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Service Delivery and Security for Refugees and Asylum Seekers
No full textThis capstone project builds on my practicum study reflections and experiences of the diverse narratives shared with me by survivors of torture during my personal field observations during my collaborations with the project on System Science and Spirituality for Applied Conflict Transformation (SSSACT) based at Tufts University School of Medicine.
Urban resettlements put cities like Boston at the forefront of responses of forced migration footprints. The globally forced displacement tide causes upsurge of refugees and asylum seekers from rural/camps to towns and cities for ease of access of opportunities and services as they navigate the complex post-resettlements adjustments. The dynamics of change in the resettlement pattern poses governments, government agencies, international organizations, civil society actors with enormous challenges regarding addressing the needs and rights of refugees and asylum seekers. This paper leverages the trauma-informed theoretical framework developed by Olga Botcharova, a conflict resolution expert, that organizes levels of conflict transformation along survivor/victims and enemy/aggressor levels. This paper also leverages a comprehensive review of literatures from public health and security experts in order to answer the overall applied question of this inquiry to: examine and characterize how civil society actors (such as community-based organizations, clinics and other social service providers) in Boston area support refugees and asylum seekers’ ability to co-exist, adapt, and struggle with integration in urban environments in order to support security, stability and healing?
This paper’s methodological design utilizes ethnographic techniques to generate a strategy that explores extensive data narratives based on mixed methods. It also conducts analysis to map domains emerging from the grounded themes in order to make recommendations for an integral social service and public health intervention framework which addresses the needs and rights of refugees and asylum seekers while enabling a culture of peace among social service and health agencies in the Boston metro area
Large Mammals of the High Andes A Survey of Community Composition and Habitat Usage in the Highlands of Angochagua
Get PDFThe large mammal community of the high Andes may be the least understood in South America. It contains multiple threatened and charismatic species including the Andean Bear, Mountain Tapir, Red Brocket Deer, Northern Pudu, and Puma. Many of these species are lacking in distribution and population data. The highlands of the Parroquia de Angochagua were once overgrazed by livestock, but have been mostly restored over the last 20 years through conservation efforts by the local community. These highlands are thought to have populations of all the previously mentioned species, though they had not been surveyed before this study. Transect surveys and camera traps were used over a one month period to confirm presence of species and gain insight into niche partitioning and habitat preference among the large mammal community. The presence of nine species was confirmed in the study area, including mountain tapir, puma, white-tailed deer, and Andean bear. Because these highlands harbor high-profile species but remain unprotected, this study provided a preliminary survey of the large mammal community as a platform for further conservation efforts. Work was carried out with the support of Big Mammals Conservation
The effects of seawater temperature on photosynthesis in Crustose Coralline Algae
Get PDFCrustose Coralline Algae (CCA) are prolific reef builders and primary producers that play a key role in maintaining the structural integrity of coral reef systems (Littler and Littler, 2013). They are also highly important in increasing reef resilience by serving as a substrate for the recruitment and metamorphosis of coral larvae (Chisholm, 2000). Little is known about the way in which increasing seawater temperatures due to climate change might affect metabolic rates like photosynthesis in CCA. Therefore, a study was carried out in November, 2018, in the lab at Lizard Island Research Station to explore the photosynthetic performance of a species of CCA across a range of temperatures.
Photosynthesis and respiration rates for Porolithon sp., a particularly ubiquitous species of CCA among the coral reefs surrounding Lizard Island, were determined at six distinct incubation temperatures (22°C, 24°C, 26°C, 28°C, 30°C, and 32°C). Net photosynthesis was found to be the highest at 26°C, close to the 27°C annual average water temperature at Lizard Island (Daily Average Ocean Water Temperatures, 2018). Net respiration was found to be greatest at 28°C and gross photosynthesis was found to be greatest at 26°C. A 26% decrease in net photosynthesis and a 24% decrease in gross photosynthesis were observed from the determined optimal temperature (26°C) to the upper limit of the study (32°C). With increasing temperature (1ºC / hr.), net photosynthesis was found to decrease as temperature increased, reducing to a value of zero μmol O2 cm-2 hr-1 at 34°C. The significant decrease in primary productivity of Porolithon sp. observed in both assays suggests that projected elevation in seawater temperatures will likely negatively affect the primary productivity and fitness of CCA, which may have serious implications for its surrounding community.
