Godriver Wanga-Odhiambo - Resilience in South Sudanese Women: Hope for Daughters of the Nile

Resilience in South Sudanese Women

LEXINGTON BOOKS

Lanham Boulder New York Toronto Plymouth, UK

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Wanga-Odhiambo, Godriver, 1960

Resilience in South Sudanese women : hope for daughters of the Nile / Godriver Wanga-Odhiambo.

pages cm

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-0-7391-7866-9 (cloth : alk. paper) ISBN 978-0-7391-7867-6 (electronic)

1. Women and warSouth Sudan. 2. WomenSouth SudanSocial conditions. 3. Women refugeesSouth Sudan. 4. South SudaneseUnited States. 5. SudanHistoryCivil War, 1983-2005. 6. South SudanPolitics and government2005-2011. I. Title.

HQ1793.5.W36 2014

305.409629dc23

2013044310

TM The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992.

Printed in the United States of America

To the Sudanese women, other refugee women, and the internally
displaced women of Africa.

And to my sister May CosmasThank you for being strong.

Robert M. Maxon

The many issues surrounding the refugee phenomenon have occupied much world attention during the 20th and 21st centuries. Refugees continue to seek safety and better living conditions in situations ranging from Syria to the Democratic Republic of Congo. A common feature of the refugee experience in Africa is civil war and the disruption it causes with those moving seeking a safe haven for themselves and their families. As in this study, neighboring countries provide the usual target for refugee movement. Such movement generates many problems and issues for study.

Subjects such as the factors which cause people to leave their homes to become internally or externally displaced persons continue to be widely studied. So also are the actions of international agencies, NGOs, and host countries in meeting the challenges produced by the movement of refugees across international borders. This study touches on these important issues, but gives primary emphasis to the experiences of female refugees from Southern Sudan who moved out of that region (now an independent country) over a lengthy period characterized by civil war and associated violence in the quest for a safer and better life. In focusing on this select group of refugees, the book provides an important perspective: the experience of the women themselves in host countries, particularly Kenya, Egypt, and the United States.

This book is primarily the result of the research Dr. Odhiambo carried out for her M.Phil. thesis. This involved a case study of Sudanese women refugees in Kenya, especially those living in Nairobi in the 1990s. The study provides significant insights as to the challenges faced by such refugees. Most were not officially registered and had to cope with many difficulties in surviving in what was to many a strange and stressful environment. This portion of the book examines in detail the coping mechanisms adopted by the women in dealing with the many challenges their status as refugees presented to themselves and their families.

A second unique aspect of this book is the results presented of a study of Sudanese women refugees in central New York. Dr. Odhiambo was able to build on her earlier research following her own migration to the United States to complete a doctorate in History and the subsequent acceptance of an academic position in that region of New York. The case studies described indicate the challenges facing the women and their families as they came to the United States to start a new life as an end to their migration from home rather than as temporary sojourners as in Kenya. This part of the project also provides a unique understanding of the challenges and difficulties faced by the women together with the strategies utilized to cope with culture shock and other forms of stress, including marital tension and strained relationships between parents and children.

An important strength of this work is the way in which the author brings the views, fears and hopes of the women refugees to the reader. More often than not, this is in their own words. This approach enhances our understanding of the refugee experience in its varied aspects. It also falls within the important tradition in African studies that shows the Sudanese refugee women as actors in past situations rather than being simply acted upon by forces such as hostile or unresponsive governments and unfriendly neighbors. The experiences of the women highlighted by this book show that they have been resourceful and inventive in forging their own destiny despite being forced to become refugees. Their agency is clearly illuminated as a powerful factor in the refugee experience.

It was in August 1998; I had just finished my Masters Degree final examinations and defended my research prospectors. It was a fiasco. Many challenging issues emerged during the defense. So how do you distinguish between a Kenyan Somali and a Somali from Somalia? posed one of the professors. I was devastated and my answer was not convincing. A Kenyan Somali and a Somali from Somalia are the same people, except that they are torn apart by colonial boundaries that cared less about the ethnic makeup then. I was devastated. After many gruesome months preparing for my research topic, I was now faced with the dilemma of either changing my subjects or changing the topic entirely. I was not prepared to remain at the College as most graduate students had proceeded to the field for research. I left for home on a Friday very confused.