Blog

I can't help but be reminded of this truth, that is screaming through my exhausted body and soul today: THEIR STORY IS MY STORY.

It comes as no surprise that mental health issues are common among refugees. Fleeing your home and country means loss and disconnection, but knowing what disconnects can help build reconnection.

My name is Rahim. This is my poem. I am from Afghanistan, in Kabul. I worked with the US Army as an interpreter. When the American troops left Afghanistan, the lives of all the interpreters were in danger. Many times we were threatened by the Taliban. I made it to safety in Switzerland and volunteer with Their Story is Our Story to help gather and share the stories of others forced to flee.

Notre Dame reminds me of the tradition of sanctuary, offering refuge and aid to those in need, especially strangers and foreigners. As heartbreaking as it is to see the destruction of Notre Dame, it has been heartening for me to witness from afar the entire city of Paris gathering in solidarity and pledging to rebuild.

Their Story is Our Story finds out the meaning of “shanti khana” and the importance of women-friendly spaces in Cox's Bazar refugee settlement, Bangladesh.

Their Story is Our Story (TSOS) asks what role we play in photographing and filming vulnerable refugees: is it a moral obligation to tell these stories when refugees themselves cannot, or an amoral exploitation?

This International Women's Day 2019, we focus on Rohingya refugee women and girls living in Cox's Bazar Bangladesh and their human rights taken from them.

Watch an exclusive short video of four of the brave and powerful women whom we met in the camp as they share their stories.

HOPE Field Hospital for Women changes the lives of Rohingya children in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, by providing free surgery to repair cleft lips and palates - an orofacial cleft that causes problems feeding, hearing and speaking, as well as social stigma and rejection.

Christophe Mortier, our Director of Photography and Portraitist of France 2017, has created a series of portraits of Rohingya children we met on the ground during our refugee story gathering trip to Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh - the largest refugee settlement in the world where more than half of the residents are children.

Their Story is Our Story (TSOS) has come to HOPE Field Hospital for Women, the first 24/7 Bangladeshi-run field hospital operating in Cox's Bazar refugee settlement. Our host HumaniTerra provides training for aspiring local Bangladeshi midwifes at the hospital to not only to empower the locals in an often tense and fraught dynamic, but also to massively reduce the maternal mortality rate.