Refugee women whofeed Dzaleka camp

Diana Musharangwa, from Uvira Province in the Democratic Republic of Congo, has found a new home at Dzaleka Refugee Camp in Dowa District.

Uprooted from her homeland by a persisting armed conflict at the age of four, she works hard to survive at the congested camp.

She recounts: “We fled to Meheba Camp in Zambia in 1996. Dzaleka has been my home since 2019 when my husband and I moved to Malawi.”

“I like it here because we engage in small businesses or do piecework. In Zambia, the situation wasn’t that flexible.”

The mother of two speaks English, Chinyanja and Swahili.

She works as an interpreter to bridge the communication gap among the diverse groups in the camp and visiting groups.

“I earn K5 000 per session, enough to buy basics.  This gives me peace of mind.  I hear horrible stories from my homeland where gunshots and bloodletting by armed  rebel groups persist,” she says.

Musharangwa does not want to return to Uvira where “people are being killed like chickens, women get raped in daylight and houses set ablaze”.

“It’s horrible and I don’t want to go back there,” she declares.

In 2020, Musharangwa mobilised some women at Dzaleka to share business ideas, including tailoring, vegetable production and raising poultry. The Women Palm Tree Organisation has 93 members, including three men.

The women empowerment group has constructed an irrigation tank worth K18 million for a vegetable farm that contributes to the camp’s diet and nutrition.

Musharangwa, the vice chairperson of the group, says the group which empowers displaced families to fend for themselves, is tackling the camp’s top challenge: food.

“We no longer get much from organisations that look after the welfare of refugees. It’s sad that children go to bed on an empty stomach. Some engage in theft and prostitution just to survive,” she says.

 Chairperson Serge Kahozi envisions the group becoming the camp’s food basket.

“We need support to achieve our vision,” she says.

The group receives support from different funders, including Beta Organisation

Beta spokesperson Charles Dokera paid tribute to the tenacity of the women’s group.

“These women have gone through a lot, but still work hard to keep themselves going. These efforts need to be supported. When women join forces, they can do more,” he says.

The group personifies the resilience of refugees at the overcrowded camp, formerly a notorious prison for political dissidents.

Designed to host 10 000 people, Dzaleka houses more than 53 000 refugees, mainly from DRC, Burundi and Rwanda.

It is estimated that at least 8 000 refugees and asylum seekers now live outside the camp.

The displaced community requires urgent food aid and livelihood support as the World Food Programme (WFP) struggles to feed the increased refugee population amid rising food prices and falling funding.

In July, WFP reduced cash transfers for food by a third. Each  person receives K7 500 a month to buy 10 kilogrammes (kg) of maize, one kg of pulses and a litre of cooking oil, but the social cash transfer has been overtaken by the rising food prices.

However, WFP, the United Nations (UN) agency which provides emergency food assistance worldwide, is at risk of halting food aid for refugees by January 2024 if it does not receive additional resources.

By May, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) had only received less than a tenth of the $27.2 million required to adequately support refugees and asylum-seekers in Malawi this year.

Valentin Tapsoba, UNHCR regional director for Southern Africa, says: “Due to funding shortfalls, UNHCR does not have the resources to meet the needs of the returnees, including the upgrade of transit shelters and the provision of household items.

“This will result in immense human suffering and create a new dependency on humanitarian assistance.”

The worsening food situation strengthens Women Palm Tree Organisation’s determination to reduce the hardship faced by the community.

Their work personifies the power of the human spirit to thrive in the face of unimaginable hardship.