Listening to the displaced:a trainer’s experience

Firstly, and most importantly, the element of change is crucial to understand if we are to implement effective strategies to address displaced people’s needs. Change may relate, for example, to people’s health status. Some people are traumatized by the events that caused them to flee; some have been abused and exploited during flight.

They may be ill or exhausted. Or changes may have occurred in their 'social status' which intensifies their suffering and alienation, such as when professionals can no longer practice their profession. Moreover, traditional networks of support, such as family and community, have been destroyed, leaving some members (women, children, disabled) especially vulnerable. In general, changed circumstances often mean that people cannot do what they are used to or would want to. Sometimes these changes may affect what for us seem insignificant issues, such as food; for them, however, that can be of great importance. Secondly, people react to events/experiences in accordance with what it means to them. In other words, reactions are result of cultural context, which may transform individual experience; the same signs and symptoms, for example, may mean different things in different social settings. Thirdly, in times of disaster, the focus is on rapid delivery of goods and services. Important though this is, however, it is often undertaken with little or no reference to the capacity of the population to help itself and with no participation by the affected populations. Moreover, there is a lack of coordination, further diminishing the capacity of the displaced population as well as the possibility for host communities to contribute and benefit. This can ultimately undermine the coping mechanisms of the affected populations, denying them the dignity of self-reliance and creating long-term dependency. Bearing the above in mind, as trainers we first try to identify both observable change and people’s perception of the change. At the level of needs, we try to include what people need as well as how they want it. In defining the overall approach, we start with what resources exist within the population and build on those. In short, our approach to training is value-driven and based on participants’ analysis of what is most relevant and manageable in the light of their current capacities and resources. We recognize that training is a continual process and not something learned as the result of attending one or two workshops.

Training needs to fit into a larger picture and process. We work with people to define that larger picture in order to determine how a training course can contribute to it. Participation is a major factor in determining whether or not the project will be successful. Failure to involve people will ultimately lead to growing lethargy on the part of the population, increase in cost and decrease in communication.

by Suzana Paklar, University of Oxford, Refugee Studies Center, 2005