Photo Essay: Rohingya Refugees Commemorating Three Years
This August, hundreds of thousands of Rohingya refugees will mark the month they fled from violence and oppression in Myanmar to safety in Bangladesh. It’s been three years now since they made the desperate trek, fearing for their lives. While they no longer run from bullets and threats of burning villages, life is tough in the refugee camps located near Cox’s Bazar. Food for the Hungry has been helping refugees by providing health clinics, and training in hygiene and disease prevention.
Can you imagine what life might be like in a refugee camp, especially for mothers and fathers of toddlers? Here is a glimpse into what a day looks like for Rohingya families.
Photos: A glimpse into what a day looks like for Rohingya families with toddlers.
A mother’s love knows no boundaries. FH was receiving the tired, the ill, and the injured even while the constant construction of a million-person camp buzzed and our health facilities grew from tarp to wood and concrete. Here, a mother cares for her sick child during a visit by doctors working in one of the FH-run health clinics.
Omar is a Rohingya refugee child (18 months old in this photo) who lives with his family in Bangladesh. He is normally a joyful child, but he became very sick with a high fever and other symptoms. Through the FH clinic, he was able to get nebulization treatment and his parents were able to learn about health and hygiene from community health workers.
A mother and son, Rohingya refugees, await being seen by health care workers in one of FH’s clinics in Kutapalong Refugee Camp, Bangladesh.
Finding joy within despair is how a mother teaches her children hope. And hope is the fuel of a community’s resilience in a Rohingya refugee shelter.
In the early months while the camp was becoming established, there was space between shelters. Now, there is no space. Children are the most vulnerable in any crisis context. Threats come from every side and unaccompanied children and child-headed households have the hardest time.
What Three-Year-Old Rohingya Refugees Remember
There are three-year-old children in the Rohingya refugee camps, who know nothing but life in the camps. And for parents, who thought they’d learned how to cope, life threw them another curveball this year: What must life look like with COVID-19, for parents with small children living in the Cox’s Bazar refugee camps?
We encourage you to pray for the Rohingya refugee families. We also encourage you to pray specifically for the toddlers during these difficult times.
As we have all heard the tune, Jesus loves the little children of the world.
Keep Reading:
5 Reasons You Should Still Pay Attention to the Rohingya Refugee Crisis