By O’Burphy Richlue
The County Heads and Stakeholders in the Buduburam Refugee Settlement have met to discuss the peaceful demonstration of the Concern Liberian refugee women. The meeting was held March 2 at the Dominion Christian Academy in Buduburam.
Chaired by the Head of the County Heads, Erol Madison Gwion, the meeting was called as a result of a request made by the Settlement Manager Honorable Cal Afun, who asked the men to remove their women from the field to bring an end to the peaceful demonstration exercise. The manager also asked for the way forward to be determined by the men.
However, it was agreed upon by the men that the women’s points should first be taken to the appropriate authorities for redress before their women can be asked to leave the streets. They said this because they think their women are fighting for a a worthy cause.
As part of their response, they came up with position statements to the Ghana Refugee Board and the UNHCR Ghana and copies to be sent to UNHCR Geneva. The statement is to reinforce the positions of the women against integration into the Ghanaian society and repatriation with a $1,000 cash package or resettlement into a third country of asylum.
The document to be prepared by the stakeholders and signed by the Christian and Muslim Councils, as well as the fifteen County Heads of Buduburam, is to get the appropriate authorities involve promptly. The group of more than 100 men and a few women wants the Liberian Refugee Welfare Council Chairman (LRWC), Honorable Varney B. Sambola III, to affix his signature to the letter and his company and presence with the committee during the delivery.
A second position statement was suggested to be sent to the Settlement Manager regarding their lost of confidence in the authority of the Liberian Refugee Welfare Council. The body present at the meeting said the Council ill-represented them by presenting a secret statement to the UNHCR without their input and wrong statement to the media. And also their inability to withdraw the statements in the 72 hours that was given them by the stakeholders.
In addition to the suggestion, they are requesting the Settlement Management to give the stakeholders the mandate to set up an electoral college to elect the executives of the LRWC instead of his appointment. To them, Liberian refugees are capable of electing their own leaders. Appointment will cause the appointee to be more loyal to the person appointing them. And this should be done in 72 hours.
The meeting came to a close with parents consenting to stay away from everything that brings happiness and boycotting normal activities. This includes giving their women the approval to carry their children on the field to be part of the peaceful demonstration exercise. This means stopping their children from going to school to attend classes.
All businesses are also expected to be closed down in the Settlement until a redress can be given the women of Buduburam including the community market but from 12:00 midday. Anyone could guess what this will mean in Buduburam for as long as the women actions will not be given a redress in their best interest.
The Liberian Refugee Women for Refugee Concerns have been on their peaceful demonstration exercise for about 18 days on the open field at the entrance of the settlement. They have been enjoying the support of their children and husbands, brothers and fathers. Their enthusiasm has turned everything in the settlement outside down but they have not been addressed by the appropriate authorities.
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Women protest settlement in Ghana
By O’Burphy Richlue
Women residents of the Buduburam Refugee Settlement have been boycotting normal activities to express their dissatisfaction over plans to reintegrate Liberian refugees into the Ghanaian society. The peaceful demonstration exercise is characterized by group gathering at the entrance of the camp in a field under the scorching sun at day and sleeping in the dews at night, fasting and praying, and boycotting even the UNHCR/WFP ration distribution of maize and oil.
The hundreds of Liberian women, who have no leader, can be seen with banners and posters with inscriptions carrying messages. Some of the inscriptions on the posters and banners include”: “To be a refugee is not a crime. Stop! The humiliation.” Others read 'Discrimination! Resentment! Prejudice! Injustice! All against us!!” and “International Community, please hear our plead. We are tired with this protracted refugee situation.” They have said they will not stop until they can get responses that will be favorite and in their best interest and the interest of their children and husbands.
The desperate crowd of Liberian refugee women has said they are advocating for an increase in the repatriation package from $5 to at least $1,000 or resettlement to a third country of asylum.
Like other refugees, Tenneh A. Kamara told me in an interview that the Liberian Refugee Welfare Council (LRWC) has changed its position to that of Public Relations Officers of the UN refugee agency, the UNHCR. They are noting this because to them, the LRWC is not seeking their welfare but rather acting on behalf of the UNHCR, something that is unimaginable to her.
She wants the international community, policies makers and donors to know that Liberians are still here in Ghana and are not getting their entitlements, such as health care, education, work and access to the Ghanaian market. Therefore, they are saying they don't want to be in Ghana next year.
"We are tired,” she said. “Integration is not an option.”
She added that they are not just a group of people saying donors should resettle them. According to them, there are people who deserve resettlement. There are people with documents stating they have been resettled but still here in Ghana and people who started the resettlement process but it came to a halt. These people are qualified for it and they should be resettled or be repatriated in dignity with a package of $1,000 and other items.
Honorable Varney B. Sambola, III; chairman of the LRWC, have said he don't understand their points and their activities do not have the support and backings of the Council.
To Mr. Sambola, if Liberian refugees have problems, the Council should be called upon to champion their cause. And that a group of people should not just wake up and start to do what they think is right. He added that if the group of women had come to the Council and identified themselves and presented their case, the Council could have even collaborated with them in drawing the attention of the international community if they deem it right.
All attempts to hear from the Settlement Manager, who is the Ghana government representative in the settlement, were unsuccessful.
However, there are divergent views in the settlement about the women's peaceful demonstration, as to whether or not it is right and necessary.
Rev. Togba Andrew Kaijay, an influential resident and a classroom teacher, tried justifying the rightfulness of the women's action with his fear for the fourth deportation of Liberians from Ghana. He said Liberians need to do all they can to get out of Ghana because if they opt for integration, in no time, they will be deported back to Liberia for unjustified reasons, such as lack of productivity, not enough jobs for even Ghanaians and the like.
He made reference to previous deportation of Liberians from Ghana during the regimes of late presidents William V. S. Tubman, William R. Tolbert and Samuel K. Doe to caution Liberians about the attitude of Ghanaians.
