::reposted from site::
Doctors Without Borders: A Refugee Camp in the City
More than 33 million people around the world have been uprooted by wars and forced into refugee camps that provide shamefully little in the way of nutrition, sanitation or shelter. A three-day interactive Doctors Without Borders exhibit lets New Yorkers in on the misery at a simulated refugee camp in Central Park, complete with temporary housing, a heath care clinic and a food distribution center. Visitors will be able to taste emergency food used to combat malnutrition, learn how basic sanitation is essential to survival, and hear refugees' stories.
or you could go to certain parts of harlem...anyone? anyone? Bueller? Oh wait they don't get emergency food.
In all honesty this would be an eye-opening experience, I'm not quite sure how to comprehend this either. One side of me says "that would be really cool, and help you get a grip and see how other people live" the other side says "so 33 million people live in these camps and we setup a faux camp in Central Park? It just doesn't feel right, wearing diesel shoes, setting $200 phones to vibrate, making sure you dont get dirt on the designer jeans while you check out the *cool* refugee camp." I guess what I'm really trying to say is: "I *hope* that people take this seriously and don't see it as a neat attraction, that it raises awareness levels and helps Doctors Without Borders with their agenda."
1 comment:
Nicely put. There's a fair bit of irony here, not least of which is the idea of spending the org's money to put up what is essentially an exhibit in a park (I can just envision the daring dilettantes you described above) to raise awareness of conditions on the other side of the earth when a stroll through choice parts of the boroughs would do.
I contribute to this org, so I too really hope folks take this seriously.
And thanks again for rescuing me from the vagaries of Blogger.
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