Misuse Of Religious Scriptures

MISUSE OF RELIGIOUS SCRIPTURES TO PERPETUATE DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

- By Terry Njoki

Pastor Julia Paul is a minister of religion who was born and raised in Kenya but relocated to the United Kingdom in 2015. She relocated to Nottingham in February of 2018 after finding life in London to be very expensive and difficult because she had family to support back in Kenya. Pastor Julia grew up in a Methodist family and started participating in church activities at a young age in Kenya. She started her organization

Women Together in This

which helps women understand that they are not alone in the challenges they face in their daily lives. These challenges she mentioned include domestic abuse within the context of religion. She said there are instances when people misuse Bible verses in a misrepresented manner to perpetuate domestic abuse against their partners. Pastor Julia said she had series of conversations with some pastors during which she realised that some of them did not know much about domestic violence and how much effect it has in the society. As a result, she teamed up with some women and visited some churches to create awareness on domestic abuse.

To further raise awareness on domestic violence and how religious scriptures could be used as a tool to inflict such acts of abuse and violence, she said, Women Together in This organises workshops and trainings at the centre in All Souls Community Centre, along the Ilkeston Road in Nottingham where women from different faiths are targeted. She said the centre receives support from Nottingham Women Centre, Mojatu Foundation and NCVS to sustain the organization. NCVS supported the organisation with £500 to help run some workshops and training for the faith leaders which are both online and physical. These sessions help them training and create groups who can have conversations mainly with women facing domestic abuse and violence thus reducing the circulation of myths in this regard. Three months within its inception, they were able to do at least three trainings workshops within three churches and faith leaders. At Women Together in This, our target is to have by June 2023, toolkits for the faith leaders which is aimed at furnishing them with sufficient and reliable information to disseminate information regarding domestic violence.

She said she does counsel sessions online at night as well as face-to-face sessions at the centre. “Many people are reforming through counselling and signposting is being done for those facing signposting problems”, she said. She also revealed that the personal challenges she faces include juggling between office work, school and counselling sessions saying, “I must therefore keep checking on my mental wellbeing as well.” Pastor Julia said the other challenges are funding issues affecting the organization which limit her in the area of staff and other benefits. “We are trying to work with the universities around to get some help through student placement because that will help us handle some of the workload”, she mentioned. When she relocated to Nottingham, Pastor Elizabeth introduced her to Mojatu Foundation where she started volunteering as an FGM consultant. She said volunteering at Mojatu was very useful because it helped her mental health and interacting with different people availed her the opportunity to regain her self-esteem. Pastor Julia gratefully noted that when she Joined Mojatu, she found a family in the persons of Frank, Angela, Laura, and Penny who introduced her to community work. Despite all the adversities she went through, she was entrusted with the responsibility of leading the project for Faith Leaders which was very successful whereby about fifty people were trained on FGM related issues. Through this project, Mojatu Foundation applied for the Princess Training Award (PRTA) and had interviews from the PRTA Awards team which helped them understand how effective the project was and the impact it had on people’s lives. work, which privileged her to be among the team that received the award. Such hard work and progress gained her recognition to be the cover girl of the Nottingham Mojatu Magazine (M045), and this has given her more recognition, publicity and positive feedback from colleagues and friends towards what she does.

Pastor Julia who enrolled at Nottingham Trent University (NTU) where she is studying psychology said, “going to back to school to enlighten myself more in the area of psychology will avail me the opportunity to be able to give back to the community”. Training is online on Wednesdays and physical on Fridays 11:30am to 12:30 noon.

Click this link for more on this article: https://mojatu. com/2022/11/11/misuseof-religious-scripturesto-perpetuate-domesticviolence/

CLIMATE CHANGE AND NATURE - “did

you know?”By Penny Cooper

TREES – Did you know that the clearance of rainforest in the Amazon illegally, for logging and cattle rearing (for the sale of meat), if it continues will lead to devastation of the Amazon rainforest. The continued clearance can lead to reduction in rainfall, and water supply to the Amazon River, which in turn will lead to the eventual change of the forest from rainforest to savannah. The precious collection of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere will be vastly reduced and in fact clearance causes the release of carbon dioxide rather than removing it from the atmosphere. This could be the outcome if clearance of the Amazon rainforest should continue. This is a hard problem to resolve without the Brazilian Government’s intervention and there are many of us who can sympathise with hunger and need to make a living. There are those in other countries who are looking at planting trees, which is a positive step, but we would need more activity along those lines to make up for the Amazon. There have been wildfires in California, Australia, South Africa, the Soviet Union and many other countries affected by the rise in temperatures, leading to the drying out of forests, and making them more like tinder to start fires. Wildfires here in the UK recently have reinforced the need for action from the world.