A founding member and Project Ambassador of the RESPECT Intellectual Club, an Initiative of RESPECT Ghana and a One world Youth Project, Harenton Cashier Chea said he is in support of the women, though he does not think they should stop their children from going to school. He based his point on the fact that students of the 9th grade (JSS III) and 12th grade (SSS III) are getting prepare to write their Basic Education Certificate Examinations (BECE) in April and the West Africa Senior Secondary Schools Certificate Examinations (WASSCE) later in September, and nothing should be done to disturb their studies.
He added that children have the right to education so stopping them from going to school is an infringement on their fundamental human rights. He therefore called on the Buduburam Central Education Board (BCEB) to do something about parents who are stopping their children from going to school.
Mr. Chea was very keen on the appeal for the $1,000 by the women. To him, calls for $1,000 after 18 years of exile should be revisited because it cannot cater for a person for three complete months with the basic necessities of life. He said he is very much in favor of the women's first option of resettlement because an appeal for even $2,200 cannot really cater to a person returning to Liberia after 18 years of stay in exile taking into consideration things like the economy, building, establishment.
He concluded by saying, after war in every country, people are supposed to be repatriated, but UNHCR Ghana did not really invest much into higher education for Liberian refugees during the exile period. They claim that the UNHCR services are free but they don't seem to be so. He noted the fact that there are a lot of high school graduates in the settlement, but did not go further than that.
Many of the women said they would not stop their appeal "until Jesus comes." They explained Jesus' coming to be the durable solution they are opting for. The exercise intensified over the period as the women are beginning to go on the field with their children to be part of the demonstration exercise.
The men are very much in support of what their mothers and wives are doing. But according to some, the women have asked them to stay out of the process. The women say they are capable of championing the cause in the interest of every Liberian refugee living in Ghana.
Apparently, the men are on the other hand planning to use another peaceful means to add their voices to that of their wives and mothers to draw the international community attention to the plight the Liberian refugees are facing in Ghana. They say people know men to be violent people but they are about to show to the international community, UNHCR Ghana and every stakeholder concern that indeed Liberian men are intelligent and peaceful people who know what is right.
The UNHCR Ghana has yet to be seen in the settlement addressing the concerns being raised by the Liberian refugee women.
Women residents of the Buduburam Refugee Settlement have been boycotting normal activities to express their dissatisfaction over plans to reintegrate Liberian refugees into the Ghanaian society. The peaceful demonstration exercise is characterized by group gathering at the entrance of the camp in a field under the scorching sun at day and sleeping in the dews at night, fasting and praying, and boycotting even the UNHCR/WFP ration distribution of maize and oil.
The hundreds of Liberian women, who have no leader, can be seen with banners and posters with inscriptions carrying messages. Some of the inscriptions on the posters and banners include”: “To be a refugee is not a crime. Stop! The humiliation.” Others read 'Discrimination! Resentment! Prejudice! Injustice! All against us!!” and “International Community, please hear our plead. We are tired with this protracted refugee situation.” They have said they will not stop until they can get responses that will be favorite and in their best interest and the interest of their children and husbands.
The desperate crowd of Liberian refugee women has said they are advocating for an increase in the repatriation package from $5 to at least $1,000 or resettlement to a third country of asylum.
Like other refugees, Tenneh A. Kamara told me in an interview that the Liberian Refugee Welfare Council (LRWC) has changed its position to that of Public Relations Officers of the UN refugee agency, the UNHCR. They are noting this because to them, the LRWC is not seeking their welfare but rather acting on behalf of the UNHCR, something that is unimaginable to her.
She wants the international community, policies makers and donors to know that Liberians are still here in Ghana and are not getting their entitlements, such as health care, education, work and access to the Ghanaian market. Therefore, they are saying they don't want to be in Ghana next year.
"We are tired,” she said. “Integration is not an option.”
She added that they are not just a group of people saying donors should resettle them. According to them, there are people who deserve resettlement. There are people with documents stating they have been resettled but still here in Ghana and people who started the resettlement process but it came to a halt. These people are qualified for it and they should be resettled or be repatriated in dignity with a package of $1,000 and other items.
Honorable Varney B. Sambola, III; chairman of the LRWC, have said he don't understand their points and their activities do not have the support and backings of the Council.
To Mr. Sambola, if Liberian refugees have problems, the Council should be called upon to champion their cause. And that a group of people should not just wake up and start to do what they think is right. He added that if the group of women had come to the Council and identified themselves and presented their case, the Council could have even collaborated with them in drawing the attention of the international community if they deem it right.
All attempts to hear from the Settlement Manager, who is the Ghana government representative in the settlement, were unsuccessful.
However, there are divergent views in the settlement about the women's peaceful demonstration, as to whether or not it is right and necessary.
Rev. Togba Andrew Kaijay, an influential resident and a classroom teacher, tried justifying the rightfulness of the women's action with his fear for the fourth deportation of Liberians from Ghana. He said Liberians need to do all they can to get out of Ghana because if they opt for integration, in no time, they will be deported back to Liberia for unjustified reasons, such as lack of productivity, not enough jobs for even Ghanaians and the like.
He made reference to previous deportation of Liberians from Ghana during the regimes of late presidents William V. S. Tubman, William R. Tolbert and Samuel K. Doe to caution Liberians about the attitude of Ghanaians.
A founding member and Project Ambassador of the RESPECT Intellectual Club, an Initiative of RESPECT Ghana and a One world Youth Project, Harenton Cashier Chea said he is in support of the women, though he does not think they should stop their children from going to school. He based his point on the fact that students of the 9th grade (JSS III) and 12th grade (SSS III) are getting prepare to write their Basic Education Certificate Examinations (BECE) in April and the West Africa Senior Secondary Schools Certificate Examinations (WASSCE) later in September, and nothing should be done to disturb their studies.
He added that children have the right to education so stopping them from going to school is an infringement on their fundamental human rights. He therefore called on the Buduburam Central Education Board (BCEB) to do something about parents who are stopping their children from going to school.
Mr. Chea was very keen on the appeal for the $1,000 by the women. To him, calls for $1,000 after 18 years of exile should be revisited because it cannot cater for a person for three complete months with the basic necessities of life. He said he is very much in favor of the women's first option of resettlement because an appeal for even $2,200 cannot really cater to a person returning to Liberia after 18 years of stay in exile taking into consideration things like the economy, building, establishment.
