Clemantine Wamariya's journey: genocide survivor to rights campaigner

Just over a week ago I attended an inspirational talk by Clemantine Wamariya. Clemantine survived the Rwandan genocide and was a refugee in seven African countries. Clemantine looked like she had it all together when she got on stage but a few seconds later she was on the verge of breaking down as she told the audience “I have no idea how I got here.” A strange thing to say perhaps but her experiences still haunt her and speaking about them can be overwhelming. Clemantine started to smile again as she told us why that night was especially significant for her; it was the first time she was giving a talk to a predominantly black African audience.

  

Poster promoting the event 

I was not at all surprised when Clemantine told us that she was no different from the street kids we pass by but was puzzled when Clemantine told us she is “that girl from Chibolya.” Clemantine has been a refugee in Burundi, Congo, Tanzania, Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa and unbeknownst to me, Zambia as well. She lived in Lusaka’s Chibolya township for a year and a half. At the time Chibolya was not the notorious drug haven it is today but it was still a tough place to live in. No one expects anything good to come out of Chibolya but Clemantine, the highly sought after speaker, human rights campaigner and Yale graduate lived there from 1998-2000.

She spoke about her childhood growing up in a middle class family. Her desires were simple; she was happy as long as she could play outside, remain queen of the mango tree in the yard and have some bubblegum to chew on. But then of course the genocide started in 1994 when she was six years old and her world was turned upside down. The words ‘genocide’ and ‘refugee’ mask so much says Clemantine. “Your whole being, your dignity is stripped away from you when you’re labelled a refugee.” When you get to a UNHCR camp you’re given an itchy blanket, a pot, food that “cuts your gut” and a tent (you may have to wait a while for this). Worst of all, there’s no protection from rape. “If you survive a month, god has been good to you,” Clemantine said.

Clemantine and her sister Claire were first refugees in Burundi but after a year and a half they moved on to Congo DR. However, after war broke out the Congo they headed to Tanzania and later Malawi. In Malawi Clemantine stayed in a refugee camp that used to be a prison and in Mozambique she and her sister were thrown into prison for entering the country illegally. Of her time spent in South Africa she said, “Life was good. We ate chicken.”

Wanting to be visible

When Clemantine escaped Rwanda she wanted to be invisible in order to avoid rape and other forms of physical violence and to avoid death. But when she arrived in Lusaka exhausted, starving and disoriented in the middle of Town Centre Market she found herself wanting to be visible once again. When she least expected it a lady handed her some ice water and a banana and she felt visible once again. Clemantine insists it wasn’t so much the water and food that mattered but more the fact that someone noticed her finally. That lady and a few others that had helped her during her time in Chibolya were in the audience sitting in the VIP section. It was heartwarming to hear Clemantine pay tribute to them.

In Chibolya she lived in a room no larger than a square metre with her sister and her sister’s two children. But she didn’t complain, “It was just life,” she said of the experience. The worst part of it all was seeing other kids in in their uniforms as they came back from school. (Clemantine had not attended school since leaving Rwanda.) Believing her parents were dead, it was also difficult for her to see other kids with their mums and dads.

A new life in the US

Clemantine and Claire cleaned houses in Durban, South Africa often with the TV on and tuned to the Oprah Winfrey Show. One day Claire declared that she and Clemantine would appear on the show, despite the sheer unlikelihood of that happening and the fact that they did not fully understand what the show was about because their English was poor. Claire was right though. In 2006 she appeared on the show with Clemantine after Clemantine won the Oprah Winfrey National High School Essay Contest that year. Clemantine and Claire were reunited with their parents after 12 years apart and met their two brothers who were born after the genocide, for the first time on the show.

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Through the assistance of the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) Clemantine, Claire and Claire's children moved to the US in 2000 and Chicago has been their home ever since. However, Clemantine noted that the transition wasn’t easy and when you’re told you’ll be moving, no one ever tells you some things are better in your home country or in your home continent. Clemantine's parents and brother have also relocated to Chicago. 

Ever a pessimist, I struggled to understand how Clemantine managed to remain so positive after what she went through. Importantly, Clemantine doesn't seek people's pity nor does she define herself as as victim. She also refused to let her self be limited by her past. She summarises her life’s philosophy with the abbreviation ICU which stands for Inspire, Connect and Uplift and surely everyone in the audience would agree she did all this on the night of her talk.

