What does life look like when displacement stretches into years?

In the final chapter of Kolima’s oral history, we hear from her as she lives now — inside the Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh. Her days are shaped by sickness, ration schedules, paperwork, and the quiet labor of keeping a household together without a husband or extended family nearby.

Kolima speaks about managing illness with limited medical care, repairing her shelter after landslides, standing in long lines for food, gas, and cash assistance, and raising her children while navigating systems that were never designed for women doing everything alone. She shares the work she once did in Myanmar, the work she wishes she could do now, and the small skills she hopes to learn so she can survive through honest labor.

This episode is not about escape or resolution. It is about continuation. About what it takes to endure when displacement becomes routine and when survival depends on patience, faith, and the support of other women living through the same conditions.

Kolima’s story brings us inside the everyday reality of Rohingya women leading households — not as statistics, but as people living full lives inside constraint.

This oral history was recorded live inside the refugee camps in Bangladesh in partnership with the Ziabul Hossain Foundation, whose community-based work made it possible for Kolima’s voice to be documented where she lives.

What You’ll Hear in This Episode

00:00 Fleeing Myanmar06:32 The Struggle for Shelters10:34 Living conditions and Rations15:58 Access to livelihood and means for income16:39 Hygiene and Security in the camp21:44 Necessities outside of basic needs23:30 Work for Rohingya Refugees28:10 Registration problems31:20 Open drains and unsafe latrines in the camp31:59 WATER PROBLEMS33:05 Kolima's son, and her problems as a widow

Why This Story Matters

For many Rohingya women, displacement is not defined by the moment they fled — it is defined by the years that followed. Female heads of household often carry the heaviest burden: caring for children, managing aid systems, maintaining shelters, and making daily decisions without income or protection.

Kolima’s story shows how survival is built through accumulation — of labor, patience, and care — rather than through singular moments of resilience. Her testimony helps us understand displacement as a condition that reshapes every part of daily life.

Listening to her is an act of recognition.

The Archive Speaks centers the voices of refugee and internally displaced women leading households—stories often missing from policy, media, and historical record.

These oral histories reflect personal memory, shaped by time, trauma, and survival. The Refugee Archive preserves these stories without political alignment or editorial interference—so women can speak in their own words, on their own terms.