TEMPERATURES

Did you know that the average temperature was at its greatest in 2021 for the world since temperatures were written down. The ice at the poles is melting more quickly than expected, leading to a change in the habitat of the Polar Bear and others who rely on the ice for their livelihood.

Here in England, we are experiencing unusual warm weather in the wintertime, which is just unheard of, and summer temperatures which had been extreme, all because of climate change. Earth’s temperature has risen by 0.14F (0.08C) per decade since 1880, and the rate of warming over the past 40 years is more than twice that: 0.32F (0.18C) per decade since 1981. Recently 40.3C has been reported in the UK, 2022, the highest temperature ever since recordings began.

FLOODING

Did you know flooding is occurring all over the world, and in some parts of the world, the rise in sea level is causing those who live close to shorelines to move their homes completely, having to rebuild and move back from the shoreline, higher embankments, or as it is being spoken of, taking refugee status in other countries because their own islands have been swallowed up by the sea. This is the future for many countries which are on the front line of climate change. The UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change believes that the UK will receive about 10 percent more rainfall on average per year by 2100 compared to 1986–2005. Recently flooding has been reported in Australia, yet again, there is no doubt it is becoming a common occurrence.

WIND

Did you know that there have been some of the highest measured wind speeds and damage in the past year, ever recorded. In Kentucky, the tornadoes wiped out dwellings and environment for many miles across the state, causing a major disaster, at 190 miles per hour. Hurricanes at record speeds off the East Coast of America - Dorian in 2019, reached 185 miles per hour which could be rated as a category 6. Many are asking is this the category of measurement we can expect in future due to climate change. There are many countries experiencing higher wind speeds, enough to cause damage, which at one time would have been occasional occurrence, but now is more regular, and the weatherman on the news channel is telling us it is due to climate change. https://mojatu.com/2022/11/15/climate-change-andnature-did-you-know-2/

REFUGEE CRISIS OR POLITICAL CRISIS?

By Ophelie Lawson

A question I hear often while working and supporting refugees and asylum seekers is, “why do I choose to refer to the crisis that is happening in Europe concerning refugee flow as being a political crisis rather than a refugee crisis?” Here is why:

According to Wikipedia the term ‘Refugee crisis’ refers to “difficulties and threatening situations in the reception of large groups of forcibly displaced persons, internally displaced, refugees, asylum seekers, or any other huge groups of forced migrants.” A crisis could then occur within the country of origin to those fleeing, it could occur while attempting to leave, on the move to a safe country, and/or even after arrival in a country in which one wishes to seek asylum. The crisis is either from the perspective of the forcibly displaced persons, or from the perspective of the receiving state, or both.

In 2015, the Eastern Mediterranean migration route between Turkey and Greece was the main entry point for over one million refugees who fled to Europe by sea, seeking safety dangerously in inadequate vessels, (UNHCR). UNHCR’s figures showed that 1,000,573 people reached Europe across the Mediterranean, mainly to Greece and Italy that year. In addition to the sea crossings, the UNHCR figures also estimated that a further 34,000 crossed from Turkey into Bulgaria and Greece by land. The number of people displaced by war and conflict was in 2015 the highest seen in Western and Central Europe since the Balkan crises of the 1990s, (UNHCR). This period of which the main character is the high number of people arriving in Europe by sea is referred to as the ‘European Migrant Crisis’, otherwise known as the ‘refugee crisis’ which was declared by the European Commission in 2019. Although forced migrants continue to arrive, pushbacks at the borders also continue to happen more often.

The pattern of increased forced migration to Europe from other continents is said to have begun in 2014. In 2019, the number of displaced arrivals to the Mediterranean dropped to 129,663. By 2020, it had dropped to 14,854 says the International Organisation for Migrants (IOM). Arrivals to Greece are still taking place regardless of the so-called crisis being called over by the European Commission which, in my personal opinion, was misinformation in the name of national interests and security and the crisis is still happening. But it’s a political one. Refugee flow is a matter that has been happening for a long period of time. The only difference is that since 2015 the political response to the high number of forced migrants entering Europe change dramatically and drastically. It started a crisis in terms of European countries struggling to cope with the arrivals. It created divisions between countries and strengthened national borders. In European politics, tensions rose in the area of immigration. But the crisis from the European perspective was not as a result of people leaving their countries, but entering Europe, which was perceived to be overwhelming for European countries in terms of arrivals. Everyone knew about the ongoing conflicts in Syria, Afghanistan, and Iraq, and that there was a large number of people that would come to Europe. These countries were considered to be “refugee-producing” for whom international protection would be needed.