He concluded by saying, after war in every country, people are supposed to be repatriated, but UNHCR Ghana did not really invest much into higher education for Liberian refugees during the exile period. They claim that the UNHCR services are free but they don't seem to be so. He noted the fact that there are a lot of high school graduates in the settlement, but did not go further than that.
Many of the women said they would not stop their appeal "until Jesus comes." They explained Jesus' coming to be the durable solution they are opting for. The exercise intensified over the period as the women are beginning to go on the field with their children to be part of the demonstration exercise.
The men are very much in support of what their mothers and wives are doing. But according to some, the women have asked them to stay out of the process. The women say they are capable of championing the cause in the interest of every Liberian refugee living in Ghana.
Apparently, the men are on the other hand planning to use another peaceful means to add their voices to that of their wives and mothers to draw the international community attention to the plight the Liberian refugees are facing in Ghana. They say people know men to be violent people but they are about to show to the international community, UNHCR Ghana and every stakeholder concern that indeed Liberian men are intelligent and peaceful people who know what is right.
The UNHCR Ghana has yet to be seen in the settlement addressing the concerns being raised by the Liberian refugee women.
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Liberian refugees reject UNHCR's integration plan
By Ojuku S. Kangar Jr.
Liberian Refugees in Ghana have refused to accept UN Refugee Agency's plan to have them integrate into Ghanaian society and pay tax to the Government of Ghana.
This comes in the wake of a recent pronouncement made by the UN Community Office and the Buduburam Refugee Camp Manager at a meeting with residents held at the Saint Gregory Catholic church in Buduburam on November 27, 2007.
According to the UN Community Officer, Elise Menorupose, the program that resettled Liberian Refugees to a third country of asylum is over, as well as the Voluntary Repatriation exercise. She said the only option left is staying in Ghana.
She said though the integration plan is yet to be finalized with the Government of Ghana, and that UNHCR will do all it can to educate Liberian refugees on the process as soon as the Ghanaian Government consents to the plan.
On the issue of taxation, Camp Manager Cal Afum strongly warned Liberian refugees that the law of Ghana does not exempt refugees from payment of tax.
He said the Gomoa District Assembly Area Council, Buduburam Unit, has told him that organizations (NGOs and CBOs), churches, businesses on the camp would have to pay taxes to the Government of Ghana, adding that this was made clear from the beginning when the first batch of Liberian Refugees arrived in September 1990.
According to him, this should have taken effect on October 25, 2007, but he pleaded with the District Council for time to adequately inform the refugees about the process before its implementation.
The camp manager said that people would have to pay taxes on items like vegetables, ice water and clothes. Business would also be expected to pay taxes so to cover costs for things like waste disposal. He said people who don’t pay their taxes would be prosecuted.
Varney B. Sambola, the Liberian Refugee Welfare Council (LRWC) Chairman, stressed that the rights of refugees must not be denied and that integrating them into Ghana must voluntary and not compulsory.
He urged his people to show their commitment to tax payment if they accept UNHCR's plan, though, but the refugees gathered at the meeting shouted, "NO, NO! We don't want integration and tax payment but a third country of asylum.”
He concluded by cautioning the refugees to be peaceful and law abiding, and faithfully place trust in their God.
Samuel Kollie, the spokesman of the Liberian Refugee Elders Council, said the UNHCR and the Government of Ghana should make sure they have the consent of refugees before considering integrating them into the country and asking them to pay taxes.
Liberian Refugees in Ghana have refused to accept UN Refugee Agency's plan to have them integrate into Ghanaian society and pay tax to the Government of Ghana.
This comes in the wake of a recent pronouncement made by the UN Community Office and the Buduburam Refugee Camp Manager at a meeting with residents held at the Saint Gregory Catholic church in Buduburam on November 27, 2007.
According to the UN Community Officer, Elise Menorupose, the program that resettled Liberian Refugees to a third country of asylum is over, as well as the Voluntary Repatriation exercise. She said the only option left is staying in Ghana.
She said though the integration plan is yet to be finalized with the Government of Ghana, and that UNHCR will do all it can to educate Liberian refugees on the process as soon as the Ghanaian Government consents to the plan.
On the issue of taxation, Camp Manager Cal Afum strongly warned Liberian refugees that the law of Ghana does not exempt refugees from payment of tax.
He said the Gomoa District Assembly Area Council, Buduburam Unit, has told him that organizations (NGOs and CBOs), churches, businesses on the camp would have to pay taxes to the Government of Ghana, adding that this was made clear from the beginning when the first batch of Liberian Refugees arrived in September 1990.
According to him, this should have taken effect on October 25, 2007, but he pleaded with the District Council for time to adequately inform the refugees about the process before its implementation.
The camp manager said that people would have to pay taxes on items like vegetables, ice water and clothes. Business would also be expected to pay taxes so to cover costs for things like waste disposal. He said people who don’t pay their taxes would be prosecuted.
Varney B. Sambola, the Liberian Refugee Welfare Council (LRWC) Chairman, stressed that the rights of refugees must not be denied and that integrating them into Ghana must voluntary and not compulsory.
He urged his people to show their commitment to tax payment if they accept UNHCR's plan, though, but the refugees gathered at the meeting shouted, "NO, NO! We don't want integration and tax payment but a third country of asylum.”
He concluded by cautioning the refugees to be peaceful and law abiding, and faithfully place trust in their God.
Samuel Kollie, the spokesman of the Liberian Refugee Elders Council, said the UNHCR and the Government of Ghana should make sure they have the consent of refugees before considering integrating them into the country and asking them to pay taxes.
Monday, December 10, 2007
Toilets pose health risk
By Ojuku Silver-tongue Kangar Jr.
Liberian Refugees at the Buduburam Refugee Camp, Central Region, Ghana, say public toilets are a health risk because they are poorly maintained.
“We prefer going at the bushes,” one woman said.
