South Africa: A Shattering Story – Escape from Lubumbashi – “A Refugee’s Journey on Foot to Reunite Their Family”

This is a painful story of forced migration, global displacement, conflict, refugees, gender-based violence, ethnic persecution, xenophobia and human rights.

Escape from Lubumbashi – A Refugee’s Journey on Foot to Reunite her Family, written by Estelle Neethling and published this year, is the story of a young Congolese from the persecution by Mobutu Sese Seko’s regime of members of the opposition party UDPS in Zaire.

This often harrowing story brings to light the crucial challenges of the 21st century – forced migration, global displacement, conflict, refugees, gender-based violence, ethnic persecution, xenophobia and human rights.

While these are global issues, they are particularly relevant to Africa and South Africa as the main draw for refugees on the continent.

The story of Adolphine Misekaba is told with empathy and compassion by an author who, through her work with the South African Red Cross Society, shows her own path from “unconscious racism” to awareness and concern for the plight of refugees and the pain of alienation. Adolphine’s journey is revealed in two parts. Part one reveals an idyllic early family life in Lubumbashi, Zaire (renamed the Democratic Republic of the Congo from Mobutu in 1971).

Interspersed with descriptions from family members …

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