Category: refugee

Sharing in the Islamic heart of Somaliland, with Caritas

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In Hargeisa, we work through Caritas Somalia, with several schools in the city. One of the schools is Salaam School, they are a group of five schools spread throughout the English-speaking city and Somali. There we were able to do several workshops in three of the five centers because the students in the refugee camps that Caritas Somalia provides education go to these schools. These are Islamic schools, so we had to follow several restrictions to respect the local culture, for example, that the classes of children were separate.

The workshops were very good, the children were excited to be part of the workshops and everyone got involved from the start. In addition, the attendees crowded to be volunteers in each activity. It was a gift to see so many faces of happiness, so much talent and so much desire to participate! That made our work very easy … The level of development of the children in the school was much higher than for example in the refugee camps, so the level of activities is higher.

The truth is that the female groups were exceptional, with exceptional creativity, an ease that left us surprised … The way they expressed, individually and in groups, was fantastic, very careful, with great accuracy … How happy we made us see so much talent and the generosity of showing it to us … A privilege …

The last workshop we did in a school in a very poor area of ​​Hargeisa. We went to that school thanks to the contact of Edna Adan, a former minister of Somaliland and the founder of a hospital and a university medical foundation to provide doctors throughout the country.

The school was in a barracks district, very poor. When we entered, dozens of children, hundreds … all eager to greet us and interact with us … We went to the room where we were going to do the workshop … and in a few minutes the group was entering … It involved about 50 girls and boys between 7 and 10 years old.

In addition, at the end of the room also entered about 20 curious adults who did not miss a moment … Everything was great, all wanting to share and experience, the audience was also delivered, applauding and supporting the brave volunteers who They took to the stage … A joy of experience, for them and for us …

And so we finished our first experience in Africa, completely exhausted but with a heart full of sensations, emotions, love … With the faces of all the children with whom we had shared in memory, where they will remain for a long time … This is our job, dedicated to what matters, happy to see happiness and fed by the laughter and smiles of the children … Surely we will return … See you soon !!!!!

Digale Refugee Camp, sharing with children from the desert, and Caritas Somalia

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The next collaboration was in the refugee camp of Digale, in Hargeisa, through Caritas Somalia. It is a field that is not in the city, but in the middle of the desert near Hargeisa, it is called Digale refugee camp. The refugee camp was formed due to the harsh drought conditions of Somalia, Ethiopia and Djibouti, and also due to the numerous conflicts between these same countries.

After crossing a few kilometers through the desert we found the refugee camp, full of the logos of NRC and UNHCR. The place assigned to make the workshops was the social center of the field. It is about facilities with some rooms, a park with swings and a soccer field with beautiful artificial grass donated by the Arsenal Foundation! The truth is that it impresses such a soccer field, brand-new green, in the middle of the desert …

Because the first group was high, we had to do the first workshop on the football field. The 50 attendees, between 8 and 12 years old, were expectant, nervous and shy, not knowing what they had borrowed … And we started the workshop !!!!

At first it took a while, of course, we were looking for concentration and a bit of discipline, and we were on the grass of a football field, which even made me want to ask for a ball and play, but based on intensity and art, we got them hooked and they got involved to share with us.

In addition, as time passed, the entire refugee camp came to the site to see what we were doing; we had hundreds of people around, watching … it is not the best environment to get the children to let go … But despite all the distractions, everything was great, and the children were willing to play with us. s!

At the end of the first workshop we made the clown with the people who watched, interacting … and they started laughing! They loved being part of it, they were scandalized, they hid from shyness, they fled … but always with a lot of laughs !!!!

The second workshop we decided to do in one of the rooms available to have a little more privacy … It was about the teenagers … This was very good, they were happy and grateful to share that time with us. We had a great time together, and they got involved and made an effort in each of the activities we did … It was a joy, even the heads of the refugee camp laughed and encouraged the participants … All a gift …

So we finished the workshops in the digali refugee camp, after many emotions, having given everything, every effort and calorie, and in return, we got love, happiness and much laughter. We could not ask for better reward!

We rode in the SUV and returned to Hargeisa … Thinking and remembering the experience we just enjoyed, with each smile recorded on our person, without exception … That’s how we like to finish, reflecting on what we have lived … among thousands of sighs …

Daami Refugee Camp, in the heart of Somaliland with Caritas

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And with Caritas Somalia we reach Hargeisa, the capital of Somaliland, an independent republic in the country of Somalia that nobody recognizes, not even Somalia … However they have ensured that it is a safe place to gain international sympathy in contrast to the dangerous Somalia.