James Jabbie, Zone-9 toilet attendant, said it can take one or two months for the sanitation board to come around and clean out the toilets.
"During these periods, maggots can be all over the seats and floors,” he said.
He uses disinfectant to get of bad odours and destroy germs, but he said the sanitation board is often late getting him a new supply when he runs out.
Many people defecate into polythene bags in the bushes and then dump them into the toilet. This makes it hard for sanitation workers to clean them properly.
Jabbie said that adults pay ¢500 each to defecate, while children and elderly people pay nothing.
He gives about ¢25,000 daily to the Buduburam Sanitation Board, and earns ¢200,000 a month himself.
Josiah J. Kofi, Chairman of the Buduburam Sanitation Board, would not talk about how that money is spent to maintain the toilets in the camp.
Othello Bantoe, a Senior Nurses at the BEERSHEBA Health and Education Development Organization (BADEO), advised the toilet attendants to continuously use hydrogen peroxide (disinfectant) in all the toilets and clean them every two weeks for the refugee community to be healthy. be healthy.
Liberian Refugees at the Buduburam Refugee Camp, Central Region, Ghana, say public toilets are a health risk because they are poorly maintained.
“We prefer going at the bushes,” one woman said.
James Jabbie, Zone-9 toilet attendant, said it can take one or two months for the sanitation board to come around and clean out the toilets.
"During these periods, maggots can be all over the seats and floors,” he said.
He uses disinfectant to get of bad odours and destroy germs, but he said the sanitation board is often late getting him a new supply when he runs out.
Many people defecate into polythene bags in the bushes and then dump them into the toilet. This makes it hard for sanitation workers to clean them properly.
Jabbie said that adults pay ¢500 each to defecate, while children and elderly people pay nothing.
He gives about ¢25,000 daily to the Buduburam Sanitation Board, and earns ¢200,000 a month himself.
Josiah J. Kofi, Chairman of the Buduburam Sanitation Board, would not talk about how that money is spent to maintain the toilets in the camp.
Othello Bantoe, a Senior Nurses at the BEERSHEBA Health and Education Development Organization (BADEO), advised the toilet attendants to continuously use hydrogen peroxide (disinfectant) in all the toilets and clean them every two weeks for the refugee community to be healthy. be healthy.
Saturday, September 29, 2007
Refugees express concerns to UN representatives
By J. Keanmue Tokpah
The crowd stood in the Saturday morning sunshine waiting, talking and exchanging greetings with passersby. From time to time they watched the road leading from the entrance of the settlement.
At last the objects of the interest arrived - two UNHCR land cruisers. They parked about 10 meters away from the offices of the Liberian Refugee Welfare Council (LRWC). From them emerged three expatriates who had just ended an hour-long closed door meeting with the manager of the Buduburan Refugee Settlement, Cal Afun.
The two-man delegation, one from Geneva and one from Oxford University, was on a visit to the settlement to assess general living conditions and take recommendations from residents back to UN headquarters.
Following the introduction by Afun, the chairman of the LRWC, Varney B. Sambola, welcomed the delegation and commended the government and people of Ghana for the hospitality accorded the refugees during their 17-year stay at Buduburam. He also commended the UN for its support to the settlement over the years.
Mr. Sambola stated that there were concrete reasons why refugees were still residing at the settlement almost two years after Liberia has had an elected government.
"Some people can not return because of fear, insecurity, fear of repeated fleeing and the distance of Buduburam form Liberia", he said. "Unlike our fellow refugees who are residing in countries closer to Liberia, we con not easily go home to assess conditions there before coming to prepare and return.”
In response, the head of the delegation, Jeff Crisp, of UN Geneva office, commended Buduburam residents for expressing their courage, hope and frustrations to the team. He then stated the purpose of the team's visit to the settlement.
"We came to listen to your concerns and take your recommendations back to UN headquarters", he said.
Mr. Crisp further commended the settlement for its resilience. "Buduburam is famous at the UN for the courage, hope and dynamism of its people," he stressed.
Thereafter, a cross section of refugees put forward a number of recommendations. The chairman of the Buduburam Central Education Board, Moses K. Bah, spoke about education.
"We want the UN to revisit the supply of stationeries to schools and pay teachers in order for education on the settlement to be affordable for all if not totally free for all," he said.
"We also want the UN to assist students who have enrolled at various institutions of higher learning in the country and are no longer able to sustain themselves financially," he said.
Also speaking, LRWC head of women and children affairs department, Jenneh S. Blay, called for the world body to cater for the family, especially children in foster care and both male and female single parents.
For his part the head of the department of youths and sports, Samuel Cox, called for the UN to assist the settlement in the area of sports in order, he said, "to help break down the mental tensions we are suffering because of our status".
Other recommendations made included a call for UN to build urinals on the camp, deliver improved and safe drinking water to the settlement, improve the security system, and delivery on past promises to the residents of the settlement, like fixing the water problem.
The delegation later toured the several places on the settlement, including the St. Gregory Catholic Clinic and the Women Center in Area-U.
A call was also made for the UN to address the question of resettlement, which is the mother of all pressing concerns here at the settlement,
The list of things refugees want done at the camp is long.
* They want the UN to provide drugs to the St. Gregory Clinic so that refugees can have free medicare.
* They want more paid work. Most jobs at the settlement are done on a 100% voluntary basis. The few that are done for pay, pay less than $50 U.S. per month.
* The schools need funding. None of the schools have a science laboratory, and there are not enough books in the library.
* They’re calling for the elimination of age barrier as a condition for scholarships offered to refugees. The current limit is 34 years, up from 28 years just a few years ago.
* They want more training for teachers at the settlement, in order to upgrade the standard of education.
* They want a break on school fees. It costs nearly $50 U.S. per term at most of the settlement’s remaining 37 schools. There are three terms in an academic year here.
Many of the requests were centered on upgrading the standard of education on the camp. Students scored low on basic education tests administered in Gomoa District, which is where the camp is located.
The UN is putting more of an emphasis on resettling refugees.
At the end of July 2006, the UN cut back its support to the camp by up to 67%, and diverted some of funds to the voluntary repatriation program. On June 30th this year the repatriation program ended, but the UN has not yet reinstated funding to people still living at the camp.
