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Refugee Stories

_{The current film Hotel Rwanda gives a gripping glimpse into the conflict that recently engulfed a small east-African country. Its narrative points to a colonial legacy where ethnic identities were entrenched as members of one group were rewarded at the expense of the other. By the early 1990’s, tensions between these groups in independent Rwanda were exploited, under the banner of revenge for the oppressed, and people from the Tutsi minority group were subject to indiscriminate slaughter.}

 

_{This attempt at genocide left over 600,000 women, men and children dead, and the resulting movement of refugees, militias and armed forces destabilized the entire region. To our shame, most of the western world did little more than watch in horror, then look away. As I watched Don Cheadle's gripping portrayal of a character grappling with this evil in the current film, it made me want to avert my eyes once more.}   

_{While this story a decade ago, Matthew House continues to welcome those whose lives were shaken and tragically altered by this sad chapter. Arriving from Rwanda, Burundi and D.R. Congo, refugees seek stability, security and escape from the cycle of political and personal recriminations that continue to erupt throughout the region.}

_{We first spoke to Eliot*, a refugee claimant from Burundi, when he telephoned to ask if we could receive him. Upon his arrival in Canada he had met members of the Burundian community who spoke very highly Matthew House. As is often unfortunately the case, all of our beds were full. Eliot proceeded to call daily for the next few days, recounting how he had been referred to a downtown homeless shelter but had been so troubled by what he saw that he begged the expatriates he had met to take him in for a few more days.}

_{During this grace period, one our beds was freed up (as a resident found his own apartment), thus allowing us to finally welcome Eliot to Matthew House. As we helped him some initial immigration forms, he shared his dilemma: Eliot believed-but did not know for sure- that his wife and children were in Canada.}

_{Eliot had been forced to flee from his home in 1994 in the wake of the Rwandan genocide. As women and children can be protected from certain recriminations (though tragically, this was not the case within Rwanda itself), Eliot left his pregnant wife and two children behind as he slipped into neighbouring Tanzania. Unbeknownst to him, his family was also forced to flee a few months later. As they all attempted to live beneath the official radar, Eliot and his family lived separate lives, concealing their pasts, unaware of the others’ whereabouts for almost nine years.}

_{Early in 2004, Eliot serendipitously encountered a former neighbour who took him to the Tanzanian neighbourhood where his wife and children had been living. To his great dismay, he discovered that his kin had fled the year before to Canada. Over the following months, Eliot desperately scraped together money so that he also might be smuggled to Canada. Now, eleven years’ later, his heart's desire was to be reunited with his family.}

_{We conducted an internet search that confirmed that his wife was indeed most likely living in a southern Ontario city. We discussed possible scenarios at length, including the possibility that she had re-married. In the end, Eliot asked me to contact his wife on his behalf.}

_{After committing the situation to God’s guidance and care, I contacted Nadia, Eliot’s wife. After a few seconds of disbelieving silence Nadia shouted: Oh my God! Oh my God! I thought he was dead! May I speak to him? Over numerous conversations that evening and the next morning Nadia confirmed that she had indeed not remarried and that she very much wanted Eliot to visit her right away.}

_{As we drove out of Toronto, Eliot holding roses, my heart was filled with excitement and some trepidation: How would Eliot be received? Would they be able to bridge the chasm of such an unimaginably long absence? How would his children, including the one he has never met, respond? Neither of us knew exactly what would happen next.}

_{While I can only imagine Eliot’s feelings, it was to my enormous relief that Eliot was greeted by a huge bear-hug. He’s gotten so old! Nadia informed me through peals of laughter. While our prayers continue to lift up this family as they work through the difficulties caused by such a long absence,  now, a month later, it is clear that they have chosen to face the next challenges as a family- reunited at last.}

_{While every story we encounter at Matthew House is not as overtly dramatic as Eliot’s, after a few months as Program Director, I can confidently report that Hollywood does not have a lock on all the best tales.}

 

 

* Matthew House regularly produces a newsletter with stories such as the above. Please contact us if you would like to be added to our mailing list.

^*Pseudonym

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