where they get those guns. We just need peace and need our local government and other politicians at the high level to help the people in Congo. We are really tired; because of this war we have seen millions of people die. We are human beings. We have a right to live. We need to live.

“Why are we forgotten?”:

continued over

The plight of internally displaced people in DR Congo

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from previous pageWhat is the church trying to do?

The Church is trying to do what it can. We are trying to share love and faith to those who are mourning, starving, displaced and refugees. We give them food, clothes and basic needs. We also give them spiri-tual ministry, pray with them, do Bible studies.

Also we set up agricultural projects for when they return. They float for many years so when they come back home they have nothing. We help them try to

re-establish their lives, give them seeds, material for agriculture and animals for breeding, just for food security and to start afresh. It must be hard for those being continually displaced?Yes. If there’s no peace nothing can be done. You can start something but when war comes back, people run away. They leave what they started and the rebels enjoy their animals, agriculture and crops. The main priority is to end the war and set up proper security for local people and also for the country.

• CMS funded Rev Desire’s three year theological study at IsThA (now Anglican University of Congo) in DR Congo and later a community development degree at Uganda Christian University.

• This year and last year, CMS gave grants to the Diocese of Bukavu to help with internally displaced people.

• CMS also helped to establish a link between St Alphege Seasalter Church in Whistable, Kent with Bukavu Diocese to build a new Bible school – currently under construction.

Recently I was privileged to be part of a ‘round table’ discussion at Lambeth Palace on the situation in DR Congo. It was wonderful to be part of the discussion which involved three Archbishops (Congo, Rwanda and Burundi) along with Canon Grace Kaiso, the General Secretary of the Council of Anglican Provinces of Africa, and representatives of the Foreign Office and many other agencies.

But all of that faded into insignificance at one particular point. One of the Congolese Church leaders, Rev. Desire Mukanirwa, brought out a picture of a ten year old girl. This, he told us, was one of the countless victims of rape at the hands of one or other of the militia groups

that have terrorised the east of the country.

Seeing the face of that girl brought home to me just how immensely personal the suffering of the country is. This is not about statistics, but about individuals with faces, with hearts and minds, hopes and expectations, whose lives are being scarred by the callous brutality of those who stalk the land with such apparent impunity.

And in that situation who will stand up with them? A new peace accord has been signed in Addis Ababa in February of this year – but it’s been signed by the same old political leaders. Others say that the leaders of civil society must have more of a role – but those same political leaders have infiltrated the institutions of civil society to such an extent that they have been robbed of their independence. The truth is

that the Church alone is left — and the Church in that region through its fearless leaders, and with scant resources, is indeed standing up.

I left that meeting more convinced than ever that we at CMS must continue to stand with the Church in Congo – and indeed throughout Africa, not least in partnership with CMS Africa. And let it never be said that the days of cross-cultural mission are over because it is precisely the presence of non-Congolese people that assures the Church there that they are not forgotten.

Join me in praying for the people of Congo. Join me in praying for others to cross cultures and continents to stand alongside them, and the wonderful people in mission we have there already. Join me in praying that through the ministry of God’s Church the promise of God will come to concrete reality:

God sets the lonely in families, he leads out the prisoners with singing; but the rebellious live in a sun-scorched land. (Psalm 68:6)

Looking Congo in the faceEditorial by Philip Mounstephen, executive leader of CMS

“So who will stand up for the victims of such violence?”

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As of October 2012, there were 8.5 million people displaced in Burundi, eastern DR Congo, Dji-bouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

Of these, two million are refugees and six and a half mil-lion are internally displaced persons.

Behind the statistics are har-rowing stories of violations of hu-

man rights, confusion over land rights for returnees, murder of civilians, abduction of children, mutilation, torture, rape, hunger, oppression, attacks on IDP and refugee camps, chronic illness, disease and fear.

But as our stories illustrate in this issue, CMS mission partners,

link organisations and the church are working to provide practical solutions, spiritual support and, in some cases, political pressure to help people find a way forward.

In this issue of Africa News we focus on the issue of displaced persons in the Great Lakes region of Africa. It’s a huge subject – involving vast numbers of people

Overview: Beyond numbers

Internally displaced persons (IDPs): have not crossed an international frontier, but have, for whatever reason, fled their homes. Unlike refugees, IDPs are not protected by international law or eligible to receive many types of aid, according to the UN refugee agency UNHCR.

