Korvi Rakshand, founder of education nonprofit Jaago Foundation, has been named a 2018 Disaster Feedback Fellow for his organization's work with Rohingya children.
Disaster Recovery Network at Global Giving Foundation gave him the award for Jaago Foundation's efforts in the Rohingya crisis, reports globalgiving.com.
“For the last 11 years, whenever there was a disaster, we were the first organization in Bangladesh to respond. So when the Rohingya refugees came, people expected Jaago to be there. We’re a local organization that has always stood alongside the people during crises in Bangladesh,” Korvi said.
Asked about how he handled the sheer scale of the problem, he said: “We took some time to understand the problem. We decided to focus on healing, because we felt that part was missing from the overall response. We have a space where 500 kids come. Eighty are orphans and the others have families.
“We have divided the place into three rooms. There’s a learning zone, where kids learn basic manners and education, a digital zone where the children can watch cartoons and other things, and a sports area. All three areas are related to trauma management,” Korvi said.
In order to help them come to terms with their trauma, the children were encouraged to draw.
“The first things they drew were helicopters and guns,” Korvi said. “That’s not something that you expect from kids, but that’s what they saw.”
The children are also being helped by trained psychologists from Dhaka.
Globalgiving.com has also set up a donation drive with a100% matching fund on their website, where people can give to help Jaago Foundation’s work with the Rohingya children.