There we made several very interesting collaborations through Caritas Somalia … And among them, in the Daami refugee camp. It is a refugee camp that has been absorbed by the capital of Somaliland over time, and now it is an urban refugee camp.

And once we arrived at the place we started to do work. It was a different experience … When we arrived at the room where we were going to do the workshop, it was already full of children … so far no problem … the only limitation we found was that instead of the 40 or 50 children who have our workshops as a maximum, massively expanded from the 30 maximums we normally do, we are about 120 children sitting on the floor waiting for us … All crazy!

We did reflection and instead of throwing half of the people we decided to improvise and adapt the workshop to the new conditions … It was very funny !!! full of energy!!! Everyone was super excited! giving everything! crazy to leave as volunteers … and also the adults of the place helped us to control the situation … It was great, everyone happy and sharing with us.

The conditions of the second workshop were going to be the same, about 100 students, the problem is that in the street there were many more adults fighting or that their children entered the room of our workshop … To the point that the man we had hired as security almost did not give to vast, not even with the help of one of the mothers, apparently head of the place, that with a shoe in hand drove away a large number of people …

Finally, the capacity was more than complete, and we were able to start our workshop !!! We had dozens of excited children willing to go out as volunteers, wrapped in the applause and cheers of all … The happy faces said it all, and that is our greatest reward … All together, different but equal, sharing , enjoying, discovering another way of looking at us, seeing our insignificant differences …

At the end we left, quite fast for safety … although there were still the children with whom we had shared, crashing palm trees without stopping, saying goodbye with light in their eyes, telling us until later … We left full of experiences and emotions … difficult to express what I am now feeling as I write those memories … the emotion is hard to describe … We will see each other again !!!

On route through Djibouti, visiting humble schools across the country

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From the capital of the country, Djibouti, we left in a 4×4 route through the country. From Djibouti we took a ferry that took us to Tajoura, then to Obok, from there we went to Ali Sabieh and finally to Art. Four villages in the heart of Djibouti, all of Muslim religion, all schools located in small Catholic missions.

We started in Tadjourah, in the mission where two French women run a small school that provides education to more than 200 children. Tadjourah is a humble little fisherman on the coast and children in general do not go to school. So the work of this school has no price for the future of the children …

The workshops were great, in a room covered with carpets, all the children sitting, impatient to start … And we all enjoyed it! we share our experiences and creativity, now Tajoura does theater, expresses and enjoys the voice of the youngest … it has no price …

From Tadjourah we went to Obok, a small town on the northern coast of Djibouti. The town is very picturesque, full of children fluttering through its streets … There we were in the little school run by Diocese.

The groups were about 50 students each, very young, excited, we had a great time !! they gave everything, happy to show the class their skills, their talent, and the excited class responded with applause and cheers … What nicer moments, see the faces of these children sharing their illusions and dreams, between them and with us …

The next day we went to Ali Sabieh. It is a city near the border of Ethiopia, and near the route of trucks that transport goods from the port of Djibouti. There we spent three days in a school run by charming Italian and Nigerian nuns, who told us incredible stories of their experiences in Africa …

The school is quite large, with about 500 children … We did the workshops in a large room, a little dark, but sheltered from the heat from outside and with enough capacity for the large groups with whom we were going to work …

The children as always were charming, super excited and willing. They enjoyed all the activities that we proposed, without saving anything, sharing all their abilities, without keeping anything in the inkwell.

What a gift for us, all the workshops were great, super rich, where the children expressed and experienced to the fullest. Joy and happy faces gave us the reason for what we do, for our work…

And the last stop was in Arta, a small village on the road to Djibouti, there are the summer homes of the French military settled in Djibouti. The school was very small, only two classes, and it was carried by three very nice Congo sisters …

There we did two workshops, with about 100 children in total. The assistants were between scared and excited. It took us a while to get their confidence to be able to start working together, but at the moment they started to enjoy they gave themselves without hesitation, and enjoyed it very much.

Their faces of happiness, of enjoyment, as with a new toy just discovered … We only gave them the tools and they did the rest. In the end they were all wanting more, to continue enjoying … And we were satisfied for doing our job well, making happy children!

At the end of the trip we were exhausted but very very happy, for having received the gratitude of so many happy students, for having shared so many experiences, for having provided the tools to expand imagination …

We take a little bit of them all with us, in our hearts … See you soon, we will miss you !!!