Who’s afraid of natural hair?

My longest ever job search recently came to an end after I was offered a position at an online magazine. One of the things I had to seriously consider was how my hair might affect my chances should a potential employer call me in for an interview. I have natural hair and save for a few times in my life I never wear weaves. Generally speaking, sleek straight hair is considered more professional than kinky natural hair so there was always a possibility that an interviewer will judge a natural unfairly because of my hair. And I’m not the only one who feels that way. 

A friend with locs (dreadlocks) told me that she used to wear a weave over her hair to increase her chances of getting hired. A few days or even weeks, always to the shock of her co-workers, she’d arrive at work with her shoulder length locks in their full glory. Another friend told me her sister would wear a wig over her natural hair when she attended interviews because she felt otherwise her chances of getting hired were almost non-existent.

My main locspiration, Franchesca "Chescaleigh" Ramsey

ain't nothing dreadful about this

  

 franchesca.net

I’m glad to say I got offered a job after attending an interview wearing my newly done baby locs. But then again I was interviewed by a Scandinavian woman and I do sometimes wonder what the outcome would’ve been if my interviewer was a black Zambian. This is not to say that I think most Zambian employers would refuse to hire a person based on their hair alone but biases exists. A woman wearing a weave or wig will never have to worry about the hair on her head reducing her chances of getting hired. A black Zambian woman in a Peruvian weave all the way down her back won’t feel compelled to take out her weave lest she be perceived to be as fake as the hair on her head. But step into an interview with a fro or locs and you’ll just have to accept the fact that you may be written off as unprofessional, untidy, a rebel making a political statement or a druggie before you’ve said a single word.

People should do what they want with their hair and that includes chemical straightening and wearing weaves or wigs. And those of us who chose to keep hair in its natural state shouldn’t be discriminated against, but the fact is, we are. Hair shouldn’t be political but unfortunately, it is.

Excuse me, I didn't know I got married

The other day while  sorting out an appointment at a Lusaka clinic and going through the usual paper work I noticed that the lady assisting me put me down as a “Mrs” on one of the forms. I must've gotten drunk and had a quickie wedding in Vegas and forgot about it. But seriously, the lady didn't ask, she just assumed I’m married. This annoyed me a little but honestly didn’t surprise me. This has happened to me a lot and it’s happened to some of my unmarried female friends and relatives. In Zambia if you’re a woman over a certain age, chances are people will assume you’re married.

On the one hand I get it. People in Zambia still get married at a relatively young age. According to a 2009 sexual behaviour survey (the latest one I could find), the average age at which women marry is 18.7 for women and 23 for men. As a female well into my 20s I’m several years past the average age at which females in Zambia get married. But seriously, how hard is it to ask before you fill in my details on the form? How hard is it to just put me down as “Ms” which is applicable to all women regardless of their marital status?

After I graduated from uni and returned to Zambia I had a couple of older ladies, both were family friends, say to me upon discovering that I was done with my studies and looking for a job, “So when’s the wedding?” It was said jokingly but there was an element of seriousness too. I had just finished uni and so naturally finding myself a husband was among the goals I had set for myself. At least that’s what a lot of people seemed to think. Many years before this, while my family’s maid was teaching me how to cook a few basic things she said something to me I’ll never forget. She told me it was important that I pay attention and learn as much as possible because no man wants to marry a woman who can’t cook. Apparently should a man marry me and find I’m no domestic goddess he’ll promptly leave me for our maid. I chose to shut up rather than tell her I would never marry a man who did not see me as an equal partner and who wasn’t willing to do household chores but instead expected me to be his domestic helper and personal chef. Truth be told, part of me I resented the fact that I had to learn how to cook. I was certain that if I were male no one would insist that I learn, especially in the Zambian context. I’d only be expected to partake of meals but not to ever prepare one or even wash a dish.

Interestingly enough the lady warning me on the perils of not being an excellent cook is herself an independent and unmarried woman who seemingly has no intention of ever getting married. Despite this she assumed that finding a husband was one of my major life goals. And there lies the problem in my eyes, the assumptions; the assumption either that I’m married or hunting for a husband. Sure the average Zambian woman my age is married, but hey, I guess I’m more than just average.

200+ Nigerian girls for sale but who’s buying?

