We'll follow a Rohingya refugee in Bangladesh to see how she escaped a difficult situation. Her new home poses new challenges, but ADRA is there to help.
Yasmin clutches her infant daughter, Hasina, to her chest as she makes her way home. She arrives at a makeshift shelter made of tarpaulin where she and her family are staying as refugees.
Yasmin belongs to a minority tribe in Myanmar called the Rohingya, which has been targeted for their Islamic beliefs.
Early one morning in September 2017, Yasmin woke to the loud whir of a helicopter circling her village in Myanmar. The next thing she heard was a machine gun strafing the buildings.
Together with her husband, Yasmin grabbed her four children all under the age of five and rushed toward the sea. The screams and gunfire faded behind them as they ran, and by the time they reached the coast, the only sound that remained was the lapping of the waves.
Still, the family was afraid.
Hasina, then just a newborn, survived those eight days on breastmilk with a piece of cloth for shade. Finally, Yasmin and her husband decided that capture was better than starvation.
On the morning of the ninth day, the family fled toward Bangladesh. After an arduous journey, they ended up in a refugee camp called Camp Leda in southeast Bangladesh. The Adventist Development and Relief Agency, or ADRA, is one of several humanitarian organizations providing basic necessities at the camp.
Although life in the refugee camp is relatively safe, it’s not always easy. Access to latrines is limited, private bathing is nearly impossible to find, and schools are non-existent.
As a Rohingya refugee in Bangladesh, Yasmin’s options for food are also limited. So twice a month, she gathers her youngest child and sets out for her allotted portion of rice, lentils, salt, sugar, and oil.
Yasmin’s husband was a successful shopkeeper and homeowner in Myanmar before the attack. With the income from his dry goods store and the shelter from his two-story wood house, her husband provided for all his family’s needs.
But now they have no choice but to accept aid and wait. Yasmin and her family are part of the 800,000 Rohingya refugees living in Bangladesh, yearning to return home to Myanmar.
Until then, ADRA and other humanitarian organizations are working to meet their needs. Your support of ADRA and the mission offerings makes a tangible difference for people like Yasmin and her family.
