Dzaleka Refugee Camp



This quote was on the blackboard in one of the preschool classrooms.  It broke my heart.

During a unit on architecture, the year 3 students wanted to see how houses can be build in an eco-friendly way, using the local resources and not requiring electricity powered tools. The partner of one of our teachers works at the Dzaleka Refugees Camp. The Dzaleka refugee camp is operated by the UN High Commission for Refugees and has been opened for almost 20 years, at first taking in refugees fromMozambique in the 1980s. Now the camp inhabitants mostly come from D.R. Congo, Rwanda, Burundi, Ethiopia, and Somalia. theonly refugee camp in Malawi where they also run an eco-friendly program, teaching the refugees how to build houses in such a manner. Since we had that connection, we were able to organize a visit. We also had started a partnership with the primary school there; having donated used leveled readers for their brand new library. So, the field trip was the occasion for our students to not only learn about architecture, but to see how the donated books were being used and the difference they would make to the students’ education.

When we arrived, having barely stepped out of the two buses, we were surrounded by a sea of school-aged children.  The kids were curious, greeted us, trying out some of their English on us.  Our students were quite intimidated by the attention.  Between the 6 adult chaperons, our 53 students were barely kept contained…  Our worry was to loose one, which could have happened real fast.  The camp children all wanted to see us, to look at us, to touch us, to shake our hands.  I don’t think I’d ever felt this claustrophobic in a crowd!  The longer we stood still, the narrower the circle of children became and the close our students huddled together.

We attended a welcoming ceremony during which the headmaster of the schools, wearing a formal suit and tie, thanked the students and the teachers of Bishop Mackenzie International School for the generous donation of books, and for us visiting the camp.   The situation was quite comical; the headmaster had a megaphone and was giving his speech, the crowd was huge and all around us, our students weren’t sure how to handle all the attention.  We had warned them that this may happen, but we had not anticipated such attraction!  We toured the brand new library, saw our donated books, even went into the teachers’ lounge where mostly men were planning their lessons, all dressed in full suits and polished shoes.

We then went and visited several preschool classroom.  The preschool had over 250 students and 3 classrooms…so if you do the math….about 80 students per class.  Imagine a medium sized classroom, with benches offering the only seating in the room, and 4 to 5 students on each bench.  We were lucky enough to be able to read books to the children.  They all were adorable, with their bright eyes. 

Very few spoke English, but they were all attentive to our students reading them books.  It truly was mind-blowing to consider the situation of 80 preschool aged children in one classroom with one teacher, having lessons in English when they themselves don’t speak it- complete ESL classroom, focusing on developing a few English words in those 4 year olds.

My camera soon opened doors…  I was taking photos of my students around the camp, but soon the camp children all wanted their photos taken.  Their favorite was to see the photo on the LCD display right after taking it!  The poses were the same ones, holding each other by the shoulders, big bright smiles, and also the odd gangsta signs.  The clothes looked a little bit or a lot used.  In a dire situation, fashion becomes a non-issue and boys and girls don’t care what they wear as long as they have something on.  My favorite one was probably the little 4 year old girl in preschool wearing her pink “princess dress” and the boy wearing flannel pajamas all day long.  It was heartbreaking to see them with holes, ripped shirts, broken shoes, filthy clothing…  Those children have done nothing to deserve growing up in those conditions.  Some don’t even know anything else than the refugees camp life, as their parents fled their home country years ago and may have lived at the camp for years already.

In order to foster the bourgeoning relationship between the two schools, a soccer game was organized, on a dirt field, with brand new goal posts (made of two wooden poles and a rope nailed between the two..these were especially installed for our visit!) 

Our students were on one side; some of the camp kids wore soccer uniforms and were ready to play.  The players were on the field, and all around the hundreds of children stood by watching and cheering the players.  At half time, at the blow of the whistle, a large group of kids rushed to the middle of the field.  I was thinking the game is over, but I was completely mistaken!  The players took their soccer clothes off and passed them on to other kids…who in turn go dressed and ready to play on.  A true collaborative effort!  When our BMIS kids scored a goal, the crowd cheered them out very loudly!  It just was genuine sportsmanship, cheering and encouraging.

We concluded the visit with a tour in the camp itself, and saw how they make the mud bricks, how they lay out the outline of a new house, then built its walls and finish the roof with sticks, covered with plastic tarp and finally finished off with straw.  The children were asking about bathrooms, sinks and tubs in the houses and were surprised when they were told that the houses did not have running water.  Although a good bit of the children are from Malawi, they live a pretty sheltered life and may not be aware of the living conditions of many people living in the country.

Today was, to say the least, a different school day, an eye opener for me, on the living and schooling conditions of children in the refugees camp.  I have to admit that I expected worse living conditions, with temporary tents set up and filth all over…  This camp looked more like a big village, with mud brik houses and straw roofs,  with pathways kept up rather clean and the children having school in brick building with concrete floors and large windows bringing day light.  What shocked me was how SAD the children looked,  how their eyes were not smiling and how neglected their overall look was.  I asked and most of those kids live with their parents/extended families and are taken care off, to some extent.  I guess I would be sad too if I lived in similar conditions, never knowing when I can have a good meal, or when I can go home..wherever home is!

The biggest, brightest eyes...and what future?