Life as a Refugee Child (Lesson Plan, II Part)

Aim of the activity:

1. to know the facts: reasons why people have to ask for refuge in another country; the hazardous situations and harsh conditions they endure and what their lives are like in refugee camps.
2. to introduce the idea that basic needs are rights.
3. to empathise with refugees leaving their homes and countries.
4. to develop in the students a desire to seek solutions to problems

Number of students: minimum 8

Process:

First Part

1. Some definitions
2. Video: Daadab Refugee Camp
3. Anatomy of a Refugee Camp

Second Part

1. Jacob and Amin’s Stories
2. Jacob's Story and Activity Sheet
3. Amin's Story Comic
4. Debriefing
5. Activity “Wants and Needs”
6. Video: Somali Children in a Refugee Camp
7. Discussion

JACOB AND AMIN’S STORIES

Jacob's story

Jacob's Case Story

Jacob is a Sudanese refugee child who fled Sudan without his family. After joining up with other Sudanese boys who were also without parents, he walked from southern Sudan, across thousands of miles of barren land, to the safety of a refugee camp in north-west Kenya.

Teaching methods

Introduction

Questions designed to stir the children's imagination and to empathise with Jacob's situation.

Development

The teacher reads aloud Jacob's story. Students answer the comprehension questions on the Activity Sheet.

Activity Sheet: Jacob's Story (in teams)

Where did Jacob and the other boys come from?

………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Were there many boys or just a few who made the trek to safety in Ethiopia?

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Write down the immediate reasons why Jacob and the other children felt that they could no longer stay in their home town, even in their home country.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Now write down the root causes that lie behind the reasons you have mentioned.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Amin’s Story

Click here to download AMIN'S STORY

Debriefing:

1. Tell half of the students to imagine they are Jacob and the other half that they are Amin.
2. Tell them to think for a while about the experiences they have been through and to write how they feel.
3. Then, sit down in a circle and ask students to read what they have written aloud as if Jacob and Amin were speaking.
4. Discuss students' answers to the Activity Sheet.

 Activity: Wants and Needs

Click here to download the cards "WANTS AND NEEDS"

See video: Somali Children in Refugee Camps:

DISCUSSION

Use the following questions to talk about whether refugees’ needs are covered, and therefore whether their rights are respected.

1. What are the differences between wants and needs?
2. Do refugees have everything that they need?
3. Does the international community act effectively to assure refugees’ needs and rights are respected?
4. Are refugee camps a solution to their problems?
5. What could be done to make sure there is no need for people to flee their countries?
6. Considering the answers to the questions above, how can we help both to solve the immediate problem refugees are facing and to put an end to the root causes of the problem?