Sharing happiness in Djibouti schools, a smile in Africa

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In Djibouti we had the opportunity to visit three schools in humble neighborhoods of the city of Djibouti, the capital of the country. There we were able to present and work with several groups of students. In total we share our time with more than 500 children of different ages, from 6 to 17 years old.

The groups were quite numerous, which made it difficult to keep everyone attentive, and to this we must add that everyone was very excited and excited by our presence.

Only get to schools, as often happens, the novelty attracts the attention of children who run, laugh and scream around us. As it usually happens, we start making the clown with them and then a bond is created based on the common interest of having a great time …

See their innocent faces, smiling, happy and happy for the opportunity to live a different experience … In addition, dressed in their best clothes to go to school, you can see the importance that they and their families give to the opportunity to go to school. school, something vital and fundamental to not get to the extreme poverty in which some of them live and in Djibouti, poverty take on another meaning … desert, dust and rock …

Horn of Africa is an English-speaking school that is located in the Djibouti mission. It is a small school run by the nuns of Mother Teresa of Calcutta. The children were very savvy and active and it was a pleasure to work with them. From the beginning they were excited.

We shared experiences and experiences, life and emotions, with naturalness and generosity, we did what they wanted to do, flowing with theater, full of talent, happy to express for their class, for their own, from the most shy to the most extroverted. A whole experience where we discovered pure talent!

La Salle and Boulaos schools are French-speaking schools in the suburbs of Djibouti. Both are led by nuns, Catholics, although the children who mostly attend, as in the whole country, are Muslims.

We shared our workshops with children between 7 and 12 years old, they were super motivated. They were very cute !!!! Those little faces were a gift for us, the over-excitement when we asked for volunteers, all with hands raised, even to repeat, lifting everything they could until they finished all crowded in front of us …

The desire, the motivation, the nervous faces before you start, your relaxation and excitement at the end … These are the signs that tell us that we are doing well what we do, that it benefits them, that it brings something new, a new point of sight, a new fitness, something that they will not easily forget …

We, after a great effort, until we were exhausted, we were happy and satisfied for having done a good job, for having made many children happy, taught a new point of view, in their imagination, in the same reality in which they live, but from different perspectives … We are going to rest from so many emotions, from so much love, from their part, from ours … We love our work !!!!!

Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh, with Caritas and JRS, sharing with wonderful children

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We returned to Bangladesh, after the first training provided in the month of May. On this occasion we went to provide training in the Rohingya refugee camps and to monitor the progress of the Caritas staff with respect to the previous training.

The first day we arrived in Dhaka, and we had to wait for the next day to take another domestic flight to Cox’s Bazar, the nearest town to the refugee camps.

Once there we met again with the staff of JRS Bangladesh, Father Jeya and Father Francis, and with the staff of Caritas Bangladesh, Ambros, Collins and Ram Proshad. That same day we just reviewed the details of the following days, to have everything ready.

So the day of truth arrived, after days of preparation, we arrived with the Caritas van to refugee camp number 4 in the Cox’s Bazar region, in Bangladesh. That field is where Caritas has invested the most effort, and the truth is that we were surprised by the incredible work they had done.

The engineering work was impressive, with robust bridges made with bamboo, roads and stairs made with sacks and pieces of concrete … A magnificent job!

And we headed to the first Child Friendly Space (CFS), a sturdy and spacious cabin with 3 rooms, an office and two classrooms made with bamboo and plastic tarpaulin !!! Fantastic!!!!

The classrooms are super colorful and full of materials, especially made with recycled materials, to make games and learn ingeniously. It is super well assembled !!! and we loved being part of it.

The first workshop Mayra and I had to separate in the two classrooms, in each classroom we had 25 students each from 4 to 6 years … We started with the cavalry … hehehehe … The truth is that it was very easy!

They were eager to work with us, with those faces of amazement and illusion. In some of the children you could still read the experiences they had experienced, the traumatic-emotional difficulties they were still running from …

But in general, they were eager to participate with us throughout the workshop, sharing and learning. At the end of the session, the children queued up to receive a hard-boiled egg and an apple, one of the most important foods of the day, a portion of protein and another of vitamins … That image comforted us at the same time that we broke the heart …

The truth is that the images we saw in the refugee camp were quite hard. The total number of refugees has reached one and a half million, and of this 60% are children …

Walking through the countryside you can see children everywhere! the smallest nudes from the waist down, the little girls of 7 years taking care of their brothers of 3 years … Luckily there are schools in the fields, in addition the CFS of Caritas help to improve the development of the children for a more profitable education, including artistic tools to improve cognitive development.

