Together We Stand

[ 88 ] Image: Zhou Bai/Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation Community workers under Tzu Chi’s Cash for Relief programme clean up the streets following the devastating Haiti earthquake in 2010 development projects with building reconstruction and the construction of more than 55 prefab buildings at various schools, temples and hospitals, with more reconstruction and development projects currently on the way. This concept of empowerment, dignity and autonomy, all rooted in education, extends to populations outside of disaster survivors, such as socioeconomically disadvantaged popula- tions and refugees. Refugees, particularly those residing in non-signatory states to the 1951 Refugee Convention, are subject to the host country’s immigration policies. Despite the high level of education of many refugees, finding employment becomes a major struggle due to language barriers. Without government support, even the most basic medical services become a luxury that many refugees cannot afford. “Life as a refugee living in Bangkok was difficult,” says Ghafoor Shahzad, a Pakistani Christian who fled to Bangkok to escape religious persecution. “Many of us overstayed our visas, and we were in constant fear of getting caught by immigration officers and being detained. Most refugees had already spent a majority of their savings on airfare and travel documents to escape. As a result, refugees generally lived in poverty, relying on charitable organizations for food.” In October 2014 the Bangkok Refugee Center, the implementing arm of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), closed its doors, leaving over 8,000 registered refugees living in Bangkok, Thailand, without access to basic health care. With the support of the US Bureau of Populations, Refugees and Migrations, Tzu Chi in Thailand provided the much needed services for the refugee and asylum-seeking population in Bangkok through free monthly medical outreaches. In the outreaches, refugees were not only given primary medical care services, they were also treated to important health education, particularly WASH education, disease prevention practices, paediatric and child health education, and reproductive health education for women. Each patient is treated with the utmost respect from Tzu Chi volunteer doctors and nurses, with services on par with, if not superior to, what a paying patient would receive in Bangkok. In each session, around 40 inter- preters speaking seven different languages have been hired through the Bangkok Asylum Seeker and Refugee Assistance Network to ensure that each patient’s symptoms and concerns are well understood, and that each patient understands the recommendations and instructions of the doctors. Refugees fleeing from the conflicts in the Middles East and North Africa are served by Tzu Chi as well, providing the refugees, mainly from Syria, aid through cash cards, food and non-food items. The distributions are ways to help provide for Syrian refugees’ basic human needs, but there are still needs in the educational and psychosocial context that must be met. Refugee students often face discrimination and bully- ing. Further, the many students who are not attending schools are often the primary or even sole provider for their family. Moreover, refugees, whether due to language barriers or host governmental laws, are unable to be employed, further taking away their autonomy, perceived self-worth and dignity. To address this issue, in Germany, Tzu Chi provides bi-weekly, two-hour long German language classes for refugees at the camps in Niederbergheim and Suttron Warstein. Three teach- ers have been hired to teach the courses; salary, teaching materials and the formal accreditation exam were all covered by Tzu Chi Germany, while the notebooks, pens and used laptops were provided by a partnering organization. T ogether W e S tand