SIGHTS
A fenced-in area with security gates, dry and sandy ground, flags flying, dwellings local to the area (thatched huts with tarp roofs, mud huts, a labyrinth of makeshift tents, rows of tin or cinderblock shacks), a registration building (with desks, computers, office supplies), a large tent for food storage, other storage areas where rations are distributed (clothing, bedding, heating materials), a hospital (with rows of cots, mosquito netting, bedding, bins of medical supplies), a playground or small open field, communal toilet facilities, fires burning in pits, plastic jugs and bottles of water, empty buckets and baskets, large bowls for washing clothes or food, pots and pans, clothing hanging to dry on roofs or bushes, a pumping system where refugees can fill up water jugs, people walking on foot or riding bicycles, wooden wagons drawn by refugees that carry supplies around the camp, trucks arriving piled high with bags of food (flour, rice, wheat, lentils) and medical supplies, long lines of refugees waiting to be registered or receive supplies, single-room schools (with student desks, textbooks, chalkboards), women carrying bundles on their heads, men walking with sacks slung over their shoulders, UN trucks and vehicles, jeeps carrying military personnel, stacks of debris (water containers, empty sacks, cloth scraps, pieces of wood, tin cups), graffiti-marked structures, children playing with makeshift toys (rocks, scrap metal, flat balls), a small marketplace for refugees with money, refugees working hard to prepare meals or produce items that can be sold or bartered for supplies, children working alongside parents, idle children, water dripping into shelters and pooling on the ground, flies, people fixing broken items or repurposing them when they’re beyond repair
SOUNDS
Announcements delivered through a megaphone or speaker system, the chain link fence rattling from people holding onto it, tarp roofs and curtained doorways fluttering in the breeze, people talking, coughing, singing, babies crying, children playing (kickball, chasing games, etc.), dogs barking, footsteps shuffling along the dusty ground, dry rice or beans rattling into a pot, small snaps from a burning cook fire, raised voices, wind whistling through a shack or hut, tent flaps fluttering, tires crunching over gravel, a squeaky bicycle rattling over the rough ground, mosquitoes buzzing, dirty water being dumped out, water splashing into a jug or bottle, spoons clanging against cooking pots, sacks being dropped to the ground, the noise of a large quantity of people living in a small area, the squeaking of brakes that signals the arrival of a supply truck, children reciting lessons or singing together in the school area, a radio playing news broadcasts
SMELLS
Sweat, body odor, unwashed bodies and clothes, urine and feces, dust, a cooking fire, flatbread being baked on a hot stone, boiling water
TASTES
Bland food (rice, beans, bread), lukewarm water, sweat
TEXTURES AND SENSATIONS
Stiff clothing that has been washed in unclean water, limp and sweat-stained clothing that hasn’t been washed in some time, bug bites, sleeping on the hard ground in extreme hot or cold weather, hunger pangs and desperate thirst, water that tastes stale and has grit in it, dirt getting into everything (clothes, bedding, food), constantly being sweaty, wiping oneself clean with a wet rag, the weight of a sack of food over the shoulder or a bundle balanced on the head, symptoms specific to certain illnesses (cholera, malaria, jaundice, hepatitis, tuberculosis, HIV, typhoid, parasites), tossing and turning at night (because of the living conditions, out of worry or fear, from post-traumatic stress disorder), water splashing over one’s hands or feet while a jug is filled, stepping into a shelter and out of the sun or wind, sitting against a rough hut wall, water slaking one’s thirst, relief at eating something, sitting on a rock or log, dust on the skin, feet shuffling through the dirt, lank hair that itches the scalp, lethargy, boredom, the numbness of despair
POSSIBLE SOURCES OF CONFLICT
Deplorable living conditions
Insufficient food and living materials
Riots
Attacks from violent people outside of the camp
Altercations between refugees from opposing cultures or religions
Fights over supplies and food
Attacks on women
Children with too much idle time on their hands
Illness and disease
Insomnia
Post-traumatic stress disorder
Prejudice or judgment from those in charge who are supposed to be impartial
Shifts in the political climate that could affect a camp’s existence
Financial pressures due to lack of funding
The weight of despair leading to rashness
PEOPLE COMMONLY FOUND HERE
Administrators, armed guards, celebrities on a goodwill tour, doctors and nurses, psychologists and therapists, refugees, reporters and journalists, teachers, United Nations representatives
SETTING NOTES AND TIPS
There are over seven hundred refugee camps around the world that cumulatively serve tens of millions of displaced people. Some camps are better funded and are therefore more habitable, offering more (and nicer) amenities than others. But regardless of the facility, every camp eventually fills, becoming overcrowded with people and families who would rather be living somewhere else but have nowhere left to go. Further problems arise as many of the people who inhabit these camps have been exposed to horrific atrocities and hardships, and adequate counseling is rarely available. This can lead to emotional volatility, rash decisions, and personal conflicts that may escalate quickly.
SETTING DESCRIPTION EXAMPLE
The line inched forward and I followed, craning my neck to see how much farther we had to go. Flies buzzed around my eyes and I shrugged a shoulder, my hands full with both water jugs. I’d been in line since dawn, and the sun was directly overhead. Worry over Natalya and the baby, alone in our hut, stabbed at me. I shuffled my feet in the dust, willing the never-ending line to move faster.
Techniques and Devices Used: Weather
Resulting Effects: Establishing mood, passage of time