The following workshops and days were great. In total of 6 CFS we had about 700 students, in age groups of 4 to 6 years, from 6 to 9 years, from 9 to 12 years and from 12 to 16 years … All the groups enjoyed without condition, as always at the beginning little timid, and even with fear of us, people very different from what they are used to see, but quickly, and with some clowning, they gave themselves to enjoy together …

In the end, after making an evaluation, the result was incredible, the staff of Caritas and JRS was delighted to see the children enjoying freely, learning and recovering their smiles, lost for some time.

Once the workshops were held in the refugee camp, we did the training of the staff, both Caritas and the facilitators of the CFS.

The objective was to assess and discuss what was learned in the first training and the experience in the field. The training lasted three days for 30 people, and all the staff was delivered and motivated at all times.

We had a great time, and we managed to adapt all the knowledge to be taught in the CFS of the fields. We all learned and shared together, without reservations, willing and prepared to deliver our experiences to the people who need them.

The final evaluation was super enriching and satisfying, we could go happy and happy, we had done a good job … We can not wait to be able to return to continue the work already begun …

The street children of Caritas Djibouti

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Finally we arrived in Africa, and precisely in Djibouti, a strategic enclave in the Strait of the Red Sea just off the coast of Yemen. Here there are a number of soldiers from different countries guarding the passage to the Suez channel of the Somali pirates. In addition, this country is visited daily by emigrants from Ethiopia who walk long distances on foot to reach Saudi Arabia in search of a job, a better life …

These migrants are not only adults, there are also children of all ages who pass from Ethiopia to Djibouti, and they have nothing, they live on the street, and what this country has is that if you do not have anything, there is nothing you can have … because everything is dust and stone … A way to escape from misery is to inhale glue, in this way they forget hunger, thirst and misery, but they also fry their brains …

In this country we work with Caritas Djibouti, through them we carry out several training projects throughout the country, but the one that most impacted us was in the center of Caritas in Djibouti capital. Every day there are dozens of children and chic @ s of the street to find a safe place.

Many of them take advantage simply to sleep, since they have not been able to do it in the insecure streets of the city, either by the police or for another reason … There they also provide them with some care, food, clothing and medical assistance …

We there did two workshops for the kids. The ages ranged from 5 years of Simona, to teenagers of about 20 years … We started to summon them to the basketball court with the help of caregivers, and the picture was funny … About 60 boys and girls, boys and girls, all they had wounds or injuries, marks on their faces … At the minimum there was a small conflict, they launched themselves to hit without warning or preliminaries …

We calmly started the workshop, we needed first of all to draw your attention, and we did it little by little, with concentration exercises … As we advanced the most reluctant people sat on the floor to look or directly to sleep, but the most enthusiastic They were motivated and shared excited with us.

After a while the Spanish military arrived to bring donated materials that they brought, that was the perfect excuse for the kids to disperse and get upset …

However, thanks to the push and professionalism of Mayra, we managed to continue with a group that was very motivated, willing to continue sharing with us … That was a gift, a precious moment that justified our work there. Mention and thank one of the soldiers who gave us the photos he made while we were doing the workshop.

We finished the workshop exhausted, we had given everything to keep the attention, motivation, have them enjoying and sharing with us … and it had been worth it …

We still have recorded in memory the dances that were stuck, how they wanted to teach us their skills … Sofia, 5 years old, who had suffered experiences that we will not relate by creepy, did not stop hanging from my neck laughing, with an exceptional grace , carried out the activities super applied … that love of little girl … Some boys and girls living in atrocious conditions, without anything or nobody, and with desire to continue being children …

In the afternoon they took us to visit some people who live in the old train station. There we basically found barracks, and people living in infra-human conditions … However, we all came out to receive with joy, especially the children, with whom we began to play without stopping, I ended up sweating !!!! and happy and happy, following us without stopping to say hello to us with a smile from ear to ear … If the children are always oblivious to the barbarism of the world …

The next day we returned to give a workshop to Caritas. The group in theory was different, but this place is open to necessity, so whoever came in, and in the workshop we had many of the participants from the previous day … It was even better, they were much more motivated! and get to do much more, laughing, enjoying and learning, all together, from each other …

An unforgettable experience that only teaches you humility. Seeing the difficulties in uppercase of some people of this country you realize the relative of the circumstances, of the subjective valuation, and of the unbalanced that this world is … We are convinced that we can return to continue working with them, with the great work of Caritas and with the street children of Djibouti …

Rainbow of Love School, a place for the Rohingya children

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The last experience we did in Kuala Lumpur was at the Rainbow of Love school. It is a small school created by the NGO Human Aid for the Rohingya refugees in Kuala Lumpur. These children do not have the right to formal education because the country of Malaysia does not recognize the refugees, and therefore they do not have papers, excluding them from the possibility of having a regulated education. The Rainbow of Love school provides non-formal education for these refugee Rohingya children.

