Democratic Republic of Congo
The following story has been republished with the permission of the International Rescue Committee
Name: Paula BALEGAMIRE
Country of Origin: Democratic Republic of Congo
Date of Arrival: November 302004
I was born in Bukavu, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in 1969. I married Joseph Balegamire in 1991. I have 6 children, ranging in age from 3 to 12 years. I taught dressmaking for 10 years in Bukavu and Joseph was the Social Activities organizer and Information officer for an NGO (The Association of Farmers Organizations).
The DRC has a population of over 49 million, and over 200 ethnicities. The DRC was a Belgian colony that became independent in 1960. It is a country that has great mineral wealth: gold, diamonds and many other minerals.
After the end of the rule of President Mobutu (he governed the country poorly), the country fell into chaos, both politically and economically and continues to suffer today. After Mobutu died, Laurent Kabila became president in 1997. In August 1998, the country was divided by a rebellion in the eastern part of the DRC. When this happened, I was there with my 6 children and my husband was in Kinshasa, DRC, 2000 km away. In 2000, passing through Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania, and Zambia (because the country had been torn apart by death threats in Bukavu), I rejoined my husband in Kinshasa.
In November 2000, Kabila gave instructions to arrest and torture all persons who were said to be against him. Faced with these insecurities, my husband and I fled to Congo-Brazzaville in January 2001. We were cared for by the UNHCR but a few weeks after our arrival in Brazzaville, my husband was arrested and extradited to Kinshasa in April 2001. I was left alone, three months pregnant with 5 children.
Having been equally threatened by the security forces in Kinshasa and by some of the other refugees who had come from Kinshasa, without counting the traumatisms, the stress that my children and I were under, I applied for resettlement in a third country, to escape the insecurity that I feared in Brazzaville. Thank God that the U.S. helped us.
Upon arriving here on November 30, 2004 and we were well received by IRC and by Jubilee Partners. We are very happy with the moral and social assistance that IRC and Jubilee and our other volunteers have provided us. My children have still been given the chance to go to school like all other children. Life here with small children is not easy. I still need support; help me so that my husband can finally rejoin me here so that we can plan a future for our children.
I thank the American government and the IRC, particularly the Resettlement Specialist Adeeba Suleiman, for having given a new life to my family.