Living Like Refugees

Merriam Webster defines a refugee as: one that flees; especially : a person who flees to a foreign country or power to escape danger or persecution.

What is a Refugee Camp?
Wikipedia describes a refugee camp this way:

"A refugee camp is a temporary camp built to receive refugees. Hundreds of thousands of people may live in any one single camp. Usually they are built and run by a government, the United Nations, or international organizations, (such as the Red Cross) or non-governmental organizations."

"Refugee camps are generally set up in an impromptu fashion and designed to meet basic human needs for only a short time. Some refugee camps are dirty and unhygienic. If the return of refugees is prevented (often by civil war), a humanitarian crisis can result."

"People may stay in these camps, receiving emergency food and medical aid, until it is safe to return to their homes. In some cases, often after several years, other countries decide it will never be safe to return these people, and they are resettled in "third countries," away from the border they crossed." - Wikipedia.com

I believe that the unfortunate people that end up in refugee camps have got to be some of the most heartbroken people in the world. They survived war in their homelands, witnessed and lived through heinous crimes and the most vile atrocities committed against human beings. Then they have to live in crappy tents and sleep on the ground with very little to eat, for months or years on end. It is a sad place. Outside of the war zone, it has got to be one of the most hopeless places a human being could ever know.
I have said many times over the past 15 months that my children and I have been living like refugees. Like many people around the world that live in war zones, we were forced to flee our home to escape the clear and present danger of our daily lives. Also like refugees, our existence has been uncomfortable and painfully difficult.

Living like a refugee is not easy.

We have moved 7 times from one temporary "camp" to another. Packing up our things in bags and dragging them with us over and over again. It's exhausting. We have slept on mattresses on the floor and made of air, our equivalent of "sleeping on a tarpaulin mat." We have slept all together in a single bed. We have slept underground. Whether we lived in a shelter, with family or a friend, we were living in "another man's land," confronted with "strange dialects and unusual diets." Basically meaning that everyone has their own style of living and when you live with others, you have to accept lifestyles that are different from and sometimes in conflict with yours.

Living like a refugee is not easy.

What is the single thing that any refugee wants more than anything? To return to the home they knew before the war. For me and my kids, there was no time before the war. There was always war and war was always there. For us like many other refugees, sometimes returning home is not an option, because home will never be safe.

So then the second thing that refugees want more than anything is to settle into a new home in a new land. And for a refugee, it ain't easy. You have left everything behind. You have no money, no job, no home. You have to begin all over again in a new place. That place can sometimes be hostile and unwelcoming and you will have to fight for every morsel you get.

Living like a refugee is not easy.

Whatever becomes of refugees? Do they return home? Do they set up a new life in a new land? Do they live in the camp for years and years? Do they die in the camp? I don't know. I know that we aren't returning home. I know that setting up a new life in this new land has been fraught with never ceasing obstacles. We are into our second year in the camp. Will we make it out alive? Only God knows.

The "non-governmental organizations" that have brought humanitarian aid to us in our camp, have come in the form of family - my parents and sisters, good friends, domestic violence agencies, and even strangers. They have helped us survive this rough time of transition. But we want to begin to live again, not just breathe.

There have been more than a few days when I felt the war zone was better than the misery of the camp. It's not the kind of life I wanted my kids to experience. But such is life. It has a way of being so out of our control at times. So so so many times I've wanted to give up. Life in the camp can wear you out, crush your spirit, break down your mind, and cause you to lose all hope. I need a break, I need to catch my breath and I need to exhale.
Nope.........living like a refugee is not easy.

"Living Like a Refugee"

You left your country
to seek refuge
in another man's land
You left your country
to seek refuge
in another man's land

You will be confronted
by strange dialects
You will be fed
with unusual diets

You got to sleep
in a tarpaulin house
which is so hard
You got to sleep
on a tarpaulin mat
which is so cold

Living like a refugee
is not easy
Living like a refugee
is not easy
Living like a refugee
is not easy
Living like a refugee
is not easy.
~ Lyrics to "Living Like a Refugee" by Sierra Leone's Refugee All-Stars




From Refugees To All Stars