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Roselyne Sachiti Features Editor
Eyodora ~lodora is a 32-year-old Ethiopian woman. Loosely translated from their Amharic language, her name refers to a small village on a hill in Harar.
Growing up in a family living on less than a dollar per day, her life has always been difficult, pushing her to the marital bed at just 15 years.
With over 80 million inhabitants, Ethiopia is the second most populous country in sub-Saharan Africa and one of the poorest in the world.
Eyodora ~lodora is a mother of three children who live with their grandmother back in Ethiopia.
She hopes they will join her once she settles. Things are bad back home for her family, economically, she says.
She never had the opportunity to go to school and had to help her mother look after her two siblings. Her father died of an Aids-related illness.
While government schools offer free education, she had to bring her own books, uniforms, shoes and other supplies required, something her mother could not afford.
Today, she is known as a refugee, her name only asked for documentation purposes.
She is one of the women who left their homes to look for a better life in other countries thousands of kilometres away.
Like many female refugees, she walked long distances, hitch-hiked, as they moved from one country to another on their long journey which usually ends in South Africa.
“Walking long distances is hard for everyone in the group. It is harder for women. One day, I was extremely exhausted while we were in Mozambique. I could not breathe properly and my feet had blisters. I could not walk. Everyone in our group stayed with me until I recovered. This meant our journey to the Zimbabwean border would take longer,” she explained.
Food is never adequate. Their group of up to 50 shared whatever they had.
“One day, a Mozambican well-wisher gave us two cobs of maize. We sat and passed them around so that each person would get a bite. Drinking lots of water kept us going where there were no food handouts from NGOs and IOM,” she added.
Water and sanitation are also an issue.
There are no luxuries like bathing during the long exhausting journey.
The journey to Zimbabwe took them close to a month-and-a-half.
It can be longer or shorter for others depending on whether they easily get transport or not.
“It was worse for women especially when our menses come. It was terrifying,” she said.
Moreover, they sometimes do not have sanitary pads and cotton wool. Those on the pill usually also do not have access to contraceptives.
“I had my period during the journey and had to cut off pieces of cloth from one of the few dresses I carried. It was hard and worse when I wanted to change my sanitary pads. I had to excuse myself from the men, go behind a bush and change. They could have picked up what was happening. It was embarrassing,” she revealed.
They used the bush to relieve themselves and asked villagers for drinking water.
During her journey, their group was robbed once in Mozambique where she lost a cellphone and US$20, she said.
“They ambushed us while we slept. I do not recall which part of Mozambique we were. I froze as they took my cellphone and money. They searched us to see if we did not have more money and valuables. We were afraid to make a police report as we had entered Mozambique using an illegal entry point,” she recalled.
Fears of rape when they travel as a group are lesser, though criminals can be unpredictable, she added.
“Our brothers we travel with from home protect us. We are like a family and respect each other so much. We also fear God and pray when we move. We sometimes fear criminals who may threaten to rape us,” she said.
Communication as they transit is a big problem.
“We passed through different countries that include Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi and Mozambique to get to Zimbabwe and our English was very bad. Most people in the group do not speak English and we used sign language. Only two people in our group spoke very little English and would communicate with immigration, police, army and other people in countries we passed through,” she added through a translator.
Other refugees come from Ethiopia, Eritrea, and the Democratic Republic of Congo and are usually in transit to South Africa.
The majority of refugees come through Zimbabwe’s eastern and northern borders with Mozambique and Zambia, some hiring boats or canoes to avoid detection. Statistics show the migration trends of the refugees who come into Zimbabwe.
International Organisation for Migration (IOM) Zimbabwe Chief of Mission, Mr Martin Ocaga said 2,345 Ethiopians were received in one year ending September 2014 at Nyamapanda Temporary Reception Centre (NTRC).
This meant an average of 202 per month or 50 refugees per week.
“During the same period, we received five Somalis, all male.
“We receive very few females from Ethiopia; the majority of females came from the Democratic Republic of Congo who travel as families.
“Females make 6 percent of the migrants received at the centre, the majority 94 percent, being males,” he said.
Mr Ocaga added that from August 2013 to September 2014, IOM received eight females from Ethiopia, all above 18 years of age and 315 females from the DRC cutting across all age groups.
He said women face many challenges along the way and these include losing personal belongings such as cellphones, clothes and cash to robbers, sexual harassment and abuse and inhumane searches to the extent of getting stripped by thieves looking for cash and precious stones.
“Women also lose contact with children along the way when they face harassment.
“The children eventually show up at NTRC in the company of other beneficiaries met along the way,” he said.
Mr Ocaga added that some women have given birth in the forest as they flee from persecution from countries of origin.
“There is also lack of support when their husbands get arrested in some of the countries they pass through on their way to Zimbabwe,” he revealed.
He also said women have challenges when it comes to paying for transport services using a batter exchange with clothing and or food.
They also lack treatment along the way hence many succumb to diseases, added Mr Ocaga.
At the NTRC, he revealed, third country nationals get food i.e. three meals per day.
“They get breakfast, lunch, supper and take-away when they depart for Tongogara refugee camp.
“Medical screening is done at the centre working collaboratively with the local clinic. Minor ailments are treated at the centre with referrals to the local clinic and district hospital for major cases,” he added.
He also said non-food items such as soap, towels, toothbrush, toothpaste, sanitary wear, pampers, slippers and clothing are provided.
“Shelter is provided at the centre where women and men are housed in different sections of the camp. Every beneficiary gets a blanket and a mattress for use at the camp.
“Transport is provided to all beneficiaries as they depart for Tongogara Refugee Camp,” he added.
The refugees also get psychosocial support and counselling.
Online Reporter