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Where would you go…

Where would you go…. …if your country was no longer safe?. What would you take…. …if you had 5 minutes to leave home?. “When you leave, you grab your children and nothing else”. “We lost all our belongings” Voice of a Bosnian refugee. ‘Panic & confusion’. ‘Fear’. ‘No where to go’.

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Where would you go…

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  1. Where would you go… …if your country was no longer safe?

  2. What would you take… …if you had 5 minutes to leave home?

  3. “When you leave, you grab your children and nothing else”. “We lost all our belongings” Voice of a Bosnian refugee

  4. ‘Panic & confusion’ ‘Fear’ ‘No where to go’ ‘Loss’ ‘Anger’ ‘Sadness’ Flee for your lives’ ‘Hope’

  5. These are the thoughts of a refugee fleeing their country… “No time for goodbyes, no time for mourning, no time for anything…just save your life and the lives of your children”.

  6. “It’s awful to leave your country. I left alone”. “You never know when you are able to go back again and visit family and friends, your job – everything – all of your memories of life is there, you have to leave everything”. An Iranian refugee

  7. The refugee journey… An unimaginable experience An unforgettable story A courageous journey

  8. It takes courage to be a refugee…

  9. There were an estimated 10.3 million refugees worldwide at the beginning of 2003. That means there is a new refugee every 21 seconds. UNHCR, 2004

  10. Around 47% of persons under the United Nations Commission for Refugees are children under the age of 18. 13 % are under the age of five. UNHCR, 2005

  11. An estimated 80% of refugees are women and children. UNHCR 2005 ‘Refugee women, especially widows, single mothers and the elderly are a particularly vulnerable population.’

  12. IMAGINE… The occupational disruption, The environmental destruction, And the psychosocial turmoil… …EXPERIENCED BY A REFUGEE

  13. IMAGINE…

  14. The war zone…. “When it hits you, when somebody that you knew or someone your close to, or their family, or somebody had just died. Seeing that scene, that loss, it’s really unbearable. You understand war, and your forced to grow up sooner than most kids do”. A yugoslavian refugee remembering the war

  15. Homes destroyed. ‘Environmental upheaval’

  16. Livelihoods lost ‘Occupational disruption’

  17. A new makeshift home…a refugee camp “I saw a lot of tents, people and crying. I always saw mean people in the army just looking. It was muddy, very, very sad”. Words of a 13 year old Albanian refugee

  18. Poor living conditions ‘There are very poor drainage and sanitation systems. At times standing water is several feet deep’. Refugees International talking about the camps in Bangladesh in 2005

  19. ‘Living conditions in the camps are seriously overcrowded’. ‘Families of 8 or 10 eat, sleep, and work in eight by ten-foot square rooms’. Refugee International

  20. Food is scarce. Cooking utensils basic.

  21. A lost childhood. No time for play. Only survival.

  22. Loss of meaningful occupation…Living i “The cave is difficult to live in. There is no water, no windows. We don’t want anything but just want to work to be busy, to be able to buy our food, to send our children to school, and to buy them things. My son wants to study but because we have no money he has to spend the day collecting firewood”. Refugee International, 2002

  23. Desperate for meaningful occupation… “In refugee camps, the sheer desperation provokes people to use creativity, stretching their imagination to bring relief to the morbid atmosphere… …I remember some kids just playing, try’na have fun. We tried to make anything fun”. Voice of a Bosnian refugee remembering growing up in a refugee camp

  24. After years of waiting in a refugee camp… Average time spent in a refugee camp was 9 years in 1993. This increased to 17 years in 2003. UN Committee for Refugees, 2004

  25. At last, sanctuary. And a determination to start all over again in an unfamiliar land. A new life to build. World Refugee Day, UNHCR, 2006

  26. But, the refugee journey does not end on arrival to their host country…

  27. They are again faced with a myriad of… OCCUPATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL and PSYCHOSOCIAL CHALLENGES

  28. Language barriers Unrecognised work credentials Unfamiliar leisure opportunities Lost profession Mental health concerns New cultural and social expectations Unfamiliar education and government systems Economic constraints Ongoing impact of trauma Unfamiliar household items Lost loved ones

  29. Occupational opportunities We know that adjustment and learning take place because people participate in meaningful activities. Reese, 2005

  30. These meaningful activities are domestic, social, recreational, academic and vocational. They take place within the local community in homes, school, and the workplace.

  31. Opportunities for learning do not occur if there is no sustained participation in rewarding activities. These opportunities need to be created; they do not occur by chance. Reese, 2005

  32. It is neither wealth or splendor; but tranquility and occupation which give happiness.Thomas Jefferson

  33. It takes courage, understanding and compassion… …To work with refugees Occupational therapists can make a difference

  34. Photo credits to: Refugees International Thank you Sincere thanks to Refugees International for your generosity in sharing your valuable photographs. They are a wonderful tribute to the refugee population and inspire compassion and understanding in others.

  35. Where would you go… …if your country was no longer safe?

  36. What would you take… …if you had 5 minutes to leave home?

  37. “When you leave, you grab your children and nothing else”. “We lost all our belongings” Voice of a Bosnian refugee

  38. ‘Panic & confusion’ ‘Fear’ ‘No where to go’ ‘Loss’ ‘Anger’ ‘Sadness’ Flee for your lives’ ‘Hope’

  39. These are the thoughts of a refugee fleeing their country… “No time for goodbyes, no time for mourning, no time for anything…just save your life and the lives of your children”.

  40. “It’s awful to leave your country. I left alone”. “You never know when you are able to go back again and visit family and friends, your job – everything – all of your memories of life is there, you have to leave everything”. An Iranian refugee

  41. The refugee journey… An unimaginable experience An unforgettable story A courageous journey

  42. It takes courage to be a refugee…

  43. There were an estimated 10.3 million refugees worldwide at the beginning of 2003. That means there is a new refugee every 21 seconds. UNHCR, 2004

  44. Around 47% of persons under the United Nations Commission for Refugees are children under the age of 18. 13 % are under the age of five. UNHCR, 2005

  45. An estimated 80% of refugees are women and children. UNHCR 2005 ‘Refugee women, especially widows, single mothers and the elderly are a particularly vulnerable population.’

  46. IMAGINE… The occupational disruption, The environmental destruction, And the psychosocial turmoil… …EXPERIENCED BY A REFUGEE

  47. IMAGINE…

  48. The war zone…. “When it hits you, when somebody that you knew or someone your close to, or their family, or somebody had just died. Seeing that scene, that loss, it’s really unbearable. You understand war, and your forced to grow up sooner than most kids do”. A yugoslavian refugee remembering the war

  49. Homes destroyed. ‘Environmental upheaval’

  50. Livelihoods lost ‘Occupational disruption’

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