story from the field
caught on like wildfire in the camp, and as Schmitt reported in a story she wrote about the new activity, young people have embraced their new outlet of expression, physical release and sense of community brought about by capoeira.
THERE ARE STILL NEW REFUGEES BEING DISPLACED AND NOW I’VE SEEN REFUGEES GOING BACK HOME AND BEING DISPLACED AGAIN FOR THE SECOND, THIRD, AND SOMETIMES FOURTH TIME.
Gaining refugees’ trust is a big part of Schmitt’s job—sometimes a tough challenge given that people arriving in camps are often traumatized and scared.
“Te most important thing for a refugee is that we listen to them,” Schmitt says. “When they see that we are doing our best to act on what they have told us— even if it takes time—then they begin to trust. You have to believe in what you do. And when people see that you believe in what you do and don’t give up, and you come back to help them, then they trust you.”
On New Year’s Eve in Mole refugee
camp, a young female refugee whom Schmitt helped, gave birth to a baby girl. Te mother named her baby Céline, a gesture Schmitt is deeply honoured to share.
Despite the gruelling conditions of her job in the field, which sometimes means eating just once a day and living in a tent, Schmitt has a strong and positive spirit. “When we see how the refugees
live with only leaves over their heads and entire families stuck in small shelters, but we still have tents, mats, drinking water and toilets, we are still privileged,” she says.
Tere’s no doubt that Schmitt is affected by both the scale and deeply rooted nature of the displacement crisis.
“Te situation in CAR and even in DRC isn’t stopping,” she says. “Tere are still new refugees being displaced and now I’ve seen refugees going back home and being displaced again for the second, third, and sometimes fourth time. It is a complex political problem, yet we can make a difference in the lives of the people. When we saw two girls cross the border after being attacked in CAR, and we were able to get them to the hospital in Kinshasa, we knew that they would have died without us. When you see these girls two weeks later in the hospital and the doctors tell us that they were able to save the one girl’s leg—it didn’t have to be amputated— then we really knew that we had made a difference.”
Schmitt works as part of a UNHCR team and counts on them for both personal and professional support.
She works alongside protection officers who, for example, identify the specific protection needs of women who have been sexually assaulted or children who have been separated from their parents. Nurses and doctors take care of medical needs, while water and sanitation experts make sure potable water is available. Shelter officers work to provide safe and secure places to sleep and eat.
“I listen to the refugees and my colleagues because I am not a protection or medical or shelter expert,” Schmitt explains. “We work together to see the larger context and to see what has to be done and whether further advocacy is needed.”
© UNHCR/ P. Taggart 2008
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