During the fire, Junayed injured his foot on a nail. With medical centres closed, there was no help available.
“I couldn’t walk due to the pain,” says Junayed. “The hospital has been burnt out, that’s why couldn’t get medicine. Now I am limping due to the pain.”
Shofik* is a volunteer Rohingya Facilitator at the Save the Children Child Friendly Spaces. With the permanent Child Friendly Spaces burnt to the ground, he quickly set up a Mobile Child Friendly Space for the kids to come play and process their feelings and experiences around the fire. It was there he noticed Junayed had been injured.
Shofik* immediately took him to Save the Children’s Mobile Medical Team to bandage his foot and get the medicines he needed to prevent an infection.
With much of the camp in ruins, the Mobile Child Friendly Space is a key space for children to come together to process their trauma.
“Children are coming to the tent and we are running activities,” says Shofik. “We are doing game and fun sessions, and trying to make them feel calm. Since the Multi-Purpose Children and Adolescent Centre is burnt, children moved to different places in scattered way. We have set up the Mobile centre so that our children can remain together and don’t go alone somewhere. Our children will be able to stay together and play.”
The months of recovery ahead
The fires were terrifying for Rohingya families, and there will be months of disruption and upheaval ahead as facilities and homes are re-built. Children too, will need special support, in processing the disaster and recovering from the effects.
But we’ll be on the ground supporting children like Junayed over the coming days and months as life in the camp returns to a new normal.