“ONE of the most common traits we have as humans is respect.” So says Dannielle Banzakabange, a community health worker at the Refugee Social Services in Durban.
Meeting Mama Dannielle at the organisation’s office at Diakonia she explains that in her culture, one cannot call elders by their first name. She speaks Mashi and those who speak it are known as Bashi. They are the largest tribe in South Kivu, whose capital city is Bukavu. The Bashi occupy a vast region known as Bushi in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
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“What I am wearing is called Libaya and is made from the material called kikwembe. It is worn by wome, more especially older ones. I am a professional nurse but here I work as a community health worker. My job is to help refugees in their mother tongue. We are a welcoming nation as we believe that we are not different. African churches are the same all over, in every African church they do the same things, the women wear doeks, long skirts and when you go to the country side it is the same as back home, you will find women working the land and cooking the same food,” she said.
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