Too many babies, too little space in Nakivale camp
Jul 02, 2010
IT is hard to walk five minutes in Ishangano trading centre without seeing a woman who is either pregnant or carrying a baby. Ishangano lies within Nakivale refugee settlement camp in Isingiro district, where over 63,000 refugees from Rwanda, Ethiopia, Somalia, D.R.Congo and Burundi live.
By Aidah Nanyonjo
IT is hard to walk five minutes in Ishangano trading centre without seeing a woman who is either pregnant or carrying a baby. Ishangano lies within Nakivale refugee settlement camp in Isingiro district, where over 63,000 refugees from Rwanda, Ethiopia, Somalia, D.R.Congo and Burundi live.
The local population is not happy with the rate at which refugee numbers are rising.
Nakivale camp was created in 1960 to host Tutsi refugees who had fled the 1959 genocide in Rwanda.
Land belonging to the Ankole Kingdom, (Obugabe), was used to resettle the refugees. In return, the colonial government gave the Obugabe an equivalent piece of land in Nyabushozi. Nakivale was chosen because it was close to the border with Rwanda and had a low population density.
After Paul Kagame’s Rwandese Patriotic Front (RPF) took power in Rwanda in 1994, most of the Rwandese Tutsi refugees returned home. However, they were soon replaced by another group of Rwandese refugees, this time mainly of Hutu ethnicity, fleeing the aftermath of the 1994 genocide.
Since then, Rwandese Hutus have continued to flock into Uganda and currently comprise the largest ethnic population of refugees in Nakivale settlement.
However, the increasing population of the refugees has become a concern to the district authorities due to land wrangles between the nationals and the refugees. The refugees, through the local settlement policy, have been allocated land to which nationals claim title or rights of usage.
Deudina Atuhaire is a Ugandan living at Katwengye Cell, within the settlement camp. Recently, the camp commandant divided her land into pieces and gave it to Congolese refugees.
“Sometimes the Government takes land from us and gives it to refugees. If you resist, the camp commandant will say it is a settlement camp,†she said.
Atuhaire has lived in this area since the 1980s and claims to have bought the land from a Ugandan. She has a land title. “If you are found with a chunk of land, it is divided into pieces and given to refugees,†added 65-year-old Natukunda.
Because of the increasing land conflicts in the refugee camp, President Yoweri Museveni instituted an inquiry into the issue. However, the details of the inquiry have never been made public.
Although there is an on-going land conflict, Natukunda says they benefit from the refugees when it comes to trade. “Whenever they (refugees) harvest their produce, they sell it to us at a cheap price. They have no where else to sell,†she added.
According to the Isingiro district Chairman, Ignatius Byaruhanga, some people have titles for land in Nakivale, which they acquired from the Ministry of Lands. The Prime Minister’s office, however, advised the district authorities that such titles were acquired irregularly and should be cancelled.
Many of them, however, did not know this for many years. As with Atuhaire, many did not know that they were occupying land with encumbrances.
It only became apparent to them in recent years after the number of refugees increased and the Government needed to allocate them more land for cultivation.
The population increase may be partially attributed to fresh arrivals, but the biggest part results from childbirth.
Much as up-to-date figures on the demographic structure of the refugees are not available, by observation, close to half the population are children.
The biggest influx of refugees into the camp was in the mid 1990s, implying that these children were born after their parents resettled in Nakivale.
Many of the refugee women say they would prefer to have smaller families, but are limited by availability of contraceptives. Others say they cannot access family planning methods of their choice. There are four health centres within Nakivale camp but they only provide Injectorplan, condoms and pills, according to the women, many of whom would prefer long term methods.
For instance, at the age of 25, Grace Namara has four children, although life as a refugee is hard and she would want a smaller family.
She had agreed with her husband to use Norplant, which would prevent pregnancy for five years, but it was not available at the health centres in Nakivale. Health workers advised her to get the service at Mbarara Hospital. To get there, she needed to travel over 70km by bus on a bumpy and dusty murram road, but she could not afford the transport fare (about sh20,000 for a return journey to Mbarara). She is not on any contraceptive, yet it is about 11 months since she delivered.
“I want that family planning method of five years but it I cannot access it here. I want to raise money to go to Mbarara Hospital,†she said.
Apart from the limited family planning methods, some refugees live far from the health centres and this limits the extent to which they can utilise the services.
It takes two hours for Annet Natukunda of Kabazaana village to walk six miles to Nakivale health centre III, where she can access reproductive health facilities.
At this health centre, family planning services are provided on specific days: That is, Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
Natukunda says it is a problem, especially for the new patients who may not be aware of the specific days. “When you come on a wrong day, you are asked to come back on the specific day set aside for family planning. Many have conceived because by the time they get back, they have already had sex,†she adds.
Failure to follow guidelines to specific family planning methods is also a problem among the refugees. Beatrice Segimaana, 31, has four children and is seven months pregnant. She decided to take her pills only when her husband was at home.
Her husband is a truck driver. She ended up getting pregnant because she did not take her contraceptives consistently.
“I was advised to take them on a daily basis, but because my husband was always away, I did not want to bother myself with the daily pills. Now I am pregnant,†she said.
Sometimes she does not find the pills at the health centre and she ends up buying them from a private clinic.
Sarah Zawadi aged 23, is expecting her third child. She has never used any family planning method. Currently, she is breastfeeding a 1½ year old baby.