Refugees: have crossed an international frontier and are at risk, or have been victims of persecution in their country of origin.

Returnees: have returned to their home country.

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ssar

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“Refugees have an endless craving towards their homeland but have been shaped by their country of exile.”

Since independence, Burundian politics has been characterised by ethnic competition and violence. Major episodes of violence in the 1970s, 80s and 90s led to a total of 574,000 refugees, most of whom fled to neighbouring Tanzania.

A framework for refugee return was established at the 2000 Arusha Peace Accord, and a Burundian government body was set up to manage this process in conjunction with the UNHCR. This includes a legal responsibility to help returnees recover their property and possessions, which came into force in June 2008. This process has been described by the UNHCR as “one of the most successful operations on the African continent”.

But, as Rema Ministries director Felibien Ndintore explains, “While the return and resettlement of Burundian refugees has in many ways been more successful than was initially thought, this narrative of ‘success’ may, however, have blinded some actors to the difficulties still faced by many returnees.”

He continues: “Indeed, a brief overview of the return process indicates the diverse nature of the refugee experience and the multiplicity of categories of returnees. In addition to the length of their stay in exile, returnees have been shaped by their country of exile, language of preference, access to different

livelihood options and forms of assistance, and their mode of return.”

Rema Ministries, in conjunction with the Danish Refugee Council, conducted a major piece of research, Rethinking Reintegration in Burundi, and surveyed returnees. Seven out of every ten respondents

said that they were still struggling to reclaim their land and property. The judicial system was perceived as flawed by 89% of returnees, but only by 46% of residents. Access to education was reported as a serious problem by 89% of returnees, compared to 43% of residents. Returnees speak Swahili and some English, and have huge problems reintegrating into a culture of Kirundi and French.

Food security was also reported as a serious problem by 77% of all respondents. Access to healthcare was impossible for

78% of all respondents, with 84% of returnees unable to pay to get treatment, the survey found.

Rema recommends that returnees are involved in determining policy and practice, that earlier unjust land adjudications are revisited and that resettlement back in Tanzania for some is facilitated. In addition, Rema urges the government to redefine reintegration to include a wider range of indicators - such as identity, language, trust and a sense of belonging.

Felibien says, “While we realise that this journey is long and that the walk is not easy, we rejoice in some achievements like the successful settlement of 200 returnee families in Nyabigina village. Nyandwi Juma, one of the beneficiaries of this settlement had this to say: ‘For the first time, I feel I am now a Burundian.’”

Rema - in conjunction with Makamba diocese has been supporting the reintegration of refugees. CMS has recently given grants to Makamba diocese to assist the urgent needs of internally displaced persons.

“It’s as if we are not Burundians”

A family of five returnees

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It was good to spend time with the Rema team in Burundi recently. Rema Ministries is advocating for returnees – refugees returning especially from Tanzania, many after 20 some years.

There are many challenges – including acceptance, land and language. It was distressing to witness the first “enforced” repatriation from the remaining 1993 camp with much trauma and little or no planning.

While I was there at the end of October we heard the first “forced” repatriation of refugees from Mtabila was starting. So we joined the UNHCR and other NGOs at the Tanzania border to monitor the situation. Thirty-five thousand people were to be repatriated and the camp closed by the end of December 2012.

This was announced by the Tanzanian government in July - but these are people who did not want to return. Most had been there since 1993 or were born in exile. Amid confusion about numbers arriving on the first day, 355 people came through

escorted by UNHCR. They were mainly women, children and elderly - as many of the men, we understood, had fled to resist enforced repatriation.

It was dark, cold and raining. We followed the first two buses to the overnight transit camp near Mabanda. The returnees were led into an open-sided shed with a few wooden benches. They were tired, traumatised, fearful and many had been beaten in the camp by the Tanzanian soldiers before leaving, possibly due to their resistance to get on the buses.

The UN tried to register everyone before going to tents for the night, but some were not in the list, some families had got divided, some children had been left behind and some didn’t know where their family had come from in Burundi. The process went on until after 1am. It was so hard to know how to show God’s love.

We returned the next morning. Trucks were being loaded with the meagre possessions they had brought from the camp and people

herded into other trucks with rough seating to be taken to the province their family came from (if known).

