Emeldah is a subsistence farmer in rural Zambia. When her brother and his wife both became ill, she cared for them until the time of their deaths. After her brother’s death, Emeldah was named administrator of his estate, responsible for providing for his children. Emeldah’s brother had served faithfully in the Zambian army for 18 years – service which entitled his dependants to receive pension moneys. However, the pension had not been provided and his family desperately needed the funds.

Starting in 2002, Emeldah made the more than seven-hour journey between her rural hometown and Zambia’s capital city of Lusaka repeatedly, attempting to secure the funds owed to her family to no avail. In Lusaka, she found herself lost in a bewildering maze of bureaucracy and was offered little help. Her income from subsistence farming was meager and her financial situation was precarious. In 2006, Emeldah ran out of money and was left stranded in Lusaka, unable to pay her bus fare back to her village, where her brother’s children and several other nieces and nephews waited for her. Alone and without options, Emeldah began sleeping at a bus station. For an entire year, Emeldah did odd jobs to survive and often went without food. When she was unable to find work, she resorted to begging for food. Though a relative in her hometown was caring for the children, Emeldah was extremely anxious to return to them.

As hopeless as her situation seemed, she resolved not to leave the city until she had secured the military benefits to which she and her brother’s children were entitled. However, poor and alone, Emeldah needed help. She needed an advocate to guide her through the complex legal system and to ensure that the military understood her family’s situation. Emeldah needed a voice.

Emeldah was referred to IJM by another organization working in the area. IJM staff pledged to work with her to ensure that she was able to collect the benefits to which she was entitled and met Emeldah’s immediate needs by providing her with funds for food and baked goods to sell for income.

When IJM staff first visited the military offices on Emeldah’s behalf, the difficulty of the situation became apparent. When they inquired about the benefits owed to Emeldah’s family, the Major informed them that, because Emeldah’s brother had begun his service so long ago, the records were not computerized and they were thus required to do a lengthy manual search for information. Days later, when information on his service was recovered, IJM staff were informed that the file had been sent to a different administrative office and, upon arrival at that office, were informed that another branch of the military was responsible for effecting the payment. However, IJM lawyers continued to persist on Emeldah’s behalf, working to ensure that her family was paid the money to which they were entitled.

Throughout the following month, IJM staff continued to follow up with many governmental and military officials, undeterred by delays and misplaced files. As staff visited these various offices, they sought out and met with officials of good will, working together with them to secure justice for Emeldah and her family.

Finally, the team met with success. Emeldah received official documentation stating that she was entitled to a lump sum payment of the pension moneys that had not been distributed since 1997 and that her brother’s children were entitled to a monthly pension payment, effective immediately.

Emeldah was overjoyed at this resolution and anxious to return home as soon as possible and live with her family again. IJM arranged for transportation back to her town. Military benefits have been arranged for distribution through her local bank branch, so she will no longer have to make the difficult journey between Lusaka and the village. After five years of uncertainty and a year of homelessness, Emeldah is now free to care for her family.