Keywords: Crustose Coralline Algae, Porolithon sp., Photosynthesis, Respiration, Thermal Stres
Comparing Community Restorative Justice in Bellows Falls, Vermont & Gacaca Processes in Rwanda
No full textIn conflict transformation, a restorative justice (RJ) practice is defined as a culture-shift in how communities address harm and conflict and as a transformative process focused on rebuilding and healing the relationship between victims, defined as those harmed, offenders as those responsible, and communities as those impacted by the harm.
This study investigates the Gacaca model of restorative justice in Rwanda and the Community Restorative Justice model in Bellows Falls, Vermont. The study specifically explores the motivation for volunteering in both contexts, examines cultural implications and different social identities in those motivations, uncovers the benefits and limitations of the two community-based models, recommends best practices from each, and offers recommendations for further research
Changing Donor-NGO relations thorough Viable Alternatives to Conventional Grantmaking
Get PDFThe purpose of this research is to explore ways in which non-governmental organizations (NGOs) can become more sustainable in light of a crucial challenge facing them today: that of financial instability. In the charitable sector in the U.S, NGOs, especially small-scale NGOs, have struggled with securing daily operating revenue rather than revenue for long-term program operations, in spite of the continuing needs of their beneficiaries (Janus, 2018; Le, 2017; Meehan & Jonker, 2017). Fundraising has come to involve relationships between NGOs and institutional donors such as foundations, government agencies and corporations. Competition among NGOs and rampant power asymmetry between donors and grantees has come to define grantmaking in the neoliberal era (Gilmore, 2016; Janus, 2018; Le, 2017; Meehan & Jonker, 2017; Parks, 2008). Although revenue streams have been diversified through sound alternatives to conventional grantmaking, grant funding nonetheless remains a regular source of funds (Janus, 2018; Le, 2017; Meehan & Jonker, 2017). The objective of this research is to examine the challenges that both NGOs and institutional donors are confronting, and to think about how to establish best practices for both NGOs and donors to enable viable alternatives to conventional grantmaking as well as sustainable donor-NGO relations. Secondary data and literature from leading academics, as well as interviews with NGOs, foundations, social ventures, and academics have led me to conclude that the ideal relationship between institutional donors and NGOs should be co-creation, and ideally mutually beneficial collaborations, rather than typical competitive models (RSF Social Finance, “Shared Gifting,” n.d.). I argue that transformative change in the donor-NGO relationship is possible through three approaches: 1) a paradigm shift from competition to systemic thinking to handle limited resources, 2) grantees’ need-based grantmaking practices, and 3) the right regulations and policies to close loopholes in grantmaking. In the end, all sectors should recognize their responsibility to play their roles for the public good of their communities (Eisenberg, 2004). This means that it is important that both NGOs’ and their institutional donors’ priorities do not experience mission creep nor focus on sustainability, but, rather, fulfill their missions in a prompt manner (Gilmore, 2016; Walker, 2017). When NGOs are able to determine the best way to pursue their missions on their own terms (Burton & Barnes, 2017; Le, 2017), and institutional donors, in turn, provide the best support for them with tax-exempt money, donor-NGO relations could become unprecedentedly powerful for the charitable sector and social cohesion
Violencia obstétrica: los derechos de autonomía reproductiva, tratamiento justo y accesibilidad en el ámbito de la salud maternal en San Carlos, Salta / Obstetric Violence: the Rights to Reproductive Autonomy, Fair Treatment, and Accessibility of Maternal Health Services in San Carlos, Salta
No full textIn Argentina, there exists a national legislature (Ley N° 25.929 and 26.485) that is intended to ensure women’s rights to maternal and reproductive healthcare services free from obstetric violence; that is, the right to autonomy, fair treatment, and accessibility of maternal healthcare services. Women have the inherent right to receive fair and equitable maternal healthcare and receive humanized births, or partos humanizados. Despite the existence of these laws, however, there is still a rampant amount of obstetric violence that women in Argentina experience. Their rights to autonomous, accessible, and just maternal health services are often ignored or outright denied. There exists a wide array of academic research on this topic in urban areas of the country, but the experiences of women in more isolated and rural areas are often ignored and silenced.
