From trauma to healing in Rohingya refugee camps
A Rohingya woman tells a forum of peer counselors the story of her divorce. A survivor of domestic abuse, she has started a new life alone with her daughter. She has weathered a storm of neighbors telling her she was the problem. Now, she provides the support she didn’t have to other women like her.
Similar scenes occur across refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar. Bangladesh. Here, BRAC (Building Resources Across Communities), an international non-governmental organization based in Bangladesh, has developed a program to train counselors who can provide mental health services to Rohingya refugees.
This includes 200 community members who have begun to practice the psychosocial skills they’ve learned in their own lives.
More than 900,000 Rohingya have fled to Cox’s Bazar since massive-scale violence against them in Myanmar’s Rakhine State began in 2017, the UN Refugee Agency reports. The prolonged exposure of the ethnic minority group to persecution and displacement has likely increased the refugees’ vulnerability to an array of mental health issues, a 2019 systematic review found.
Their struggles include post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, and gender-based violence.
Around the world, there is growing attention to the importance of socio-emotional learning as a skill to help people in areas of crisis cope with challenges. Educators are often tasked not only with providing traditional academic instruction but with building resilience in children. They are asked to create a sense of normalcy in environments that are anything but normal.
“It’s about not only teaching [children] how to read and how to do mathematics … in these settings, kids and teachers themselves have the need for psychosocial support,” said Ramya Vivekanandan, the senior education specialist at the Global Partnership for Education.
Teachers, caregivers and frontline mental-health providers are overburdened, Vivekanandan explains. They lack adequate pay, working conditions, and professional development. As they try to support the growing number of people in crisis, who will support them?
For some counselors in Cox’s Bazar, the answer is one another.
Community care
Even when resources are available, stigmas around mental health can prevent support from being received. Taifur Islam, a Bangladeshi psychologist responsible for mental-health training and supervision at BRAC, says people in the communities he works with are rarely taught to identify their feelings.
When you are struggling to access basic needs, Islam explains, it is easy to forget that emotional well-being can improve productivity. If such people seek help, they may be labeled “crazy.”
Training people to take care of their own communities can be a powerful way to overcome stigma in a culturally relevant way.
BRAC’s Humanitarian Play Labs were established in 2017 to give Rohingya children a safe space to practice socio-emotional skills through play.
Erum Mariam, the executive director of the BRAC Institute of Educational Development, explains that each play lab is tailored to fit the community it serves. Rohingya children now rhyme, chant, and dance in 304 Humanitarian Play Labs across the camps in Cox’s Bazar.
“We discovered the Rohingya culture through the children. And the whole model is based on knowing the culture,” Mariam said.
“Play leaders” are recruited from the camps and trained in play pedagogy. Mariam watched Rohingya women who had never worked before embracing their new roles. As they covered the ceilings of their play spaces with rainbows of flowers – the kind of tapestry that would hang from their homes in Myanmar – Mariam realized that a new kind of social capital could be earned by nurturing joy.
Traditional play didn’t just help uprooted children shape their sense of identity, it was also healing for the community.
If a play leader notices a child is withdrawn or restless, they can refer the child to a “para counselor” who has been trained by BRAC’s psychologists to address the mental health needs of children and their family members.
Almost half of the 469 para-counselors in Cox’s Bazar are recruited from the Rohingya community, while the rest come from around Bangladesh. Most para-counselors are women.
Many para-counselors are uniquely positioned to empathize with the people they serve as they go door to door, building awareness. This is crucial because it creates a bottom-up system of care without prescribing what well-being should look like, Chris Henderson, a specialist on education in emergencies, says.
At the same time, by supporting others, mental health providers are learning to take care of themselves.
Learning by doing
For months, Suchitra Rani watched violence against Rohingya people every time she turned on the news. When she was recruited by BRAC to become a para-counselor in Cox’s Bazar, she saw an opportunity to make a difference.
Alongside fellow trainees, Rani, a social worker originally from Magura district in Bangladesh, pored over new words she learned in the foreign Rohingya dialect and worked to find her place in the community.
Rani tested what she had learned about the value of psychosocial support and cultural sensitivity when she met a 15-year-old Rohingya girl too scared to tell her single mother she was pregnant. Terrified of bringing shame to the family, the girl had an abortion at home. As the young woman spiraled into depression, Rani felt herself slipping into her own fears of inadequacy.
