Before I begin I would first like to mention Kayla's blog. The link is http://worldcanadakayla.blogspot.com/
Shes much better at keeping the updates going, If you enjoy my blog at all you'll absolutely love hers!! Kayla and I are getting along really well, we have a lot in common. Quin really loves making fun of me for this, but I got so excited when I found out she even likes thai chicken salad from Mcdonalds!!! She also has a canine boyfriend back home so she understands how much I miss mine. The little things are what you miss the most Ive found. Like how Quincy would follow me everywhere and always get so excited when I walked in the door. Or how Maggie could call him and call him to come with no response.... and then I simply say his name and he bounds to me with joy!! (sorry Maggie). Or the best thing, when I was ready to go to sleep, all I had to say was "come on Quincy, lets go" and he'd leap off his bed and follow me down the hall. We would then tuck in for the night, and under the cover of darkness I would let him snuggle on my pillow and Id snuggle on him. Oh how I miss my boy!!! If you could express post a dog life would be swell!
Now you might be wondering how this post is relating to its title at all at this point. Its not.... I would actually like to take this opportunity to tell you about the experience I, aswell as the whole group had regarding refugee camps around the world. I had absolutely no idea what they were about and that made me think, I bet a large portion of this worlds population doesn't either.
A couple of weeks ago, Jess (one of our project supervisors) emailed Kayla and I to ask us if we would prepare a small presentation for the rest of the group about refugee camps, after which we would go to downtown Moncton where a mock camp was set up by Doctors without borders (holy thats a crazy run on sentence!). We took the project by the horns!! For one we prepared a slideshow of simply photos to bring the seriousness of the presentation together. We also prepared multiple activities such as "if you were woken up in the middle of the night with 5 minutes to leave before rebels burned your home, what would you bring? How would you feel? Horrified? Confused?". We even prepared a typical meal refugees would receive in a single day. Staying up until 1 in the morning, Kayla and I gave it our all, and in the end I feel we truly made an impact on our fellow CWY/SYTO participants!!
Kayla dressed up as Togar (a refugee), and I dressed up in a skirt (for once, I think Eddie was proud of me!) and together we made an impact :) Even if it wasn't a very big one, it still counts!! We could tell throughout the presentation that people were really understanding and thinking about what we were telling them. At the end of the whole thing, it was awesome, the first question was asked by Eddie and he asked, "So, what can we do to help?". It was hard to answer considering we are only volunteers... we have no money to donate to Non Governmental Organisations! Answers I could think of was to raise awareness, run a campaigne? Tell your family, friends, spread the word. Like I said, personally I had absolutely no clue what was going on in refugee camps, how many existed, what the living conditions were etc, they probably dont either! Here is a little bit of the information we presented:
Water:
Standard amount of water given to refugees in a single day is 2 liters. You know what a two liter bottle of pop looks like? Now imagine it filled with water so dirty that you have to let it sit for half of the day to let the dirt settle to the bottom. The average Canadian uses 384 Liters of water a day. 384 LITERS. To wash, to drink, to clean etc. Refugees are given 2. That's 2 liters only, to clean, to bathe, to drink...
Living:
Its impossible to summarize what the living conditions would be like. Often 6 people are given a 5x5 meter living space. The sights, smells, feelings are all inexplicable. Normal sights are child soldiers, carrying guns larger than themselves, human wasted and garbage often flood the roads so you can only imagine the smell that hangs. Sickness clings to any living thing and takes countless lives. The worst conditions imaginable are what refugees live and breathe in, day in, day out.
The flee:
It often happens that a family will have as little as 5 minutes to flee their home before rebel or government forces attack. They then will travel for days or even months to get to the nearest refugee camp. Refugee camps often only open their doors a few times every few months so it happens that people fleeing have to camp outside with no food or water and no knowledge as to when or if they'll be granted entrance.
The largest refugee camp in the world, Dabaab is located in Kenya and is home to over 300 thousand people! Protected by the U.N, refugees are given a number. If their number is called they have as little as five minutes to pack what little things they have, they are then transported from the camp, to a handful of countries, the main one being Canada. They are given a chance to live free from danger, war and poverty. But like I said they are given little to no warning, often spouses, siblings and children are left behind because they are fetching the days water from the other side of the camp. Can you imagine, finally being given a way out; a way to survive; and then forced to leave your son, sister, or father behind? You would come back to the camp, and your family would be gone. You would have no idea what happened to them, where they went, if they would come back? I cant even imagine what it would be like, its impossible to ever imagine such horrors.
Kayla and I were given a task, to research refugee camps and to prepare a presentation. Maybe we didn't get through to anyone, but I like to hope we did. We've made our efforts to make a difference and you can guarantee it wont be our last! This post is another one of my efforts, ISU presentation topic anyone?
Im learning new things here every day!!
I hope you've enjoyed this post :) I've got so many more to come so keep checking in!!
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| 11 oclock snack break. night before our presentation!! |
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| Typical living space for a refugee family, as shown at the mock camp downtown Moncton!! |
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| Kayla as 'Togar' :) |
I love and miss you all
Pumpkin Juice and Love!!!
Jillian xo
