Conversations with a Volunteer

Refugee Camps

Michelle worked in a camp in Rwanda with refugees from Burundi for 7 months and was happy to share some of her experiences with me.

Conversation took place: October 2017

Michelle you’ve worked in Burundi Refugee camps where learning spaces were established would you like to share some of the strengths of your experiences?

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I think the learning spaces in the camp I worked in were very imperative to the life of the children once things like health and safety had been established.  Education was so highly valued by the refugees in the camp, it was multi faceted and offered a whole range of opportunities.  Opportunities to continue learning, or begin learning, for kids who had not had the opportunity to attend school before, and those who were desperate to continue learning.  There was a very different understanding of education to what our children have here in Australia.  Over there it was so valued and it was the only way forward so therefore it was highly prized and valued.

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And what were some of the challenges?

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There were a lot of challenges in establishing learning spaces, firstly the environment it’s not a comfortable environment.  We needed to establish an environment where children could feel safe, could feel like they were someplace away from the trials and hardships of everyday life in a camp. Whether they were abandoned, orphaned or with family, life was very tough, so that space needed to be defined so it was very different to the everyday life.  So in establishing those spaces we had a lot of tented areas where learning activities could occur.

Another challenge creating that physical space was not coming in as the expert, we were coming in as the partners to support the teaching expertise amongst the refugees who worked in these learning spaces.

The teachers were highly educated people, very dedicated, with very definite ideas and wishes as to how learning should occur. The teachers and volunteers used their skills in collaborating and being very transparent in everything they did.  We used the expertise of the refugees who were there.

We couldn’t go in as the ‘all knowing’ because we didn’t know.  We didn’t know what had gone before. We could only imagine, we could only assist and build up that trust so that people could feel they could go on with it.   

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Creativity is something that I believe is very important in learning spaces and education…was this something that you worked on with the students?

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Yes, creativity was very much valued. I think because of the culture that already existed, dance, drama, and song were well established ways of educating and passing on information.  Their culture was something that everyone was very familiar with and it was very innate and to bring that out and to use that was very important and to give the refugees opportunities to feel how valued that was.  Hanging on to culture, particularly when you are out of your place, away from your home and where you feel you belong is important. In particular creative activities such as dance, drama, music any art form that had been previously used was continued and that wasn’t at our instigation but it was at the instigation of the children and the refugee staff.  For example, the children had used the clay from the ground around to model and make things, they had done basket weaving using plastic that was lying around, UNHCR plastic; whatever was available. 

Those creativity tasks were a continuation of the past but also were being part of the present because that was being ‘normal’ and part of the culture.

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And did you involve the parents?

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Yes we did, it was important to work with the parents.  So while you educated the children you had a function to work with parents or extended family such as grandparents who may have been the only remaining members of that child’s family and you worked with the whole community.

We had people from different backgrounds, very highly educated families and families and families with farming backgrounds who had not had as many educational opportunities available to them.  Education was important to all of them- you educate a child and you’re passing that education on to their family as well, so those opportunities were certainly picked up.

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And those young learners would have been in that Liminal Space?

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Yes that emergency education is certainly in that Liminal Space…. it was different to what the children’s normal existence had been, what their idea of school was and had looked like, it was separate to where they were going…

They really were on hold, once you’re in a refugee camp and you’re in that camp your life is on hold.  In many ways you’re in that Liminal Space it’s just not education- your whole life is in that Liminal Space it’s that in between.

So education was a continuation of that pattern of life at that point.

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‘Teachers Without Borders’ (TWB) is an organisation founded by Fred Mednick in 2000 to connect teacher as leaders to information and each other, in order to make lasting change. Fred believes that “a teacher is not only a community leader, but must educate for global citizenship and participation.”

I have chosen ‘Peace Education’ as one of his educational initiatives to incorporate into a Future learning Space.

Have you any thoughts re Peace Education in a Learning Space in a Burundi Refugee Camp, Michelle?

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The education and messages delivered in learning spaces in refugee camps need to be very carefully considered. One must always be mindful of being a guest and a partner within both the learning space and within the wider community. It is really important to gain the trust and confidence of the refugee teaching staff and importantly the wider community and community leaders or elders. In order to develop this trust the initial priority and need was to ensure safety, health and nutrition to the refugee community, only then could other needs begin to be addressed.

Messages and education in relation to peace were delivered with more subtlety and consideration of the political, ethnic and cultural situation within the camps and the country. Education on equality and human rights and the optimum outcome of peace had to be carefully considered and referenced in such a way that it was relevant to the refugees experience and sensibilities. Ultimately the education of peace and its dependent human rights was reinforced through the behaviours and attitudes of the foreign volunteers. It was these examples of being uninfluenced by people’s gender, ethnicity or political background, in delivering aid and education; i.e. treating everyone with equal respect that started to raise the message of human rights and the concept of peace.

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Any final thoughts or words on your experiences?

Any experience in a refugee camp is both life changing and an amazing privilege. Being able to see hope for the future through the provision and availability of education of both the young and the old, is life affirming. The opportunity to either commence or continue in the education process is invaluable to the wider refugee community and ultimately the future of any country.

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Thanks for your insight Michelle

(photos at top of page from Michelle's personal album)