We just met Haziq, our contact, a local volunteer who does services for the school. We loved his attention, the forms and the training he did not give on the school, in a very logical and coherent way, with a complete dedication to the well-being of the children of the school, really a lifeline for these children, that after Having suffered a hellish path and about to perish in their country of origin, here they find love and opportunities that if it were not for them they would not have.

Haziq called the children to go to the floor below where we were going to carry out the workshops. There were 57 children of different ages, from 17 years old to 5 years old! They were to eat them !!! and they were super willing and motivated! That smiling faces more precious … At first we were strangers, and everyone behaved timidly … But little by little with our antics were loosened and delivered to the workshop, to enjoy and share with us …

In a moment of the workshop, it was the turn of some little girls of about 6 years, they were so excited to participate that they could not stand the emotion! squeezing their faces of the illusion that made them! Only this moment already justifies everything we do, the illusion of a girl, the challenge, the emotion, to share, to draw a smile on their faces, to create something for their community …

And with all the fuss of the children crazy for being the next volunteer, prepared to give everything, with total dedication and sincerity, we had to finish the workshop … The only sad note was the disappointed face of those who did not have more time to participate in the activities … But the teachers told us that they would continue with the activities so that everyone could enjoy it.

And from there we went to eat, they spread some plastic sheets on the floor where all the children sat in a group. In the middle of each group they put a large tray with a mountain of rice and some curried eggs …

All the children were super cute, super educated, waiting for the managers to finish serving to start eating … We said that we had no problem eating in the community dishes, but finally we were given a plate to each one separately …

Of course, we sit in the middle of everyone, sharing and playing with the children. How beautiful they are, they deserve everything we can give them, because they give everything, without reservation, so that we try, that they feel that we deserve their smiles !!

We hope to have the opportunity to return …

LEADS Sri Lanka, a committed organization

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In Colombo we contacted LEADS, an NGO that is dedicated to the development of the most needy areas in Sri Lanka. They are involved in various programs related to family development, basic needs, education, in different areas of Sri Lanka. It began formally in 1983 to relieve human suffering. Since then they have done an excellent job for the most needy.

We contacted them, and agreed to share a little knowledge to apply it in their projects. The training was held in a room of the NGO building, and the attendance was 35 people, field staff assigned to different areas of the country.

They are very professional people so it was easy to get along and motivate us together. The activities were very fluid, everything according to their needs, we were conducting the training sharing experiences, suggestions and comments, very enriching …

It was also a pleasure to share the rest breaks, including the food, to comment on cases and needs of their work, their field experiences, together we were enriched by common experiences and knowledge.

The end of the workshop was a success, all the assistants were completely involved, motivated and hypnotized by the magic of the exercises that we proposed them !!!!! Even us, enjoying and chanting each exercise. The evaluation they gave us was great, they were delighted … We will see each other …

JRSS, for Tamil development in northern Sri Lanka

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The following collaboration was with Jesuits Reconciliation Solidarity Sri Lanka (JRSS), the organization that remained after the dissolution of JRS in this country. They are dedicated to providing professional training to improve development in this area of ​​the country where the Tamil population predominates.

Our contact was Father Benny, a very singular person who loves theater and who has promoted street theater in India and Sri Lanka. With him we went first to Vavuniya to see the JRSS offices and then to Killinochi where we conducted the training.

The workshop was aimed at the JRSS staff and the women who attend the vocational center, in total 24 people, who for two days shared their experiences with us and we were able to enjoy their enthusiasm and commitment to improve.

At first we all had a shy attitude, but little by little we were letting go, without conditions or limitations. As we progressed, the complicity increased and the help and experience of Father Benny helped us all to let go much faster, laughing and trusting.

At the end of the second day we took the group photo, after having enjoyed, having shared, having expressed freely and having come together in the same room to mix our cultures and share our experiences … All a gift for us and for our experience … We’re leaving happy to have met you !!