The UN has not said what will happen to the camp and the people who did not take advantage of the program to resettle in Liberia.
Mr. Sambola asked the UN to address the plight of refugees at the settlement once and for all.
The crowd stood in the Saturday morning sunshine waiting, talking and exchanging greetings with passersby. From time to time they watched the road leading from the entrance of the settlement.
At last the objects of the interest arrived - two UNHCR land cruisers. They parked about 10 meters away from the offices of the Liberian Refugee Welfare Council (LRWC). From them emerged three expatriates who had just ended an hour-long closed door meeting with the manager of the Buduburan Refugee Settlement, Cal Afun.
The two-man delegation, one from Geneva and one from Oxford University, was on a visit to the settlement to assess general living conditions and take recommendations from residents back to UN headquarters.
Following the introduction by Afun, the chairman of the LRWC, Varney B. Sambola, welcomed the delegation and commended the government and people of Ghana for the hospitality accorded the refugees during their 17-year stay at Buduburam. He also commended the UN for its support to the settlement over the years.
Mr. Sambola stated that there were concrete reasons why refugees were still residing at the settlement almost two years after Liberia has had an elected government.
"Some people can not return because of fear, insecurity, fear of repeated fleeing and the distance of Buduburam form Liberia", he said. "Unlike our fellow refugees who are residing in countries closer to Liberia, we con not easily go home to assess conditions there before coming to prepare and return.”
In response, the head of the delegation, Jeff Crisp, of UN Geneva office, commended Buduburam residents for expressing their courage, hope and frustrations to the team. He then stated the purpose of the team's visit to the settlement.
"We came to listen to your concerns and take your recommendations back to UN headquarters", he said.
Mr. Crisp further commended the settlement for its resilience. "Buduburam is famous at the UN for the courage, hope and dynamism of its people," he stressed.
Thereafter, a cross section of refugees put forward a number of recommendations. The chairman of the Buduburam Central Education Board, Moses K. Bah, spoke about education.
"We want the UN to revisit the supply of stationeries to schools and pay teachers in order for education on the settlement to be affordable for all if not totally free for all," he said.
"We also want the UN to assist students who have enrolled at various institutions of higher learning in the country and are no longer able to sustain themselves financially," he said.
Also speaking, LRWC head of women and children affairs department, Jenneh S. Blay, called for the world body to cater for the family, especially children in foster care and both male and female single parents.
For his part the head of the department of youths and sports, Samuel Cox, called for the UN to assist the settlement in the area of sports in order, he said, "to help break down the mental tensions we are suffering because of our status".
Other recommendations made included a call for UN to build urinals on the camp, deliver improved and safe drinking water to the settlement, improve the security system, and delivery on past promises to the residents of the settlement, like fixing the water problem.
The delegation later toured the several places on the settlement, including the St. Gregory Catholic Clinic and the Women Center in Area-U.
A call was also made for the UN to address the question of resettlement, which is the mother of all pressing concerns here at the settlement,
The list of things refugees want done at the camp is long.
* They want the UN to provide drugs to the St. Gregory Clinic so that refugees can have free medicare.
* They want more paid work. Most jobs at the settlement are done on a 100% voluntary basis. The few that are done for pay, pay less than $50 U.S. per month.
* The schools need funding. None of the schools have a science laboratory, and there are not enough books in the library.
* They’re calling for the elimination of age barrier as a condition for scholarships offered to refugees. The current limit is 34 years, up from 28 years just a few years ago.
* They want more training for teachers at the settlement, in order to upgrade the standard of education.
* They want a break on school fees. It costs nearly $50 U.S. per term at most of the settlement’s remaining 37 schools. There are three terms in an academic year here.
Many of the requests were centered on upgrading the standard of education on the camp. Students scored low on basic education tests administered in Gomoa District, which is where the camp is located.
The UN is putting more of an emphasis on resettling refugees.
At the end of July 2006, the UN cut back its support to the camp by up to 67%, and diverted some of funds to the voluntary repatriation program. On June 30th this year the repatriation program ended, but the UN has not yet reinstated funding to people still living at the camp.
The UN has not said what will happen to the camp and the people who did not take advantage of the program to resettle in Liberia.
Mr. Sambola asked the UN to address the plight of refugees at the settlement once and for all.
Thursday, September 13, 2007
Refugees believe prophesy that promises resettlement
By J. Keanmue Tokpah
It was a chilly Friday night, but they came and kept on coming from far and near on the settlement until more than 1,000 of them filled Dominion Praise Chapel International Church. Members of Dominion, as well as members of several other churches, came mostly dressed in red. They arrived waving palm fronds. They had their bags packed, ready to travel. The little ones too came with their book bags, using them for travelling bags.
Among them were Jartu Cenlivia Barclay, 31, and her seven-year-old son, Victor. Jartu first came to Buduburam in 1996 because of the April six war in Monrovia. She returned home that same year to continue her high school education. In the year 2001, Jartu once again fled to Ghana due to the second civil war in Liberia.
Like the others Jartu and her son had braved the chilly night to participate in the climax of an 80-day fast and prayer organized by the Dominion Church to give thanks to God for sustaining Liberians at Buduburam over the past 17 years. They had also come to receive their final blessings before their departure, according to a prophecy, to third countries of asylum.
"We already know by faith that our prayers for travelling overseas have been answered,” she said. “I know that if there is any resettlement program come on this camp my family and I will be a part of it.”
According to the resident pastor of the church, Aaron Farley, early this year a lady prophesied that thousands of refugees at Buduburam would be resettled before the end of this year.
Many refugees at Buduburam believe that resettlement holds the keys to their future back in Liberia. They believe it would help them rebuild their lives quickly, as compared to returning to Liberia now.
Like many others at the settlement, Jartu is a learner. Since her arrival at the camp she has qualified as a beautician, and holds a diploma in Business Administration. She also has completed courses in computer software and is currently studying computer hardware courses. She has plans to set up her own business in Liberia in the near future. For now she says her eyes are set on resettlement.