However, she does not know how old the pregnancy is because she did not go into her periods after giving birth. “I thought by breastfeeding, I was safe from becoming pregnant,†she said.
But after giving birth, Zawadi says she plans to use the modern family planning methods.
IT is hard to walk five minutes in Ishangano trading centre without seeing a woman who is either pregnant or carrying a baby. Ishangano lies within Nakivale refugee settlement camp in Isingiro district, where over 63,000 refugees from Rwanda, Ethiopia, Somalia, D.R.Congo and Burundi live.
The local population is not happy with the rate at which refugee numbers are rising.
Nakivale camp was created in 1960 to host Tutsi refugees who had fled the 1959 genocide in Rwanda.
Land belonging to the Ankole Kingdom, (Obugabe), was used to resettle the refugees. In return, the colonial government gave the Obugabe an equivalent piece of land in Nyabushozi. Nakivale was chosen because it was close to the border with Rwanda and had a low population density.
After Paul Kagame’s Rwandese Patriotic Front (RPF) took power in Rwanda in 1994, most of the Rwandese Tutsi refugees returned home. However, they were soon replaced by another group of Rwandese refugees, this time mainly of Hutu ethnicity, fleeing the aftermath of the 1994 genocide.
Since then, Rwandese Hutus have continued to flock into Uganda and currently comprise the largest ethnic population of refugees in Nakivale settlement.
However, the increasing population of the refugees has become a concern to the district authorities due to land wrangles between the nationals and the refugees. The refugees, through the local settlement policy, have been allocated land to which nationals claim title or rights of usage.
Deudina Atuhaire is a Ugandan living at Katwengye Cell, within the settlement camp. Recently, the camp commandant divided her land into pieces and gave it to Congolese refugees.
“Sometimes the Government takes land from us and gives it to refugees. If you resist, the camp commandant will say it is a settlement camp,†she said.
Atuhaire has lived in this area since the 1980s and claims to have bought the land from a Ugandan. She has a land title. “If you are found with a chunk of land, it is divided into pieces and given to refugees,†added 65-year-old Natukunda.
Because of the increasing land conflicts in the refugee camp, President Yoweri Museveni instituted an inquiry into the issue. However, the details of the inquiry have never been made public.
Although there is an on-going land conflict, Natukunda says they benefit from the refugees when it comes to trade. “Whenever they (refugees) harvest their produce, they sell it to us at a cheap price. They have no where else to sell,†she added.
According to the Isingiro district Chairman, Ignatius Byaruhanga, some people have titles for land in Nakivale, which they acquired from the Ministry of Lands. The Prime Minister’s office, however, advised the district authorities that such titles were acquired irregularly and should be cancelled.
Many of them, however, did not know this for many years. As with Atuhaire, many did not know that they were occupying land with encumbrances.
It only became apparent to them in recent years after the number of refugees increased and the Government needed to allocate them more land for cultivation.
The population increase may be partially attributed to fresh arrivals, but the biggest part results from childbirth.
Much as up-to-date figures on the demographic structure of the refugees are not available, by observation, close to half the population are children.
The biggest influx of refugees into the camp was in the mid 1990s, implying that these children were born after their parents resettled in Nakivale.
Many of the refugee women say they would prefer to have smaller families, but are limited by availability of contraceptives. Others say they cannot access family planning methods of their choice. There are four health centres within Nakivale camp but they only provide Injectorplan, condoms and pills, according to the women, many of whom would prefer long term methods.
For instance, at the age of 25, Grace Namara has four children, although life as a refugee is hard and she would want a smaller family.
She had agreed with her husband to use Norplant, which would prevent pregnancy for five years, but it was not available at the health centres in Nakivale. Health workers advised her to get the service at Mbarara Hospital. To get there, she needed to travel over 70km by bus on a bumpy and dusty murram road, but she could not afford the transport fare (about sh20,000 for a return journey to Mbarara). She is not on any contraceptive, yet it is about 11 months since she delivered.
“I want that family planning method of five years but it I cannot access it here. I want to raise money to go to Mbarara Hospital,†she said.
Apart from the limited family planning methods, some refugees live far from the health centres and this limits the extent to which they can utilise the services.
It takes two hours for Annet Natukunda of Kabazaana village to walk six miles to Nakivale health centre III, where she can access reproductive health facilities.
At this health centre, family planning services are provided on specific days: That is, Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
Natukunda says it is a problem, especially for the new patients who may not be aware of the specific days. “When you come on a wrong day, you are asked to come back on the specific day set aside for family planning. Many have conceived because by the time they get back, they have already had sex,†she adds.
Failure to follow guidelines to specific family planning methods is also a problem among the refugees. Beatrice Segimaana, 31, has four children and is seven months pregnant. She decided to take her pills only when her husband was at home.
Her husband is a truck driver. She ended up getting pregnant because she did not take her contraceptives consistently.
“I was advised to take them on a daily basis, but because my husband was always away, I did not want to bother myself with the daily pills. Now I am pregnant,†she said.
Sometimes she does not find the pills at the health centre and she ends up buying them from a private clinic.
Sarah Zawadi aged 23, is expecting her third child. She has never used any family planning method. Currently, she is breastfeeding a 1½ year old baby.
However, she does not know how old the pregnancy is because she did not go into her periods after giving birth. “I thought by breastfeeding, I was safe from becoming pregnant,†she said.
But after giving birth, Zawadi says she plans to use the modern family planning methods.