An adventure, a mission, an invention

I wonder if I were to speak to a Rohingya refugee child and ask them what kind of learning space they would most like to have, what they would say? I wonder if I was to ask their family or community what the response would be?

You see I am not in Bangladesh nor have I ever been there, I have not fled my home in Myanmar to find safety in Bangladesh only to find a secondary disaster in the refugee camp as it flooded due to tropical storms. I have not witnessed my family been murdered and raped or my house being set on fire as Myanmar security forces forcibly removed me from my home and village. No, I have not experienced any of these horrific events. I do not know about the Rohingya peoples culture or customs. The only thing I know about them is that they have experienced persecution beyond my comprehension, yet despite this their disposition of resilience continues.

Everywhere you look on the Myanmar border in Bangladesh there is rebuilding occurring, once an empty piece of land is now a makeshift mosque, the once empty hillside is covered with small dwellings, old bricks are being used to build paths and roads through the camps (Bennett, 2017). As I scan through photographs of the refugee camps I observe people in community, building together, cooking together, children playing together and people smiling. I also see lots of water which I am guessing is seasonal, mud, plastic debris and tropical vegetation. I believe the Rohingya refugee peoples have capabilities, strengths and resilience which will see them fly once again. Stay tuned my friends as I conceptualise and begin to document my planned future learning space, an adventure, a mission an invention.

Bennett, J. (2017).Myanmar: Rohingya refugees face increasing hostility in southern Bangladesh. ABC News Corporation. Retrieved from http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-09-28/rohingya-refugees-face-increasing-hostility-in-bangladesh/8995238