Aurore
Convivial resilience.
Aurore, 42, is at her desk giving thorough advice to a man on his “family reunification” rights. The man freshly arrived in Belgium after a long and hazardous journey. He crossed the seas, putting his life at risk; facing as many borders, security and threatening fences in a few days as most of us will probably face in our entire lives. She then proposes him to explore the site.
We are at “Convivial”, a Brussels-based non-profit organisation which works on a daily basis to help refugees integrate in Belgium. The organisation has been existing for more than twenty years, but over the last five years their work has become more meaningful than ever, and also more intense. Aurore has been working as a social worker at “Convivial” for a few years. She takes the man around the different areas of the building, from the kitchen to the staff offices, the creative workshops to the “awareness” rooms and finally shows him the big depot where furniture, clothes and books are stored. Indeed, “Convivial” covers a wide range of activities starting from providing administrative and psychological support to the refugees knocking at the door. The staff assists them during their long-term assimilation process. In addition, awareness-raising conferences and events are organised for visitors of all ages.
Aurore arrived in Belgium sixteen years ago, fleeing from a war-torn Rwanda after the genocide in 1994. A few years earlier, she was the one sat on the other side of the table, asking for support. She is also a refugee.
During the events that affected 800,000 victims during a four-month period in Rwanda, Aurore’s parents took great risks in hiding people in their house. They did not make any distinctions whether they were Hutus or Tutsis, only caring about saving human lives. When UN peace forces knocked at their door to evacuate the family, Aurore’s parents pushed their daughters towards the blue helmet soldiers while refusing to leave the people they had sheltered behind. Every single one of them survived the genocide.
However one person was refused shelter because he had left his wife and children behind. As resentment was strong, this man decided to take revenge threatening Aurore’s family members. When she tried to go back home after the genocide, her life was under threat.
This is when she was helped to flee to Belgium, where she asked for asylum.
Walking around Brussels North Station, Aurore recalls: “This is where I first arrived in Belgium. I sat at this bus stop and started to cry. I didn’t know where to start. I was totally alone.” A man passing by showed her the way to the Immigration Office nearby, where she finally received help.
“To integrate, you have to be able to communicate. Encouraging me to take language classes was like opening all doors.
Aurore often says she has encountered a few guardian angels throughout her life. Karl Hertsens, the social worker that took care of her file, is one of them. He supported her in finding a place to live, furnishing it and guiding her through her first steps in integration. As she was living in the Belgian Flanders, he also encouraged her to follow intensive Dutch classes.
“He inspired a vocation in me. I also wanted to become a social worker, and help people like I was helped.”
It’s been fifteen years that every day, at work, she tries to give back the humanity and support she received when she was in need. Undoubtedly, her personal experience is an important asset at work.
“To be a good social worker, you have to understand the culture of the other, and above all, go beyond the procedure.”
“Integration requires resilience.”
Back to her office. On the windowsill, there’s a picture that raises our attention. It’s a refugee with a suitcase, travelling across the world. His heart, however, remains in his country of origin. That is how Aurore feels and how she believes many refugees feel.
“I felt like I was leaving my heart behind, in Rwanda.”
She is confident that the public perception on refugees will soon become more positive: “In 15 years, I have never met a refugee who didn’t want to adapt and work in his host country. There are plenty of jobs in short supply in Belgium that many refugees would be ready to do. Let’s just give them an adaptation period. Integration takes time and requires resilience. It worked well for me, so why wouldn’t it work for them?”
One flew into a new home is a blog page promoted by the S&D Group in the European Parliament. In the lead up to UN World Refugee Day it will tell the stories of people who have arrived in Europe as refugees and made new lives here. It aims to tell the stories of every day integration — of people who have been given a chance for a new life in Europe and how they are contributing to their new adopted homes. The S&D Group is fighting for more funds to help the integration of refugees into their new host societies and has been at the forefront of the push for reform of the EU asylum system. The Group wants to see a fairer sharing of responsibilities between all EU member states and wants to push back against the demonisation of refugees and asylum seekers that has become common from right wing media and politicians in many EU countries.
