Every human being counts

I feel I should share this ,I am a Congolese refugee living in Kampala uganda . I fleed my country the Republic of Congo from 2010 . I am an asylum seeker for almost 16 years which would make me almost a citizen .

Because of the recent outbreak of ebola , every Congolese is seen or taken as ebola it's self . Of recent i was walking home from a nearby market , I meet a long time neighbour who happened to be my friend back then , with the happiness and joy of meeting her after a long time I wanted to hug her but she pulled her self backward with the clear looks of No do not . I felt bad with a puzzled look , she looked straight into my eyes and asked me that " are you not aware of the ebola outbreak ?" I was like I forgot but we have not received any case sofar , any way how are you? Long time " she ignored my questions and told me that Congolese are the source of ebola that we over eat to the extent of eating monkeys which had ebola virus , I smiled but felt belittled because we were on the road side people were passing by others over heard and turned their heads to see the Congolese . Taking precautions was wise of her and I would credit her for that , but the accompanying words were harsh and not fair , nothing called for that , the joy I had in me was because of meeting an old friend she caused me embarrassment , I smiled trying to coverup by asking questions like I hope your son is a grown up ? Which were not answered instead she went ahead and said that without Congolese Uganda would never suffer from Ebola , that if she was in power she would suggest deporting back Congolese to their countries , she went ahead and said that ebola was contracted from a monkey God knows what will be contracted from pussy cats . My face changed to dim wanting the conversation to end because she was not the friend I knew , untill I asked her "do you have issues with me or ebola ? I have never gone back to Congo why are you referring to all this ? I am sorry if I offended you it was out of happiness , but I didn't mean to harm you " yes I am a Congolese but I have never tasted monkey or pussycat not all Congolese eat them besides for the period of time we spent together she has never seen me eating such , I was ashamed but I collected my self and begun moving , there was an old woman roasting plantain at the road side , a woman selling boiled maize and two men at a roadside next to the plantain seller they all turned and looked at me because they were following the conversation , her volume was up , the old woman uttered in the Luganda language that " amuswaziza bambi , sikyelungi " meaning that she has ashamed her which is not good .

I am a tenant in an enclosed face containing six houses which bear six families , we have a small compound which unites all the children as a play ground . They gather in sets ranging from their age groups and sex in most cases the boys prefer football . Of recent i learnt that my children avoided outside which was the opposite before I could look for them whenever I wanted them , so I was doing general cleaning and asked them to move out and play so that I could clean properly , and my second last born who made seven recently told me that they were chased not to play because they were going to spread ebola to their mates . I felt so bad my legs were shaking I had to sit and ask them properly ,I learnt that they were beaten and chased away with claims that they will spread ebola simply because they are from Congo and the funny thing is that they were told by there parents . Just imagine a situation were by even young children are pointed at , the children they are avoiding do not know congo they were born from kampala Uganda , I came with my 17 year old boy who was 8 month by then the rest were born from kampala Uganda .

Ugandan citizens it is to much , I remember there is a time my son asked me a question that "why are we Congolese? is it possible to change to another tribe ? " Some one had stolen cassava leaves from a nearby neighbour and we were falsely accused the major reason was that we were congolese I remember sharing that story on world pulse sharing relieves me somehow , there was even a time I stood up to contribute in a community meeting which was about our well-being I was denied access simply because I am a Congolese , when will you accept us as your brothers and sisters ? We have lived with you with hopes of being accepted my children speak better Luganda than our Swahili language . We are human beings just like the rest , yes we have our downs ( mistakes ) just like others , the path of a refugee is ful of trauma accept us without conditions . Our children matter like the rest of the children , we have feelings too .

All in all , being a refugee is the worst expirence ever we have unhealed wounds of being displaced from our original homes , dispatched from our loved ones and families , being betrayed by the ones we consider our own country men , tribements ,brothers and sisters and more . What can ease all this trauma we go through is affection and acceptance but if we end up getting the opposite treatment it affects our mental health . I do not wish any one not even my worst enemy to taste the path of being a refugee , it is an open wound which hurts on every hump of life , the night mare never stops . No one wishes to be a refugee we become victims without our consent , let's all value humanity .