In this first chapter of Merveille’s oral history, we travel to Katana, a rural community in South Kivu, Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. Long before she became a university student, a teacher, or a woman navigating the realities of conflict and displacement, Merveille was a child growing up in a large family shaped by faith, education, and hard work.

Raised by a father who taught school and a mother who worked the land, Merveille grew up in a household where perseverance was not something people talked about—it was simply how life was lived. Surrounded by siblings, guided by family traditions, and encouraged to value education, she spent her early years playing with friends, helping her mother in the fields, and imagining the future.

But childhood changed when she was only thirteen years old.

After her older sister left home, Merveille unexpectedly became responsible for raising a young child while continuing her own education. At the same time, conflict began affecting communities across eastern DRC. Violence, displacement, and insecurity interrupted daily life, forcing families to flee and reshaping what childhood looked like for many young people in South Kivu.

Part 1 introduces us to the foundations of Merveille’s life: her family, her community, her love of learning, and the early responsibilities that would shape the woman she would become.

Her story reminds us that before displacement, there is always a life worth remembering.

What You’ll Hear in This Episode

00:27 Birth and Family Background05:48 Childhood Experiences12:46 Education, Talents, and Aspirations

Why This Story Matters

Conversations about conflict and displacement often focus on crisis, movement, and survival.

But long before families are forced to flee, there are childhoods, communities, traditions, and dreams that shape who people become.

Merveille’s testimony offers insight into the experiences of girls growing up in conflict-affected regions of eastern DRC, where education, caregiving responsibilities, and displacement often intersect. Her story highlights how war can alter the course of a young person’s life while also revealing the resilience that allows many to continue pursuing education and opportunity despite extraordinary challenges.

Listening to stories like Merveille’s helps us better understand the human experiences behind displacement and the often unseen responsibilities carried by young women in conflict-affected communities.

About The Archive Speaks

The Archive Speaks is an oral history series from The Refugee Archive documenting the lived experiences of displaced women and female heads of households around the world.

These oral histories reflect personal memory, shaped by time, trauma, and survival. The Refugee Archive preserves these testimonies without political alignment or editorial interference, ensuring that women can tell their stories in their own words.

Tags: Democratic Republic of the Congo, DRC, South Kivu, Katana, Bukavu, displacement, conflict in eastern Congo, oral history, women in conflict zones, childhood and war, girls’ education, caregiving, internally displaced persons, female-headed households, humanitarian storytelling, African oral history, resilience, education in conflict, women and displacement, The Refugee Archive.

In this first oral history from Benue State featured on The Archive Speaks, we hear from Elizabeth, a displaced mother whose life was shaped by poverty, motherhood, violence, and survival. Raised in rural Benue after losing her father at a young age, Elizabeth grew up helping her mother farm and care for her siblings before marrying and starting a family of her own.

For years, life revolved around farming, raising children, and finding ways to provide for her household. But when violence reached her community in Mbagwen, everything changed. Forced to flee alongside her family and neighbors, Elizabeth found herself navigating displacement, uncertainty, and loss while trying to protect her children and rebuild a future.

Recorded with the support of student field researchers Shidoo Jessica and Onyekachi Obayi from Rev. Fr. Moses Orshio Adasu University (formerly Benue State University), this testimony offers a rare firsthand account of displacement from one of Nigeria’s most affected regions.

Elizabeth’s story is not only about what was lost. It is also about endurance, faith, and the responsibilities carried by women who continue holding families together in the midst of crisis.

What You’ll Hear in This Episode

01:00 Childhood in Rural Benue and Growing Up Without a Father07:00 Marriage, Motherhood, and Learning to Survive14:00 When Violence Reached Mbagwen18:00 The Attack That Changed Everything22:00 Rebuilding Life as a Displaced Mother

Why This Story Matters

Benue State remains one of Nigeria’s most affected regions for internal displacement, with hundreds of thousands of people forced from their homes by years of violence and insecurity.

Yet displacement is often discussed through numbers rather than lived experiences.

Elizabeth’s testimony reminds us that behind every statistic is a family, a community, and a future interrupted. Her story offers insight into the realities faced by displaced women who must navigate grief, caregiving, economic hardship, and uncertainty while continuing to provide for their children.

Listening to stories like Elizabeth’s helps us better understand the human impact of displacement and the resilience required to rebuild life after loss.

About The Archive Speaks

The Archive Speaks preserves oral histories from displaced women and female heads of households around the world.These stories are shared in women’s own words, without political alignment or editorial interference, so that lived experiences shaped by conflict, displacement, and survival remain part of the historical record.

This is why she chose to stay.

In this final chapter of Ruth’s oral history from the Democratic Republic of the Congo 🇨🇩, she reflects on life in Goma under rebel control, raising a young daughter alone, and surviving a conflict that has shaped nearly every stage of her life.

Ruth remembers fleeing violence in Walikale as a child, only to experience war again in Goma years later. Today, she lives in a city where insecurity remains part of daily life, opportunities are scarce, and many families stay not because they feel safe—but because they have nowhere else to go.

As a single mother, Ruth speaks candidly about judgment, poverty, interrupted education, and the challenges of caring for her daughter while trying to finish university. She shares what it means to build a future when survival itself requires constant effort.

This episode is a story about conflict, motherhood, faith, and the determination to keep moving forward even when the future feels uncertain.

What You’ll Hear in This Episode

00:00 Transition to Womanhood02:45 Relationships and First Love06:30 Love, Pregnancy, and Breaking Point14:40 Facing Single Motherhood18:20 Birth and Early Motherhood21:10 Learning to Be a Mother25:15 Social Perception and Identity28:45 Emotional Journey of Motherhood

Why This Story Matters

Displacement is often described as a single event. For Ruth, it has been a recurring reality.

Her story reveals how conflict reshapes not only where people live, but how they study, work, parent, and imagine their futures. It also highlights a reality faced by many female-headed households: survival depends on balancing caregiving, education, income generation, and emotional endurance all at once.

By listening to Ruth, we gain a deeper understanding of what life looks like for women raising children amid ongoing insecurity—and what remains possible despite it.

About The Archive Speaks

The Archive Speaks preserves oral histories from displaced women and female heads of households around the world.These stories are shared in women’s own words, without political alignment or editorial interference, so that lived experiences shaped by conflict, displacement, and survival remain part of the historical record.