Fleeing the violence against the Rohingya community in Myanmar, Hamida came to Bangladesh with her three children and husband in September 2017. They fled what she calls “the unbearable and inhuman condition of living life in Myanmar,” but she has found that life in the refugee camp is worse. Before the violence in Myanmar, she had a content family, a secure home, and food. She says life in the camp is much more difficult.
“We are alive here, but it’s not a life,” she says.
After reaching the camp, Hamida found that she was pregnant. But she did not want to bring another child into those difficult conditions. A neighbor told her that she could terminate her pregnancy at the maternal health center in the camp. Hamida went, with her husband’s support, and received menstrual regulation services (as abortion is called in Bangladesh) from Ipas-trained health providers.
Read more about the critical need for reproductive care in the camps and how Ipas is helping.
Photographs © Farzana Hossen
For more information, contact [email protected].