I wonder what the title of this post evoked for you? Were you wondering about night clubs in the camps (there are none)? Were you thinking about violence that happens at night (unfortunately, that is part of the reality of refugees as drug gangs and the Rohingya rebel group sometimes make life difficult for people)? I often wonder how people deal with the rats at night (particularly securing the food commodities they get from the nutrition clinics from the rats)? Or have you heard reports of Christians being persecuted in the camp in the last month (this took place at night)?
Actually those realities had nothing to do with the title of this blog post. It has to do with a refugee who documents night life in the camps through his photography. Check it out here: https://asiatimes.com/2020/02/the-nightlife-of-rohingya-refugees/.
I think that this article gives a glimpse into the lives of the Rohingya. They are discouraged by the lack of a future. They continually retell the stories of horrors that they faced in Myanmar. They like to be social. In the absence of school, people like this young man seek to train themselves in other things (like photography) as a coping mechanism. The horror of their stories cannot erase the creative impulse that drives poets, musicians and photographers, like this young man. And the case brought against the government of Myanmar in the International Court of Justice (ICJ) gave at least momentary hope to a people who seem to have so little.
If you are wondering how this young man gets gets his photos out to the Asia Times, your thoughts are going where mine went. There is no network for data in the camp (it was cut off a few months ago). But refugees are also nothing if not resourceful and resilient. They find a way to do the things they want (and need) to do!
The last two months have been super intense for Christine and I. The number of international staff has dwindled to between 4-5. This means that we are constantly covering for each other. It has become more and more difficult to get visas for international staff - for all international NGOs, not simply ours. The Covid-19 situation around the world will not make this any easier. But just when I was beginning to despair of us getting our visas renewed in May, today we had a Nepali consultant get a work permit! Thanks be to the conventional-wisdom-tables-turning God that we serve!
I find myself more at peace with life in Bangladesh and more drawn to this country and the people we work with (those people, for me, are all Bangladeshi). I think this is my heart giving itself to this place and these people. I don't know exactly what that means.
Something that might tell you about the rhythm of our life here is that yesterday I found the time to watch a video that I no longer remember how long ago I opened in my browser.... It was as if I found it anew (except that it was already open on my browser).... It is this video: youtube.com/watch?v=bAB1iyexxRo&feature=youtu.be. Check it out! For those of you who are interested in knowing more about the lives of people connected to Medair (local and international workers, refugees etc), you can write and email to florian.ecuyer@medair.org and ask more about this. My understanding is that you would get content specifically related to the different types of lives connected to Medair.
Thanks for your prayers -- they really are what keeps us going!
Praise for:
Actually those realities had nothing to do with the title of this blog post. It has to do with a refugee who documents night life in the camps through his photography. Check it out here: https://asiatimes.com/2020/02/the-nightlife-of-rohingya-refugees/.
I think that this article gives a glimpse into the lives of the Rohingya. They are discouraged by the lack of a future. They continually retell the stories of horrors that they faced in Myanmar. They like to be social. In the absence of school, people like this young man seek to train themselves in other things (like photography) as a coping mechanism. The horror of their stories cannot erase the creative impulse that drives poets, musicians and photographers, like this young man. And the case brought against the government of Myanmar in the International Court of Justice (ICJ) gave at least momentary hope to a people who seem to have so little.
If you are wondering how this young man gets gets his photos out to the Asia Times, your thoughts are going where mine went. There is no network for data in the camp (it was cut off a few months ago). But refugees are also nothing if not resourceful and resilient. They find a way to do the things they want (and need) to do!
The last two months have been super intense for Christine and I. The number of international staff has dwindled to between 4-5. This means that we are constantly covering for each other. It has become more and more difficult to get visas for international staff - for all international NGOs, not simply ours. The Covid-19 situation around the world will not make this any easier. But just when I was beginning to despair of us getting our visas renewed in May, today we had a Nepali consultant get a work permit! Thanks be to the conventional-wisdom-tables-turning God that we serve!
I find myself more at peace with life in Bangladesh and more drawn to this country and the people we work with (those people, for me, are all Bangladeshi). I think this is my heart giving itself to this place and these people. I don't know exactly what that means.
Something that might tell you about the rhythm of our life here is that yesterday I found the time to watch a video that I no longer remember how long ago I opened in my browser.... It was as if I found it anew (except that it was already open on my browser).... It is this video: youtube.com/watch?v=bAB1iyexxRo&feature=youtu.be. Check it out! For those of you who are interested in knowing more about the lives of people connected to Medair (local and international workers, refugees etc), you can write and email to florian.ecuyer@medair.org and ask more about this. My understanding is that you would get content specifically related to the different types of lives connected to Medair.
Thanks for your prayers -- they really are what keeps us going!
Praise for:
- A new visa for one of our international staff members - woohoo!
- God's grace in the midst of a reality that often seems to be spiraling out of control!
- Amazing Medair staff - at the base, in the camps and at HQ
- Christine & I finding our place here in Medair Bangladesh - God confirms His call over and over
- Thanks that, in the face of dwindling supplies and rising prices, we were able to procure the personal protection equipment that we needed if we would need to face caring for people with Covid-19 in our clinics - this was no small feat!
Prayer for:
- Our visa application which will be made early in May (if the world as we know it doesn't cease to exist before that time....)
- Covid-19 to NOT make it to the camps - this would be an unmitigated disaster (for which we are, nonetheless, preparing)
- Covid-19 to be a reminder that we are not in control of our lives (that is a delusion), and that we need the One who created this world and who also will walk with us day-to-day through the suffering and the triumph!
Hey Phil and Christine! It’s a crazy time in the world right now. Never thought I’d be sheltering in place - in America! Ian got stopped by the police because he was out for work (an essential business). It reminds me of travel in Africa so many years ago. It grieves me that a third world experience, in a way, has been relieved by my son on America soil. Who would have ever dreamed it possible? Liberty is never a thing to take for granted. You know that all too well.
ReplyDeleteBlessings to you and prayers for your good work. Christie
Wow, a picture is worth a thousand words, right? Praying for you guys, for justice for the Rohingya, and for them to be spared the virus by a miracle of God. Stephanie and I were just remarking this afternoon about your very last point--it is very good for us to be reminded that we are NOT in control. That this hits us during Lent is interesting. Praying for many to turn to the Lord.
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