By: LoudPen and Doyle Rader

Franck Mputu Beya instantly recognized the voice on the other end of the phone, even though he hadn't heard it in years. 

It was his sister, Malu Anny Beya, calling him from a refugee camp in Zimbabwe to let him know she was alive and well. The phone call this past January to Franck at his Dallas-area home was the first time the siblings had spoken to one another since they fled political violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 2016.

The phone call may never have happened had two members of the Zimbabwean Red Cross not approached Malu one day. They showed her a picture of Franck and let her know he was looking for her. Through the Restoring Family Links program, Red Crossers in the United States, Switzerland and Zimbabwe worked together to find Malu and reconnect her with her brother.

"This day, I feel like it is the day I was born, you know?" Franck said. "I felt so happy when they called me, and I found my sister on the phone. I was so happy."
 

Finding Malu

Franck needed to figure out where to turn for help when he set out to find Malu. He and his great-uncle, Kazadi "Ray" Ntambwe, had a general idea of where she might be – many people fled to neighboring countries like Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe. But they had no way to be sure. Until one day when, a friend of theirs, who is also a Congolese refugee, said they should contact the American Red Cross. 

"He was like, 'I heard that people have been talking about the Red Cross. If you can go over there, make a statement, give them the name and they will file [your case]. Those guys do a great job.' I said, 'Really?' He said, 'Yes.' I'm like, 'Okay.' [Franck] was here with me. I said, 'Let's call the Red Cross.'" 

When they contacted the Red Cross, their case was assigned to Muneera Didarali. She is a casework volunteer for the Restoring Family Links program with the Red Cross North Texas Region. The program is a service of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). It provides free and confidential services to help reconnect families separated by armed conflict, international disasters and migration.

Muneera contacted Ray and Franck and 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 Geneva, Switzerland-based ICRC review and distribute the case in the country identified as the best place to begin the search for the person in question — in this case, Zimbabwe, per Ray's suggestion.

"The process is very long," Muneera said. "So, upfront, we tell people it's going to take a minimum of six months to a year. I say this to everyone. And it took almost three years here." 

During this time, Red Cross caseworkers like Muneera are on standby to assist those looking for loved ones with questions. While Red Crossers traced Malu's whereabouts, Muneera, Ray and Franck communicated regularly and established a good rapport. When Franck finally got the call from Malu, Ray called Muneera to tell her the news. 

"He was crying on the phone, and I was crying," Muneera said. "He just made my day, my week and my month."

Ray's hunch that Malu might be in Zimbabwe with countless other Congolese refugees was correct. Now 28 years old and a mother of three, she has lived in the Tongogara refugee camp along the eastern bank of the Save River for the past eight years.

In the camp, Malu was looking for her brother, too. She worked with Tichaona Nduna from the Zimbabwe Red Cross Society Restoring Family Links program to trace Franck’s whereabouts. Now,  Malu uses the Red Cross free phone call facility at the camp to stay in contact with Franck. Although they're still separated by more than 9,000 miles, the family is closer than it has been in years. 

"I thank God, and I thank the Red Cross," Franck said. "They found my young sister, Malu."

Franck's Journey

Ray has been living in the United States for 26 years now. In a familiar refrain, he left the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) seeking a better life. Throughout his years in the United States, including time to start his own family, Ray stayed connected with many other family members back in the DRC, a central African country with a population of more than 100 million. However, when political turmoil turned violent there in 2016, Ray lost regular contact with friends and family. 

"My mom is still alive," Ray said. "My brothers, sisters and nephews – we have a big family – but 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 [DRC upheaval was] killing people."

Franck was 25 when he fled Kananga, the capital city of the Kasai-Central Province in the DRC. Malu was 20. Franck became separated from Malu and the rest of his family as he made his way to the similarly named and neighboring Republic of the Congo. He didn't know if he would ever see any of them again. 

"In this moment when I left my country, I didn't know where my parents were or where my sisters were – because I got three sisters and one brother," Franck said. "I don't know where they are at this time. I don't know where Malu went. … 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."

His time in the Republic of the Congo was brief. They didn't allow him to stay, and he had to return to the DRC, where he sought help from the Catholic Church. They were able to help Franck get a visa to go to Brazil. However, he didn't find a warm reception when he arrived there. 

"When I got to Brazil, I didn't feel comfortable," Franck said. "They wanted to send me back to the Congo. I say, 'If I go back to the Congo, they'll kill me.'… So, I say in Brazil, I feel like I'm not comfortable. I have to run away here and go to the United States because it's the only country in the world that can save my life. In the United States, they respect people. I'll be fine in the United States." 

Franck's journey to the United States was long, arduous and dangerous. He traveled through Brazil, Ecuador, Colombia, Panama and Mexico, taking buses, walking through jungles and taking boats to cross rivers and oceans. He saw many people die as he made his way north. In Mexico, he spent two weeks in a detention center. When he finally crossed into the United States, he was held in detention in California for a year.

While detained, he met a fellow refugee from the Congo. They became friends. When his "big brother" was released, he gave Franck his number and told him to call him if he needed help when he got out. When that day came, Franck stepped out of "the prison," he called his friend, who bought him a bus ticket, and he soon found himself on a cross-country Greyhound bus to Portland, Maine.

Then, after a fortuitous meeting with a truck driver who spent years in Texas and knew Ray, Franck was able to connect with his great-uncle. Ray was shocked when Franck called him from Maine. He didn't know he was in the United States, so Ray quickly arranged for Franck to travel to Texas and join him in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

"I didn't know how he got here," Ray said. "I had no idea. He just called me. …. I was like, 'Where you at?' 'I'm here in Maine.' I was surprised. And then I sent him a ticket and said, 'I want to see here.' And he comes. He told me the story. I started crying."
 

Restoring Family Links

The International Committee of the Red Cross and National Societies, like the American Red Cross, work to locate people, exchange messages, reunite families and clarify the fate of missing persons every day. For more than 150 years, the ICRC has undertaken a wide range of activities to help reconnect separated families and address the issue of missing persons.

Thanks to the efforts of people worldwide, family members separated for years and on opposite sides of the world, like Franck and Malu, can speak to each other again. As Franck and Ray evaluate their next steps, Muneera will continue working with them, providing resources to help them reunite with Malu. 

"What I can say right now is how happy we are to unify the family through the Red Cross," Ray said. "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. We can talk to her, and we want her to be here. I want one day the Red Cross to see us unified as a family." 
 

Find 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.

Call our free national helpline at 844-782-9441 or use the International Reconnecting Families Inquiry Form.