"I have to be equipped intellectually and financially before returning home because the people we left in Liberia are not waiting for us,” she said. “They are moving on with life. Secondly, my years of staying in exile must bear fruits."
Another reason why many Liberian refugees at Buduburam do not want to return home now is that before the war the outbreak of the war in their country, many of them lived in rural and provincial Liberia. During the war residents of these places bore most of the brunt of the yoke of occupation of various rebel factions. Towns and villages were attacked repeatedly and many of the towns torched. Those who survived the attacks were often mistreated. Men and boys were tortured and beaten while women were raped in the presence of their spouses and relatives. Some of them were forced to rape their own relatives. Their properties were looted and the livestock eaten by their attackers while they themselves starved,
Preaching from the book of Numbers on the theme "Crossing Over" the guest preacher on the night, the chairman of the Buduburam Council of Churches and Ministers, Rev. George Mayango, urged the faithful to reform their lives and be focused as the Isrealites were during their exodus from Egypt because he said God was preparing them to rebuild Liberia. He encouraged them to emulate Nigerians and Ghanaians who travel overseas and return to develop their homes.
"God is sending you to go overseas and come back and build in Liberia, what you see in other lands," he said.
Even though Liberia is a mineral-rich nation where many people from the West African Sub-region and beyond have come and made fortunes for themselves and many more are still doing so today, most Liberians at Buduburam are still intent on going West to find their fortunes.
Rev. Mayango urged the faithful to keep the spirit of what author, Bill Powers, in his book "Blue Clay People" refers to as the Liberian commitment, catering for one's family, alive. "The reason why God doesn’t want you to go back now is that He wants you to be in a tree where your family will eat from you".
Rev. Mayango also admonished Liberians to make the most of any travelling opportunity that comes their ways. "America is like a gold mine, go there and dig your share of the gold and return to rebuild Liberia," he said.
However, critics of Dominion Praise Chapel International and its resettlement prophecy claim that the church is acting on this February's refugees verification exercise and also on rumours already circulating on the settlement that the USA, Canada, Australia and a handful of European nations are about to resettle thousands of Liberian refugees from Buduburam.
"If Dominion is looking for members they should tell us. Why they never came up with the prophecy before the verification? All of us know that following the verification last February the UN will resettle us," said one person, who asked to remain anonymous.
Annie Roberts, 41, has lived at the camp since 1990. She said she believes the prophesy is true.
"This day was ordained by God that this is the year He will take us out of Ghana to travel overseas,” she said. “If I go overseas with my children we will be able to work and carry something back home.”
Joseph Seo, 63, another one of the faithful who turned out that night, has been at Buduburam since 2000. He has a son in the U.S. and is also hopeful. "I believe that after this prayer I will travel to America," he said.
Aaron Farley, resident pastor of Dominion Praise Chapel International, said God will reward those who have faith in the prophecy.
"Everyone that participated in this service God has written your name in the international book,” he said. “God is taking us from country to country. So get ready, get set the time is out and we must go.”
It was a chilly Friday night, but they came and kept on coming from far and near on the settlement until more than 1,000 of them filled Dominion Praise Chapel International Church. Members of Dominion, as well as members of several other churches, came mostly dressed in red. They arrived waving palm fronds. They had their bags packed, ready to travel. The little ones too came with their book bags, using them for travelling bags.
Among them were Jartu Cenlivia Barclay, 31, and her seven-year-old son, Victor. Jartu first came to Buduburam in 1996 because of the April six war in Monrovia. She returned home that same year to continue her high school education. In the year 2001, Jartu once again fled to Ghana due to the second civil war in Liberia.
Like the others Jartu and her son had braved the chilly night to participate in the climax of an 80-day fast and prayer organized by the Dominion Church to give thanks to God for sustaining Liberians at Buduburam over the past 17 years. They had also come to receive their final blessings before their departure, according to a prophecy, to third countries of asylum.
"We already know by faith that our prayers for travelling overseas have been answered,” she said. “I know that if there is any resettlement program come on this camp my family and I will be a part of it.”
According to the resident pastor of the church, Aaron Farley, early this year a lady prophesied that thousands of refugees at Buduburam would be resettled before the end of this year.
Many refugees at Buduburam believe that resettlement holds the keys to their future back in Liberia. They believe it would help them rebuild their lives quickly, as compared to returning to Liberia now.
Like many others at the settlement, Jartu is a learner. Since her arrival at the camp she has qualified as a beautician, and holds a diploma in Business Administration. She also has completed courses in computer software and is currently studying computer hardware courses. She has plans to set up her own business in Liberia in the near future. For now she says her eyes are set on resettlement.
"I have to be equipped intellectually and financially before returning home because the people we left in Liberia are not waiting for us,” she said. “They are moving on with life. Secondly, my years of staying in exile must bear fruits."
Another reason why many Liberian refugees at Buduburam do not want to return home now is that before the war the outbreak of the war in their country, many of them lived in rural and provincial Liberia. During the war residents of these places bore most of the brunt of the yoke of occupation of various rebel factions. Towns and villages were attacked repeatedly and many of the towns torched. Those who survived the attacks were often mistreated. Men and boys were tortured and beaten while women were raped in the presence of their spouses and relatives. Some of them were forced to rape their own relatives. Their properties were looted and the livestock eaten by their attackers while they themselves starved,
Preaching from the book of Numbers on the theme "Crossing Over" the guest preacher on the night, the chairman of the Buduburam Council of Churches and Ministers, Rev. George Mayango, urged the faithful to reform their lives and be focused as the Isrealites were during their exodus from Egypt because he said God was preparing them to rebuild Liberia. He encouraged them to emulate Nigerians and Ghanaians who travel overseas and return to develop their homes.
"God is sending you to go overseas and come back and build in Liberia, what you see in other lands," he said.
Even though Liberia is a mineral-rich nation where many people from the West African Sub-region and beyond have come and made fortunes for themselves and many more are still doing so today, most Liberians at Buduburam are still intent on going West to find their fortunes.
