From DR Congo to Uganda, and back

Maisha, 26, comes from North Kivu province, in the east of DR Congo. “I used to live with my husband, children and parents. I sold some clothes to help provide for our family, but the [armed men] took everything from us,” she says. Displaced several times within her country due to violent attacks, Maisha and her family finally had no choice but to flee to Uganda.

During the difficult journey on foot, the family got separated, and Maisha arrived in Uganda alone. “When I arrived here, I heard that my husband had been kidnapped and killed. My parents and children should be together, but I don’t know where they are,” she says.

“I arrived in Uganda after three weeks of walking,” she recalls. “At the transit centre in Nyakabande, we had to sleep on the concrete floor without any blankets. We had no change of clothes and nothing warm to protect us from the cold. The food was not good, and we didn’t even have soap to wash the clothes we were wearing.”

While people are supposed to stay in transit centres for just a couple of days before being transferred to refugee settlements, Maisha stayed in the Nyakabande centre for a whole month. She was finally transferred to the Juru settlement in August 2023.

I don’t know if I will receive food again. We know that the assistance can stop at any time.

“When I arrived at the settlement, I was given a very small piece of land that is infertile and can’t be used for cultivation,” she says.

“Last week I received some food – 2kg of beans and 6kg of posho [cornmeal] with a small bottle of cooking oil. But I’ve already finished it. My neighbours struggled to find food and I had to share my portion with them. I don’t know if I will receive food again. We know that the assistance can stop at any time.”

Under the new prioritisation scheme implemented by the World Food Programme, new arrivals to the settlement receive the full amount of food and cash assistance for three months. Then, the amount drops to half. After six months, refugees receive assistance according to their level of vulnerability.

When the assistance stopped, Maisha tried to find another way to make some money and buy food for herself. “I’ve been into the local community twice already to look for work, but people chased me away. I also heard that some women were getting attacked and raped in the local community, and so I stopped going,” she says.

“Life in Uganda is hard, but life in DR Congo is too dangerous to return. I don’t know what to do.”

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Sifa, refugee from DR Congo