Refugee Camp In San Diego
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I was really intrigued when I heard that Doctors Without Borders was going to be putting on a refugee camp in Balboa park. My first thought was that it would be put on in the mold of a renaissance fair where you have people in character all over the place talking about their experience as refugees while other people were the doctors and nurses. I did finally read a synopsis of what was taking place and it turned out that my vision was incorrect. The article I read mentioned that Doctors Without Borders had set up some tents similar to what would be found in refugee camps and would be showing them off. At that point I got a little disappointed because I had grandiose ideas and the whole affair got reduced to like a high school science fair.
I did end up going to see what it was all about and I enjoyed myself immensly. I was struck by the fact that there was a line of between 30-50 people when we got there and that line stayed steady the whole time that we were there. The visitors to the camp were escorted in groups of 20 - 25 through the camp by a person associated with Doctors Without Borders. Our guide was a nurse named Mary Joe. She is the lady in red in the pictures. I loved her style of giving the tour. She treated us like we were refugees and used us as props to explain the different areas in the camp. It did not give me a better understanding of the life of a refugee. I am unable to wrap my mind around that, but the pretending was fun. It made things a lot easier to understand within the camp. There were stations showing the conditions that the refugees might be living in. They had several types of tents and they had some outhouses set up. They went on to talk about the different types of assistance that they provide from food assistance to medical assistance. They had several stations showing what the clinics that they set up are like. The exit was through a tent where you could get more info and buy some shirts that they had. That part seemed a lot like Disneyland where they let you out into a gift shop, except instead of toys you can get information.
As I said earlier, I enjoyed the experience. I have a lot of respect for the people who go out to other countries and help out. What I saw at the Doctors Without Borders refugee camp gives me hope that there are caring people out there. I also have hope that the people who need help can get it with organizations like these.
The tents were at the beginning. This is the type of tent that would be used to house a whole family. Some of the group got into the tent to get a feel for the space.
You can see these if you look closely in the bottom of the picture above. These are toys that came from the refugee camp. Mary Joe was saying that some children are born and grow up in the refugee camps and the toys are made to entertain them. The parts of the toys were from recognizable objects. For example the wheels of the truck came from the bottom part of used aerosol cans.
This is the set up for the restrooms. The grey thing on the ground is the toilet. To use it, you pull up the the dowel that is sticking out and that removes the lid, then you squat and use it, and then you replace the lid. At least, we were told that is how it works.
Leaving the clinic we were all sprayed down with pretend chlorine. I am happy to say that I did not get any pretend cholera.
I did end up going to see what it was all about and I enjoyed myself immensly. I was struck by the fact that there was a line of between 30-50 people when we got there and that line stayed steady the whole time that we were there. The visitors to the camp were escorted in groups of 20 - 25 through the camp by a person associated with Doctors Without Borders. Our guide was a nurse named Mary Joe. She is the lady in red in the pictures. I loved her style of giving the tour. She treated us like we were refugees and used us as props to explain the different areas in the camp. It did not give me a better understanding of the life of a refugee. I am unable to wrap my mind around that, but the pretending was fun. It made things a lot easier to understand within the camp. There were stations showing the conditions that the refugees might be living in. They had several types of tents and they had some outhouses set up. They went on to talk about the different types of assistance that they provide from food assistance to medical assistance. They had several stations showing what the clinics that they set up are like. The exit was through a tent where you could get more info and buy some shirts that they had. That part seemed a lot like Disneyland where they let you out into a gift shop, except instead of toys you can get information.
As I said earlier, I enjoyed the experience. I have a lot of respect for the people who go out to other countries and help out. What I saw at the Doctors Without Borders refugee camp gives me hope that there are caring people out there. I also have hope that the people who need help can get it with organizations like these.
The tents were at the beginning. This is the type of tent that would be used to house a whole family. Some of the group got into the tent to get a feel for the space.
You can see these if you look closely in the bottom of the picture above. These are toys that came from the refugee camp. Mary Joe was saying that some children are born and grow up in the refugee camps and the toys are made to entertain them. The parts of the toys were from recognizable objects. For example the wheels of the truck came from the bottom part of used aerosol cans.
This is the set up for the restrooms. The grey thing on the ground is the toilet. To use it, you pull up the the dowel that is sticking out and that removes the lid, then you squat and use it, and then you replace the lid. At least, we were told that is how it works.
Leaving the clinic we were all sprayed down with pretend chlorine. I am happy to say that I did not get any pretend cholera.
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