ASA6006 Research Project Report - Assignment Help

Introduction

Ethiopia has about 370,000 refugees as of 2013, a number that has nearly doubled the last two years, mainly because of the conflict in Somalia and South Sudan. Currently more than half of the refugees are from Somalia followed by South Sudan, Eritrea and various other neighbouring countries. The Ethiopian state keeps it boarders open to all refugees but does not allow local integration. (EOTCDICAC, 2015)

The refugees that arrive in Ethiopia are placed in the camps closest to the boarder and supported by humanitarian organisations. They are referred to Addis Ababa for certain health concerns and protection issues which is addressed by Development and Inter-Church Aid Commission (DICAC).

Ethiopian Orthodox Church Development and Inter-Church Aid Commission (EOC/DICAC) was established as a developed wing of the church by a legal notice in 1972. Since its establishment, it has performed emergency relief, rehabilitation, development, refugees and returnees support, and HIV/AIDS prevention and control activities. (EOTCDICAC, 2015)

Refugees are placed in the shelter temporarily for various reasons predominantly related health concerns and are assisted by specialised DICAC staff members. 

The initial meeting with the host agency supervisor was instrumental in setting clear guidelines and also opened opportunity that would further assist in this research project. 

The scope of the work at the shelter was discussed at the beginning with the supervisor, there were no classes at that point being held or run at the shelter so the main task was identified as running of the classes and that was my role, to design and implement educational activities for the children at the shelter. 

The main role was to run classes at the shelter, classes that would be tailored for children but also for others that may be interested in attending basic literally and numeracy classes.  

This community-based research project also included other roles that were not explicitly or clearly defined, for example, things that would assist me in learning more about the daily work of the organisation, more specifically at the shelter. This was vital as I had a limited time and hours in an attempt to learn more about each role and how certain aspects of the daily operations are run. 

I was also encouraged to add any suggestion in terms of what I believed could be done different and to bring that for discussion to the following meeting. 

DICAC assists various refugees who are in Addis Ababa for both health concerns and also protection purposes, therefore issues regarding confidentiality and privacy was very important for me as a student volunteer to be aware of. This was highlighted by the agency supervisory but also with the staff at the shelter. 

Project Evaluation

There was only a short period of time from the initial arrival at the DICAC main office and meeting with my supervisor to the first day of classes. My initial plan was to spend approximately two weeks planning how the educational activities and classes would be, and specify the exact dates in terms of having an actual timetable for which classes would run on which day. But that was not the case, as many of the refugees at the shelter did not have a fixed timeframe on their stay at the shelter, adding to that part of my briefing when I started at the shelter was that some of the refugees who are there that day may or may not be at the shelter upon my arrival the following day. 

Equipped with that information, I knew that I had to start classes the following working day, and that I would begin with simple concepts that were suitable for all who were in class but also to get them into the habit of attending classes. 

The plan and main goal of this project was to provide a learning environment for the children at the shelter and to give them a space where they were able to interact with other children in a classroom setting. It was evident from the first week that even the parents and older students wanted to learn, and so not having a planned project aimed just for children was an advantage and beneficial in terms of flexibility of age group and the range of students.

The challenges faced at the beginning of this project was navigating and finding my way around Addis Ababa, finding my way to the office on the first day, understanding how transport system works, finding a suitable accommodation close to work location. It was also challenging to see firsthand the kind of hardship people were faced with every day, the environment and surroundings gave a vivid image/look into defining what disadvantaged looked like in a different context and the type of adversities people were facing.  

 The obstacles and challenges in this project were mainly classroom attendance oriented as the students in the shelter were only residing in the shelter temporarily. This resulted in a constant fluctuation in attendance due to students leaving the shelter permanently to a more suitable (temporary) location in terms of relocating into a rental apartment. 

Such events of moving out of shelter would happen so sudden that certain students were asked to leave in midst of class by the parent or guardian. The students who would often find it hard to concentrate and grasp what was taught in class were the ones often leaving during moments where they started to enjoy being in a classroom environment and showing signs that they wanted to learn. 

Keeping the students interested and engaged in class also posed as another challenge, students who were at different levels in their learning. Teaching simple English alphabets to students who were as young as 3 years of age in the same classroom as other students who were in their 40-50 years of age was a challenging task. When focusing on one set of students the rest of the class often times found it difficult to continue on with the task and/or remain interested.