The crisis is not the human rights abuses that are happening at the border, the crisis is also not what is happening in countries of origin, neither it is what people have to go through until and when they arrive in Europe. The crisis begun when refugees started arriving in Europe. Instead of providing them with the necessary support and protection they need and deserve as per human rights requirement and international treaties and conventions agreed by EU member-States, they are framed as being dangerous by signatories of such international accords. I would argue that the only real goal is to stop people from coming Europe; when they are people who are fleeing persecution, conflicts, torture, environmental disasters, the ruins of colonialism.

Again, it is political.

In 2016 the EU-Turkey deal was passed as a solution to the high flow of people coming. Refugees arriving on the Greek Islands would be sent back to Turkey. Turkey received €6billion to keep refugees out of Europe and accommodate them. This affected mainly people coming from Syria, facilitating their return to Turkey which was considered to be ‘safe’ for them, regardless of what is really happening there for Syrian people. Deals with third world countries were signed to prevent people from entering the EU. Click this link for more on this article: https://mojatu.com/2022/11/03/ refugee-crisis-or-political-crisis-2/

SINGLE MOTHER AND ASYLUM SEEKER IN ATHENS – MEET LAURENE

By Ophelie Lawson

The reality of single mothers seeking asylum is something that I truly care about. I can but only sympathise with mothers who are raising children by themselves and in a situation that I, someone with legal documents, will never have to experience. I have already in the past written about the life and daily struggle of single mothers living in refugee camps or stuck in our broken immigration system. Let us not forget that mothers too are humans like anyone of us, who were forced to migrate and leave their home, and embark on a journey of seeking safety in Europe. During my journey helping and supporting mothers, I met Laurene in Lesvos Island, when her little girl was just a couple of months old. Lauren’s journey was not easy. She went on the perilous journey through the Mediterranean when she was only 3 months pregnant. In Istanbul, Turkey, where she was living before coming to Greece, she was arrested 3 times for attempting to cross the sea.

Laurene is 23 years old from Cameroon (her name was changed for safety reasons). She left for a safer future which is what she thought she would get in Europe. In her boat, while crossing, they were 43 in number. “We were really tight on the boat and being pregnant, it was really scary.” she confessed to me. Laurene is not the first pregnant woman embarking on such a risky crossing. She is the second single mother whom I have met who was pregnant with her first child when crossing the sea. When I met her in April 2021 after being in Lesvos for 11 months already, she was supported by an organisation called Iliaktida. In summer 2021 she was finally moved to the Greece mainland after 1 year of waiting in the camp in the most horrible conditions, where she also gave birth to her daughter. She was moved to a province near Athens where she was taken care of by another organisation. In January 2022 after another rejection to her asylum claim, she was asked to leave her accommodation given to her as they could no longer help her given that she was now considered to be illegal meaning with no right to remain on the territory. Unfortunately, this is also a harsh reality for so many people there. She reached out to the Unheard Refugee Voice, a project that I set up in 2020 to support black asylum seekers and refugees, so that we could help her in covering the rent for a bed in a room shared with other moms.

As I am writing this article, Laurene has been in

detention for after attempting to leave the country with papers that were not hers after over a year of being left stranded in a system that does not have her best interests at heart, after months of struggling to feed herself and her baby. Laurene and her 2 years old girl had been struggling to have a chance for decent shower. They are being kept in a cell with minimum light. And her mental health is deteriorating as we speak. Refugees in Greece face hunger and homelessness despite legal status. For those without status the reality is even harsher. Generally, when people are caught attempting to leave Greece with forged travel documents or papers that are not theirs, they are released straight away, which was the case during her first attempts, but this time was different. The social worker in charge of her has been in touch with her lawyer who has called the prison many times and she should have been released by now. Unfortunately for her, there is no higher authority seeing cases such as hers and she is left neglected in a cell. She does have access to her phone, and she is allowed out once per day. At this point neither the lawyer nor the social worker knows why she has not been released yet. I have been in touch with her every day since she has been held captive and she is not well. Every year, many forced migrants try to leave Greece with either documents that do not belong to them or forged travel documents. They usually try to go to islands where many people travel to during tourist season as this give them a better chance. We do not know what is going to happen to Laurene or when she will be released. But what we know is that when she does get released, her situation will remain the same. Cases like this happen every day. Asylum seekers without papers who fall into the hand of a broken system and go silenced and forgotten. https://mojatu.com/2022/11/15/single-mother-andasylum-seeker-in-athens-meet-laurene/