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PROJECT PWARR - STAGE 1

 

Establishing Child Friendly Spaces

Since 25 August 2017, 12,000 Rohingya children, from Myanmar, arrive each week at the various refugee camps at Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh.  This means that the existing child friendly spaces are not meeting the desperate needs of new arrivals.

The Gulf Times (2017) reported that approximately 200 permanent and 33 mobile Child Friendly Spaces have been built by various aid organisations, teaching over 17,000 children.  UNICEF estimates that a total of 1,300 schools need to be built to ensure all Rohingya children have access to education.

The creation of additional child Friendly spaces, using the UNICEF and UNHCR kit is the first stage of Project Pwarr. 

Establishing a Child Friendly Space would be achieved in conjunction with UNHCR and UNICEF who are well established and experienced in these initiatives.  To date, these two, Not For Profit organisations have helped create and support 106 Child Friendly Spaces (CFS) throughout Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh.

This is accomplished through identifying appropriate adults from within the refugee community and the provision of pre-packaged educational kits and guidelines for their use. There are 3 main educational kits distributed by UNICEF. They include: 

  • School In A Box

  • Early Childhood Development Kit

  • Recreational Kit

 

UNICEF and UNHCR provide the pre-packed kits and guidelines for use, replenishing items as necessary. Identifying people from within the refugee community to drive these initiatives is important, as it gives them greater ownership, and empowers them with a sense of purpose.  The Rohingya people also have a much better understanding of previous educational experience that children may have received in Myanmar.  Bangladesh has forbidden Rohingya children to be taught the Bengali curriculum or use the Bengali language;  a formidable reminder of their temporary welcome.

“It is critical that these children, who have suffered so much in this crisis, should have access to education in a safe and nurturing environment,” says UNICEF Bangladesh Representative, Edouard Beigbeder.  “This is critical not just to provide them with a much-needed sense of normalcy now, but so that they can build a future to look forward to.”   

                                                   UNICEF - Outcast and Desperate Report Oct. 2017

The standard CFS can support over one hundred children per day, but no children are ever turned away.  Approximately 5 teachers and 20 additional staff are employed from the Rohingya community to teach and manage each space. 

Each CFS is open from 9am till 5pm with an hour long break for lunch, in the middle of the day.  Meticulous registration records are kept to ensure children are accounted for and new children are identified.  Although the children are free to come and go whenever they please, most stay for the full day, a testament to the good work being done.  Lessons are taught in Burmese, as ordered by the Bangladesh government and focus primarily on maths and literacy. There is also a strong focus on play, art and sport as these activities are strongly linked to positive mental health. 

      Incorporating Contemporary Design Elements into Child Friendly Spaces

Open Plan Classrooms

The decision to incorporate an open plan learning environment is usually up to individual schools.  However limited resources in the refugee camps mean that all CFS's are open plan spaces.  Some are able to separate younger children yet most are single room environments.

Open plan rooms can be noisy and highly distracting spaces. For this reason it is important to implement clear instructions about movement, use and management of resources, and noise levels.  Visual graphics are a great way to support these instructions and resource management systems.   

Open plan spaces offer wonderful opportunities for team teaching and the mentoring of emerging educators.  Resources can be shared easily.  Children have greater autonomy in their learning experiences and level of engagement in different activities.

There is greater flexibility in grouping children for activities that may require peer tutoring, or collaborative work.  Biddick (2014) also supports the idea that open plan spaces increase motivation and offer a variety of interactions for children. This point is particularly relevant to refugee children who are traumatised and may lack focus or incentive to participate.

It is important to consider the fluctuating needs of all children and therefore highly preferable to have areas where children are able to be alone or in a quiet, low stimulus area. 

 

In order to address individuality it is preferable to involve the children in the design process. This process may take time to evolve but it is only then, that you will have a space that truely addresses the needs of each child. 

            “The aim is to provide these survivors with a space to learn, play, heal and be
             themselves.” (Sababa, 2016)

Child Friendly Spaces and education are crucial to refugee communities as they foster “physical, cognitive and psychosocial protection” (Crouch, 2017).  They foster social cohesion and provide access to life saving skills and information. 

Even more important to Rohingya refugees, these spaces offer a stable and safe environment, which helps them, rebuild their communities and pursue productive and meaningful lives.

 Education is a basic human right as detailed in the 19899 Convention on the Rights of the Child, and the 1951 Refugee Convention.

               Education is now considered one of the 4 pillars essential to humanitarian aide. 

              Education also gives refugees hope of a better future, “Education is an enabling

              human right” (Crouch, 2017).

 

If children and adolescents are not given the opportunity to attend school, learn and connect with other children and positive adult mentors, they are locked into a cycle of helplessness and become highly susceptible to exploitation.  Without Child Friendly Spaces there is no opportunity to begin to heal.

 “If they learn, they will be able to live their lives properly,” Laila Begum says as she waits for her two children outside a camp learning centre. Her husband, Noor Alam, nods in agreement. “Wherever we go, the children need knowledge,” he says  

                                                  UNICEF - Outcast and Desperate Report Oct. 2017

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