Today, August 19th,  is designated by the United Nations General Assembly as World Humanitarian Day: a day to recognize the sacrifices and contributions of humanitarian workers around the world who risk their lives to give others help and hope. It is also a day to examine our own lives and consider what more we can do to help those people enduring conflict, disaster and hardship.

As the UN states:

There is never a year without humanitarian crises (at this moment over 12 million people are suffering in the Horn of Africa due to a catastrophic combination of conflict, high food prices and drought). Wherever there are people in need, there are people who help them. Aid workers help people who have lost their homes, loved ones and sources of income.

These humanitarians often brave great danger, far from home. They work long hours, in the most difficult conditions.  Their efforts save lives in conflict and natural disaster.  They also draw the world closer together by reminding us that we are one family, sharing the same dreams for a peaceful planet, where all people can live in safety, and with dignity.

On World Humanitarian Day, we honour these aid workers and thank them for their dedication. And we pay tribute to those who have made the ultimate sacrifice – in Afghanistan, Haiti and beyond.  Too many have died, or suffered their own loss, in the course of duty.  We pledge to do all we can to ensure the world’s humanitarians are kept safe to do their essential work.

The World Humanitarian Day website provides information, stories and interactive games for those interested in learning more about humanitarian work and how they can become involved. Of course another great way, especially for youngsters to learn about humanitarian work  and what it entails, is via books.  It is interesting to note that over the past few years there has been an increasing number of children’s and young adult books (both fiction and non-fiction) that feature areas of humanitarian work. Deborah Ellis’  books and Rukhsana Khan‘s Wanting Mor immediately come to mind, and others include:

Armando and the Blue Tarp School by Edith Hope Fine and Judith Pinkerton Josephson, illustrated by Hernan Sosa

Books for Children of the World: The Story of Jella Lepman by Sydelle Pearl, illustrated by Danlyn Iantorno

The Brighter Side of the Road: Upbeat and Offbeat Yarn from Home and Abroad, edited by Helen Coughlan and Janet Lawrence

Four Feet, Two Sandals by Karen Lynn Williams and Khadra Mohammed, illustrated by Doug Chayka

Listen to the Wind: The Story of Dr. Greg and Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and Susan Roth, illustrated by Susan Roth

One Well: The Story of Water on Earth by Rochelle Strauss, illustrated by Rosemary Woods

A Song for Cambodia by Michelle Lord, illustrated by Shino Arihara

Please feel free to share your choices in our comments section.

In her post at the beginning of the month, Aline talked about books which help young people gain some insight into what it means to be a refugee, in light of World Refugee Day on the 20th June – and in fact we decided to bring her post up to the top on Friday to keep the day at the forefront of our minds.

She mentioned Four Feet, Two Sandals by Karen Williams and Khadra Mohammed (Eerdman, US 2008) and this really is a particularly special book for giving an idea of what life is like for children in a refugee camp.

Two other books for younger children which also highlight some of the difficulties faced by refugees but also, crucially, that in essence children are children the world over, are:

A True Person By Gabiann Marin, illustrated by Jacqui Grantford (New Frontier Publishing, 2007), in which a young girl, Zallah, is living with her mother in an Australian immigration detention centre, while they wait to hear if they will be allowed to stay in Australia – see our full review here; and…

One Green Apple by Eve Bunting, illustrated by Ted Lewin (Clarion Books, 2006), which tells the story of Farah, who has recently arrived in the US from the Middle East. She is not finding it easy to cope with a new culture and language – but on this, her second day of school, she is going on a field trip to an apple orchard and it is a chance for Farah and her classmates to make the first steps towards friendship and learn that there are ways to get over any barrier of language. Tone of voice, gestures, smiles – all these help to make Farah begin to feel welcome and recognise that some things can and will be just like they were at home.

