Final Project Report – Jewish World Watch

HIAS/IsraAid Community Services and Psychosocial Initiative for Darfurian Refugees in Bredjing Camp

Reporting Period: August 1 – December 31, 2007

Project Overview:

The period between August 1 and December 31, 2007 was an arduous one for the Darfurian refugees living in the UNHCR administered refugee camps in eastern Chad, as well as for the humanitarian workers providing assistance to the population. While the months of August and September were relatively calm in terms of security issues, the rainy season affected implementation of certain services, particularly children’s activities as their usual playgrounds had been turned into fields for cultivation of meager crops. Refugees were also fearful that their tents would be washed away by the violent rains. Sexual and Gender Based Violence (SGBV) remained an issue in the camps as the frustration associated with this protracted situation manifests in increasingly detrimental behaviors. Health issues associated with poor diet, lack of adequate food and water, and sufficient health care facilities remain a constant problem.

Yet, the refugees are resilient and many have made positive gains in spite of their situation. HIAS/IsraAid programs are an essential aspect of life in the camps, and the refugees are grateful for the attention, care, and knowledge they are provided by the HIAS/IsraAid staff at all levels. As this final report will show, the funding provided by Jewish World Watch to support an Israeli Psychosocial Care Professional has indeed made an impact on the lives of these individuals who have lost so much and have suffered in ways most of us would have a difficult time even imagining.

Situation in the sub-region:

Security Situation: The end of November 2007 saw a significant rise in insecurity in Chad. This mirrored the situation during the same period in 2006, though was not quite as severe as to necessitate evacuation of expatriate staff. Serious fighting took place throughout the country, especially during the first week of December, between the Chadian army (ANT) and three rebel groups UFDD, RFC and FUC. Simultaneously, an increase in banditry was noted. The instability put humanitarian aid workers on alert as a general restriction on movement was instituted. A curfew was established in the town of Abeche, where HIAS/IsraAid maintains a center of operations. The restrictions made it challenging for all humanitarian workers, including HIAS/IsraAid staff, to ensure full implementation of activities in the refugee camps, as transportation was limited and resources were scarce.

In the first week of December three members of HIAS/IsraAid expatriate staff were temporarily relocated to more stable areas of eastern Chad. Yahia Hadier, whose work is funded by JWW, relocated from Hadjer Hadid to the town of Abeche during this period. However, as in 2006 HIAS/IsraAid local staff and Community Mobilizers (CMs) continued to carry out many of the psychosocial services normally conducted. By late December 2007 the security situation calmed and all staff returned to their respective camps. The security situation in Chad during subsequent months has been relatively stable and the implementation of HIAS/IsraAid services has not been disrupted for reasons of security.

The aforementioned security conditions came on the heels of the Zoe’s Ark situation that occurred at the end of October. Six French aid workers from the NGO, Zoë’s Ark, three journalists, and seven members of a Spanish flight crew were arrested on Thursday 25 October as they prepared to fly 103 children from Abeche to Paris. Six French nationals were charged by Chadian authorities with abducting children and fraud. Yahia Hadier was invited to visit the children in the facility where they were subsequently held after they were discovered. He indicated that the children were traumatized and conditions were substandard.

Fallout for NGOs from this incident manifested originally by new rules imposed by the government restricting movement of NGO personnel outside Ndjamena. Subsequently, NGOs will be observed more closely by the Chadian government.

Yahia Hadier’s Activities in Bredjing Camp:

Yahia Hadier began his tenure with HIAS/IsraAid as a Psychosocial Care Professional in July 2007. Yahia possesses a Bachelor’s degree in psychology and sociology, and a Master’s degree in education counseling. He also maintains a family and couple’s therapy practice in Israel. Yahia’s enthusiasm, in concert with his language skills (Arabic) and dedication to this population has brought great success to the initiative. Further details about HIAS/IsraAid activities and Yahia’s work can be found below.

Activity – Bredjing Camp / Aug / Sept / Oct / Nov / Dec / Total
Home Visits / 47 / 43 / 79 / 38 / 26 / 233
Group Counseling (participants) / 39 / 29 / 41 / 27 / 41 / 177
Children's Activities (participants) / 75 / 135 / 141 / 74 / 147 / 572
Sensitization Session (participants) / 264 / 232 / 157 / 117 / 640 / 1,410
Peace Education Training (participants) / 83 / 27 / - / - / - / 110
Theater Sensitization / - / 194 / 170 / 122 / 211 / 697
Total / 508 / 660 / 588 / 378 / 1,065 / 3,199

Home Visits:

Home visits are important to reaching out to the refugee community, especially to those individuals who are sick, physically handicapped or those who are unaware of how to utilize camp services. Under the supervision of Yahia, HIAS/IsraAid Community Mobilizers in Bredjing camp conduct daily visits to various homes of beneficiaries, offering immediate assistance to the clients. Often HIAS/IsraAid CMs assist individuals who require medical assistance by accompanying them to the hospital or in cases of domestic violence they counsel family members on peace education and conflict resolution. After these interventions, the CM’s report their activities to Yahia and the Psychosocial Assistants for follow-up individual counseling and referrals.

In October 2007 a HIAS/IsraAid CM visited an 85-year-old woman who was infirm and living alone. The CM organized a group of her neighbors to assist her with cooking and daily activities. Separately, she was referred to the camp hospital for a medical screening as well as community services since she was found to be extremely vulnerable.

Yahia’s role as a couple’s counselor has proved helpful in the camps. Many couples experience stress and trauma due to their situation and their disrupted lives and roles, often resulting in physical violence or divorce. Yahia helps the couples to cope with their situation and improve their understanding of one another with a view to staying together, if appropriate, under the challenging camp conditions.

