A participant uses his tarp and rope to create a tent.
WINNIPEG, MB – A refugee camp is about to spring up on Portage Avenue.
Every year, an average of 500 children arrive in Winnipeg from all over the world carrying the experiences of living on the run, in turmoil and in refugee camps. An estimated 7,000 plus refugee children have been absorbed into the Manitoba public school system over the last 14 years, most from war-torn countries, and now a unique course at The University of Winnipeg will help educators understand more about those experiences.
Beginning Monday, July 7 until Friday, July 11, participants attending the Teaching and Assisting War-Affected Children graduate course will construct a refugee camp consisting of 10 structures on UWinnipeg’s campus, using the same limited materials such as tarp and rope that would be likely in a real refugee camp. They will haul their own water from UWinnipeg buildings and receive food portions simulating camp conditions. The 20 participants, mostly public school teachers and social workers, will be helped by several UWinnipeg students from Sudan, Somalia and Afghanistan who will act as advisors.
“What makes this course unique in North America is the focus on learning by doing,” said Dr. Jan Stewart, Director of the Institute for War-Affected Children at UWinnipeg’s Global College. “The course will be conducted from the camp and will include a variety of activities to help students understand more about the pre-migration experiences of refugees. We will also run through simulations developed by the Red Cross to find lost family members, and by Unicef which has developed ‘recreation in a box’ and ‘school in a box’ kits meant for children in refugee camps. One goal for the week is to create a teacher’s resource manual that Doctors Without Borders will distribute to teachers across Canada this fall. The manual will help Canadian students learn about what life is like inside a refugee camp.”
Dr. Stewart adds that it is impossible to replicate the insecurity, violence and hardship that a refugee or internally displaced person feels. The purpose is to experience some of the struggles, and to develop relevant lessons for school children.
UWinnipeg’s Global College provides students, faculty, visiting scholars, dignitaries, and the community with a place to interact to share their diverse perspectives about issues of global citizenship, human rights, and issues affecting the planet. http://www.uwinnipeg.ca/index/global-college-index.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Diane Poulin, Communications Officer, The University of Winnipeg
P: 204.988.7135 E: d.poulin@uwinnipeg.ca