On arrival in ‘their’ commune there was often little or no preparation with officials not knowing if, or who, is coming, as we witnessed at Nyanza Lac when a truck arrived. People are left to find their own way ‘home’. I understand from a UN official that they are given basic rations for a month plus a little money for six months (a one off payment of approximately $50 per person).

The future for most is very uncertain with no land, no work, and genuine fear of lack of acceptance by local residents. Rema is trying to: advocate for returnees and get policies changed so positive reintegration can take place and encourage local churches to support returnees.

Prayer is needed for the returnees and IDPs and for the Rema team.

A long road home: refugees returning to Burundiby CMS member Sally Botteley, who is also a CMS Africa forum member and chair of trustees for Rema UK, which works in close partnership with Rema Ministries. CMS has long standing links with Rema Ministries since its early days.

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South Sudan is emerging from

years of war and devastation.

Many people are returning to

their homeland. Lagu Simon is

a physiotherapist who works

for Christian NGO Across - the

same organisation as CMS

mission partner Ruth Radley

– both based in Yei, South

Sudan. Here Lagu shares some

of his story.

I was seven when we went to Uganda, after my father had died in the war. It was not easy; initially we faced many challenges in the camp: [lack of] water and food items, then cholera came and many of our close friends and

family died. The Ugandan government

gave us land to settle in, and we were able to cultivate crops. Our parents opened a school under a tree, although we had no blackboards; we used charcoal on a cardboard box.

However, I completed my schooling, raising money for school fees and materials by going to the river and getting weeds to make papyrus mats or using sticks to make stools, for selling in the market. My secondary schooling was funded by burning charcoals and selling them along with a part scholarship from UNHCR.

In 2005 the comprehensive peace agreement was signed. Together with some friends, we made the decision to return home. It was a difficult journey, taking us three days walking. We slept in the open, often along the river, and were mindful of many landmines.

We arrived in Juba, which was very dirty, and started looking for voluntary work. After working as a primary school teacher, I was taken by Windle Trust International for training to teach English as a foreign language.

Following this, the International Red Cross and Crescent (ICRC) advertised for school leavers to apply for courses, I was successful and found myself heading to Rwanda for a four year degree course in physical medicine and health.

I was grateful for this opportunity. As I was growing up, I knew a pastor who would regularly encourage me that even though my father had died, I could attain a good life. Many of those I studied with in school had fallen into lives which were not healthy.

Returning to Sudan in 2011 gave me the opportunity to vote in the referendum and enjoy the celebrations of freedom on Independence Day.

Despite the many amazing things in this country, there are still challenges: one being basic services to those in the villages (health, schools and so on). However with peace, I know we will continue to develop.

Life after a long war: Lagu’s story

Lagu giving physiotherapy to a young patient

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Recently I had the privilege to preach on Isaiah 49 and Philippians 2 for Mission Sunday at my church. I asked the question of what place security and vulnerability have in our life in mission. Little did I know that we would be asked to “walk the talk” so soon afterwards.

In March, my husband Benno and I went to Bangui, the capital of the Central African Republic (CAR), to teach a three week course at the theological school where we lived and worked as a family for eight years. For as long as we lived there, the CAR has been a politi-cally and militarily unstable country. And this time again, during our stay, we experienced a coup d’état.

On Saturday night we heard that rebel soldiers had entered the outskirts of Bangui. On Sunday morning the rebels fought their way to the centre of the city and overthrew the government. Following the fighting, looting started, and sadly the looters of the school next to our compound found a stock of weapons; this was followed by celebration and a lot of shooting.

While hiding in a somewhat sheltered part of the house, many memories of earlier war experiences flooded our minds. Through the years, we have always been spared. But we also lost friends to the violence. Many of our friends lost members of their family and experienced abuse and violence. Will there ever be an end to this? Will justice prevail? Will peace come?

And what does this mean for our participation in mission? The most difficult moment in this week was the moment when the question was raised if we should be evacuated by the French army. Why should we be evacuated, when our African brothers and sisters have no such option? Born in a “safe” western country, will God only call us to go where our physical safety is some-what guaranteed?

