Too
exhausted to beg
Some
readers may find this story upsetting
‘My
name is Ume. I’m 27. Three weeks ago, I had a husband and four children. Today,
I have two children.’
Ume is a
Rohingya refugee. Like more than half a million others, she was forced to flee
her home in Myanmar. Having survived the awful trauma of losing most of her
family, she made it across the border into Bangladesh. Now, she’s desperately
trying to find her way to a refugee camp.
‘Three
weeks ago, our village was attacked,’ Ume says. ‘My husband was decapitated. My
house was burnt to the ground. My cattle were decimated. While fleeing, I lost
two of my children... suddenly they were nowhere to be seen. I do not know if
they are dead or alive.
‘I had no
money with me, no belongings. I paid a boatman to take us upriver by giving him
my nose ring because I had nothing else. We spent the day in the boat. Then we
walked 17 days and we arrived here.’
Hope
and pray
Ume’s mother also fled with Ume and her two young children.
‘We arrived here yesterday,’ she says. ‘We don’t know the country, don’t know
the language, but we were told that in a refugee camp we could probably get a
shelter and some food.’
With
barely any food during the past 18 days, Ume and her family don’t even have the
energy to beg. There’s no way of getting in touch with relatives to find out
about their loved ones – they can only hope and pray they are still alive.
Tearfund’s
local partner in Bangladesh has been responding to the crisis since it began.
Now, with the situation becoming ever more desperate, the Disasters Emergency
Committee (DEC), of which Tearfund is a part, has launched an emergency appeal
to help people like Ume.
Through
our partner, we’re providing life-saving hygiene kits and medical care. We’ll be
there after the cameras have left and the news has moved on, working with our
local partners to help the most vulnerable. Please continue to stand with people
like Ume in prayer.
Please
pray
- Pray for
people like Ume who have lost loved ones in the horrific violence in Myanmar.
Pray that the Lord of comfort, peace and healing will be with them.
- Pray that
the violence will come to an end and that those who have been forced to leave
will be able to return home.
- Pray that
the DEC appeal will raise the funds required to meet the needs of the most
vulnerable. Lift up the work of our partners in Bangladesh and pray for God to
strengthen them.
Ume’s
story used courtesy of Medair
Photos: ©Medair\Nath
Fauveau
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