Rev. Mayango urged the faithful to keep the spirit of what author, Bill Powers, in his book "Blue Clay People" refers to as the Liberian commitment, catering for one's family, alive. "The reason why God doesn’t want you to go back now is that He wants you to be in a tree where your family will eat from you".
Rev. Mayango also admonished Liberians to make the most of any travelling opportunity that comes their ways. "America is like a gold mine, go there and dig your share of the gold and return to rebuild Liberia," he said.
However, critics of Dominion Praise Chapel International and its resettlement prophecy claim that the church is acting on this February's refugees verification exercise and also on rumours already circulating on the settlement that the USA, Canada, Australia and a handful of European nations are about to resettle thousands of Liberian refugees from Buduburam.
"If Dominion is looking for members they should tell us. Why they never came up with the prophecy before the verification? All of us know that following the verification last February the UN will resettle us," said one person, who asked to remain anonymous.
Annie Roberts, 41, has lived at the camp since 1990. She said she believes the prophesy is true.
"This day was ordained by God that this is the year He will take us out of Ghana to travel overseas,” she said. “If I go overseas with my children we will be able to work and carry something back home.”
Joseph Seo, 63, another one of the faithful who turned out that night, has been at Buduburam since 2000. He has a son in the U.S. and is also hopeful. "I believe that after this prayer I will travel to America," he said.
Aaron Farley, resident pastor of Dominion Praise Chapel International, said God will reward those who have faith in the prophecy.
"Everyone that participated in this service God has written your name in the international book,” he said. “God is taking us from country to country. So get ready, get set the time is out and we must go.”
Friday, September 7, 2007
70 refugees graduate from nursing program
By J. Keanmue Tokpah
Buduburam - Lawrena Sharlty completed high school in 1997 and studied Accounting at the University of Liberia for a semester. She interrupted her studies and came to Ghana in 1999 because of the second civil in Liberia. She eventually returned to school, but to become a nurse not an accountant.
"I decided to become a nurse almost two years ago after I took my mother, who was then sick, to a nearby hospital,” said Lawrena. “We paid all the fees in cash but my mother cried in pain for more than five hours before anyone could attend to her. There and then I decided to become a nurse.”
Lawrena was one of 70 nursing students to graduate from Preparatory College of Health Sciences (PRECOHS) last weekend in a ceremony at the Refuge Baptist Church.
It was a difficult road they had to travel to get their education. Fourteen years of civil war Liberia and hardships in various refugee camps in West Africa made it difficult for them to stay in school. Chief among the challenges has been the struggle for survival: to earn what little they could spare in order for them to keep their stomachs warm to see another day.
Yet despite the odds, a few refused to allow their refugee status and the conditions in which they lived to defeat their desire to learn. They realized that being a refugee was not an excuse for them not to pursue an education and a career.
PRECOHS is a makeshift six-room school squeezed between refugee houses on a small plot of land near Cassava Market in Zone 11 (formerly Area-J just outside the western edge of the settlement). The school trains students to become nurse assistants, health assistants and midwife assistants.
The school was established in 2000 by Gabriel Johnson to help train refugees at an affordable cost. Most of the first students were students of Tubman National Institute of Medical Arts (TNIMA), a nursing training school run by the John F. Kennedy Medical Center in Monrovia. Those students could not complete their studies there because of the war.
But they found a way to resume their studies at PRECOHS. Natt Pour Breeze (nick-named KASAPA) completed high school in 1988 and has a diploma in Theology. He also graduated from PRECOHS last weekend and said it was well worth the investment of time and money.
"The knowledge they are giving us is preparing us for the future,” he said. “All of this on practically volunteer basis because the amount we pay as tuition is nothing compared to the knowledge we gain."
Marie D. Zorbah agreed with KASAPA. The PRECOHS graduate said it gave her a much-needed education and hopefully a job.
"I started planning to become a nurse from my elementary school days, but I could not do so right after high school in 1995 because of the war and the problems associated with it. PRECOHS has empowered me with knowledge that will enable me to advance myself and also enable me to earn a living."
"I want to advise my brothers and sisters to decide now and enroll in a school like PRECOHS and learn something in order for them to be able to earn a living,” she said. “Let them leave the 18 (Buduburam main Social center) and the Togo Jeans. Those things cannot carry anyone anywhere. This school can train you to become somebody.”
None of the recent graduates have found a job yet, but more than 50 of those who graduated from this school are currently working overseas, mainly in the USA, Canada and Australia. Others who have returned to Liberia are working in the health care delivery system there. Here on the camp nearly 40 of PRECOHS graduates work with St. Gregory Catholic Clinic and its auxiliary wings: the children clinic, the HIV/AIDS annex. Some also work here with the eye clinic.
Some of the recent graduates, including KASAPA, have plans to return to Liberia and work with the health care delivery system there.
"Now that I have this nursing knowledge I will go home and contribute my quota to the reconstruction of my country,” he said.
Delivering the Keynote address at the ceremony, Varney B. Sambola, chairman of the Liberian Refugees Welfare Council (LRWC), challenged the graduates to care for the sick, and not do it because of the money they’ll make.
"Be careful in discharging your duties and respect the nursing code and standards, because your job is not like any other job,” he said. “Your job is very complex and delicate. If you fail to follow the standards it will be disastrous because you will be dealing with lives.”
For his part, the president of PRECOHS, Ismael McGill, urged the graduates to be creative and be role models in their communities.
"In society initiative counts a lot,” he said. “It is not what you wear that makes you who you are but what you learn makes you who you are. So as you go out be the first to lead the way to health.”
Seventeen years of interaction between Liberian refugees and Ghanaians at Buduburam have further cemented the already strong ties between Liberia and Ghana. An example of that tie is the relationship between PRECOHS and St. Jude Hospital and the Margo Clinic and Maternity Home, both in Kasoa.
Students of PRECOHS do their practical nursing trainings at the two health centers because PRECOHS does not a clinic of its own. "I love to teach the course but the regrettable thing about the school is that it does not have a clinic of its own,” said Annie Gowah, who teaches Obstetrics and Gynecology at PRECOHS.
