8 Mar 2012

TANZANIA / REFUGEE SURVIVAL (IWD)

Raliya Sumani, a former refugee from Somalia, struggles to ensure a better life for her daughters. She lives with her six children in Tanzania’s Chogo settlement since 1992 following civil war in her country. Today is International Women’s Day. UNHCR

Posted at: March 8, 2012 5:23 pm

Duration: 02:09

Available in: SD

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Full script

STORY: TANZANIA / REFUGEE SURVIVAL
TRT: 2.09
SOURCE: UNHCR
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: KISWAHILI / NATS

DATELINE: 21 FEBRUARY 2012, CHOGO SETTLEMENT, TANGA,TANZANIA

SHOTLIST:

1. Close up, Raliya carrying a bucket of water on her head
2. Close up, Raliya at the water point
3. Wide shot, Raliya ate water point
4. Med shot, Raliya leaving water point  
5. SOUNDBITE (Kiswahili) Raliya Sumani, former Somali refugee: 
"Somalia was such a good place to live in. We used to work well and most of us have joined cooperative groups that helped us financially. However, problems started with the war. Women particularly really suffered."
6. Wide shot, Raliya walking to field with axe on her shoulder
7. Various shots, Raliya and a friend cutting wood
8. SOUNDBITE (Kiswahili) Raliya Sumani, former Somali refugee:
"Whenever you talked about taking a girl to school, people would say that if a girl was to go to school, she would become a prostitute."
9. Various shots, Raliya and a friend cutting wood
10. Various shots, Raliya preparing stocks of maize
11. SOUNDBITE (Kiswahili) Raliya Sumani, former Somali refugee:
"Presently, our girls are going to school and we envision them going to distant places because of education. As parents, we have now changed our attitudes towards educating our daughters. We are always thinking of what we can do or what we can sell so that we send our girls to school. We have totally changed our thinking for the better."
12. Various shots, Raliya preparing stocks of maize
13. Various shots, Raliya preparing inside her hut.

STORYLINE:

Raliya Sumani's life in Somalia seems far away these days, yet memories of growing up in a small peaceful village have stayed with her.

SOUNDBITE (Kiswahili) Raliya Sumani, former Somali refugee: 
"Somalia was such a good place to live in. We used to work well and most of us have joined cooperative groups that helped us financially. However, problems started with the war. Women particularly really suffered."

The civil war came, in 1991, it tore the country apart and sent thousands to seek safety where they could find it.

Raliya and her six children arrived in Tanzania's Chogo settlement in 1992.

It was the start a new life in a foreign land, a very different life, especially for the women.

In Somalia most women marry very young, few go to school because of the stigma.

SOUNDBITE (Kiswahili) Raliya Sumani, former Somali refugee:
"Whenever you talked about taking a girl to school, people would say that if a girl was to go to school, she would become a prostitute."

In Tanzania, Raliya has had opportunities. She has a little maize farm where she lives. 
With it she feeds her family and pays for her children to go to school.

SOUNDBITE (Kiswahili) Raliya Sumani, former Somali refugee:
"Presently, our girls are going to school and we envision them going to distant places because of education. As parents, we have now changed our attitudes towards educating our daughters. We are always thinking of what we can do or what we can sell so that we send our girls to school. We have totally changed our thinking for the better."

Raliya says that farming has made her proud to be a woman, it has given her an independence she once could only dream of, her hard work has ensured her children's future. This way they will stand strong, the girls alongside the boys, she says.