There are nearly 20 million refugees in the world. There are 25 million internally displaced people in the world. There were at least a million people, 70% of them women and children, fleeing the fighting in Zaire.
Class work on the issue of refugees or the destruction of family life should be handled very sensitively.
If there are refugee children in your class then the recommended resources by the Minority Rights Group and the British Refugee Council will give guidance as to how to proceed.
Some children may have experienced violence within the home, perhaps leading to the break-up of family life. All activities or discussions which are likely to evoke painful memories should be handled very carefully. You might wish to make the activity m ore stuctured, as for example the card game on refugee camps given in Refugees: we left because we had to (The Refugee C ouncil) to lessen the possibility of the exercise inducing personal trauma.
(this exercise is copyright free for class use)
Explain the term refugee to the children.
You might want to explain the situations which might force people to become refugees, or ask the children to brainstorm the reasons why people might become refugees:
Divide the children into small groups. Ask each group
to pick one of these reasons why they and their family might be
forced to leave their homes.
Ask them to imagine what the situation might be like and to note
down some details.
Tell the groups that they have one hour to leave their homes. Ask the groups to agree on a list of things from home that they would like to take with them.
Now tell them that they only can take one small suitcase. They cannot take any other item which has to be carried separately. They cannot ask any other member of their family to carry anything for them. Ask them to agree on a list of things which will fit into the small suitcase.
Then ask which one item they would keep if everything else had to be left behind.
Ask each group to describe to the whole class the situation they imagined which forced them to become refugees and explain their choice of items they would wish to take.
Compile a class list and divide it into themes (eg clothing, food, remembrances of home and family, luxury items). These are the items which mean most to the children. Has anything been left out?
(These examples are taken from case studies in the recommended resources)
The children could write their story of being refugees - why they had to leave, how they felt and what they took with them.
A class poster or collage could be made depicting the items they would chose to take.
Tune into the News: the introductory edition of Global Express aims to support teachers in dealing with high-profile and often controversial Third World news stories in the classroom.