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This week we were honored to have Francis Sengabo, a refugee from Rowanda and Director of RIISE in Albany, speak to the congregation about his experiences as a refugee. The following is the transcript of his message which he provide to us.
I. Francis Sengabo Rwandan
RISSE Co-Founder and Director of Family and Immigration Services
The Kingdom of Rwanda exerted dominance from the mid-eighteenth century, as Tutsi monarchs achieved military conquests, centralized authority, and implemented uniting policies. In 1897, Germany annexed Rwanda as a component of German East Africa, subsequently succeeded by Belgium, which assumed sovereignty in 1916 during World War I. Both European nations governed via the Rwandan monarchy and sustained a pro-Tutsi agenda. The Hutu majority revolted in 1959, leading to independence in 1962 and the collapse of the monarchy, prompting elites to flee to neighboring countries. In 1990, a rebellion emerged, culminating in a power takeover in 1994 following a genocide. Uganda borders the north, Tanzania the east, Burundi the south, and the Democratic Republic of Congo the west.
I was born in the West, where my father had two wives. We were the eighth kid, sharing the same mother, with two girls and six boys, and I was the last born. My father had political position because of his education as a teacher, which allowed my family to attend school while still being known in the village.
My two brothers were successful in their careers; therefore, they spent their lives in cities. I attended elementary and middle school in my village before moving to Kigali to attend high school.
I preferred to go medical school, but in my country, the
government decides what students should study based on what the country needs rather than what the student wants. I studied economics at university and graduated in 1990. Simultaneously, in October, a civil war erupted in northern Rwanda, originating from Uganda. My first position was in the department of the National Census Bureau.
The Northeast war in 1991 resulted in internal displacement, necessitating both national and international help. Because of my census expertise, I was chosen to serve with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) as an assistance Manager for relief distribution till 1994. Where the war broke out after the president was slain in his jet, sparking genocide, and I was forced to flee to Tanzania as a refugee or stateless person. Remember that
the fighting was across the country, and my parents were in the northwest while I was working in the northeast. Tanzania is in the southeast, so my parents fled to Congo as refugees, and I never met them in Tanzania.
My four brothers were killed during the war, and my parents were killed in 1998, when there was a rebellion in the northwest, and my two brothers-in-law were killed too, which I learned in 2001 when in a refugee camp in Tanzania.
Rwandan refugee camps From 1994 to 1996, Tanzania hosted around 500,000 Rwandan refugees
II. Francis Sengabo in Refugee Camp
The first time I entered a refugee camp, it was a disaster in the sense that there was no infrastructure, no clean water, no food, and no hospital 1) The Tanzanian government was there for security reasons, but there were so many limits and languages that communication was difficult. Which rendered refugees hopeless.
How I felt in refugee camps.
1. I felt alone.
2. I felt abandoned.
3. I believed that no one could meet my needs.
4. Conditions in refugee camps are terrible.
5. Some assistance has been provided, but it is insufficient, and no one was concerned about my wellbeing.
6. To receive aid, I had to wait in a long line for meals.
8. Physical fitness may be required for access to food, water, and other necessities.
Following the United Nations' emergency response to construct a system of infrastructure in refugee camps, such as providing water, food, clinicals, and scholastics, I was involved as principal of a middle school. The second step involves identifying potential solutions for refugees, including:
a) Voluntary repatriation programs that promote peace in the refugee's home country (RWANDA)
b) Integration in Tanzania, where the government may permit refugees to stay (which was unavailable).
c) Resettlement to third countries was a solution. The United Nations found out for me.
After a long period of vetting from 1994 to 2000, I was admitted into the Resettlement program. The United States welcomed me in 2006 after Australia rejected me in 2004.The procedure of entering the United States took a year, and I arrived in Albany in March 2007. Where I arrived with my wife, two children, and two half-brothers
II. Francis Sengabo in the United States.
A. Challenges
1) Arriving in Albany during the winter was my first encounter with chilly weather.
2) Finding African food was a difficulty as I didn't know where to start. 3) How to ask for help.
4) I didn't know who to ask.
5) Language was a major challenge.
6) Neighbors don't talk.
7) Transportation was a challenge.
8) Hospital systems were difficult for me.
9) Finding day care for my children was challenging due to the lack of relatives.
10) At work Collaborating with team members to effectively communicate with supervisors.
11) Managing my work revenues
III. How Francis Sengabo became affiliated with RISSE.
Pastor Denise Strenger, who had retired from EMMAUS Unite Methodist Church, was eager to help refugees from Congo and Rwanda. Came to my house and ask me how I want her to help me. I informed her that I needed to learn English so that I could negotiate life in the United States. She asked whether I was a Christian so she could teach me from the Bible. She started teaching me.
My wife went to work one day over the summer, and I went to church to learn English, but I was accompanied by my two children, ages six and three. Pastor was in the building, and I left my children in the playground while I was learning English. The pastor heard the children's voices and asked me, and I told her that I had left them alone. She was shocked that I had done so, and I
tried to convince her that there was no problem, but she informed me that in the United States, you cannot leave children alone. My learning was supposed to end there.
When I asked Pastor what I could do, she advised me to draft a proposal in French asking for aid so that a volunteer might care for my children while I learned. The church agreed to pay a volunteer, but refugees continued to arrive in Albany from Uganda, Kenya, Iraq, Afghanistan, Burma, Nepal, Syria, and Yemen. One volunteer could not handle it, so we created an organization, and November 2007 I became the Director of Intervention Project for Minority and Low Income, which later became Refugee and Immigrant Support Services.
IV.RISSE’S ACTIVITES
1) Adult program (ESL Program) serves 400 students yearly 2) Social, Job Placement and Immigration Services serves more than 500 yearly
3) ESOL After School Program serves 70 children yearly 4) RISSE employs 28 employees.
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