It took time for Rani to persuade the girl to open up to her mother. Talking through feelings of guilt slowly led to acceptance. As they worked to heal fractured family bonds, Rani began to feel surer of herself, too.
Now, the Rohingya community calls Rani a “sister of peace.” Rani says she has become confident in her ability to use the socio-emotional skills she’s learned to both help others and resolve problems in her personal life.
Throughout the program, para-counselors have changed the way they communicate their feelings and felt empowered to create more empathetic environments.
Islam recounts a 26-year-old Rohingya refugee’s perilous journey to Cox’s Bazar: In Myanmar, the woman’s husband was killed in front of her. One of her two young children drowned during a river crossing as they fled the country.
She arrived at the camp as a single mother without a support network. Only once she had the support of others willing to listen could she speak openly.
Islam remembers counselors telling the woman about the importance of self-care: “If you actually take care of yourself, then you can take care of your child also.”
Toward empowerment
According to Henderson, evidence shows that one of the best ways to support someone is to give them a role to help others. In places where there may be a stigma against prioritizing “self-care,” people with their own post-crisis trauma are willing to learn well-being skills to help children.
A collection of teacher stories collected by the Inter-agency Network for Education in Emergencies reveals a similar pattern. Teachers in crisis areas around the world say the socio-emotional skills they learned to help students helped them reduce stress in their own lives, too.
Henderson suggests that the best way international agencies can promote trauma support is by holding up a mirror to the strength already shown by refugee communities like the Rohingya.
Instead of seeing what they lack, Henderson encourages humanitarian professionals to help give frontline teachers, caregivers, and counselors the agency to actualize their own ideas for improvement. Empowered community leaders empower the young people they work with, who, in turn, learn to empower each other. This creates “systems where everyone sees their position of leadership as supporting the next person’s leadership and resilience.”
At the end of her para-counselor training, the Rohingya domestic-abuse survivor said she wasn’t sure what she would do with the skills she’d learned for working through trauma, Islam remembers. But she did say she wished they were skills she had known before. According to Islam, she is now one of their best para-counselors.
“The training is not only to serve the community; that training is something that can actually change your life,” Islam says. It’s why he became a psychologist.
This article was provided by Globetrotter.
Srettha royally endorsed as new PM
PUBLISHED : 23 Aug 2023 at 10:00
Srettha Thavisin of the Pheu Thai Party has been confirmed as prime minister after receiving royal endorsement following his victory in a parliamentary vote, a spokesman for the house speaker said on Wednesday.
“His Majesty has given royal assent for the 30th prime minister of Thailand,” Khumpee Ditthakorn told reporters.
On Tuesday, the joint sitting of the House and the Senate elected the 61-year-old property tycoon as the new prime minister with 482 votes for, 165 votes against and 81 abstentions.
Almost all of the votes against Mr Srettha came from the Move Forward Party, which won the May 14 general election but could not get its leader, Pita Limjaroenrat, approved.
“I am truly honoured to be voted the 30th prime minister. I would like to thank all Thai people, coalition parties and all the representatives and senators who voted today. I will do my best, forget tiredness in the past and improve the living conditions of all Thai people,” Mr Srettha said on Tuesday.
Thailand’s jailed ex-PM Thaksin hospitalised after return from exile
Police said Thaksin was hospitalised because the prison was unable to guarantee he would get the right care. “The prison has assessed the situation and saw that it lacks doctors and medical equipment that can take care of the patient,” Assistant National Police Chief Lieutenant General Prachuab Wongsuk told Reuters.Continue Reading
As Chinaâs property crisis plagues its economy and financial system, is a âLehman momentâ looming?
According to calculations by 132 domestically listed developers by Chinese data provider Wind, combined sales revenue fell by 8.3 per cent last year – the first since 2005 – while their debt ratio was 78.99 per cent in 2022, only slightly lower than 79.03 per cent in 2019. The data,Continue Reading
Unpaid workers, silent sites: China’s property woes hit Country Garden
TIANJIN: At an unfinished Country Garden residential complex on the outskirts of the northern Chinese metropolis of Tianjin, construction has slowed to a dull whirr and a few idle workers roam a near-empty site. “They haven’t paid us since Chinese New Year (in January). We are all worried,” said aContinue Reading
UK-India trade talks enter ‘final, trickier’ stage – government sources
Getty ImagesUK trade talks with India are reaching their “final but trickier” stages, according to government sources.
Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch is visiting India for a meeting of G20 trade ministers this week.
There has been speculation about whether a trade deal may be struck before Rishi Sunak visits India in September.
But the BBC has been told there is currently no expectation in government a full deal will be agreed by then.
Government sources said they hoped a deal could now be “months” away, but they stressed there were still some “big nuts to crack”.
A trade deal with India has long been seen in government as one of the biggest prizes of all deals the UK could strike with other nations following Brexit.
Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson promised in April last year to get an agreement “done” by Diwali in the autumn of 2022 – but that deadline was missed.
The UK has been particularly keen to strike an agreement that could bring down tariffs on UK exports including cars and whisky, which currently face triple-figure tariffs, or import taxes, in India.
Those tariffs mean UK products can have a much higher price tag in India, making them less competitive.
Trade talks have faced some hurdles in the last year, in particular due to British ministers’ refusal so far to grant more visas to Indian workers.
The UK has been keen to get India to allow more UK City firms and service industries to set up business in the country.
William Bain, head of trade policy at the British Chambers of Commerce, said this would be the “big win” for British businesses – particularly UK travel, business or financial services.
“Up to 80% of the UK economy is services-based,” he said.
But he added: “That’s one of the last areas that India would want to make agreement at this point, because that’s where it has leverage.
“Having much more visa access to the UK will be part of the key things to get a deal over the line.
“If there is a future stage later in the year where the two prime ministers meet face to face for a further push – it’s really going to be that issue of services access in return for better access for Indian nationals in the UK.
“It is a bigger export market and it’s one which is rapidly increasing its prosperity. Also India hasn’t done many trade agreements, so the UK is relatively front of the queue here.”
More talks expected
Ms Badenoch is travelling to India to meet fellow trade ministers in the G20 group of wealthy nations, rather than to hold formal negotiations on a UK-India deal.
However, talks between officials from both sides will be ongoing in India during the visit, and she is set to have a one-on-one meeting with her Indian counterpart after the G20 meeting is over.
She will also be talking to the so-called B20, the business equivalent of the G20, chaired by Indian conglomerate Tata, which recently announced more than £4bn of investment in a gigafactory in Somerset.
The UK is hoping to proactively encourage other Indian investors to invest in the UK.
There have been some media reports, particularly in India, suggesting that a deal is “close” and could be reached to coincide with Rishi Sunak’s visit for the G20 leaders’ summit in September.
But officials have indicated that it is unlikely a full deal will be agreed by then.
September visit
Government sources stressed that, while the last round of talks “closed some chapters”, negotiations get “harder, not easier”.
UK officials are preparing for there to be a need for further talks following the trade secretary’s visit this week.
Mr Sunak is expected to receive a warm welcome when he visits in September. His appointment as the first British Indian prime minister was one of the top stories across Indian media.
Indian broadcaster NDTV ran a headline at the time saying: “Indian son rises over the empire. Rishi Sunak first Indian origin UK PM. History comes full circle in Britain.”
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has described him as the “living bridge” of UK Indians, while the Times of India suggested the appointment of a Hindu PM had brought India Diwali cheer.
A department for business and trade spokesperson said: “The UK and India are committed to working towards the best deal possible for both sides.
“We’ve made good progress in closing chapters, and are now laser-focused on goods, services and investment.
“While we cannot comment on ongoing negotiations, we are clear that we will only sign when we have a deal that is fair, balanced, and ultimately in the best interests of the British people and the economy.”
Related Topics
-
-
13 October 2022
-
-
-
22 April 2022
-
-
-
20 September 2022
-
Chandrayaan-3: India’s Moon lander Vikram aims for historic lunar south pole landing
ISROIndia is looking to make history on Wednesday with its third lunar mission is set to land on the Moon.
If Chandrayaan-3 is successful, India will be the first country to land near its little-explored south pole.
It will also be only the fourth country to achieve a soft landing on the Moon – the US, the former Soviet Union and China have all landed near the equator.
India’s attempt comes just days after Russia’s Luna-25 crashed while trying to touch down in the same region.
