by Iffat Ara Sharmeen,
13 July 2025
For the past four years, the Friendship-KLABU Sports Club has given children from both Rohingya camps and the host communities the chance to nurture healthy play.
Play is a universal language shared by all, no matter their culture, religion, or ethnicity, that fosters positivity and unity. It is essential, not just for the child’s wellbeing but also to cultivate a sense of belonging and trust.
It is an unfortunate fact that 160 million children around the world are forced to work instead of playing and learning. Every child deserves to live, laugh, and simply be a child.
Some children cannot even hope for a better tomorrow, let alone play, because of the severity of their circumstances and inaccessibility to necessities and rights. Children in the Rohingya camps of Cox’s Bazar echo this reality. The Friendship-KLABU Sports Club has been tirelessly working to provide them with enjoyable spaces to play and heal through purpose.
Bringing Joy Through Sports
The Friendship-KLABU Sports Club is operated by 12 officials from both host and Rohingya communities, including three male trainers, a project officer, two girl mobilisers, and four support staff members. They manage the E-hub, which houses sports equipment, a jungle gym for exercise, two enclosed spaces for various sports, and a mobile sports library (MSL).
Girls usually play at the Club, while boys prefer the outdoor playground. On ‘Girls-only Wednesdays’, girls get full access to the Club facilities with no boys around, which gives them a greater sense of comfort. There has been a meteoric rise in girls’ participation in physical activity due to this initiative. Apart from traditional sports, the Rohingya children often play sepak takraw, the national game of Myanmar, a simple yet effective way to remain tethered to their homeland, as Hamid testified.
From Despair to Hope
Hamid, a 14-year-old boy from B-16 in Rohingya Camp-19, shared how his world turned upside down when he and his family fled his native village of Maungdu Odong in Myanmar. Life was simple and cheerful there, blissfully spending days farming and cattle rearing with his four siblings. Due to a fire accident when he was little, both his hands and feet became impaired.
Despite his disability, sports kept him going. So, one can imagine his happiness when the Friendship-KLABU Club opened in his camp. It was like a ray of hope in the darkness. He immediately signed up to become a member of the club and plays five days a week. He is proud to make so many new friends through sports and learning new games and activities.
Next Up at the Friendship-KLABU Sports Club
The Club regularly organises tournaments in collaboration with the Upazila Secondary Education Office and local public schools for students from the host community. This led to many successful competitions, including the National Winter Sports, National Summer Sports, youth festivals, and games such as kabaddi and badminton. It hopes to introduce indoor and more board games, such as chess, in the future.
The project is fully prepared to support the upcoming National Summer Sports Competition, which will further reinforce its youth development and community engagement efforts.
