Hello everyone, and welcome back to my blog. Over the past two weeks, I have been working on a task about refugees. But before I tell you what I’ve learnt, let’s start with a basic question: What exactly is a refugee?
A refugee is a person who has been forced to leave their country because of war, violence, persecution, or a fear of harm. Refugees cannot safely return home and seek protection in another country. They leave everything behind to find safety, often facing many challenges along the way.
For my task, I really wanted to challenge myself, so I chose the ‘Titan’ level task. My first step was to read two passages: ‘Afghanistan to Aotearoa’ and ‘Skiing in Afghanistan.’ After reading these, I completed a follow-up activity that helped deepen my understanding. One of the tasks was that I had to summarise passages by focusing on the who, what, when, why, where, and how of each article, and then craft a brief sentence highlighting the key information I gathered.
Next, my task was to create an informative piece of peel paragraph writing that included ‘From Afghanistan to Aotearoa’ and ‘Skiing in Afghanistan.’
These tasks and articles have taught me a lot about the challenges refugees face and the journeys they undertake.
Here is a question that I have to answer as part of one of my tasks.
What challenges do people face when they become refugees?
When people become refugees, they often face a range of daunting challenges that can deeply affect their lives and well-being. They may be forced to leave behind their homes, possessions, and even loved ones, thrust into unfamiliar environments where language barriers and cultural differences can make integration difficult. Access to basic necessities such as food, clean water, shelter, and healthcare is often limited, and refugees may experience trauma from both the events that caused them to flee and the uncertainty of their new situation. Discrimination, lack of legal protection, and difficulties finding employment or education opportunities further complicate their ability to rebuild their lives.
Some challenges they can also face are:
- Loss of home and personal belongings
- Difficulty accessing basic needs (food, water, shelter)
- Language and cultural barriers
- Emotional and psychological trauma
- Limited job and education opportunities
- Social discrimination and isolation
- Uncertain legal status or lack of protection
Thanks, that’s all for my blog post today.
Shreeya