Rantings for the Day

We got talking to a few of our fellow passengers on the bus this afternoon, and soon Kate was speaking French with the man sitting behind us. John and his family have been living in a Congolese refugee camp in Western Tanzania for the past 12 years. The language barrier made fully grasping his story difficult, but it was an interaction that really got me thinking. 12 years. 12 years of living in a temporary hut. 12 years of waiting, hoping, praying that you'll be able to go home. His children were born in the camp and know no other life. 12 years of waiting for food rations. 12 years ago he was a man of dignity, a man who was able to provide for his family, a man with a career and dreams for the future. But fleeing his county and being left no other option other than settling in a camp in the far reaches of Tanzania's most remote region, has stripped him of that pride and dignity. His eyes watered with grief and his body shook as he told his story. It made me feel inadequate and helpless. But as I sat there, gazing blankly at the passing scenery, I realized that I'm not helpless, that there is always something you can do to invoke change.

The UN presence is everywhere here, brand new, white SUV's with UN plastered boldly on the sides, zipping down roads, parked in 5 star resorts or beind the protection of secure gates. Signs dot the roads with UN logos, pointing out the upcoming refugee camps and various other projects they have here. The World Food Proggrame, UNICEF, etc. But what is really being done? Why are children growing up as refugees? Why are entire families permanently living a life of temporary subsistence? 12 years, that's inexcusable. And John's story is by no means uncommon. What is the UN truly doing for these people? Hosting conferences at 5-star resorts? Writing quality control reports from the comfort of their plush homes? Conducting site visits in their obscenely expensive vehicles? And for what? It is unacceptable that with the hundreds of millions of dollars being funneled into these countries each year that people fleeing their homes cannot be decently provided for. Having a job with the UN, or any other major NGO for that matter, is like being part of an exclusive club. It's who you know that gets you the job offer, then there's the private UN hospitals, the executive clubs, the homes outfitted with $120,000 worth of upgrades, the unconditional use of UN vehicles for work and pleasure, the tax incentives, and a lifestyle that is unattainable at home. Obviously there is work being done and objectives being accomplished, but what's the true motive and where are the absolute, tangible, significant results? I don't call thousands of people still living in camps after over a decade results. That's failure of a bureaucratic organization tangled up in its own red tape, its own agenda. An agenda that has a lot more to do with guilt from the past than anything else.

I wish I had a solution rather than just complaints, but what I do have is the optimism that my nationality can make a difference in the life of John and his family. I promised John that I would do my best to improve his situation, and even if that's just pushing his asylum seeking status through to higher ups within the UN, well then at least its a step in the right direction. All we can do is provide hope. Once people lose hope, they lose a lot more.