The complexities of refugee life

I have always been intrigued by the tendency of some media to paint things in broad strokes which tend to envision things in black or white. It is either total despair or absolute joy - there seems to be little in between these polarities. Obviously this is a broad generalization. But I sometimes wonder if remarks such as, "Wow, this trip made me realize just how blessed we are in the US," are born out of such a bipolar worldview that tends to only see the material realities of people's lives.

Saleem showing a picture of his
home in Myanmar

When Florian Ecuyer, a media employee from headquarters, was here in September, we talked some about this inability of media to nuance the realities of refugees' lives. And I think that Florian's photos from that trip do a great job of pointing to the nuances.

This first photo of Saleem is fairly neutral. He no doubt has remorse over not being able to live in his home, but rather has to live in the largest refugee camp in the world. But he is able to show people a picture of his home in Myanmar - maybe in some way this is healing for him. I don't know. But it also is probably part of his ardent desire to be able to return to his home country and the place of his origins.

The joy of Children

Children are often more resilient than adults. And one sees this in the camps. Kids will be kids.... There are kids playing everywhere in a camp of 1 million people. Florian did a great job of capturing that joy that children continue to feel - maybe wherever they are, in whatever circumstances they find themselves. And this is true of the Rohingya children!


This is not, however to deny that there is anguish and pain in the camps as well. Florian captured this well in this picture of a man carrying a woman on his back. Honestly, I don't know the story. It is hard to whitewash the fact that this woman has to be carried wherever she wants to go. But she was leaving a health clinic. And the fact is that she likely has access to better healthcare than she would back in Myanmar.

One of the ironies of life in this mega refugee camp is that life for the Rohingya here in the camps is, in some very existential ways, better than it is for their family members who have remained back in Myanmar. There are those in the host community here in Bangladesh who also contend that the Rohingya live better than they do. That is a difficult equation to work out. But the fact is that the life of the Rohingya here is not black and white. It is not simply a picture painted in the broad strokes of despair. And it isn't a portrait of people living an easy life either.

The sun setting over the rice paddies
surrounding our office/home

But isn't that life for all of us? It would seem, given the staggering number of refugees and internally displaced persons in the world right now, that none of us is all that far removed from a life of displacement. How would you respond if you were forced from your home? Would you be able to find joy? How would you combat creeping despair? What would be your strategies for resilience? These are questions to which the Rohingya work to find answers each day.

We are thankful to be able to walk alongside the Rohingya, in their delight and their jubilation, as well as in their desperation and their hopelessness. Isn't this what Jesus did when walked he on this earth? And we are asked to do no less.

Praise:

• For a good R&R
• For the Nutrition sector continuing to move forward in the plans to move partners to new camps
• For the Gambia opening a case against Myanmar for the systematic injustice against the Rohingya - a real source of rejoicing for them!

Prayer: 

• For ongoing work to be done for moving Nutrition clinics
• For project proposals for Shelter and Health sectors
• For the courage to continue to walk alongside the Rohingya in the complexity of their lives