For those of you who didn't know, yesterday was World Refugee Day, a day of celebration and solidarity started by the UN in order to bring attention to the plight of refugees. It's especially interesting to see observed in a refugee camp. The theme of the day was "Humanizing Refugees," a phrase apparently coined by Bill Gates. The theme may make sense from an international perspective but inside the camp is rather problematic, or at least all the white NGO volunteers seemed to think so. The day's celebrations included a parade of all the school children in the morning, an indoor program of speeches, songs, and skits in the afternoon, and afterword sports games outside. I attended the indoor program and was very glad I was there to see it all. There were A LOT of political tensions in the air, especially between the refugees and the representatives of the UNHCR and the Ghana Refugee Board. The Ghanaian, in his speech, tried very hard to make Ghana's role as host look good, emphasizing that they have limitations but are doing all they can. He STRONGRLY encouraged repatriation as soon as possible (by the June 30, 2007 UN voluntary repatriation deadline); in other words, "go home." The Liberians, for their part, were not afraid to be critical of the UNHCR or Ghana. They said, explicitly, that they did not really feel like they were being humanized and that the June 30th date was not at all reasonable or realistic. However, the highlight of the program came before any of these speeches. One of the skits was by a children's group.
It was about Mr. & Mrs. Liberia and their 17 children, each representing a different tribe. A stranger, "War," came to visit the family and all the children starting fighting with each other. Their parents were trying to get them to make up. One kid said, "So we are supposed to forgive and forget, let bygones be bygones?" And Mr. Liberia said "No. You must remember the past so that you can learn from the mistakes that you have made. You cannot go back to the way things were before, but must recognize and take responsibility for your mistakes so that we can live peacefully together in the future." Etc. Now, it may just be rhetoric, like much on camp is, but it's the first time I've heard rhetoric I've agreed with completely. And everyone in the audience loved them. It was just really inspiring and gave me more hope than I've had since I've been here.
For those of you who didn't know, yesterday was World Refugee Day, a day of celebration and solidarity started by the UN in order to bring attention to the plight of refugees. It's especially interesting to see observed in a refugee camp. The theme of the day was "Humanizing Refugees," a phrase apparently coined by Bill Gates. The theme may make sense from an international perspective but inside the camp is rather problematic, or at least all the white NGO volunteers seemed to think so. The day's celebrations included a parade of all the school children in the morning, an indoor program of speeches, songs, and skits in the afternoon, and afterword sports games outside. I attended the indoor program and was very glad I was there to see it all. There were A LOT of political tensions in the air, especially between the refugees and the representatives of the UNHCR and the Ghana Refugee Board. The Ghanaian, in his speech, tried very hard to make Ghana's role as host look good, emphasizing that they have limitations but are doing all they can. He STRONGRLY encouraged repatriation as soon as possible (by the June 30, 2007 UN voluntary repatriation deadline); in other words, "go home." The Liberians, for their part, were not afraid to be critical of the UNHCR or Ghana. They said, explicitly, that they did not really feel like they were being humanized and that the June 30th date was not at all reasonable or realistic. However, the highlight of the program came before any of these speeches. One of the skits was by a children's group. 
It was about Mr. & Mrs. Liberia and their 17 children, each representing a different tribe. A stranger, "War," came to visit the family and all the children starting fighting with each other. Their parents were trying to get them to make up. One kid said, "So we are supposed to forgive and forget, let bygones be bygones?" And Mr. Liberia said "No. You must remember the past so that you can learn from the mistakes that you have made. You cannot go back to the way things were before, but must recognize and take responsibility for your mistakes so that we can live peacefully together in the future." Etc. Now, it may just be rhetoric, like much on camp is, but it's the first time I've heard rhetoric I've agreed with completely. And everyone in the audience loved them. It was just really inspiring and gave me more hope than I've had since I've been here.
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