Interview with Derreck Kayongo by Sabine Wilke, CARE Germany
Derreck fled from Uganda to escape the Idi Amin Regime. He spent 10 years as a refugee in Kenya before immigrating to the United States. Today Derreck works for CARE as Senior Advocacy Field Coordinator responsible for recruiting and mobilizing American constituencies to influence policy in favour of International development.
1. On June 20, the world shines a spotlight on refugees with the commemoration of World Refugee Day. What does this day mean to you as someone who has a refugee history?
As a former refugee, June 20th brings both good and bad memories of what my experience was while in Kenya. First it is very humbling to know that there was a country like Kenya my family and I could run to in our time of distress. It was also good to be protected from the reprobate leadership of Idi Amin and all the other bad leaders that Ugandans were faced with. The bad side of being a refugee is that there is a sadness one wrestles with on several fronts. First, there is a profound sense of loss of country, family, friends, property and feeling of hopelessness. After all those sentiments set in then fear starts to creep in. There is this feeling that the traumatizing run from gun fire and death is still around you and is here to stay.
All these feelings and more become part and parcel of your life forever. The scars never go away. But on June 20th you get a chance to reflect on what happened to you and if you are courageous enough, you fight that emotional fear and all the scars around you by embarking on a new journey. For me, it has become building a new family in the United States with my eye on using all the resources I have at my disposal to assist my brothers and sisters that I left at home. That good work atones for all the violations that were committed against me and everyone in Uganda at that time.
2. When you meet people and they ask you how you got to the United States, what do you reply?
I got to the United States through God's favour! I was brought up by missionaries during my stay as a refugee and they were very instrumental in helping me get a scholarship to come to the USA for school. That's how I got here.
3. What are your most vivid memories about being a refugee?
The most vivid experience of being a refugee was the sense of not being amid my own culture. I had to re-learn all the social traits of the Kenyan people in order to live a normal life in the beautiful country. That was a lot of fun. The tougher part was the lack of resources that we were faced with. Having come from a privileged family in Uganda, I didn't know that people would go without bear necessities like soap, sugar, school fees and the like. I saw my mother struggle to put food on the table and work odd jobs in order to keep us afloat a sinking ship. There were many nights where I would hear her crying and I would in turn cry too because I couldn't take her pain and suffering.
4. Can you share stories of other refugees/family members? What kind of support was the most helpful and meaningful, where did things go wrong and why?
As refugee families one of the things that afflicted our community was whenever some one died there was a scramble to figure out where to bury them and the struggle to pay for that burial. When someone fell sick, especially deathly ill, the community always fretted that the cost would be out of reach for us and the person would succumb to the illness. The community would sometimes be villainised for being immigrants and sometimes there was tension to the extent that people would hide from the population and pause as natives. This introduced a sense of insecurity which was reminiscent of the Uganda we had run away from. This would make everything go wrong and meant we had to be more careful and restrict our movements because of the tension that existed between the governments back then.
5. Have you ever gone back to your hometown and if yes, what did you encounter?
Yes I've been back to Kampala my home city and the first time I went back, I remember as we were taxing in the air before landing I just lost it! I cried because I saw what the wars had done to destroy our beautiful country. The poverty I saw struck me the most and still does up to this very day. Without organizations like CARE, my people and others would have no other safety net to address their social problems.
6. Today you work for CARE to fight against poverty and deliver humanitarian relief. What are your first thoughts when you hear about a new refugee crisis somewhere, e.g. last year in Sri Lanka?
The thought of seeing another human being forced into refugee life is so depressing! However right after I became an American citizen, I learnt that war is not the only reason why people become refugees. Today climate change can cause massive exoduses of people. Natural disasters can cause refugees and extreme poverty can cause people to migrate into a refugee situation in search of a better life. I have also learnt that there is so much the global community can do to mitigate this problem on so many levels. For example CARE has mastered the art of providing key services during a humanitarian disaster that if everything goes well we have the capability to bring normalcy back into people’s lives. All we need is for the rest of the world to support us through financial support and the like and we take care of the rest. CARE has shown exemplary work in Haiti where a natural disaster has been met with a redoubtable skill set in our staff on the ground. So despite the depressing sight of seeing fellow humans suffering, I am encouraged by the efforts by NGOs like CARE fighting poverty.
7. What does the word “home” mean to you?
If there is anything positive that might have come out being a refugee, it was that I have learnt to call every place I find "refuge" home. If my own original home is so unfit for me to live then that can't be home! Home is where one feels welcome, safe, respected and given a chance to succeed. That is home. May we all strive to make the world home for every human being this Refugee Day on June 20th.