The story of Salma and Sahar: a Rohingya mother and Bangladeshi baby who bridged two influxes and three family generations

Abstract

Sahar’s Bangladeshi mom had died during delivery and her daughter’s life was saved by Salma, a Rohingya woman. The 50,000 takas that Salma had saved from vegetable farming and raising chickens gave her the conviction that she could raise a dying child. Even if Salma’s husband and family-in-law did not agree with the adoption, Salma, who migrated to Cox’s Bazar in infancy, had seen in the camps how to sustain the survival of this dying and motherless child. Salma and Sahar’s story represents the interventions that resilient human beings put into effect with the support of key family members and internal resources. This is also an example signalling that in the current lingering crisis, we need to create bridges between earlier and newer Rohingya cohorts as well as to advocate for the Rohingya diaspora to be included in the process of caring for new lives. Ultimately, Salma and Sahar’s story is an illustration of the contribution of the Rohingya to Bangladeshi society.

Keywords

• adoption
• bangladesh
• livelihoods
• myanmar
• rohingya