Lucy* – just another woman in need of shelter, a woman who knew suffering, a woman who could show no emotion, a woman who seemed to have no needs – an empty shell.

Early in November 2007, Lucy was placed in Mercy House, a Mercy shelter for abused women, by a social worker from the UNHCR. She had just had a baby by Caesarian section and needed a place where she could recuperate. She arrived tired, in pain and – in her words – ‘dead’. Over the next few months we learned about the early part of Lucy’s incredible journey, and then we became part of that journey.

Lucy was an ordinary, happy, eleven-year-old schoolgirl, attending a boarding school in Burundi, when the 1992 Tutsi genocide took place in her country. She and a number of her fellow classmates heard of the massacre that had taken place in their village. Every member of Lucy’s family had been murdered. To save the children from certain death, some of the teachers fled with them to the Tanzanian border. Once over the border they were taken to a refugee camp.

Mercy House staff and guests say ‘good bye’ to Lucy

“Do you know what a refugee camp is?” she asked. “It is terrible, especially for the women. They get raped. No one cares.” On the long walk to Tanzania, Lucy had hurt her leg and it had become badly infected. When the doctors examined her leg, they said she would have to have it amputated. Fortunately, a woman doctor asked them to let her look after Lucy and she would try to save the leg. After six months her dedicated care paid off. Lucy has a very bad scar but she did not lose her leg.

After some time, Lucy and some of the Burundian refugees were moved on to Kenya. Here Lucy stayed with some friends of her father’s until they were granted asylum in Canada. Lucy was on the move again. This time she was flown to Malawi and placed in another ‘terrible’ refugee camp. After a long stay there, she and some other refugees were taken by bus to Mozambique. From there they decided to try to get to South Africa. That meant walking through Swaziland. After years of continual displacement, Lucy arrived in South Africa.

During her journey, Lucy had become romantically involved with a fellow refugee. When they arrived in South Africa, he abandoned her, leaving her pregnant and alone. She was able to make contact with the UNHCR and they put her in a house for refugees – until she had her baby and came to Mercy House. When we met her she was in a lot of pain and very sad. Her baby had been taken away to a place of safety. She was alone again. After a few weeks we found out why she was in so much pain. The doctor who had performed the Caesarian section on her, had left the surgical scissors inside her abdomen.

As the months passed, Lucy became stronger. She was seeing a psychologist regularly, learning English and trying to live a more normal life. She found employment and was able to visit her son every second week. Then tragedy struck again. The baby became ill and died before anything could be done for him. Everyone and everything Lucy ever had had been taken from her. But Lucy did not give up. Showing unbelievable courage, resilience and courage she began to put her life together. She found better employment and early last year, she rented a room where she could be independent. She said she had only moved her bed: Mercy House was still her home.

In October 2009, the UNHCR was able to relocate her permanently to Australia. She is living in a flat in Melbourne, has begun studying and is earning her keep by doing translation. We receive a phone call every week ‘to hear the news’. Lucy is living her story of ‘hope and imagination’.

* Not her real name

Colleen Wilkinson rsm
South African Province