Refugees and internally displaced people around the world are often forced to flee their homes due to conflict, human rights violations, natural disasters, and other factors.
In May 2024, there were 120 million forcibly displaced people in the world – not including the Gaza crisis. That’s over three times the population of Canada, forced from the place they call home.
And when people are forced to flee their homes and communities, they face difficult choices at every turn. Imagine if you had to leave home – out of fear for your life. You could be separated from your loved ones, going without basic necessities, and relying on emergency food rations to survive. What choices would you make?
Burundi resident Nyabenda Spes knows how it feels to be a refugee. She returned home after having fled to Tanzania due to poverty, and the limited funds Nyabenda returned with allowed her to purchase a small plot of land. Through support from Canadian Lutheran World Relief partner (Lutheran World Federation Burundi), Nyabenda learned new farming techniques that helped her to put more food on the table for her family. (Photo: Arnaud Mugisha)
Foodgrains Bank has developed an experiential activity, Forced to Flee, so you can deepen your understanding of the refugee experience. During this activity, you’ll be faced with real-life scenarios and choices, each with upfront costs and hidden costs related to your decisions.
You can join Canadians from across the country who have taken part in the Forced to Flee simulation, including Saskatchewan Young Voices alumni Cymric Leask. She reflected on her experience hosting an event at her church in 2024, saying: “Most congregation members are second or third-generation immigrants of European descent who came to Canada to farm, and have farmed all of their lives. For them, learning about what farming looks like across the world and connecting it to how they grew up, and/or how they still farm their land, helped them be more engaged in the activity. We have also supported immigrant families as a congregation in the past, so it was sobering for us to understand more deeply what those families had to endure in order to come to Canada.”
Want to try Forced to Flee yourself? There are multiple ways you can take part!
To participate in an individual journey through this simulation, visit forcedtoflee.ca to complete the virtual experience.
If you’d like to dive deeper into the resource with your community, visit foodgrainsbank.ca/flee to access an in-person workshop/classroom format for groups of 15-50 people. You can also email forcedtoflee@foodgrainsbank.ca to access an interactive Kahoot-based version designed for groups of up to 5,000 people.
This story was originally published in the 2024 Fall edition of Breaking Bread.
