After our Big Gathering this morning, 7 adults and 10 kids ventured off to GasWorks Park in Albert Park to experience Oxfam's Refugee Realities - "a free interactive experience that puts you in the position of a refugee or internally displaced person trying to find safety and a long term solution.
Refugee Realities is both an interactive performance event involving moving image, improvised theatre, audio-visual and photographic art forms as well as an ongoing online project to document the various realities refugees face.
Refugee Realities aims to educate all Australians about the extraordinary experiences of people who have fled from war.
At Refugee Realities you will navigate a mine field, find your way to the refugee camp, go searching for your basic needs like water and food and help build a temporary shelter. At the end of the experience you will have the opportunity to try to seek a permanent solution to displacement, outside the conditions of the camp. "
We had a guide with us throughout the journey, which took just over an hour and was eye-opening in terms of experience and the things we learned. We experienced a taste of what refugees experience just to get to a refugee camp - which is more horrid than we could ever begin to imagine and would never hope to experience in real life. We also learnt a lot more about the conditions experienced in these camps, which vary from only just liveable, to nightmareish.
The simulation is aimed at school students and is open to class groups during the week, but open to the public on weekends until 13th March. I highly recommend you take the time to go and visit, it is a well worthwhile experience for both adults and children. Get more info at the Oxfam website -
http://www.oxfam.org.au/refugee/public/rrp/index.php