The country’s earlier attempt to land its Chandrayaan-2 mission near the south pole in 2019 was unsuccessful – it crashed into the lunar surface.
So all eyes are now on Chandrayaan-3.
The spacecraft with an orbiter, lander and a rover lifted off on 14 July from the Sriharikota space centre in south India.
The lander – called Vikram after Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) founder Vikram Sarabhai – carries within its belly the 26kg rover named Pragyaan, the Sanskrit word for wisdom.
Its journey to the Moon has generated a lot of excitement in India, with wishes for the mission’s success pouring in from across the country.
Isro has announced plans for a live telecast of the landing and millions of people, including schoolchildren, are expected to tune in.
Isro chief Sreedhara Panicker Somanath has said he is confident that Chandrayaan-3 will make a successful soft landing.
He said they had carefully studied the data from the Chandrayaan-2 crash and carried out simulation exercises to fix the glitches.
In the past few days, the Vikram lander’s camera has been extensively mapping the lunar surface while attempting to locate a safe landing spot.
In its update on Tuesday, Isro said the mission “is on schedule, systems are undergoing regular checks and smooth sailing is continuing”.
Mr Somanath has said Chandrayaan-3 will work to build on the success of India’s earlier Moon missions and help make some “very substantial” scientific discovery.
Chandrayaan-1, the country’s first Moon mission in 2008, had discovered the presence of water molecules on the parched lunar surface and established that the Moon has an atmosphere during daytime.
And despite failing the soft landing, Chandrayaan-2 was not a complete write-off – its orbiter continues to circle the Moon even today and will help the Vikram lander send images and data to Earth for analysis.
The lander and the rover are carrying five scientific instruments which will help discover “the physical characteristics of the surface of the Moon, the atmosphere close to the surface and the tectonic activity to study what goes on below the surface”.
On Wednesday, scientists will use a complex set of manoeuvres to reduce the lander’s speed gradually to bring it to a point which will allow a soft landing in an area which space scientists have described as “very uneven, full of craters and boulders”.
Once it lands and the dust settles, the six-wheeled rover will crawl out of its belly and roam around the rocks and craters on the Moon’s surface, gathering crucial data and images to be sent to the lander, which will pass it on to the orbiter to send to Earth.
The rover’s wheels have the Isro’s logo and emblem embossed on them so that they leave imprints on the lunar soil during the Moon walk, an official told the BBC.
The landing date has been carefully selected to coincide with the start of a lunar day (a day on the Moon equals 14 days on Earth) because the batteries of the lander and the rover will need sunlight to be able to charge and function. Once night falls, they will discharge and stop working. It’s not yet clear whether they will come back to life when the next lunar day starts.
One of the major goals of Chandrayaan-3 is to hunt for water-based ice, which scientists say could support human habitation on the Moon in future. It could also be used for supplying propellant for spacecraft headed to Mars and other distant destinations.
The south pole of the Moon holds special promise in that search – the surface area that remains in permanent shadow there is huge, and scientists say it means there is a possibility of water in these areas.
India is not the only country with an eye on the Moon – there’s a growing global interest in it, with many other missions headed to the lunar surface in the near future. And scientists say there is still much to understand about the Moon, which is often described as a gateway to deep space.
A successful Chandrayaan-3, they say, will take us a step closer in that quest.
BBC News India is now on YouTube. Click here to subscribe and watch our documentaries, explainers and features.
Read more India stories from the BBC:
Related Topics
North Korea signals reopening with first passenger flight in three years
“This flight isn’t a full resumption of the route yet, it is a special flight for Koreans only to take people home again after years being stuck overseas,” said Simon Cockerell, general manager at Beijing-based Koryo Tours. “The same as the flights that seem likely to happen soon from Vladivostok.”Continue Reading
US commerce secretary to visit China next week for talks
BEIJING: US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo will visit China next week, Beijing and Washington said on Tuesday (Aug 22), adding to a slew of US officials dispatched in recent months to ease tensions between the world’s largest economies. Washington says it is seeking to better manage its frosty relations withContinue Reading
India’s historic cut-price moon mission set for touchdown
The mission launched nearly six weeks ago in front of thousands of cheering spectators, but took much longer to reach the moon than those of the Apollo missions in the 1960s and 1970s, which arrived in a matter of days. India is using rockets much less powerful than those theContinue Reading