Chechen Refugee Camps and Education
620/ PSYCH
April 14, 2014
Dr. Neysa Hatcher
Chechen Refugee Camps and Education
The creation of schools is one of the leading ways to produce hope and stability in refugee camps. Many would love to go to school because, currently they have no other option, but to teach themselves. Refugees can recall having great memories of their past school experiences, which they use as motivation to continue to learn. On account of my involvement with a refugee relief organization, I have been assigned the job of creating schools in the Chechen refugee camps of Chechnya. The primary means of survival and daily focus for these refugees have been through humanitarian aid. That assistance is made
With their surroundings already so violent and each group is trying to maintain their way of living, it creates frictions and ethnocentricity ways may arise. Culturally, it is known that Chechens is very ethnocentric. One of the ethnocentric challenges that I may encounter while planning the project is the attitudes of the Russians being so high because of the Chechens ethnocentrism. With all the work that I would have to do, am I able to give the dreams and desires to the consumers of the project. Is ethnocentrism such a challenge that it may inhibit the development of positive relationships between the Chechens and Russians to the point that the project would be in peril? With the school being such a positive influence in their community, I would have high hopes that they would agree to disagree and come to and understanding among each other. Many of the Chechens would be so happy that they have a place to call home they would not worry about the animosity, but the Russians probably would not let down their guard to reconcile.
Discussion of Types of Questions a Researcher Would Ask
As the implementation plan for the development of an educational system in Chechen refugee camps begins to formulate, the types of questions I would ask are: 1) For both the parents and children, what are your dreams and desires for when you return home, 2) What subjects in school do you like the most and which do you like the least, 3) For project design,