5.4 Zimbabwe Refugee Learners’ Migration Experiences
5.4.2 TRANSMIGRATION EXPERIENCES
5.4.2.4 Finding the School
151 The trend of refugees working during their transmigration journey is very common. Sadouni (2009) contends that among Somalis who travelled to Johannesburg to seek refuge, some sold their gold and jewellery in order to raise transport money. Others had to work while they were still in Tanzania and Mozambique in order to raise money to get them to Johannesburg.
Some learners reported that they lived on the streets before they eventually reached the Chitate Street School. One learner from FGD1 said: “I was living on the streets selling cigarettes and sniffing glue” (FGD, 14 March 2012). Memory reported that she went through bad experiences when she was living on the streets:
I lived in Johannesburg as a street child for 22 days. I was sleeping on the streets and eating food from dusty bins. I covered myself with plastic and cardboard boxes during the night. I was begging on the streets of Johannesburg every evening and day (Interview, 9 March 2012).
Lloyd said:
When we arrived in Johannesburg, we lived at the Roman Catholic Church as street children. We would only come to the church to sleep, but spent the whole day making money by pick pocketing. That is how my friends and I raised money for food (Interview, 6 March 2012).
The Roman Catholic Church building where many Zimbabweans were living is in Johannesburg.
The building is used mainly by street children and desperate homeless people. Some learners who participated in this study reported that they lived in the Roman Catholic building before the Bishop enrolled them at Chitate Street School. The majority of unaccompanied children who are schooling at Chitate Street School sought accommodation at the Roman Catholic Church before they joined the school. Learners found out about the refugee school in different ways.
152 (Adventist), but the woman said there is a church for Zimbabweans called the Roman Catholic Church”. The learner in FGD2 said:
I went to the Roman Catholic Church. I slept on the floor outside the church for a week. It was difficult because I never did that before. I saw another learner who was wearing a uniform. I asked him where he learnt and he said at Chitate Street School. When I went to the school, it was closed for the weekend. There was only a security guard. I stayed with a security guard sleeping on the floor without a blanket from Friday evening until Monday morning when offices were opened. When the principal learnt that I was unaccompanied, he told me to join other learners who were staying in Glenview (FGD, 14 March 2012).
Glenview is a township where all unaccompanied children were staying. Some learners who were street children reported that they heard about the school from other street children. Memory said: “I learnt about Chitate Street School from some street children from Zimbabwe who were with me. They did not want to go to school because they claimed that they were making money”.
Nancy, who had come to South Africa to look for a job, said:
I learnt about the school from fellow girls I was walking on the streets with. They told me that the school accepts refugees and street kids and it is free of charge. Since I did not get a job, I decided to go to the school (Interview, 6 March 2012).
Some children had been out of school for such a long time that they did not see the point of going back again. Lloyd reported that he never wanted to go back to school. He joined Chitate Street School because he was desperately in need of help. Lloyd narrated his experience of how he joined the school:
When I first heard about Chitate Street School, I ignored it because I was making money from begging, stealing and smoking glue. I was asked by the Bishop to either join the school or leave the church building. My friends and I decided to leave the building because we did not want to go to school. I did not want school any more. I was able to buy good food sometimes from food shops like Chicken Inn. One day I was caught by the police trying to steal from an old woman. I was beaten so badly that I thought of going home. I could not go to the clinic because I was afraid that I would be arrested since I was an illegal immigrant. All my friends ran away from me and I decided to try Chitate Street School. I joined the school. They welcomed me with open arms and without any conditions. They provided me with uniforms and a place to stay with other unaccompanied children in Glenview (Interview, 6 March 2012).
Most of the unaccompanied learners reported that some of their friends were making a living on the streets and did not see a future in going to school. The situation was completely different from reports that came from accompanied children who joined Chitate Street School when they
153 arrived in the city. Accompanied children were encouraged by their caregivers (parents/guardians) to pursue schooling because they were too young to work or do any business.
One parent said:
I heard about a school for refugees from the farm that I was working at. I was so intrigued because I wanted to let my children continue with their education. I left my job and went to stay in Johannesburg so that my children could go to school (Interview, 13 March 2012).
Parents wanted to send their children to government schools near their work places, however, their children could not be admitted because of their status as refugees. Worse still, many caregivers did not have legal documents and grounds to apply for asylum. One guardian said: “I had problems enroling my daughter at a government school. Principals were refusing to accept her because she did not have documents. All schools rejected her until I heard about Chitate School of Refugees” (Interview, 13 March 2012). Even children who had asylum were not admitted into government schools by principals.
A parent said: “I tried to look for a government school to enrol my son, but it was difficult. In all schools that I tried, principals rejected him because he had asylum status. Principals said they do not take people with such a status, even refugees” (Interview, 13 March 2012). Some principals believed that it was illegal to accept refugees in their schools. This made refugee children from Zimbabwe roam around the streets until they got places to study at Chitate Street School of Refugees.
Children who were rejected in government schools because of their status went to join Chitate Street School which takes children with or without legal documents. This is in line with the words of the principal of Chitate Street School who said: “At this school, we accept children unconditionally. Whether they are from poor families, blind communities, and foreign countries and with or without legal documents, we enrol children and teach them” (Interview, 12 March 2012). Refugee children eventually settled at Chitate Street School of Refugees. Accompanied children stayed in different locations close to the school. Unaccompanied children settled at a community centre in Glenview Township, close to the Johannesburg city centre. Refugee children began to go through post-migration experiences from the refugee school and their respective areas of settlement.
154 5.4.3 POST-MIGRATION EXPERIENCES
Post migration is the last stage of refugee experiences and it consists of its own set of challenges associated with settling in a new community. Post-migration experiences are encounters faced by refugees when they settle in communities and adapt to the new culture of the society. Bhugra et al. (2011) contend that post-migration is viewed as the incorporation of the immigrant within the social and cultural framework of the new society. This section analyses the refugee learners’
post-migration experiences using Bronfenbrenner’s social ecological model. All learners who participated in this study reiterated that they faced hostile post-migration experiences from communities in which they settled. Some learners argued that although they faced hostile communities in South Africa, their post-migration experiences were far less horrific than encounters they had during pre- and transmigration. One learner from FGD1 said:
Challenges that we are facing here in South Africa are bad, but they can never be compared to what we faced in Zimbabwe. In South Africa, they exercise rights. Rights are given even if you are a foreigner, but when I was in Zimbabwe, I did not even know anything about rights because we were never granted any. Basic rights such as the right to freedom and to live were violated everyday (FGD, 14 March 2012).
Refugees have rights in South Africa. This is because the country is a signatory to the United Nations Convention on the Status of Refugees. Despite the fact that basic human rights are enshrined in South Africa’s 1996 Constitution, refugee children’s rights are usually sidelined, and they face discrimination and xenophobia.