I have seen refugees in Germany, the US and now here in
India. Often people immigrate to other countries out of despair, survival,
helplessness and for protection. But if we stop and think for a moment how
often have we actually interacted with refugees. Not too much or never. The sad
thing is that even though people might have never met refugees personally and
learned the problems they go through, people tend to judge them for who they
are and for what has brought them here. I have heard people say things like
they come here and take away our jobs and resources that should be allocated to
us, they should go back to their country and ask for help there. This type of
attitude is further reflected by discrimination, racism and hostility in the
country of refuge. On top of all the other problems refugees have, this becomes
one more thing in a long list of things that is making life not easy for them.
During my internship I have visited Don Bosco, a non-profit
organization supported by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees. Their
main goal is to teach refugees’ self-reliance and sustainable livelihoods
through the implementation of various training centers in which for example
they are educated and taught useful skills in order to find jobs in factories
and other places. When I talked to one of the social workers there, she told me
that it is so important people like me get interested in projects like this to
see and learn about the ways refugees are living, what brings them here and why
they need support. By educating me, they hope I can then spread the word and
maybe tell my experiences to third parties and subsequently get the ball
rolling for more awareness. This is why I decided to share my experiences with
you.
The mental hospital VIMHANS that I am interning at sends a
psychiatrist to one of the centers of Don Bosco to treat people with
psychological problems. Two doctors alternately visit Don Bosco every week. I
have decided to come along with one of the doctors on one of those days. The
center that we had to visit is only a couple of minutes walking distance from
VIMHANS so we left the hospital after our daily case presentation at around
11am. When we arrived, there was already a full room of patients awaiting us.
Another clinical psychologist and I were accompanying the doctor so we both
positioned our chairs behind the doctor to observe her work.
The patients were coming in accompanied by an interpreter
and a social worker. Most of the refugees did not know how to speak Hindi or
English so the interpreter was absolutely crucial even though there is a reason
why they are called interpreters. There is a lot of information that gets lost
in translation. There was one patient whose diagnosis was completely changed
because she was not understood in a way that she was supposed to be understood.
Communication between patient and doctor depends on how the interpreter
understands the questions of the doctor, how the question is translated to the
patient and finally how the patient understands the question. The same problem
is vice versa, which is when the patient answers the question. There is always
a fine line between correctly understanding and misunderstanding the patient.
A lot of the patients who come to see a psychiatrist have
undergone lots of trauma in their countries from which they have fled. The
people we saw, suffered mainly from depression and anxiety disorders such as
PTSD and panic attacks. For me, those illnesses make sense. I know that
sometimes we should not conclude so fast but I felt like it is so clear.
Somebody who has seen what they have seen will be scared regardless of their
predisposition which is why I wonder if the condition should be called a
disorder and can it be cured by medication. This is even what the doctor was
asking. She told us about one of the patients and how the medication is not
working for her but there is nothing she can do. The doctor was also
questioning whether or not there can be anything done for people in such
conditions. People who have undergone so much trauma can they even be helped?
Maybe… but the additional resources that this person would need are not
available therefore the people are stuck in a cycle from which they cannot
escape and there is nobody who can help them get out. There was this other
patient who said that she often feels like screaming. She was diagnosed with
depression and obviously the desire to scream was not the only symptom she had
but I thought that this statement was clearly showing that there is so much
more which this woman needs to express and can’t. By giving her the medication
might or might not help her suppress that symptom but in patients like that it
is important to help them get to the root of the problem in order for them to
get better. At the same time I understand that this is easier said than done.
Who is going to pay for it and who is going to take care of the children while
she will get additional treatment? There was this other woman who was depressed
too and she also suffered from anxiety. She was still victim to the things that
caused her to be scared. A lot of the women still live in abusive households so
how can they be expected to get better when the abuse still continues. So many
questions but no answers. In those situations people who try to help women like
them feel helpless, there is really so little they can do.
Nevertheless, Don
Bosco is one of the organizations that provide refugees with as much help as
they can. They have centers all over Delhi. Here in South Delhi the centers
mostly serve Afghani and Somali refugees. The other centers are divided amongst
mainly all Somali refugees and Burmese. I was told that the refugees divided
them up like this themselves. Obviously, when people come to a country where
everything is foreign to them they will try to find people who are familiar to
them.
The centers I have visited are in South Delhi. Altogether
there are three centers. One center, the one where patients are treated for
psychological problems as described above, is focused on social, psychological and physical wellbeing of the refugees. The
center helps them get medication for free and tries to arrange appointments
with doctors or possibly getting doctors to the center itself. The social
workers are usually the ones who do all this and in addition provide as much
counseling as is required for the individual refugees. The social workers also
assess the homes of the refugees to see what they need and how much more and in
what ways they can help them.
Downstairs of the center, they have a
child care center where little children can stay and play from morning till
night so parents can go to work. Then, they have two classrooms in which the
older children are taught. There is one class that is a “bridge class.” Those
children are being prepared for regular schooling in India. Before they can go
to a real school, they are taught Hindi, English and some basic math. The other
class is for children who are already in school but need a bit more help with
their school work. Don Bosco often employs refugees who have been going to
school there themselves as teachers and/or as interpreters. The social workers
told me that refugees themselves prefer working there than anywhere else
because they feel most comfortable and welcome at this place.
The other center which is positioned
right around the corner is mostly focused on teaching the older population
English and Hindi. There are different levels of each language which they can
attend. Beyond language classes, that particular center also offers computer
skill training. This way, refugees are taught specific know-hows that can
possibly help them find jobs more easily. In addition, the center helps them
find work. Because of the refugee status which most of them have, they have
difficulty finding a good job since the places they can be hired are limited.
Nevertheless, the workers there do the best of their abilities to find what is
best suitable for them.
The third center is providing mostly
senior refugees with specific skill training such as sewing. Being taught that,
they can find work which requires that one acquired skill. Or they can keep
working at the center for a small amount of money, which sometimes is necessary
when the refugees are too old and have only a small chance to be hired outside.
The people working there make mostly kurtas, some bags and accessories which
they later sell. The money inquired by the sells, the refugees can keep for them
as additional money.
Going around the centers and watching peoples’ work I felt
very inspired because I think it makes such a difference when refugees have a
place to go to. Not only for specific help and questions but a place where they
feel welcome and can spend their day, share their concerns, problems,
difficulties and also achievements with other refugees who will understand them
the best. They have all gone through similar things and having people who will
surely understand them can have a better effect than any therapy. It’s kind of
like an unofficial group therapy. This environment is telling them that they
are not alone; there are other people who feel the same. Even though, there are
often not enough resources to send refugees’ suffering from psychological
problems for additional treatment such as psychotherapy but providing them with
an unofficial group therapy setting might be the only alternative.