Perhaps what makes the story so powerful is that Farah herself is the narrator – through the picture-book medium, Eve Bunting has given a clear voice to all those young people who arrive in a new place feeling vulnerable and unable to communicate. It is a story but it reflects certain aspects of reality – not everyone is nice and there are references to intolerance and impatience: but the overriding message for children in Farah’s situation is that it is possible to feel whole again; and it serves as a compelling reminder to children generally how to make a newcomer feel welcome and reassured.

Lewin’s stunning illustrations also deserve a special mention – they enhance the insight offered by the story through their perfectly attuned observation of body language as much as verbal communication; his children’s faces are perfect, whatever their expression. And the word luminosity comes to my mind every time I look at them, they are so enfused with dappled sunlight.

These are all well-written and beautifully presented books, which will make young children ponder, and probably ask lots of questions. Certainly they are best read aloud the first time they are introduced. Can anyone else recommend books for reading aloud to children which touch on the experiences of young refugees?

I recently found out, via the Library Boy blog, that the UN Refugee Agency has teamed up with Google maps to allow internet users to locate refugee camps in remote areas of Chad, Iraq, Colombia, Sudan’s Darfur region, etc. Now with a few clicks one can “see, hear and start to develop an emotional understanding of what it’s like to be a refugee.”

Reasons for displacement and relocation, as history and the news show, can be various (war; religious and cultural persecution; intolerance on grounds of race, sexual orientation, etc) and the challenges facing refugee children, in particular, are many, since they find themselves swept up in the consequences of adult conflicts and intolerances they don’t necessarily understand. World Refugee Day, coming up on June 20, is a good reminder for us to do what we can to educate others about these issues and to support efforts to lighten the plight of refugees around the world.

The term “refugee” is one that, unfortunately, still carries many negative connotations for both governments and individuals, being often associated with distrust, rather than distress. Books, as usual, can help counteract stereotypes and promote true understanding, so here are some titles that come to mind on this difficult topic – because the earlier we start children on the path to empathy, the better:

Four Feet, Two Sandals by Karen Williams and Khadra Mohammed (Eerdman, US 2008) Ages 4-8

This book was inspired by a refugee girl’s question to co-author Khadra Mohammed about why there were no books about children “like her” in the US. You can read our review here. And on the author’s website you can read about how the book was received by a group of children at a refugee camp in Pakistan.

Refugees by David Miller (Lothian, Australia 2004) Ages 5-8

In this perfect introduction for very young children to the plight of refugees, two wild ducks become refugees when their swamp is drained and they have nowhere to swim, eat or sleep. Their search for a new home takes them to areas where they are not welcome or where they cannot find shelter or food. The ducks are close to giving up when “the intervention of an unknown person changes their fate.”

“The Breadwinner” Trilogy (The Breadwinner (2000), Parvana’s Journey (2002) and Mud City (2003) by Deborah Ellis (Groundwood Books) Ages 9-12

Set in Afghanistan and inspired by the author’s experiences helping at an Afghan refugee camp at the Pakistan border, in 1997, when she had a chance to interview many women and children. Royalties from the books go to the Canadian not-for-profit organization “Women for Women” (formed just after the Taliban take-over of Kabul) which promotes education for women and girls in refugee camps in Afghanistan.

The Suitcase Stories: Refugee Children Reclaim Their Identity by Glynis Clacherty (Double Storey Books, 2008) Ages 12+

To help a group of unaccompanied refugee children deal with the trauma of their flight and arrival in South Africa, the author, who is a researcher specialized in participatory work with children, provided them with suitcases on which to paint their personal stories and recent histories. Photographs of the painted suitcases and accompanying accounts of hardship, resistance and hope make this touching, challenging book.

This slideshow, from a 2007 exhibit called “Through the Eyes of Children” presents sixty photographs taken by children and young adults ages 12-20 at a refugee settlement in Uganda. These images capture the pain and struggles of life as a young refugee and, by seeing things through their eyes, we come closer to understanding what it means to walk in their shoes, and to realizing what we can do to help.