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"To be here and to help children is a great success after we have lost everything" - 75 Learning Centres open their doors for Rohingya refugee children

19/6/2018

Since our initial humanitarian response, Children on the Edge has established 75 Learning Centres in the Kutupalong Balukhali refugee camp.

Having fled brutal ethnic cleansing by the Myanmar army, children are not only traumatised, but cut off from services, and vulnerable to exploitation and disease.

To ensure consistent support, we have built 75 Learning Centres, based on our eight years experience of providing education in the original Kutupalong camp. These Centres are providing education in a safe space for 7,500 children.

Each Centre is a bright, colourful, environment with flowers and shrubs planted outside to begin to create an oasis feel within the arid landscape of the camp. 50% of our teachers are trained from within the Rohingya community, providing familiarity for the children. They have focussed on creating a safe, welcoming space, with consistent care and kindness.

Minura has been teaching with us for a few months, and tutored in Myanmar before the attacks forced her to flee. She says “I make the Centre fun by being like a mother to these children. Sometimes they are homesick or sad and I try to comfort them. I have also lost so much when I came to Bangladesh. I know they just need a place to play and be kids”.

This high level of care is already making a difference to the children. Saleha, a newly trained teacher says, “The children smile a lot more than they did one month ago. I learned that attitude is very important in teaching. I must have a good mood so the children will also”.

After generations of being marginalised, Rohingya children have little expectation of the rights they deserve, no education for the future and are ill equipped to survive the daily challenges of their environment.

Once released, we will be using a high quality curriculum, approved by the Bangladesh Government, covering literacy, writing, maths and science. Children will take standard exams to prepare them for entry into the mainstream system, should government policy allow this in the future.

Mohammed has a daughter at one of our Centres, he says “If she can get an education, she can choose life outside of the camp. I don’t want her to live the rest of her life here, but if she does not study, she will have no choice”.

The curriculum has been augmented to include elements of creativity, child rights and basic health. In the last months the children have had lessons on washing hands, using the toilet and brushing teeth. Posters in different languages illustrate health and hygiene tips and teacher Minura says “The children are cleaner and healthier now that they come to the Centre. We take time to wash our faces, hands and feet and we talk a lot about the importance of good hygiene”.

Students are encouraged to express themselves through song, dance and drama and play. Kushi, a teacher from the local community says “I try to make everything we do a game. If I only talk to the students they don’t listen, so all our activities are made into games”. Children also learn about their rights and share their views through ‘Child Councils’ who will be producing their own newsletter.

The Centres have made a huge difference to children in the short time they have been open. They describe how happy they are to attend and how much they are learning. Teaching opportunities also have a positive impact for Rohingya teachers.

Nurthza who arrived seven months ago, lost her husband in the attacks. She says, “I have two children and no husband now, so this job allows us to live. If I did not have this job, I don’t know what we would do, I really don’t know. In nine months, my life has changed so much. I have left everything behind. We all have. To be here and to help children is a great success after we have lost everything”.

Watch this space for more news from the Centres.

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Inspiring stories with a ten dollar bill

10/6/2018

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The tent school teachers we support in Lebanon have been increasingly observing how Syrian refugee children in their classes struggle with creativity in their writing. Staff reported how “When learning their own Arabic language in Syria, teaching tends to focus on grammar and not on creative storytelling”.

One activity to address this was introduced by a visiting volunteer, who used an old, crumpled ten dollar note. She asked the children where they thought she had got it from and talked about how, judging by how it looked, it must have had a very long journey. She then passed it to one of the children and encouraged them to make up a story about where they had got it, the background of who had owned it before, and how they might have earned it.

The latest field report from staff stated how “This was a great way of encouraging out-of-the-box thinking in writing. Creative, imaginative thinking is a new concept to so many of our students. We’ve also noticed in the Syrian culture, they don’t often read books or stories”.

To encourage a love of stories, two ‘storytelling training sessions’ have been held for all the teachers. They then got the chance to practice what they had learned and tell stories to their classes in teams. The students enjoyed giving feedback on their storytelling abilities, and discussions were had about how using adjectives can generate excitement in writing, in the same way a film builds tension with background music.

Teachers say how “Reading stories is really helpful in capturing the students’ attention and encouraging them to read and learn about different people and contexts”. To develop this, the older children have been visiting a newly established library, to choose a book each week and help with the upkeep. Every Friday, the class reports on what they have borrowed, reviewing each book and describing if and why they would recommend it. The younger classes also take turns talking to their friends about the stories they have read.

Teacher Yana describes how “The kids have beautiful dreams for the future. Educationally I see a difference when I look at a child who is not able to write or read anything, and now after less than a year in the school they are able to write a whole text”.

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"To be here and to help children is a great success after we have lost everything" - 75 Learning Centres open their doors for Rohingya refugee children

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LATEST STORIES

"To be here and to help children is a great success after we have lost everything" - 75 Learning Centres open their doors for Rohingya refugee children

Inspiring stories with a ten dollar bill

RECEIVE OUR EMAILS

Blog Categories

Archives

Get Involved

aBOUT US

Registered charity no. 1101441REGISTERED COMPANY No. 4996130

Registered charity no. 1101441
REGISTERED COMPANY No. 4996130