Creating Hope and Dreams
Introduction
The aim of study was to identify and observe the situation and needs of refugees. Through the research, designers were trying to develop an emotional understanding of an extreme situation, and suggest possible approaches to meet real human needs. The focus was upon the social and culture aspects of design practice. From this view the designers looked at the ways in which such factors affect how the crisis was constructed, both as experienced from inside and for an outside viewer.
Analysis
Human’s emotions will be influenced by different circumstances. In the research, we basically generalized 4 situations that a refugee will experience after a disaster happening. Moreover, we also tried to figure out how emotional changing in the refugee, especially children emotion during the survival processes, and how the catastrophe influenced their mind.
Situations – Timeframe
At the beginning - This was the most disorderly period in whole situation. Everything suddenly be destroyed. We were forced to face a extrem condition, such as losing our home, friends or family. The surrounding that we were used to was not familiar any more; the bad things happend and strongly pounded our sense; we had to fleetly make decisions for survival, even though it might harm others. Due to unsafe situation, we would feel scared, angry, chaos, sad etc., on the other hand, we also desiderated some one can rescue us.
Arrived Refugee Camp - When we arrived a refugee camp with fear, we would realize soon that it was another beginning of disarray. Although the camp provided safety and basic support, like foods; however, messy environment and incomprehensible system in the camp would let people angry, confused and depressed. On the one hand the temporary shelter gave a place for rest and stay, on the other hand the trauma and feeling of homeless still occupied our mind; the conflict was between release and chaos, so people usually feel tired and downcast at this moment.
Temporary House - After living in the refugee camp for a while, we had to face society issues and turning point. It was difficult to really understand how the refugees rebuild their culture and society in the camp, but according the research, the unstructured society would definitely decreased some people’s values. It meant some specific groups, like women and children, would be easily subjected to insult or damage. In some cases, the refugees also realized they might have to stay at the camp for longer time, It cause them falling into depression and hopeless.
Establish - Even though most refugees would stay at the camp for very long time, some are over a decade, but they would still re-start their life in the end. In this step, refugees tried to create something, such as building house, finding a job in the camp, going to school or planting crops. In this step the refugees knew how the camp system works, where they can get more resources, how to deal with a situation; and they also got used to the new society. These kind of activities, in some way, let them re-control their life, and let their life back to a right track; however, the conflict exist as before. They still felt helpless, because they had no alternative for life.
Main Focus
Hope/Dream – Own Imagination
What is in outside of the world? what is waiting for them in the future? What can I do? What I want to do? Dreaming about their new life, better life, bright future and go out to new world. Use their imagination and try to figure out the way to reach to it. Dream is starting from imagination but it will become true. Analyzing their situation and use their mind´s eye is our main goal.
Children dream their future; I want to go to school. I want to play with friends. I want to study. I want to be a teacher. I want to be a doctor. I want to have happy life with my family. All children have right to have dream.
Give them a chance to think about their dream. Not waiting new life in passive way. Creating dream and grope the way by own hands. Dreaming and find the way to the goal then achieve. It is the most happiness time in the life. Moreover they get self confidence.
Creation – Possibility to support their subconscious need
Children have great creation and imagination. But in the situation of refugee camp, it can be make them less creative motivation. Children have to work hard to help their family even not many children have opportunity to have education. They are forced to growing up and they do not have chance to be children of their real age. There is trigger to keep their eye open and connect their creativity with other possibility such as improving environment and producing their needs. Thorough activity of creation, they can show their emotion and they can feel achievement. That is the most important thing as a human, it is human dignity. Through team creativity, it will be opportunity of understanding each other. More over the result of creative activity has other side of effect to outside people. We can see their needs and their feeling and message from objects.
online resourse:
Case study
01 – Tape Football
Made in Italy by Magis, designed by Marti Guixe. This whimsical football tape. Crumple up a few pieces of newspaper or rubbish into a ball, wrap it with the tape – and voila! You ave created an instant soccer ball and easy enjoyable object.
02 – Watercone
The Watercone makes salt and brackish water fresh using only the sun, evaporation, and a simple, portable plastic cone. Every day 5000 children die as a result of unsafe water-related diseases, and Watercone provides up to 1.6 liters a day, covering all of a child’s daily water needs. The process is simple- fill the black base pan with salty or brackish water, float the cone on top. The black pan absorbs sunlight and heats up the water to support evaporation. Through condensation, the evaporated water collects in the form of droplets on the inner wall of the cone. These droplets trickle down the inner wall into a circular trough at the inner base of the cone. The cone can then be flipped over and the fresh water poured out.
03 – Q-Drum
South African water innovation, the Q-Drum eases the load of hauling water overland. Hans and Pieter Hendrikse’s invention is simply a cylinder with a doughnut hole for running a rope through.
“At present water is mainly fetched by adult women in discarded plastic containers carried on their heads,” notes Hendrikse. “Bear in mind that in some cases these containers have an unstable weight, when filled, of 10 kilograms. The long-term result is invariably damage to the neck vertebrae.”
“The Hendrikses set out to design an easy-to-move container that could be manufactured economically. It needed to be “as simple, repairable and replaceable as possible” so that it could be used in rural areas, and should not have to be lifted at all.”
Final Proposals
In refugee camp situations, children often lose role models to guide their development. Even where both parents are present, these children grow up under abnormal conditions. What will cause of the long term psychological impact of life in camps on the future mental health and personalities of children? We want the children in the camp from “PASSIVE” to “ACTIVE”. Hope, Dream and Creation is our main goals for the project.
First proposal: RE-create
The aims of RE-create is to built on organizing activities for children; re-creational activities enabling them to develop in accordance to their age as children and rebuild their self-confidence.
Is the garbages have value? For us, those not necessary material surrounding in the most refugee camp such as cloths, plastic bottles, dust…etc. is the most value materials in the refugee camp. They tell stories, what they need and what they don’t need. The idea is to RE-use all those materials into more tangible way. The RE-create set including a synthetic paper bag made of Tyvek(size 150cm x70cm), color tape and manual vacuum pump. First of all, we start from the recycle process, children can filling all not necessary materials into the synthetic bag and using the manual vacuum pump to pump out the air. After they can using the color tape to attach any additional material such as a piece of wood or a plastic bottle. Basically they can shape all kind of different form they want through their imagination. To let children really making somethings that is meaningful to their life might be a great opportunity to trigger their potential talent or skill. Moreover, via this way, the environment in the camp will become more cleaner than before.
Process 1
Process 2
Final result 1 – RE-PACK Furniture
Final result 2 – Children Pet “LUBA”
Online presentation video:
Second proposal: Imaging Camera
The imaging camera is the project to give children who living in refugee camp to have an opportunity to explode and explain their life. The aims is to give children a chance to share their visions in the world about their everyday life. We believes even children living in small community in the small part of the world but their experience is not small. The imaging camera allowing the children to frame their vision in the world and tell their stories through their drawing. The imaging camera including a wooden camera frame, a small drawing book and a color pencil.
Third proposal: Dreaming t-shirts
The dreaming t-shirt are an interaction experiment package to give children an opportunity to communicate with the outside world. First of all, we ask the children from refugee camp to draw their imagination drawing on the t-shirt, after the package will travel all over the world to another children hand from the outside world through an organization. They can sharing their visions from different experience in life. The whole package including two t-shirt, ten color pen and a contact information of the children in the camp.
Project by: Chia-Wei Lin, Nicolas Cheng, Maki Okamoto, Bernhard Stimpfl-Abele, Song Sang
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