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Byarwanga Taka, DRC "I don't know what the future holds for me"

[DRC] Byarwanga Taka, 30, a Hema (ethnic origin) at an IDP camp in Bunia town, 30 August 2003. IRIN
Byarwanga Taka.
    NAIROBI

    "My name is Byarwanga Taka. I am 30 years old. I used to own a shop and I was living a prosperous life but now I am living in abject poverty after militia attacked my part of town.

    "I lived with my wife and four children, together with other members of our extended family - my parents, brothers and sisters - until April 2003 when a Lendu militia group attacked our homes.

    "They came at about 4 am and killed people and burnt houses. They took away all the stock I had in the shop. I managed to flee with my wife and children. My mother was not so lucky, she died because she couldn't run. My father and seven of my brothers and sisters managed to flee to Uganda.

    "When I tried to also flee to Uganda, I found that the route had been blocked by another band of militia. I had to return to Bunia, that is why I am here at the camp, there is no security back home, I have nowhere to go.

    "I have no work. I spend my day just idling about in the camp. I have looked and looked, I haven't found anything to do. Life at the camp is not easy, our tents are congested, sometimes as many as 30 families share one small tent, some of us even have nowhere to sleep in the tent, we just sit all night.

    "I don't know what the future holds for me, all I know is that I must find a job soon."

    This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

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