4-hour OS with Chechen refugee women

[Raffi Aftandelian]

Dear listers,

Happy to report that the 4-hour OS with Chechen refugee women living
at MTF-6 (Dairy Farm #6) took place yesterday. Indeed, they live in a
converted barn. They personally cleaned out the barn when they came in
1999-2000 to flee the horrors of the second war in Chechnya. Still,
these are very unhygienic conditions to live in. Some children have
died of measles there. One mother of ten (!) children has been especially
enterprising, built a wood oven so that when the gas is turned off
(either because it is not available or as a measure by the authorities
to pressure refugees to return back to Chechnya so that we all can
pretend that the situation in Chechnya has "normalized) it is
available to bake bread and the like.

The OS took place in a youth drop-in center at MTF a thin wood structure
built quickly by CARE. Wood patterned linoleum floor, we sat on
plastic stools, heat up water in a huge kettle. The 10-13 women who
came attend a psychological support group run by a local nonprofit,
Agency for Rehabilitation and Development (ARD). ARD cut its teeth on
psychosocial rehab in the first Chechen war (they were established in
1995). The current group of women the two psychologists (Madina and
Toma) from this camp work with are a lot more active than other
groups. Still, they have lost so much of their dignity and ability to
see (at first) that change comes from themselves.

The theme of the OS was Recovering our families' health. There were
three themes:

-the psychological atmosphere in families

-lonely women (divorced, abandoned, widowed)

- the relationship between parents and children in families (much about the
aggressiveness of youth and their until recently unheard-of disrespect
of elders)

It helped to have the psychologists re-explain the opening in Chechen
(I had worked with the psychologists -- not just the women--
beforehand extensively).

It was a very modest start, but in the closing (we ended about an hour
early) people noted what I would call an opening in their heart, no
problems as such were resolved, few new ideas were expressed, but
still this meeting brought a shift, however subtle. I would call it a
Breema for the soul.

In debriefing the OS with the sponsors, Toma and Madina, they saw that
it might be worthwhile to continue this work with ARD psychologists.
ARD psychologists are meeting soon to develop a set of principles and
guidelines on doing family counseling in the tent camps and in
Chechnya. They had planned to commit a day to this meeting.

My question-- can a day be enough to develop these principles and
guidelines (i.e. to have a plan of action)? How might OS be used here
if there isn't the requisite 1 1/2 min. days to meet in OS and then do
prioritizing and action planning?

Thanks OS'ers all over,
Raffi AFtandelian

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