Group Counseling:

Group counseling is a way for HIAS/IsraAid staff to bring together those people with similar issues and provide them with a place to share and talk with one another as a way of healing. Often, after individuals receive a home visit they are invited to group counseling as a way to connect to their peers. The refugees often talk about domestic violence, lack of food rations, lack of tents and shelter, loss of property and ultimately, a loss of dignity. In Bredjing camp, Yahia facilitated discussions about sexual and gender-based violence as well as conflict resolution during group counseling.

Yahia Hadier facilitating a group counseling session

After one group counseling session a woman commented, “I have been suffering for nothing and had never even heard about counseling. When I came here yesterday I didn’t expect such a miracle to happen. Thank you.”

Psycho-education and Sensitization Sessions:

Psycho-education and sensitization sessions on psychosocial issues are activities that HIAS/IsraAid employs to engage the majority of the refugee population in large group settings (usually 200+). The topics for discussion include: stress and trauma, loss and grief, Sexual and Gender Based Violence and rape, child abuse, conflict resolution and peace education.

After the sensitizations, HIAS/IsraAid staff identifies people with severe or debilitating problems and invites them for group counseling. Others with problems related to non-food items are referred to partners offering the same while cases that require medical attention are referred to medical agencies working in the camps.

During the sessions many refugees cite problems with the local population. There is a great deal of tension between the communities, as both need to utilize the same scarce supply of natural resources. Fights often arise at water points or around the collection of firewood. For this reason the conflict resolution skills presented during sensitization sessions are highly useful. Conflicts between refugees often arise as well. One participant remarked, “For the last three months I have been having problems with my neighbor and always quarrelling. HIAS today called both of us to this meeting and talked about conflict resolution and I am happy to say that we are now on speaking terms”.

Peace Education:

Peace education is a psychosocial intervention that helps the refugees understand the modes of maintaining and living in a culture of peace. This intervention is implemented through trainings, sensitizations and counseling. HIAS/IsraAid hopes to help shape the attitudes of the refugees towards conflict resolution for the better. These sessions will benefit the population both in the camps and when/if they are able to return to their homes in Sudan.

Interventions Facilitated

Peace education sessions are conducted by Psychosocial Assistants and in Bredjing camp were overseen by Yahia. During the sessions HIAS/IsraAid staff defines conflict and peace, causes of conflict, types of conflict, consequences of conflict, stages of conflict and conflict resolution, what to do to maintain peace, i.e. be at peace with yourself, your family and consequently the larger community.

Problems Presented

During the trainings the participants cited causes of conflicts among the people both in and outside the camps for example: infidelity between men and women, injustice, polygamy, insulting one another, lack of respect, violence, lack of education, lack of collaboration, racial and ethnic segregation, lack of love, alcoholism and drug abuse, rape, forced marriage, abandoning women, poverty and early marriage.

Observations

Two of the female participants in Bredjing camp admitted that they had never had any knowledge about peace education and stressed that whenever conflict arose in the future, they would use the techniques of conflict resolution that they learned through the HIAS/IsraAid trainings. A larger number of the refugee population welcome the trainings on peace education and said that HIAS/IsraAid should make sure everyone is informed on conflict resolution.

Children’s Activities:

Every Friday, HIAS/IsraAid conducts children’s activities in Bredjing camp. Yahia recognized the need to extend these sessions for and additional day during the time when school was not in session in the camps. Sometimes, as many as 500 children will come to the HIAS/IsraAid center. The main objective of these interventions is to improve the children’s social ties, provide continuity with their traditional life, create friendship and develop a culture of togetherness and to promote team spirit. HIAS/IsraAid staff utilizes play therapy, art therapy, narrative therapy and song and dance therapy to work with the children. Children report feeling accepted just by being invited to the sessions. One disabled child said, “I didn’t know I could be called to play with other children. I used to hide in the house for fear of being laughed at by other children but today I have found out that I am not the only handicapped child. From now on I will start mixing and playing with other children”.

Some of the songs the children sang were: Salam Darfur (Peace in Darfur), ilal houla (Respect the Country), badiri sahet mine aliom (A Very Good Morning), watania watania (My Beautiful Country), rudju ilal balad (Return to Our Country), ya ilahi ya moudjibal da await (May God Grant Us Our Wishes), bintou djamilla sudania(Beautiful Sudan Woman).

During art therapy, HIAS/IsraAid staff observed a great shift in the children’s drawings as they changed from drawing weapons of war and destructive objects to illustrating their daily encounters and possessions in the camps.

Yahia discussing a young boy’s drawing in Bredjing camp

Sensitization Through Theater:

HIAS/IsraAid organizes sensitization through theater every week in the blocs. This type of intervention has been instrumental in transmitting psychosocial messages to a larger number of the beneficiaries, most of whom are illiterate. The primary topics addressed in theater pertain to conflict resolution, domestic violence and where to seek help if such cases are encountered in the camps.

The ten refugee members of the group are first trained on the psychosocial topics with the sole aim of helping them understand the concepts that underlie psychosocial interventions. The group then presents skits on different psychosocial interventions such as the causes of conflict, stages of conflict and how to resolve conflicts peacefully. This activity has proved to be quite instrumental in educating the refugee population on prevention of sexual and gender based violence and conflict resolution.

Conclusion

Yahia Hadier will be with the program in Chad until mid April. His education, background, language skills, experience, and commitment continue to support and bring success to the HIAS/IsraAid Psychosocial Initiative in Chad. The refugees are clearly fond of and respect him as is evidenced by the photo below. Jewish World Watch has enabled this to happen through their generous funding of the Israeli Psychosocial Care Professional position and we are grateful for the organization’s support of this vital endeavor.

Yahia with a new born baby named after him

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