Congolese Refugees Find Community and Wellness with Monthly Women’s Group 

On a Thursday in late November, a refugee from the Democratic Republic of the Congo carefully folds an orange turkey that she’s made out of construction paper using the time-honored trace-your-hand technique. She’s seated at a conference table, and around her, eleven fellow Congolese women are either watching her with rapt attention, tracing their own hands, or writing reflections on what brings them gratitude during this season of Thanksgiving in Manchester, New Hampshire. 

The women have gathered for the monthly meeting of an IINE wellness group for speakers of Swahili and Kinyarwanda. Run by IINE Volunteer Manager Wendy Brooks, it was started by IINE Health Promotion Case Specialist Furaha Nyirarukundo, herself a Congolese refugee, who helps out with interpretation and keeps conversations going between sessions via WhatsApp. 

“It started as a group to learn how to cook healthy food that makes you happy,” Furaha explains, but the group evolved with the addition of volunteer Corrine Pryor, who worked for many years as a nurse, including in a natal intensive care unit, and as a pediatric home health care aid. “Corrine has been very helpful,” Furaha says. “We’ve learned so much from having her in our group.” 

Corrine says that she gained experience in teaching women’s health through years of working with teenage mothers. She discusses a range of women’s health issues with the IINE group members, from the importance of breast cancer screenings to maintaining healthy blood pressure, and breaks things down into simple language and concepts accessible to beginner English language learners who have lived their lives in a very different care environment. When she first met the group, she said it became clear that maternity issues would be a good place to start with them.  

“They are all mothers, and sometimes mothers of mothers. Most have upwards of six kids, and there are several who have brought their kids with them,” says Corrine. In one of her first sessions, she asked participants to share their stories of giving birth, and then talked about how their experience may differ in a New Hampshire hospital. In a lively discussion, many women spoke emotionally about their desire to protect their infants, and the real danger many faced in their home country. 

“It’s a whole different world [in the Congo],” reflects Corrine, “I mean, they would tell me things like that they had to pay their doctors under the table, even though they’re supposed to be state employees. [The mothers] had to bring somebody with them to help with the delivery—sometimes one of their kids, because there wasn’t really anybody there to help…Maybe five or six women out of ten would come back out with a baby….If they said they wanted to have a home birth, then they would have to pay the doctors to give them the paperwork. They still had to have money, and most of them didn’t. So they couldn’t win.” 

Corrine believes that most people in the U.S. have very little concept of the conditions that refugees have fled. “Americans think they understand poverty and homelessness, but they don’t understand this kind of reality,” she says. “You’ll hear people say, ‘can’t we help our own poor first?’ and it’s like, yes, we can, and we do, but we should also help people who have it even worse. People are people.” 

For her, volunteering with IINE is a gratifying way to help. In addition to being able to lend her expertise, she enjoys the cultural exchange—like conversations they shared during the winter holidays. “We talked about different traditions for Christmas, food, family and taking care of themselves. It’s cool to talk about the different customs that they had.” 

Furaha says she’s getting great feedback from clients as well. “The mothers say it helps a lot—helps them get to know each other and learn about many useful things for their lives.” 

IINE is committed to improving the resettlement experience for refugee women and girls by removing barriers that impede their access to health education, safety, and employment. Learn more about this work and our WILLOW Fund.