After a year in Bangladesh camps, Rohingya women are finding their feet
Summary A look at the situation of Rohingya women living in Bangladeshi refugee camps, with a focus on health, medicine, and education. Extracts Before coming to a refugee camp in Cox's Bazar,...
Summary
A look at the situation of Rohingya women living in Bangladeshi refugee camps, with a focus on health, medicine, and education.
Extracts
Before coming to a refugee camp in Cox's Bazar, Rashida had never seen a foreigner.
[...] the biggest shock she had was when a community health worker suspected Rashida was pregnant again and took her to the clinic for an examination.
"What I found out that day was that you can stop having babies if you want to," she says. "I had never heard of family planning."
Rashida has since thought hard and discussed this with her husband. Their shelter is cramped, and their future uncertain.
"Three children is a nice family size," she says. "After that, I don't want any more. What I want is to learn something. When we go back home I'd like to be able to work, not just look after children."
Bakoko [a midwife from Uganda] teaches new mothers how to wrap babies and put on nappies. She examines pregnant women to check for signs of eclampsia, the biggest threat to pregnant women's lives. And she teaches women to check for multiple pregnancies, and to care for women before and after they give birth. She has saved numerous lives.