Lesson 5: Refugees and IDPs

On Monday, November 10th, Josh, Sondi, Meera, and I went into the classroom to the classroom to give the lesson on refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs). We began the class with each of us reading a personal account aloud. We asked them if they had heard either the term refugee or IDP before and if they knew the difference between the two terms. The students that responded had heard of the term refugee but not IDP and could not differentiate between the terms. 

We broke up into three groups and showed a short video on conditions within the camp. We then had the students read over the worksheet before we went over the discussion questions. Students asked critical questions, such as why these poor conditions continue to persist if the U.S. is aware of the devastating camps? In addition, many students were able to draw connections from our last lesson on rape and women, and students spoke of the mental effects of living in a camp. We went over the abridged version of the UN Declaration of Human Rights and determined which rights might be violated in refugee/IDP camps. 

Our intention was to have each group focus on a specific issue and then gather back as a whole class and have the students present to each other on what they discussed in small groups. The groups consisted of: relations between Sudan and neighboring countries, child soldier recruitment in the camps, and health services and the availability of  basic necessities in the camps. Unfortunately, we were short on time and were not able to fully complete this part of the class.