Ines, a soft-spoken mother of two, fled Sudan with her husband when she was just 23 years old, crossing the border into Egypt and making their way to Cairo. Like many refugees, Ines and her family suffered discrimination, witnessed violence and struggled for access to basic services. The experience tried her resolve, but with the help of an IOM programme, Ines found new purpose helping other refugees and migrants as a community health volunteer.

Unable to work and suffering from malnutrition, Ines says her first two years in Cairo were especially difficult. With little hope for the future, she slipped into a deep depression. It was only during a routine medical check-up when Ines found out she was pregnant with her first child, Mohammed, that the fog of depression started to lift, and she started to think about how she could better her life and community.

After feeling isolated for so long, Ines knew she wanted to connect people to each other and make sure they had up-to-date information on a range of health issues. After speaking to health care workers who were active in the migrant community, she decided to look into training opportunities in the health and education sector. Through local NGOs, such as Tadamon, her dream came true and Ines enrolled in a nine-month course on health and psychology. The course enabled her to obtain a certificate in social work and soon, she was volunteering in the Sudanese community.

In 2008, Ines became a Community Health Trainer (CHT) for IOM. Through the CHT programme, Ines helped organize advocacy campaigns to promote health awareness among Sudanese women. Acting as a liaison for IOM, Ines was one of a handful of CHTs who kicked off the pandemic preparedness project in Kilo Arba Nus, giving training sessions to groups of five to 10 women at a time. She worked to change the mindsets of migrants towards NGOs and international agencies, and urged them to be more pro-active in safeguarding their health.

"The benefits of being a CHT have been many," Ines explains as she cradles her daughter Amna on her lap, "I no longer feel like I am a second-class citizen and I have learned about many issues like the flu, hygiene, basic health and tuberculosis. I am able to share this information with others and because of it, I feel better about myself because I know I am adding value to the community."

Keeping In Touch With Migrants' Needs

Often, asylum seekers and migrants fall into a state of limbo as they wait to return to their home countries, obtain a residency permit or be resettled in a third country. The wait and uncertainty takes its toll on their physical and mental health, which often times goes unchecked because many do not know how they can access health services.

The CHT initiative is part of a wider project that IOM is implementing to promote good hygiene practices and to enhance pandemic preparedness and response among migrant and host communities, with funding provided by the United States Agency for International Development through the Central Fund for Influenza Action. In addition, with funding from the US State Department, Bureau for Population, Refugees, and Migration, IOM recently undertook initiatives to enhance access to Primary Health Care for Iraqi Nationals Temporarily Residing in Egypt. Other components of this project include capacity building of NGO and government healthcare providers, direct assistance to promote access to primary healthcare and awareness raising initiatives.

Ines's role as a CHT kept her preoccupied as people would seek her out to obtain information on pandemic flu and TB on a daily basis. In response to the overwhelming interest, Ines would facilitate workshops with other CHTs at mosques and health facilities in the greater Cairo area. Because of their dedication and hard work, CHT trainers like Ines have gained the trust of migrants in the community. They have enhanced not only their own knowledge base and morale, but that of the larger migrant community as well.

After six years in Egypt and two working as a CHT in Cairo’s Sudanese community, Ines and her family learned they were to be resettled to Canada. Although the opportunity was one the family had been waiting for since they first landed in Egypt, Ines said she couldn’t help but feel a twinge of sadness in leaving her work behind.

"Working as a CHT really gave me a sense of purpose," she says quietly, wiping a tear from the corner of her eye. "The transition to a new country will be difficult, but I'm not worried about that. When I first came to Egypt, I had many misconceptions about the country and the people, but my experience with the IOM pandemic project changed all that. I learned that some organizations were working hard to provide for migrants and refugees. I will miss making my contribution to this project and the community the most."

Now optimistic about her family’s future, she says she hopes migrants continue to receive the support they need.

"I really hope I can continue working with migrants in the area of health and social services. I also hope that IOM will continue to adapt and maintain activities in Kilo Arba Nus and other migrant communities because there are people in severe need. They require support and it’s important for organizations like IOM to continue empowering migrants through these projects and stay in touch with their needs."