Franck Mputu Beya recalls the sunny days in the Democratic Republic of the Congo - cutting his brother’s hair in the shade of the veranda, his cousin waiting for his turn to go and Malu, the youngest of his siblings, playing. Life was good and they were happy being together until 2016, when the Kasai region experienced a dramatic escalation of violence which the United Nations estimates left 1.4 million people displaced, killed thousands and separated countless families. One of those families was Franck’s.
“They were killing everybody, and I made the decision to run because I was scared the people would kill me too,” recalls Franck.
Franck’s first stop was the capital city of the Kasai-Central province, Kananga, where the hobby he once used to spend time with his family became his livelihood as he went from barber shop to barber shop until he found a shop owner kind enough to give him formal training and a job.
“I worked every day from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m., saving money until I had enough to leave Congo. In this moment when I left my country, I didn't know where my parents were or where my sister was,” Franck said. "Even today, I don't know if they killed my parents. I don't know if – my two sisters and one brother – they killed them."
Franck was 26 when he immigrated to the U.S. and spent 11 months at a detention center in California. He was young, did not yet speak English and was all alone.
Fortunately, a friend Franck met in the detention center dubbed “Big Brother” bought him a bus ticket to Maine when he was released. In Maine, Frank would meet a Congolese trucker that claimed to have contact with his great uncle, Kazadi "Ray" Ntambwe.
Ray arrived in the U.S. in 1997, retiring from a career with the military. People, he says, go missing from the Congo all the time but when he caught wind of the violence in 2016, he started to worry.
"My mom is still alive," Ray said. "My brothers, sisters and nephews – we have a big family – I was wondering about them. I was like, 'What's going on?' Some over there, they just disappeared. I didn't know where they went to. That was a tough situation and bad because [the country’s upheaval was] killing people."
When contact was finally made between the two, Ray immediately sent for Franck to join him in Dallas, Texas.
“I was living alone a long, long, long time. I was living like someone who doesn’t have a parent. So, when I got to America, and I met Ray, it was like being born again. I had to celebrate because I felt like I had a family again. He brought me to school and helped me to learn English,” says Franck.
But even as he celebrated his new beginning with Ray, the unanswered questions about his immediate family weighed heavily on him. Were they alive? What had happened to Malu?
That’s when Ray advised Franck to initiate a Restoring Family Links case with the American Red Cross. Through the Restoring Family Links program, the Red Cross leverages a network of 191 Red Cross and Red Crecent societies worldwide to help people like Franck reconnect with their loved ones when they are separated by events like armed conflict, natural disasters or migration.
Franck and Ray’s case was assigned to Muneera Didarali, a lead casework volunteer with the Red Cross North Texas Region who helped them complete an elaborate tracing form, asking questions about Malu's date of birth, physical features, possible location and any additional information that could help identify her. The tracing form helps the Red Cross National Headquarters team review and distribute the case in the country identified as the best place to begin the search for the person in question.
"The process is very long," Muneera said. "So, up front, we tell people it's going to take a minimum of six months to a year. I say this to everyone.”
In this case, it took over three.
“Franck and Ray’s case took especially long because we were looking in the wrong place at first,” shared Muneera. “During this time, Ray kept calling me and I would just listen and tell him, don't worry. Someday, hopefully, we'll find her. We'll find Malu. Don't worry. And that's how we just kept going for three years. Patience is part the process.”
The initial case noted Malu’s last whereabouts to be in Democratic Republic of the Congo. However, Ray had learned from a friend that had been in a similar situation that many refugees from the region make their way to Zimbabwe. With this new information, the case was updated and sent to the Zimbabwe Red Cross Society, where six months later they found Malu at the Tongogara Refugee Camp.
It was four in the morning when Franck received the call. It was the Red Cross in Zimbabwe, letting him know they had found Malu.
“I was so excited,” Ray said, recalling that morning “I was crying, you know. I was so happy, it made tears come down. I was excited and I was like, wow, I was shocked.”
Two weeks later, after more than eight years, the Zimbabwe Red Cross Society helped Malu use a Red Cross phone in the refugee camp to call her brother.
“Hello?” a familiar female voice whispered.
“Hello?” a familiar male voice responded.
“Is that you, big brother?”
“It’s me. Is that you little sister?”
Franck could hear her sobs on the other side.
“We didn’t talk for maybe 3-4 minutes,” he said, “She was just crying. There were a lot of emotions on this day. She told me, it’s been a long time and she’s doing good, and she has three kids,” said Franck.
The two now talk regularly and Franck says their relationship has never been better.
"What I can say right now is how happy we are to unify the family through the Red Cross," says his uncle Ray. "I'm telling the world, if you miss your family, give your case to the Red Cross. They'll find them. No matter what, they'll find them. Because I can't believe this. [Malu has] been in a refugee camp for a long time. So now, finally, we found her."
LOOKING FOR A FAMILY MEMBER INTERNATIONALLY? To begin a search, contact your local Red Cross chapter — the critical link in your community to the vast global Red Cross Red Crescent network. You may also call our free national helpline at 844-782-9441 or use the International Reconnecting Families Inquiry Form.
About the American Red Cross:
The American Red Cross shelters, feeds and provides comfort to victims of disasters; supplies about 40% of the nation’s blood; teaches skills that save lives; distributes international humanitarian aid; and supports veterans, military members and their families. The Red Cross is a nonprofit organization that depends on volunteers and the generosity of the American public to deliver its mission. For more information, please visit redcross.org or CruzRojaAmericana.org, or follow us on social media.
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