When the first missionaries entered the CAR, some 100 years ago, they entered a thick rain forest, where malaria was rife. Many missionaries fell ill and many died. At that point they did not ask the mission board to allow them to go home or to travel to safer places. They sent a letter to the mission board in America: “We are dying, send us more “missionaries...”

It is true that the shape of mission has changed since then. In most places the call of mission has changed from “bringing” the gospel to participation in the mis-sion of the worldwide Christian community. But does that change the urgency of the call? Does that change the commitment to the call? Where so many of our brothers and sisters are living in insecurity, facing injus-tice and violence, should we stay “safe”?

Security or vulnerability?

Reflections on walking the talk in Central African Republic

By CMS learning adviser Berdine van den Toren-Lekkerkerker

CMS is a mission community acknowledged by the Church of England. A company limited by guarantee. Registered in England and Wales, charity number 1131655, company number 6985330, registered office: CMS, Watlington Road, Oxford OX4 6BZ Tel: 01865 787 400 8

FREE EMAIL SERVICE! Mid-Africa Prayer Network. Did you know that CMS offers a free fortnightly email service – for up to date prayer news at your fingertips. Go to www.cms-uk.org/midafrica to sign up.

CMS mission partner Jenny Green, based in Kisoro, Uganda, heads up The Potter’s Village – a child crisis centre she set up for abandoned children and babies. She sends this heartfelt plea: “With the war in Eastern Congo rumbling on, we are privileged to care for a few refugee children; all our babies have sad stories, but those from Congo are the saddest. Please pray for Congo, it is such a confused and impossible situation.”

CMS mission partners Laura and Simon Walton in Tanzania report that their church (St Monica’s) is supporting a pastor called Michael, and his young wife. Michael works with refugees in a resettlement camp next to his small church. “Mabwe Pande is a grass thatched church about 20 kilometres from us towards Bagamoyo. In this area about 1,200 or more families live in tents provided by the government through United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, on plots of land measuring 30 paces by 30 paces,” the Waltons write. “In December 2011, during the heavy flooding occurring south west of the city, these families lost their homes and some, their lives. Sixteen months on and most are still living in these tents, although some have built corrugated iron sheet shacks and mud wall homes. A very few have brick homes with tin roofs.

Michael spends a lot of his time offering help with sewing up of tents. We are so encouraged that our church has done this and is offering support to these forgotten people.”

CMS mission partner Ian Harvey, based in Lubumbashi, DR Congo, reported on suspected Mai Mai militia entering the city – in mineral-rich Katanga province – and opening fire just before Easter. Ian works alongside the Anglican Church and runs a project he set up for street children, Centre Kimbilio. He writes: “We started hearing of occasional attacks on villages but then it became a daily occurrence. This caused the villagers to flee into the bush and at one point there were over 1,000 internally displaced people in Lubumbashi alone, with over 30,000 displaced in the north of Katanga.” As we go to press, the situation appears to be calm now in Lubumbashi but Ian asks that people continue to pray for peace in Katanga, “and that the sense of security that has existed here since the 1990s will not break down as has happened in the east of DR Congo. Pray for safety for myself and the Kimbilio team and children.”

A tale of two schools The village of Eddi, South Sudan and surrounding area was attacked by the Lord’s Resistance Army from DR Congo between 2006 and 2009 and saw

the villagers flee to Maridi, a town near the international border between South Sudan and DR Congo, where they have been internally displaced ever since. One thing that will really help people return to their village is a project to build new classrooms for Eddi’s Bilali primary school. The link between Bilali Primary School and St Mary’s C of E Primary School in Finchley, north London was set up by Church Mission Society’s transcultural manager for Africa Stephen Burgess. And thanks to energetic fundraising efforts of the pupils of St Mary’s and two other Anglican churches linked to the primary school, more than £20,000 has been raised for new classrooms. The initiative is set to transform the school (originally started in the 1940s by CMS under a mango tree). CMS mission partner Canon Patricia Wick, who is based in Maridi diocese, says: “Now there is hope, as education gives hope for a better future. The school will draw the community together and give it a heart. And it’s a great opportunity for the church to take the lead in education in the area.”

Dates for your diary 2013

Annual weekend conference 22-24 NovemberHayes Conference CentreSwanwick, Derbyshire.Contact: Nick Faneemail: ac2013@fanes.co.uk

Displaced people stories from CMS people in mission