Rohingya refugee camp, Bangladesh
Working for the United Nations World Food Programme My name is Peter Guest and I still consider my home to be Melbourn. My mother lives in Water Lane and I visit several times a year. I thought it may be of interest to write this story to let you know what a boy from Melbourn has gone on to do far from the village. I hope it may also inspire and encourage people to see the world. We moved to Water Lane in 1962 into a new bungalow. I’m told I helped my father move while my brother was being born; I can’t imagine I was much help as I was two. A few years later, I attended Melbourn Primary School from 1964 to 1971 and then moved to the Village College. I went to Sunday school at the church, was a Boy Scout in the village, did a paper round after school and at one stage worked in the Fish and Chip shop as a Saturday boy. After leaving the Village College I had plans to be an engineer, and went on to study engineering at the University of Manchester. My life took a different turn when, after graduating, I took a job as a teacher with Voluntary Service Overseas and went off to Cross River State, Nigeria for two years to teach Introductory Technology. I think I learnt far more than I taught anyone; I know I learnt a lot about myself. It was a remote village and for a while I lived in the village chief’s house. Subsequent years have taken me to many countries for extended periods. On leaving Melbourn Village College in 1976, I never would have believed this was a possibility. Thank you Melbourn for a wonderful upbringing. Today, as I approach retirement, I am working for the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) as the Emergency
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www.melbourncambridge.co.uk
Above: Rohingya refugee camp in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh. Photo Marie Guest
Coordinator for the Rohingya Refugee Crisis in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh. WFP is the UN’s specialist food support agency, and a leader in addressing humanitarian needs around the world. I have worked with them for 24 years in countries including Cambodia, Sudan, Indonesia, the Philippines, Afghanistan, Nepal, and now Bangladesh. You will surely have seen on the news over the last few years the hundreds of thousands of refugees who were forced to flee Myanmar to the safety of Bangladesh. In late August 2017 conflict broke out in North Rakhine State, Myanmar (Burma) and about 700,000 refugees crossed the border in the space of a month, either on foot or by boat, carrying their few belongings, their elders and their children. The Bangladesh Government opened their borders and allowed the refugees to settle in Cox’s Bazar District. There were already some refugees in Bangladesh and the total is now approaching 850,000 people, about the population of Liverpool. Bangladesh was already a congested country with a large population, but the Government of Bangladesh has been very generous and supportive, both to allow these refugees sanctuary and protection and to facilitate the work of all the aid agencies. The town of Cox’s Bazar got its name from a British diplomat, Captain Hiram Cox, born 200 years before I was, in 1760. He came here with the British East India Company, also to deal with a century-long conflict and refugee situation in the late 18th century. Sadly, Captain Cox died young. The town itself is now the largest tourist resort in Bangladesh, with an extensive 75 miles of beautiful sandy beach, very nice for a walk after a stressful week.
