Donnah Vuma, who is from Zimbabwe, lives with her three children in Knockalisheen direct-provision centre, on the outskirts of Limerick. She dreads Christmas, she says, "because I cannot give my children what they hope for".
Like more than 1,000 other asylum seekers, Vuma will receive her Christmas bonus this month: €16.23 for her and €13.26 for each of the children. Asylum seekers are among 1.2 million welfare recipients entitled to a bonus of 85 per cent of their weekly payment in the coming weeks.
Vuma normally gets €19.10 a week; her children, 12-year-old Kendra, eight-year-old Alexandra and six-year-old Ashton, receive €15.60 each. So the family will get a Christmas bonus of €56.01 on top of their usual €65.90.
The Department of Social Protection administers the direct-provision allowance, but it stresses that the rates are set by the Department of Justice.
How will Vuma spend her bonus? “You know, I haven’t a clue, because there is so much that is needed. It is a challenge, because I am trying to decide should I get presents, should I get nice food, should I get them new clothes?”
She says the direct-provision centre gives the children presents at Christmas. “But, you know, they like something their mum has chosen for them, too.” And although the centre serves a special lunch in the run-up to Christmas, there will be no hot lunch on Christmas Day.
“So if I could find somewhere to cook I would like to make some rice and vegetables, fry some chicken. I would like to make them something homemade, something I have cooked for them, for Christmas Day. In Zimbabwe Christmas is a time you get new clothes, so I would like to get them clothes. I cannot do it all, so I will have to decide what to prioritise.”
Special food
At the end of November 1,098 children were living in direct-provision centres, alongside 3,256 residents over the age of 18.
Brenda Nkosi, who lives at Mosney, the direct-provision centre in Co Meath, has two daughters; one is 15, the other 21. She plans to spend her extra €45.73, which she gets on top of the usual €53.80, on special food for Christmas.
"There is a beautiful kitchen here we can use, but usually we don't have money to buy things to cook," says Nkosi, who is from South Africa. "My wish is to cook for my daughters on Christmas, because we can all cook together. That is more important for me than buying presents.
"So we will go to Lidl and try to make a dinner that is as nice as we can. We will make a chicken with stuffing. My younger daughter likes to make bruschetta, and then we will have some ice cream, something like that."
Nkosi and her daughters have been in direct provision for five years. Her first Christmases were more difficult, as the children asked for things that were outside her budget.
"I had to tell them, 'Mummy can't afford it.' It was very difficult, but unfortunately there was nothing I could do. This year my 15-year-old and her four best friends made a deal to get each other gifts. So I came up with the idea that she can draw pictures on the computer. They cost 80c each to get printed, and we can buy frames in Penneys. I told her that would be more special."
Plugging gaps
Both mothers say their plans for their so-called bonuses are only aspirational, as they may have to use them to plug gaps.
Vuma spends €35 of her weekly €65.90 on taxis between Knockalisheen and Kendra’s school bus stop; the rest goes on food and things the children need for school.
“Kendra has just started secondary school,” she says, “and the stop is too far to walk. There is no footpath, so it is dangerous. She has to have a lift.”
“There are always things she needs for her core subjects,” Vuma says. “She came home last week with a long list of stationery she needs for art. When I see those lists I just think, Oh my God, especially if they come home on a Monday or Tuesday. I don’t get the cheque until Thursday, so she has to wait. It is stressful, because she is under pressure to have the things she needs.
“And the little ones, they need things too. For their lunch the centre provides bread and juice, but I have to get the fillings for the sandwiches. So I buy these, and I buy some snacks to have later, after dinner, like cookies and cheese. There is a shortfall every week, and then I have to prioritise, so to be honest the bonus might be spent on covering gaps . . .”
What makes Christmas most difficult, she says, are what her children hear from their friends. “They will be telling them, ‘We are going to dinner at this restaurant,’ or, ‘We are going to this movie,’ or, ‘I am getting this game.’ I can’t give my children any of that, and it breaks my heart.
“This bonus is an insult, really. It is almost causing more stress, because it is so little. You know, it as if they are saying to my family, ‘That’s all you need.’ My children have the same needs as all other children at Christmas.”
The Department of Justice says that all direct-provision centres make "every effort to make the holiday season an enjoyable time for all residents, and particularly in the family centres, with visits from Santa and gifts for the children".
