With you - News of the help that together we're bringing to refugees

News of the help that together we’re bringing to refugees - 2006 Issue 1

Why I help refugees

Helping hand Oscar Sanchez Piñeiro, ERT member in
Juba, Sudan

Article Index

On a recent trip to Africa, Elena Cigala-Fulgosi experienced first-hand the joy and uncertainty of Angolan refugees returning home from Zambia.

In September 2004 my husband and I were travelling from Katima Mulilo to Mongu, while on vacation in Zambia. There are no regular busses on that route, but a few private jeeps that leave either town daily after having gathered enough passengers.

I noticed a tall, thin, young man sitting on the floor of the car, bent between the front seat, my bench-seat and a gasoline drum. He was holding his head with his hands. I asked him if he was OK. He did not answer, but someone answered in English that he was an Angolan refugee and had a bad headache.

Pavarotti ferry After 11 hours we reached Nangwashi and found a courtyard to spend the night before resuming the drive. Early in the morning, we were woken up by a loud, but calm voice – someone was giving instructions through a megaphone. We got up and went looking for our driver and fellow passengers, wondering what was happening. We saw several UNHCR vehicles cruise by, then a truck full of people followed. The megaphone kept speaking. More trucks went by each with a dozen people, sitting in two long rows. Everybody had a small bag with them, and women were holding their children by the hand, some of them were singing.

We jumped into our vehicle and followed the busses to the ferry. Our driver finally explained that these were Angolan refugees who were now returning home. Zambians had welcome them 10 years earlier; one of the camps was just outside Nangwashi. I thought this is good news. More busses came with happy, yet anxious people on them. The children were particularly quiet. I wondered how they were feeling and whether they thought that they were going home: a lot of them were so young, they must have been born in Zambia and not seen much other than the camp.

When we reached Kalangola, we lined to board the ferry across the Zambezi. (See inset article "Pavarotti Ferry...") UNHCR flags decorated the boats. It looked festive. I thought this is a success story, but at the same time, these people had so much work and uncertainty ahead of them. Our backpacks were bigger than the small bags they were carrying to start a new life after 10 years.

Pavarotti Ferry

Behind the headlines:

Pavarotti ferry extends lifeline to Angolan refugees and Zambian hosts
Two years ago, a group of international artists led by Italian Maestro Luciano Pavarotti donated a ferry to the Zambian government in Western province, funded by the proceeds of the "Pavarotti and Friends" charity concert for Angolan refugee children and named after the maestro's father. They threw a lifeline to thousands of Angolan refugees living in a remote part of western Zambia, cut off from the rest of the country by the Zambezi river. Every year between December and April, the Zambezi river floods the plains. In the absence of a bridge, the only way for the 24,000 Angolan refugees in Nangweshi camp to receive assistance has been through a ferry across the river. The old government-owned ferry kept breaking down, making the delivery of supplies irregular.
Read the full story »

Photo captions:
Top: An Angolan boy pounding grain in Nangweshi refugee camp in Zambia. © UNHCR/J.Redden
Inset photo: © E. Cigala-Fulgosi
Above right: The Fernando Pavarotti ferry carries refugees, locals, commercial goods as well as repatriation convoys across the Zambezi river. © UNHCR/K.Shimo

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