• Text size Normal size text | Increase text size by 10% | Increase text size by 20% | Increase text size by 30%

Resources for ages 9-11 in Art

Teaching Tools, 22 April 2007

© Sybella Wilkes
Desperate to learn. From "One day we had to run!" by Sybella Wilkes

"Something like an accident"

in Sybella Wilkes, One day we had to run!, (London, Evans Brothers, 1994)

"It was something like an accident when I ran away from my village. We were playing at about 5 o'clock when these people, the soldiers, came. We just ran. We didn't know where were going to, we just ran. The soldiers divided into two groups; one for the village, one for our herds of cattle. My brother helped me to run. We didn't know where our mother or father were, we didn't say goodbye. Where there is shooting, when you hear BANG! BANG! BANG!, you don't think about your friend or your mother, you just run to save your life.

I didn't see the soldiers, I just heard the shooting, the screaming and the bombing that went DUM, DUM, DUM, DUM like this and killed many people. It all just happened, like an accident, and we ran without anything – nothing – no food, no clothes, nothing.

In the day the sun is hot and your feet burn. So we walked at night when it is cold, because then you don't say all the time, "I want water, I want water." To rest we stood under trees, but you can die of hunger if you give up and just lie under a tree ...

© Sybella Wilkes
"I was not scared because I was with many people." From "One day we had to run!" by Sybella Wilkes.

"So we just walked. We ate soil and the leaves of trees. The big boys knew the way. I think God showed us the way. You see, when you have God he says, 'Go this way' to the good people. But without God you could go this way, that way – and where do you go?

On the roads you can't leave a person who just sits down. You must pinch him and say, 'Get up! Get up!' God has told you that you must take this person, he is life. How did I keep walking? When I saw a small boy walking I would say, 'See this small boy? He is walking.' And I would carry on. We would tell stories to make us happy, saying, 'We are going to get food, we will be happy.'

We never felt well. We just walked. People died of hunger. I saw many dying. Even my friend died. There was no water, no food. When I saw my friend dying, I carried on walking. You see sometimes you can help, and then sometimes you can't. You are talking about your life. I had to leave my friend because I would die with him. When he refuses, when he won't go, what can you do?"

• DONATE NOW • • GET INVOLVED • • STAY INFORMED •

 

Against All Odds

Play the online game in Danish, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Icelandic, Norwegian, Spanish and Swedish.

Social Networking for Teachers

Educational Materials

This material can either be downloaded directly or ordered from our Public Affairs office. Most of the material is free of charge. Teachers looking to include some of our material and/or topics in their curriculum, may find our Lesson Modules of interest. Consult the educational materials catalogue and download the order form here:

Related Internet Links

UNHCR is not responsible for the content and availability of external internet sites

Camp Life in Eastern Chad

Faced with nearly 200,000 Sudanese refugees from Darfur fleeing into the barren desert of eastern Chad, the UN refugee agency has essentially had to build small villages – including shelter, latrines, water supply and basic services – to accommodate the refugees and help them survive in a hostile natural environment with scarce local resources. The 11 camps set up so far shelter more than 166,000 refugees from Darfur.

While much work still needs to be done, especially to find sufficient water in the arid region, life in the camps has reached a certain level of normalcy, with schools and activities starting up and humanitarian aid regularly distributed to the residents. Meanwhile, UNHCR continues to improve services and living conditions in the existing camps and is working to set up new camps to take in more refugees from the ongoing violence in Darfur.

Camp Life in Eastern Chad

Running out of space: Somali refugees in Kenya

The three camps at Dadaab, which were designed for 90,000 people, now have a population of about 250,000 Somali civilians, making it one of the world's largest and most congested refugee sites. UNHCR fears tens of thousands more will arrive throughout 2009 in this remote corner of north-east Kenya as the situation in their troubled country deteriorates further.

Resources, such as food and water, have been stretched dangerously thin in the overcrowded camps, with sometimes 400 families sharing one tap. There is no room to erect additional tents and the new arrivals are forced to share already crowded shelters with other refugees.

In early 2009, the Kenyan government agreed to allocate more land at Dadaab to accommodate some 50,000 refugees. View photos showing conditions in Dadaab in December 2008.

Running out of space: Somali refugees in Kenya

Tanzania: Hosting Africa's Largest Concentration of Refugees

Tanzania hosts Africa's largest concentration of refugees: almost 1 million people. Ongoing civil and political unrest in neighbouring countries prevents refugees from returning home and at the same time causes new refugees to stream into Tanzania.

During the past few years, the hospitality traditionally shown to new refugees has been strained by growing insecurity (perceived to be caused by the refugees) and pressure on limited natural resources. As a result, government policy towards Burundian and Rwandan refugees has become more closed, with the focus turning towards temporary asylum with a view to sending refugees home as quickly as possible.

UNHCR continues to provide protection to the 500,000 registered refugees living in camps in Tanzania, while also promoting education and health programmes, local integration initiatives, women's empowerment activities, small income generation programmes and environmental awareness and rehabilitation projects.

Tanzania: Hosting Africa's Largest Concentration of Refugees

Life for Iraqi refugees increasingly desperatePlay video

Life for Iraqi refugees increasingly desperate

More than 4.5 million Iraqis have been uprooted by the crisis in their country. More than 2.5 million of them are displaced within Iraq, while over 2 million have found refuge abroad, including 1.4 million in Syria and some half-a-million in Jordan. Life is getting increasingly desperate for these refugees as they run out of resources and, in some cases, overstay their visas.
Somali Refugees: Ethiopian CampsPlay video

Somali Refugees: Ethiopian Camps

Ethiopias fortunes are closely linked with those of its troubled neighbour, Somalia. It has served as a refuge for tens of thousands of Somalis over the years, but recently the increasing numbers are straining the resources of the UN refugee agency.
Somali Refugees: Ethiopian CampsPlay video

Somali Refugees: Ethiopian Camps

Increasing numbers of Somali refugees in Ethiopia are stretching the resources of the UN refugee agency.