Summary
Overview
Educational leader Arum Maryam shares how she brought culturally-specific play to Rohingya refugee children who fled genocide in Myanmar to camps in Bangladesh. After discovering that donated Western games like Scrabble were meaningless to these children, she created 'humanitarian play labs' filled with traditional Rohingya games, rhymes, and art. Through these culturally-rooted play spaces, over 50,000 children have found healing, confidence, and joy by reconnecting with their heritage.
The Rohingya Crisis and Initial Discovery
In August 2017, over 850,000 Rohingya refugees fled genocide in Myanmar and crowded into camps in Cox's Bazaar, Bangladesh. Arum Maryam, who has worked with children in crisis for three decades through BRAC, visited the camps and made a surprising discovery. Well-meaning donors had provided games like Scrabble and Uno, but the children had never seen these games before and didn't understand them or speak the language, revealing a fundamental gap in humanitarian aid.
- In August 2017, genocide in Myanmar forced over 850,000 Rohingya people into refugee camps in Bangladesh within four months
- Arum Maryam received an urgent call to visit the camps and assess how children were coping with trauma
- Children were drawing guns in their art, showing signs of trauma from violence they witnessed
- Donated Scrabble sets and Uno cards were meaningless to children who had never seen these games and didn't speak the language
- Even adult facilitators didn't know how to play, arranging Scrabble tiles into patterns because that's what made sense to them
" They didn't know the rules. They didn't speak the language. Even the adult facilitators didn't know how to play. They were arranging the scrabble tiles into patterns because that's what made sense to them. Standing there, I thought, there's got to be a better way. "
Understanding Trauma and Building the Humanitarian Play Lab
The refugee camp environment was harsh, with cramped bamboo shelters and poor conditions, yet children showed no outward frustration. Instead, many were withdrawn or restless, typical responses to extreme trauma. However, Arum noticed these same children came alive when playing in traditional Rohingya ways. Over months of observation and questions to families, her team documented traditional games, rhymes, and art to create culturally-specific 'humanitarian play labs.'
- Children were crammed into camps with a million people in copy-paste bamboo shelters with tin roofs and plastic tarps
- Many children were withdrawn, restless, or unable to engage with others—typical trauma responses
- Children expressed more joy and came alive when playing traditional Rohingya games
- The team spent months asking families what they played in Myanmar, how they decorated homes, and what games meant to their culture
- Play labs were decorated by the Rohingya community with hand-embroidered cloth, artwork of flowers, homes and animals—images children recognized from their former lives
- Each play lab is facilitated by young Rohingya women who spend up to five hours playing with kids
" It was specifically play from their own Rohingya culture that helped them feel pride, gain confidence and experience joy after being violently forced to leave behind their home. "
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