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Aide et Action,
France’s leading
sponsorship organisation
for education development,
is a non religious
and apolitical organisation.
It’s recognised as being
of Public Service.
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> TESTIMONIES |
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Benin: The Refugees’ Words
(July, 2005)
By Antoine Bordallo Active in Benin since 1993, Aide et Action provides support for the refugee camps of Kpomassé, Comé, and Agamé near the frontier with Togo. We have maintained our support ever since the massive influx of Togolese nationals, escaping the wave of persecutions during the presidential elections in April last year. |  |
In the refugee camps of Kpomassé, three narratives unveil to us bits of details on the ordeals, the expectations and the fears of the refugees. Espérance, Alphonse and Ange, are from Congo and Congo-Brazzaville, but could very well have come from Togo, Rwanda or Niger. At Kpomassé, numerous nationalities are represented and attest to the array of problems facing the continent, political fractures and populations evicted by the discovery of oil or fleeing from natural disasters. |
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 | “Courage, one needs it as a refugee.”
Alphonse has lived here for five years with his three children. Fleeing from Congo-Brazzaville, he finally reached the site of Kpomassé in Benin with several others. Originally a French and history/geography teacher, he has found it difficult to put his skills into use. |
Now he has taken up other means of living, Alphonse makes furniture with wood, which he tries to sell. When he hears of the name Aide et Action, Alphonse responded indignantly, “ We, we are the ones in action, and we are waiting for your aid!”
When he is not making chairs, Alphonse is a second-hand clothes dealer in the village next door. Anything that brings income is appreciated. “The real assistance one could offer to a refugee is, right here, buy our products and support the activities that generate our revenue.” Through the words, we could see that he has a thorough understanding of the objectives emphasized by the associations that provide support in the refugee camp. A number of them are in fact “intellectuals,” yet it is precisely their level of education that led them to leave their country. They have no difficulties in recognizing the road out of refugee camp lies in economic independence.
When asked whether he would like to return to Congo-Brazzaville, whether a life still awaits him there, he answered resolutely,
“No. And the current government does not need us.”
In the wait, he is also taking care of his children. Christ, the eldest, is going to school in the camp. He draws often and plays the guitar. His last composition, which he signs with his father, is titled “We need to live.” A difficult task indeed. |  |
 | | “I was little, I was nine years old. One day, during the night, the war began. With my father, we fled our village of my mother…”
Ange William is one of the winners of the dictation examinations organized by Aide et action and the Right to Play, on the International Day of Refugees at Kpomassé. She has a scar on her hand, the mark of a bullet. |
He told us his story without a pause in between, apparently remembering it by heart. He had retold it often to himself, and repetition brings him a certain relief.
“I was little, I was nine years old. One day, during the night, the war began. With my father, we fled the village of my mother, where we stayed for a month. Afterwards, with my father and one of his brothers, we returned to our home. That lasted one day, gunfire started again afterwards. We went on the road again; we slept in a village, and then left yet again. Every night, we heard gunfire. We walked under thunderstorm and pouring rain the entire time. ON the road, we hid in the ditches as soon as we heard a car coming.
On arriving in a town, we found refuge at the sisters (a religious community, NDLR). They have us things to drink and eat when we told them we are refugees. Afterwards, we left again for another town. There, the military found us and told us that they are chasing bandits. They took us to a hotel, but the village chief couldn’t do anything for us and we had to leave. A train of goods passed by and we caught a ride with it. Later, they asked us for a ticket, but we didn’t have any.
When arrived at the destination, we looked for my mother. We found her, but she didn’t want to see my father, so we left again. In Benin, we looked for the HCR. There we slept under a table in a straw hut for two weeks. Afterwards, they registered us and sent us to Kpomassé. We were given a tent and later a room (with real walls). My father began making baskets and he also sells clothes in the village.
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 | | “Before, I never understood the meaning of my first name. Now I do. There are many who need hope…”
Espérance (Hope in French) fled the Democratic Republic of Congo and the regime of Mobutu. At the airport, where she worked, a bomb exploded one day in May 2000. The authorities immediately suspected all the works at the location, and Espérance chose to flee persecution by crossing into Benin, an haven close in proximity |
She is around 40 years old and has already seven children, all of them boys. Her only girl died last year. Four of them live with her today in the refugee camp. The other three stayed in RDC.
Not content with doing nothing in the refugee camp, Espérance kept herself busy: in 2004, she went into the clothes commerce between Lagos (capital of Nigeria) and Benin. She noted a number of women in similar position in Benin, and she doesn’t see herself as any different. She does not want to be different.
She also noticed inside the camp, the children are dressed and fed very poorly. “It is a professional malformation,” she said, “I studied children’s diet and nutrition. I also fought against malnutrition.” One day, a cultural eventtook place in the village of Kpomassé. The refugee children participated and obtained numerous awards in the games and tests. Aware of the potentials of the camp children, she decided to take the matter into her own hand. She gathered a few children and constructed little by little the environment, prepared fun activities such as gardening, sewing courses, market farming and spectacles… everything was lively.
She said, “The parents here do have problems, and they could unconsciously affect their children with their behaviour.” |  |
“If one could turn children away from these problems, they will feel better. It frees the parents likewise so they could concentrate on their future.” In the beginning, it was not easy given the parents’ anxieties: what if the children become integrated in Benin?” Today, numerous have changed their opinions and trust Espérance with their children. They accept even the fact that their children perform outside of the camp, forty-two of which participate in the workshop Espérance established. Espérance, a beautiful first name indeed. |
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