Through Advent, we're posting short interviews each weekend with asylum-seekers who've been forced into destitution, and remembering that Jesus was born to a refugee couple. The final interview is with Katherine (23) from Burundi and her six-month-old son Brian. Katherine talks about the uncertainty she lives with every day, the difficulty of living on vouchers instead of money, and the sense of exclusion and powerlessness: “It is very, very difficult life to be asylum-seeker… You go in the street and see everybody who is living a normal life. I look at myself, I feel like I’m not human like them. Because I don’t have right to work, I don’t have right to do normal things like a normal person.” Church Action on Poverty’s Living Ghosts campaign, part of the Still Human Still Here coalition, is calling for an end to policies which force asylum-seekers into destitution. The interview was carried out by Hazel Healy in Northwest England during summer 2007. Some names have been changed to protect identities. Listening to podcasts If you use Apple's iTunes program, you can download episodes of the Poverty Podcast, and subscribe so that future episodes are downloaded automatically, through the iTunes Store. Or you can just download or play the episode directly on this page. It's an MP3 file, which should play without difficulty on most computers. Using podcasts The podcast is an excellent resource to use in churches and campaigning groups. Listening to these stories can give a real sense of the difficulties and problems faced by people living with poverty, and highlight the issues CAP is trying to address in its campaigns. Feel free to use the podcasts as part of presentations on poverty issues, in church services or group meetings. If you - or your church or organisation - have a blog or website, you can include the Advent asylum podcast RSS feed. This will display the podcast, and update when new episodes are added. (Your web host or blog provider should be able to tell you more about using RSS feeds.) Please acknowledge that the podcast has been produced by Church Action on Poverty. The interview in this episode was carried out by Hazel Healy. 

Church Action on Poverty

CAP Advent asylum podcast 4: Katherine and Brian

Through Advent, we're posting short interviews each weekend with asylum-seekers who've been forced into destitution, and remembering that Jesus was born to a refugee couple. The third interview is with Mary Lubanjwa from Uganda. Mary talks about the fear of deportation, the impossibility of returning home yet, and how her faith sustains her: “I want very, very much to go home, but if I go there, I don't know what could happen to me... It's not easy to stay because you can't make friends here. The neighbours, they don't know you, you don't know them... They keep asylum-seekers in darkness - you are not allowed to work.” Church Action on Poverty’s Living Ghosts campaign, part of the Still Human Still Here coalition, is calling for an end to policies which force asylum-seekers into destitution. The interview was carried out by Hazel Healy in Northwest England during summer 2007. Some names have been changed to protect identities. Listening to podcasts If you use Apple's iTunes program, you can download episodes of the Poverty Podcast, and subscribe so that future episodes are downloaded automatically, through the iTunes Store. Or you can just download or play the episode using the link below. It's an MP3 file, which should play without difficulty on most computers. Using podcasts The podcast is an excellent resource to use in churches and campaigning groups. Listening to these stories can give a real sense of the difficulties and problems faced by people living with poverty, and highlight the issues CAP is trying to address in its campaigns. Feel free to use the podcasts as part of presentations on poverty issues, in church services or group meetings. If you - or your church or organisation - have a blog or website, you can include the Advent asylum podcast RSS feed. This will display the podcast, and update when new episodes are added. (Your web host or blog provider should be able to tell you more about using RSS feeds.) Please acknowledge that the podcast has been produced by Church Action on Poverty. The interview in this episode was carried out by Hazel Healy. 

CAP Advent asylum podcast 3: Mary Lubanjwa

Through Advent, we're posting short interviews each weekend with asylum-seekers who've been forced into destitution, and remembering that Jesus was born to a refugee couple. The second interview is with Daniel Munkasa from Zimbabwe. Daniel talks about the experience of being destitute for over three years: “It's like I'm just in a limbo... you need to be self-reliant so you end up sometimes thinking of even committing crimes... That's really hard... You've got to stay in the house sometimes because you're depressed or stressed... The situation of destitution has really changed me a lot... It has made my heart very hard.” Church Action on Poverty’s Living Ghosts campaign, part of the Still Human Still Here coalition, is calling for an end to policies which force asylum-seekers into destitution. The interview was carried out by Hazel Healy in Northwest England during summer 2007. Some names have been changed to protect identities. Listening to podcasts If you use Apple's iTunes program, you can download episodes of the Poverty Podcast, and subscribe so that future episodes are downloaded automatically, through the iTunes Store. Or you can just download the episode directly here. It's an MP3 file, which should play without difficulty on most computers. Using podcasts The podcast is an excellent resource to use in churches and campaigning groups. Listening to these stories can give a real sense of the difficulties and problems faced by people living with poverty, and highlight the issues CAP is trying to address in its campaigns. Feel free to use the podcasts as part of presentations on poverty issues, in church services or group meetings. If you - or your church or organisation - have a blog or website, you can include the Advent asylum podcast RSS feed. This will display the podcast, and update when new episodes are added. (Your web host or blog provider should be able to tell you more about using RSS feeds.) Please acknowledge that the podcast has been produced by Church Action on Poverty. The interview in this episode was carried out by Hazel Healy. 

CAP Advent asylum podcast 2: Daniel Munkasa

Through Advent, we'll be posting short interviews each Sunday with asylum-seekers who've been forced into destitution, and remembering that Jesus was born to a refugee couple. The first interview is with Amar Hassan Albadawi from Sudan.Amar talks about his disappointment at how his asylum application was handled, and the distrust and isolation caused by the constant threat of deportation: “I go for interview without solicitor, without advice, without anything... After the interview, I get letter to leave the country, and my support was stopped without any reason... They can come to check any time because they have a key... and if they find that you have a friend in the house, they stop you working and take the house from you." Church Action on Poverty’s Living Ghosts campaign, part of the Still Human Still Here coalition, is calling for an end to policies which force asylum-seekers into destitution. The interview was carried out by Hazel Healy in Northwest England during summer 2007. Some names have been changed to protect identities. Using podcasts The podcast is an excellent resource to use in churches and campaigning groups. Listening to these stories can give a real sense of the difficulties and problems faced by people living with poverty, and highlight the issues CAP is trying to address in its campaigns. Feel free to use the podcasts as part of presentations on poverty issues, in church services or group meetings. If you - or your church or organisation - have a blog or website, you can include the Advent asylum podcast RSS feed. This will display the podcast, and update when new episodes are added. (Your web host or blog provider should be able to tell you more about using RSS feeds.) Please acknowledge that the podcast has been produced by Church Action on Poverty. The interview in this episode was carried out by Hazel Healy. 

Advent asylum podcast 1: Amar Hassan Albadawi

Podcasts from Church Action on Poverty (www.church-poverty.org.uk)