Food drive to the Bluewaters Refugee Camp

20.01.09

ADRO had a budget of R 19000 for the day, which was supposed to cover the food and transport, ADRO set out to MAKRO’s to buy the food parcels. It included:

· 600 kg of Rice

· 600 kg of Maize flour

· 600 kg of Red sugar Beans

· 240 liters of Milk

· 100 packs of porridge

At the refugee camp we handed out the first set of supplies to the refugees from Camp B, the smaller camp in the area. Then we moved on to Camp C, which is home to many different refugee communities from various parts of Africa, including Somalia, the DRC, Burundi, Ethiopia, Uganda and some others. Due to the fact that the refugees are slowly trickling out of the camps, it is very hard to have an up to date list of the size of the various groups, so we had to make estimations according to an older list and the claims of the refugees. We tried to make the distribution as fair as possible; we especially wanted to make sure that all the kids would have enough porridge and milk to last them until the next visit. The discussions on the size of the groups soon grew louder with each group claiming the others were lying about their numbers. But these arguments can be entitled to the food insecurities that exist in these refugee camps at the present moment. While the Refugee Act states that the Refugees have the right to food, the government does not seem to provide them with this right, due to the fact that they want the refugees to leave the camps and rejoin society where they will be more able to care for themselves.

Due to the fact that we did not have an up to date list of the current numbers, we could only make guesses and distribute the food as fair as possible. We also received several requests for school uniforms, books, sugar and, most urgently, clothes and clean towels for newborn babies, since there are at least four women in the camp that are due to give birth before the end of the month. ADRO has received clothes donations from Catholic Welfare Development (CWD), and hopes to sort and distribute these sometime next week.

Reflections

ADRO’s funding will run out at the end of January 2009, so ADRO will have to make it known to the refugees how they can obtain funds in order to provide for themselves. As it stands, refugees are currently entitled to apply for 3 types of social grants: Foster Child Grant, Disability Grant and Social Relief of Distress. They need to be educated in the ways to obtain these grants. As many of the refugees have experienced a disaster in the previous year in the form of the xenophobic attacks, many of them will be eligible for the Social Relief of Distress. As the Department of Home Affairs is making it hard for many of the refugees to renew their refugee status, many of them believe that they might not be able to apply for the social grants. But as it stands at the moment, you can receive a social grant with alternative documentation such as a baptismal certificate, road to health care clinic card, latest school term results, or a sworn statement from one of the following persons of repute: social worker, preacher or a councilor. At the moment ADRO is working to clarify with the Department of Social Development whether a refugee can claim Social Relief of Distress if he is only in possession of an expired refugee permit and is currently waiting for the Department of Home Affairs to issue a new one. Once we have more concrete information regarding this issue we will forward the information to the refugees and other vulnerable people.