'Finding a Life' among Undocumented Congolese Refugee Children in Tanzania

The majority of undocumented Congolese refugee children living in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, experience extreme poverty and social exclusion, harassment and discrimination. Their fear of deportation, forcible removal to refugee camps and imprisonment is coupled with a strong feeling that they are unwelcome in Tanzania. These realities require that most children devote a huge amount of their energy to survival, both literally, in terms of physical needs such as food and water, and figuratively, in terms of maintaining their sense of self-worth, dignity and purpose. This article is based on extensive fieldwork with more than 100 young people aged 7-18 years. I explore the ways children cope with the challenges posed by the conditions of everyday life and the strategies they employ in their quest to "find a life", or make a future for themselves. I argue that by imagining a future, they are fighting against not only what war has done to them and their families but also against the very fact of being a refugee.