Update

So far, Catholic Relief Services has not begun thier work for this semester at the private schools wherein they have direct contact with the refugee children. Once they are ready to conduct thier research, they will notify me and will allow me to go with them to ask my own set of questions while we visit the kids.

My only other contact for Iraqi refugees is the director of the STAR(Student Action for Refugees) program at AUC, Emilie Minnick. She is doing similar research in the field, pertaining to the unique way in which Iraqi refugees have built extremely close-knit communities within Cairo. It seems the challenge remains in being allowed and accepted into thier circle. Emilie has already done this and will be aiding me in this aspect within the next week.

I have enlisted the help of a student who will be able to translate for me during the interviews. Ibrahim will have a better opportunity to connect with these boys since he speaks arabic and boys would be more likely to open up to him, versus a white english speaking American. It is my hope that Ibrahim will reach these boys on a closer level than I would be able to with a paid interpreter.

Ibrahim and I are also using an assignment we recieved in our Participatory Action Research as an avenue for further validation in seeking out Iraqi refugees. Having the ability to say your research is being conducted for AUC ( a widely known university in the area who has done great work in the refugee field) carries more clout than my explanation that I am a foreign student from a foreign university trying to learn about Iraqi refugees. Ibrahim has far more connections than I do within the NGO community, and we hope our project will fit well with my current research.

As for the comparison part of my research, the Sudanese refugees that I am teaching are quickly grasping the concept of essay writing. I hope to move forward in two weeks with thier first real essay assignment that will ask:

"What experiences in Sudan and as a refugee in Cairo have affected their world view and future endeavors?" How do you feel about the situation and in what ways do they feel compelled to react?"

It is my hope that I can compare the responses of Sudanese refugees to Iraqi refugees, to see if any correlations exist.

Sudanese VS Iraqi Refugees

In order to fulfill my requirements for linguistics and Participatory Action Research, I am teaching 20 Sudanese refugees English three times a week at St. Andrews Church. The opportunity presents a comparison of Sudanese refugee life to Iraqi refugees here in Cairo.

As part of the curriculum, I will be teaching the 5- paragraph essay. Over the course of the Spring semester, I plan to use the essay assignments to gather the experiences and future goals of Sudanese refugees and compare them to those I will collect on Iraqi refugees. Each essay will revolve around one of the four subcatagories of questions I plan to ask Iraqi children, as listed below in the first post.

I will be able to interview and record each student, and maintain a folder of thier work throughout the semester. Sudanese male students ages 7-17 will be compared to the Iraqi group of the same demographic to get a better understanting of the common and unique challenges facing each group.

The comparison of sudanese boys to Iraqi boys is just one facet of the qualitative process. I hope to also gain a perspective of Iraqi refugee life from family members, social workers and others who have already participated in aid or research on the Iraqi refugee life in Cairo.

More classes - Research for the research

The past few weeks have allowed for a few more opportunities through AUC to work with refugees. I have decided to take a linguisitics course in which students must volunteer to teach english to the local community, including some charities that aid refugees. I will also be taking International Refugee Law, taught by Prof Kagan, which will no doubt prove vital in understanding why many various rights are afforded to African-born refugees and not afforded to Iraqis in Egypt.

I am in the process of researching a few more classes that encompass my line of study, particularly one taught by Dr. Henry. His previous work including psychology in the Egyptian classroom, assimilation of immigrants, and some work concerning minority adolescents struck a chord with my current research. His interest in Stiles Assimilation Model may prove invaluable, and may help in my own qualitative structure.


http://www.users.muohio.edu/stileswb/assimilation_model.htm