As you may have heard, on April 14^th members of the Islamist group Boko Haram abducted 276 girls from their boarding school in Chibok, Nigeria. On the 4^th of May a further 11 girls were abducted by the same group from a village in Borno state. It’s a heartbreaking and bewildering situation to say the least. One has to wonder how so many girls could be smuggled out of their school without a single staff member noticing. The Nigerian government’s nonchalant attitude has also been baffling. Reports emerged claiming that some of the girls have been married off to their captors and some have been sold into forced marriages for $12. The head of Boko Haram has since appeared on video proudly confirming that the plan is indeed to sell these girls, aged 12-18.

Most people including myself are, unsurprisingly, disgusted by Boko Haram’s actions. However, I can’t help but shift my attention to the men that have bought and will buy the abducted girls. What kind of a man literally looks at a girl as a piece of property to be bought and sold, in 2014 no less? I understand that for many people marriage is not about love and mutual respect. For some a husband is someone to provide financial stability and material goods. For others a wife is someone to take care of the household and bear children. But who in their right mind thinks it is OK to buy a wife, especially one that was stolen away from her family? These men are essentially buying slaves, not wives. They will treat the women as nothing more than sex slaves and domestic labourers. I shudder to think of the children born out of these unholy unions. How these men can justify participating in human trafficking and modern day slave trade is beyond comprehension.

I support the #BringBackOurGirls social media campaign though I do have some reservations; I wonder just how much this social media campaign can last and question how much it'll achieve before it invevitably stops trending. The bigger issue is that we need to destroy Boko Haram (and all other harmful religious fundamentalist movements). The men who buy these girls must also be dealt with severely. Boko Haram has shown how easy it is for them to kill and abduct innocent people. If the girls are rescued they could probably just as easily abduct and enslave more girls. Bringing back our girls is a step in the right direction but much more needs to be done.

Lupita Nyong’o is the world’s most beautiful person, for 2014 at least

People magazine has released its annual list of the world’s most beautiful people and this year Kenyan actress Lupita Nyong’o is number one. My initial reaction to this was a mix of surprise and delight. While I think Lupita’s gorgeous I was surprised she topped the list simply because girls who look like her don’t often make it onto lists like that. Look up any major annual list of beauties and you’ll mostly find white women and maybe a couple of light skinned black women with long flowing, straight hair thrown in to add a little ‘diversity’.

The positive side to this

Lupita has noted that when she was younger she equated beauty with light skin and long, straight hair. She may have gotten over that view and embraced her looks but many more have not. I live in an African country where I see more weaves and wigs than natural African hair and skin lighteners are easy to come by and increasingly popular. (This is not to say that anyone who wears weaves and wigs or lightens themselves is necessarily consumed with self-hatred.) For a while I gave up on going to hair salons because I was tired of hairdressers asking me why I won’t just relax (chemically straighten) my hair. The number of hairdressers I’ve come across in Lusaka who either don’t want to deal with natural African hair or are just clueless about what to do with it is astounding. While Ive never used skin lighteners, there was a time I thought lighter skin would make me attractive. With this in mind it’s great to see one of the world's top celebrity magazines embrace both her natural hair and dark skin.

It’s possible that many black girls and women will be get a boost from seeing someone who looks like them being declared the world’s most beautiful person. Dark skinned black females as well as black females with natural hair have a new beauty icon to look up to. Black women have been featured on People list of the 50 most beautiful people before and even been awarded the title. Beyoncé topped the list in 2012 but considering the fact that she has pale skin and more often than not is seen donning one of her trademark blonde wigs, her win didn’t do much to make dark skinned women proud or validate black beauty.

On the other hand

While I appreciate positive media coverage of black women and women in general my excitement over Lupita’s latest accolade didn’t last that long. Lists like these are unrealistic and the title of the award is deceptive. It’s about popularity at the end of the day. Lupita is Hollywood’s latest 'It girl' and chances are she would not have been considered for People’s list if she had not recently starred in a hit movie and won a slew of awards. Furthermore, the idea that people sit in a room and decide who the world's most beautiful people are on behalf of everyone else is absurd.

I wouldn’t want to understate or overstate the importance of Lupita being declared the world’s most beautiful person by people. On the one hand People is just a gossip magazine but then again magazines like these help us form our ideas about beauty. If Lupita’s latest accolade helps challenge people’s single-minded ideas of what beauty is and helps a variety of women feel better about themselves, then it’s a good thing.