I recently received this desperate cry for help from a dear friend who I have known for over eight years. It is my fervent hope that together we can somehow hit upon a long term solution that will enable him to support himself and his four daughters. Meanwhile I’m requesting your help to provide them with the bare essentials for the time being, namely food and accommodation. Here is their story.
I fled my country of origin in 2008 and was granted refugee status in Uganda the following year. I was then transferred to Kyangwali Refugee Camp where I have lived to this very day. All my 4 children were born here , with my first child being 16 and my youngest just 5. Back in 2009 when I first came to this camp, all refugees were receiving 100% of the food ration as the refugee population in the camp was only about 25.000. 10 years later (in 2019) my family and I were removed from both food and cash assistance because the population had grown to over 150.000 refugees, and priority was given to the new arrivals. Luckily, we were considered for resettlement the same year and were hoping to emigrate to another country, but all our hopes were shattered when Trump’s refugee resettlement ban of 2017 and subsequent slashing of the refugee admissions cap caused UNHCR to close thousands of resettlement cases. My family was among the thousands who were informed that we couldn’t go to any resettlement country.
In 2020, my half brother was murdered in cold blood, and in 2021 my brother was poisoned. Both had families, and as their only surviving relative here in the camp, I was expected to step up and look after families of my late brothers. I did whatever I could with the help of a very dear friend who prefers to remain anonymous. All this while, I was suffering from different illnesses, and was also a target of many people here who hated the fact that I am a social activist. These people included police officers and government workers, as well as their refugee friends.
In 2022, my family was once again presented with an opportunity to be resettled in Norway. This took so long that I eventually requested that they change the country for us. They sent our case to USA as a result. We went through all the necessary processes and were scheduled to travel early last year, but because my blood pressure was high, we were returned back to the camp. I could not be allowed to fly with high blood pressure. Again in November last year we were scheduled to travel to the United States, but my blood pressure stubbornly refused to go down despite medication. We stayed at the hotel for over a month in the hope that it would go down, but it never did. All this while we were having difficulty getting food and yet the doctors had recommended that I stick to a healthy diet which is rather expensive to maintain.
On January 21st this year after US president Donald Trump signed an Executive Order suspending the entire refugee resettlement program for 90 days, we were asked to leave the hotel and return to the refugee camp. My wife did not take the news well, so she left me and the children and went to stay with her friends who live in the city. We found shelter at a friend’s home who allowed us to stay for about a month. He helped us with transport back to the camp where we returned about a week ago. Because we were required to surrender our home to the government before we left the camp in November, we have been rendered homeless as our previous house was given to a new refugee family. Also, we are expected to fend for ourselves in as far as all the other basic needs are concerned.
Simply put, it’s a fresh start and we are on our own. This means we don’t have a home, any source of income and food to eat. This has not been easy for me as my daughters continue to fall sick due to starvation and malnutrition. They are also out of school.
If you are able to donate even the smallest amount to help us I and my daughters really would be beyond grateful.
For anyone wishing to donate to this project, please visit pay.rrym.uk, where you will find several payment options, including PayPal and Card services, or BACS bank transfer to our Charity Account.
Thank you so much for your support.
