We Are Displaced

“It seems that too many people don’t understand that refugees are ordinary people. All that differentiates them is that they got caught in the middle of a conflict that forced them to leave their homes, their loved ones, and the only lives they had known. They risk so much along the way, and why? Because it is so often a choice between life and death.” (Prologue)

Overall Verdict: ★ ★ ★★

Why this book?
Malala wrote this book to tell ten different stories; ten different families who have become refugees and have been forced to choose between life and death. Her aim is clear: to remind us that displaced people and refugees are not a homogenous and nameless group but individual people. Individual people each with a different story to tell, a different profession and different skills but all of whom have lost so much along the way.

For students:
This is a book of stories that are deeply personal- this strikes you from the moment you begin to read. Each person’s story is complex and inherently tied up in geopolitics and geography. Before the story is told Malala provides some contextual information to set the scene, serving to inform you of why the family are having to leave their home and the wider context of their migration. This is helpful; you will have heard much of this information in the news or in your geography lessons but perhaps, like so many of us, you had started to forget the stories of the people involved. Reading this book will remind you of the people behind the headline figures and the media reports. I would recommend this book for anyone interested in forced migration and understanding why, how and when it occurs.

For teachers:
Following the telling of Malala’s own story, the book proceeds to tell the story of ten other young women. Each has undertaken a different journey, travelled in a different region of the world, and had a different experience. Each journey would itself be valuable for teaching but below details two parts of Malala’s own story. If you’re thinking of how to improve your teaching of migration (at Key Stage 3 or beyond) and want to use an extract to help, this book would be hugely helpful. Of course, whether any of the extracts and stories are suitable will be highly dependent on your context and cohort of students.

p.3-7: Life as we knew it
The introductory chapter starts with Malala recalling her childhood where the Taliban seemed a distant threat and her biggest problem were her younger brothers. She explains how quickly everything changed, referencing the earthquake of 2005 and drawing a link between the vulnerability that people felt following this event and the subsequent encroachment of the Taliban onto their everyday life in the Swat valley.

Although not directly related to anything we teach, I think this extract is powerful for a number of different reasons and has the potential to make an excellent resource.

p.14-19: Internally Displaced
In this extract Malala describes what it was like to leave your home, not knowing if you will ever return. She describes the emotions she experienced as she packed up some clothes and belongings to become an internally displaced person. She describes the floods of people leaving the area and the reality that this wasn’t a choice- it was survival. For me, the power of this extract (as with the rest of the book), lies in the telling of a personal story- you are able to imagine yourself in her shoes and contemplate the reality of internal displacement.