Taking up the cause of refugees in Kenya

GILLIAN KLAWANSKY

For Brom, leaving a banking career for the post of executive director of Jewish humanitarian aid and disaster relief at non-governmental organisation (NGO) Cadena SA was an easy decision. In January, he visited Kakuma refugee camp in north-west Kenya. While the experience was at times heart-breaking, he says it only reinforced his dedication to the cause.

It was at Kakuma that he met Bosco, who escaped from South Sudan as a nine-year-old. More than 12 years later, he still has the scars from bullet wounds he sustained when he was shot while trying to cross the border.

During their escape, Bosco and his brother were separated from their parents. Living in the refugee camp, near the South Sudanese border, Bosco has never been able to leave and look for them. “Yet he’s this wonderful, smiling guy,” says Brom. “He’s smart and driven. He works as an administrative assistant for one of the NGOs running the camp. But he can’t progress; he’s stuck in Kakuma.”

It’s people with stories like these that struck Brom when he visited Kakuma refugee camp as a representative of Cadena SA. “Cadena is an international Jewish humanitarian NGO, headquartered in Mexico and working worldwide,” explains Brom. It is dedicated to providing assistance in emergencies and natural disasters, as well as to helping vulnerable communities around the world on behalf of local Jewish communities.

“It’s our duty as Jews to make a difference in the world,” says Brom. “Our work is premised on tikkun olam, to be a light unto the nations and help wherever we can.”

Based in Johannesburg, Cadena’s Africa office opened a few months ago. “We work on an ethos of hand to hand. We never just donate supplies because then there’s no accountability. We want to know exactly where they’re going, so we make sure that a member is on the ground,” he says. “This makes a profound difference, it isn’t nameless or faceless for you or the recipient.”

In keeping with this ethos, Brom and his colleagues travelled to Kakuma to hand over medical and food supplies to refugees. Through working with Cadena’s head office in Mexico, Brom was contacted by the country’s Museum of Memory and Tolerance, which had raised funds to buy seven oxygen concentrators, an ultrasound machine and ready-to-use therapeutic foods (RUTFs) – fortified food for children – for the people at Kakuma.

The camp was established in 1992 by the Kenyan government in conjunction with UNHCR, the UN’s refugee agency. Ethiopians, Somalis and Sudanese still make up the bulk of the population, but there are now people from 21 nationalities there.

“Refugees living in the camp don’t have freedom of movement or of employment,” explains Brom. “The UNHCR oversees the whole camp, the International Rescue Committee runs clinics and hospitals, and the camp is entirely administered by NGOs, with no real input from the Kenyan government. After 26 years, there’s no end in sight and the people are in limbo, with the Kenyan government often looking to shut down refugee camps.”

During their trip, Brom and his team stayed in an NGO compound. “It’s very basic. There are water and electricity limits and everything runs on generators,” he says. “There’s also a curfew, with no movement after 5pm.”

After handing their donations to the relevant NGOs for distribution in the camp, Brom and his team spent the next few days in the camp’s hospitals and interacting with the communities.

“Everything is dirt and dust – we were coughing constantly. Coupled with that, the temperatures were 37ºC on average. It’s brutal.”

Yet the refugees, the majority of whom are women and children, make the most of what they have despite what they endure. “There’s a whole generation of people who have grown up there,” explains Brom.

“The resilience of the kids is amazing. We spent one afternoon at a centre administered by IsraAID, an Israeli humanitarian aid agency which works in Kakuma, providing after-school programmes for kids of school-going age.” Among the variety of programmes on offer are art therapy and karate classes run by a refugee from the Democratic Republic of Congo.

“There’s a man call Sagm who runs it and is devoted to these kids – he’s been there for four years,” says Brom. “He came from Nairobi and has a degree, and this is what he wants to do. Another man working there is a Somalian refugee. He does whatever he can to facilitate their growth, from playing soccer with the boys to simply interacting with the kids.

“They’re trying to give these kids as normal a life as possible, yet these kids go to schools that don’t really enforce anything.”

It’s also a struggle for the men there. In African culture, the man is the provider and that’s been taken away from them, says Brom. “But there’s a lot of ingenuity. There are many small shops and freeholds, and people are trying to sell bits and pieces. One of the big industries has been built by people who’ve saved up to buy generators. They charge people to charge their phones as they don’t have electricity.

“There are also quite a few restaurants. So, while there’s some optimism with people getting on with their lives, they’re resigned to their fate. It’s extremely sad to see.”

The doctors, nurses and aid workers, all the people who give of their time and expertise, need all the help they can get, says Brom.

•     Cadena SA is a volunteer-run organisation. Any support is welcome. If you’d like to get involved, email Brom on director.sa@cadena.ngo