Resettlement, Markets and Sickies

Greeting everyone,

We just received some wonderful news: Bagira, one of our very best friends in Kyaka II refugee camp is being resettled to Canada!

(He is in the white shirt in the photo -it's better not to show his face until he's resettled)

When I met Bagira, IMC's Community Educator Supervisor, I knew immediately (like when I first met John), that I was meeting an extraordinary human being. He was very bright, but also very humble, with a kind face and a gentle voice. He was involved with every community activity in Kyaka. In his native DRC he had worked for an NGO, and was deeply committed to improving the lives and situations of those around him. His fluency in English, French, Kiswahili, and Kinyarwanda put him in high demand as a translator for meetings and events throughout the settlement, so he was often rushing from one meeting to where he had been summoned across camp to help with another. He was a passionate supporter of women's equality (some concepts he could articulate better than I), and worked tirelessly for IMC's anti-gender based violence and HIV/AIDS campaigns. He also spent hours of his free time inventing and researching energy-saving alternatives to the environmentally degradative means by which the refugees had to cook in Kyaka. When we left, he was busy researching a system of using the methane from cow manure to generate electricity for refugee houses in the settlement!

Bagira's wife Jose, is my age, very intelligent; a sweet, independent soul. But she wasn't afraid to stand up for her rights, and took on the camp authorities more than once when they were not responding to security threats or life-threatening illnesses affecting her family. I had a lot of admiration and respect for Jose, and was overjoyed when she was successful in gaining the one scholarship offered in Kyaka to pursue post-secondary studies. They have four beautiful children to whom the world has not always been kind. I can't think of a better family to be offered a new life in Canada. I will keep you all posted as to where in Canada Bagira and his family will be resettled, and hopefully some of you will be able to meet them, as you did John :-)

Before we got that fabulous news, I was busy playing maid/caregiver/nurse to my sick husband!

Seriously though, poor Brent. He's been working non-stop for two weeks, and then on our first real weekend (a 3-day one!), spikes a fever and is confined to bed. His bed-riddenness also happens to coincide with our first blue-sky day all week. And in contrast to last weekend where we were made to schlep a futon, microwave, TV and a week's groceries around Hillcrest in 40 degree heat, Saturday's sunshine came at a balmy 19 degrees. So I went for a run in the park.

It's now Sunday, and he's feeling a bit better, so we're going to try to hit up the Farmer's Market again, and I'll try to snap a few tourist shots in the process. Unfortuantely, the weather has decided to empathise with a pang of missing Victoria last week, and has clouded over again to remind me of home - aww!

Till next time folks!

Love,

Jen and (slowly healing) Brent