Tania Tuzizila, aspiring midwife and a survivor of civil war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, is fretting over which clothes to pack for her three-month volunteering stint in northern Cambodia.
“Because of the culture there we have to cover up, and I’m worried that I don’t have enough appropriate clothes,” she said. “I’ve got these long dresses, but now I’m being told that we should wear tops and trousers, so I’m not sure?”
Tuzizila, now 22, was 3 years old when she escaped war-torn DRC with her mother and five siblings. Displaced along with 2 million others, Tuzizila and her family resettled in public housing in South London where, she said, volunteers and charities helped look after her and eventually brought her along to give out food to London’s homeless.
About the author
Molly Andersmollyanders_dev
Molly Anders is a former U.K. correspondent for Devex. Based in London, she reports on development finance trends with a focus on British and European institutions. She is especially interested in evidence-based development and women’s economic empowerment, as well as innovative financing for the protection of migrants and refugees. Molly is a former Fulbright Scholar and studied Arabic in Syria, Jordan, Egypt and Morocco.