The Liberians have certainly benefited from the partnerships with St. Jude and the Margo clinic. Margaret Oduro, the director of the Margo Clinic and Maternity Home, said Ghanaians have also learned something from their contact with the Liberians. She said it helped her overcome false stereotypes about the refugee community.
"Before PRECOHS students came to train at our clinic I share the general misconception that Liberian students are lazy and unserious,” she said. “But now, I am satisfied with their performance. They are smart, obedient, hardworking and friendly. From now onwards, our clinic will take more [students from] PRECOHS.”
Far from being lazy, the students at the school are very ambitious. Lawrena said it has made her want to continue on in her schooling.
"I feel very proud of myself and grateful to PRECOHS because the time I spent there was worthwhile,” she said. “Now I have a firm footing in the nursing field and I wish to continue until I obtain an MD.”
Buduburam - Lawrena Sharlty completed high school in 1997 and studied Accounting at the University of Liberia for a semester. She interrupted her studies and came to Ghana in 1999 because of the second civil in Liberia. She eventually returned to school, but to become a nurse not an accountant.
"I decided to become a nurse almost two years ago after I took my mother, who was then sick, to a nearby hospital,” said Lawrena. “We paid all the fees in cash but my mother cried in pain for more than five hours before anyone could attend to her. There and then I decided to become a nurse.”
Lawrena was one of 70 nursing students to graduate from Preparatory College of Health Sciences (PRECOHS) last weekend in a ceremony at the Refuge Baptist Church.
It was a difficult road they had to travel to get their education. Fourteen years of civil war Liberia and hardships in various refugee camps in West Africa made it difficult for them to stay in school. Chief among the challenges has been the struggle for survival: to earn what little they could spare in order for them to keep their stomachs warm to see another day.
Yet despite the odds, a few refused to allow their refugee status and the conditions in which they lived to defeat their desire to learn. They realized that being a refugee was not an excuse for them not to pursue an education and a career.
PRECOHS is a makeshift six-room school squeezed between refugee houses on a small plot of land near Cassava Market in Zone 11 (formerly Area-J just outside the western edge of the settlement). The school trains students to become nurse assistants, health assistants and midwife assistants.
The school was established in 2000 by Gabriel Johnson to help train refugees at an affordable cost. Most of the first students were students of Tubman National Institute of Medical Arts (TNIMA), a nursing training school run by the John F. Kennedy Medical Center in Monrovia. Those students could not complete their studies there because of the war.
But they found a way to resume their studies at PRECOHS. Natt Pour Breeze (nick-named KASAPA) completed high school in 1988 and has a diploma in Theology. He also graduated from PRECOHS last weekend and said it was well worth the investment of time and money.
"The knowledge they are giving us is preparing us for the future,” he said. “All of this on practically volunteer basis because the amount we pay as tuition is nothing compared to the knowledge we gain."
Marie D. Zorbah agreed with KASAPA. The PRECOHS graduate said it gave her a much-needed education and hopefully a job.
"I started planning to become a nurse from my elementary school days, but I could not do so right after high school in 1995 because of the war and the problems associated with it. PRECOHS has empowered me with knowledge that will enable me to advance myself and also enable me to earn a living."
"I want to advise my brothers and sisters to decide now and enroll in a school like PRECOHS and learn something in order for them to be able to earn a living,” she said. “Let them leave the 18 (Buduburam main Social center) and the Togo Jeans. Those things cannot carry anyone anywhere. This school can train you to become somebody.”
None of the recent graduates have found a job yet, but more than 50 of those who graduated from this school are currently working overseas, mainly in the USA, Canada and Australia. Others who have returned to Liberia are working in the health care delivery system there. Here on the camp nearly 40 of PRECOHS graduates work with St. Gregory Catholic Clinic and its auxiliary wings: the children clinic, the HIV/AIDS annex. Some also work here with the eye clinic.
Some of the recent graduates, including KASAPA, have plans to return to Liberia and work with the health care delivery system there.
"Now that I have this nursing knowledge I will go home and contribute my quota to the reconstruction of my country,” he said.
Delivering the Keynote address at the ceremony, Varney B. Sambola, chairman of the Liberian Refugees Welfare Council (LRWC), challenged the graduates to care for the sick, and not do it because of the money they’ll make.
"Be careful in discharging your duties and respect the nursing code and standards, because your job is not like any other job,” he said. “Your job is very complex and delicate. If you fail to follow the standards it will be disastrous because you will be dealing with lives.”
For his part, the president of PRECOHS, Ismael McGill, urged the graduates to be creative and be role models in their communities.
"In society initiative counts a lot,” he said. “It is not what you wear that makes you who you are but what you learn makes you who you are. So as you go out be the first to lead the way to health.”
Seventeen years of interaction between Liberian refugees and Ghanaians at Buduburam have further cemented the already strong ties between Liberia and Ghana. An example of that tie is the relationship between PRECOHS and St. Jude Hospital and the Margo Clinic and Maternity Home, both in Kasoa.
Students of PRECOHS do their practical nursing trainings at the two health centers because PRECOHS does not a clinic of its own. "I love to teach the course but the regrettable thing about the school is that it does not have a clinic of its own,” said Annie Gowah, who teaches Obstetrics and Gynecology at PRECOHS.
The Liberians have certainly benefited from the partnerships with St. Jude and the Margo clinic. Margaret Oduro, the director of the Margo Clinic and Maternity Home, said Ghanaians have also learned something from their contact with the Liberians. She said it helped her overcome false stereotypes about the refugee community.
"Before PRECOHS students came to train at our clinic I share the general misconception that Liberian students are lazy and unserious,” she said. “But now, I am satisfied with their performance. They are smart, obedient, hardworking and friendly. From now onwards, our clinic will take more [students from] PRECOHS.”
Far from being lazy, the students at the school are very ambitious. Lawrena said it has made her want to continue on in her schooling.
"I feel very proud of myself and grateful to PRECOHS because the time I spent there was worthwhile,” she said. “Now I have a firm footing in the nursing field and I wish to continue until I obtain an MD.”
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