WORDS Liz LillisA refugee family from Democratic Reppublic of Congo will have much to celebrate this Christmas. Congolese father of three Jumapili Simba says Christmas in his home country is much like it is in Australia, a celebration of family and faith, with plenty of food and presents. Life otherwise is a different matter.
‘Back home I was poor and there were limited opportunities’, he says. ‘There were wars and violence.’ This year’s Christmas will be a special one for the Simba family, their first in their new home country of Australia. Jumapili and his wife Bawili Vano fled the war-torn Democratic Republic of Congo five years ago, when Jumapili was 19 and Bawili just 16. With their two young daughters, and travelling much of the time on foot, they made their way through Uganda to Nairobi, Kenya. For the last five years, they have been living in Kakuma Refugee Camp on the northern border of Kenya along with their three daughters, Nimi (7), Deine (6), and Sidaka (5). About 80,000 people from a number of nations near Kenya live in the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) run Kakuma Refugee camp. The conditions are tough and the camp is often unsafe with local tribes carrying out violent raids on the camp to terrorise and steal. Hope came in February this year, when the family was granted humanitarian visas by the Australian government. In June, thanks to the assistance of a Melbourne-based refugee sanctuary group, they finally arrived in Australia. This Christmas, the Simba family will celebrate in their unit in Tullamarine, Melbourne, a world away from their homeland. ‘It is nice to have our own place rather than living with lots of other families’, says Jumapili. Life here has been very different to what they are used to, with many adjustments needed. ‘Learning to use the washing machine was new; we always washed by hand’, says Jumapili with a laugh. Jumapili says he hopes to learn English and get his driver’s licence. ‘I would like to be a truck driver, and maybe study to be a mechanic at TAFE’, he says. Their daughters are enrolled at school, and are enjoying the opportunity to get an education. ‘They are always asking to go to school, even on days when there is no school’, says Jumapili. Bawili, who is now 21, is already making friends. A fellow Congolese woman is visiting for the day and they are cooking dinner. She is working hard to learn English and would like to study further, possibly to be a patient-care assistant. Over the last few months, Sanctuary Victoria members and the local community have helped them settle in and learn about life in Australia. Jumapili says he has appreciated their support. ‘We are happy and safe here. People are so friendly and helpful’, he says. Sanctuary Refugee Foundation
http://www.sanctuaryrefugeefoundation.org/ Sanctuary Victoria
http://www.sanctuaryvictoria.org
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