This paper is the summary of an independent research project that consisted of 10 days of field work in San Carlos, a small pueblo in the northern Argentine province of Salta. This project was focused on the aforementioned themes of obstetric violence and humanized birth, and particularly women’s rights to autonomy, fair treatment, and accessibility during their experiences with maternal health services and childbirth. It is a qualitative study that consists of semi-structured interviews with local women and medical professionals; through these interviews this report, based strongly on the lived experiences and childbirth narratives of these women, was constructed. It attempts to describe and explore the experiences of women in San Carlos, from a variety of different lenses and viewpoints, in order to emphasize the importance of autonomy, fair treatment, and accessibility in maternal healthcare services from the perspective of the patient.
The results of this study indicated that experiences of obstetric violence and the lack of humanized births in San Carlos and its surrounding communities is rampant and problematic. Obstetric violence was found to exist in terms of women’s autonomy, accessibility, and treatment (psychological and physical), and there was found to be a fundamental misunderstanding and miscommunication between women and healthcare professionals stemming from the prioritization of women as bodies first and humans, with fundamental rights, second.
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En Argentina, existe una legislatura nacional (Ley N ° 25.929 y 26.485) que tiene como objetivo garantizar los derechos de las mujeres a los servicios de salud materna y reproductiva libres de violencia obstétrica; es decir, el derecho a la autonomía, el trato justo y el acceso a los servicios de salud materna. Las mujeres tienen el derecho inherente de recibir atención médica materna justa y equitativa y recibir partos humanizados, o partos humanizados. Sin embargo, a pesar de la existencia de estas leyes, todavía existe una cantidad desenfrenada de violencia obstétrica que experimentan las mujeres en Argentina. Sus derechos a servicios de salud materna autónomos, accesibles y justos a menudo se ignoran o se los niega rotundamente. Existe una amplia gama de investigaciones académicas sobre este tema en las zonas urbanas del país, pero las experiencias de las mujeres en las zonas más aisladas y rurales a menudo son ignoradas y silenciadas.
Este reporte es un resumen de un proyecto de investigación independiente que consistía en 10 días de trabajo de campo en San Carlos, un pequeño pueblo en el norte de la provincia argentina de Salta. Este proyecto se centró en los temas antes mencionados de violencia obstétrica y nacimiento humanizado, y particularmente los derechos de las mujeres a la autonomía, el trato justo y el acceso durante sus experiencias con los servicios de salud materna y el parto. Es un estudio cualitativo que consiste en entrevistas semiestructuradas con mujeres locales y profesionales médicos; a través de estas entrevistas se construyó este informe, basado en gran medida en las experiencias vividas y las narraciones sobre el parto de estas mujeres. Intenta describir y explorar las experiencias de las mujeres en San Carlos, desde una variedad de diferentes lentes y puntos de vista, con el fin de enfatizar la importancia de la autonomía, el trato justo y la accesibilidad en los servicios de salud materna desde la perspectiva del paciente.
Los resultados de esta investigación indican que las experiencias de violencia obstétrica y la falta de nacimientos humanizados en San Carlos y sus comunidades circundantes son rampantes y problemáticas. Se descubrió que la violencia obstétrica existía en términos de autonomía, accesibilidad y tratamiento (psicológico y físico) de las mujeres, y se encontró un malentendido y falta de comunicación fundamental entre las mujeres y los profesionales de la salud como consecuencia de la priorización de las mujeres como cuerpos primero y humanos, con derechos fundamentales, segundamente
Facilitating Community Participation with Palestine Refugees: An Exploratory Study of UNRWA
Get PDFCommunity participation plays an important role in reversing the traditional power dynamic between service providers and beneficiaries. However, the level of community participation facilitated by organizations in their initiatives often varies greatly. This study sought to understand how and to what extent the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) West Bank Field Office can best facilitate community participation with Palestine refugees through its initiatives. Data collection took place at two levels: the strategic and camp level. The strategic level included interviews with a representative from the Palestinian Liberation Organization’s Department of Refugee Affairs (DORA) as well as nine staff at the UNRWA West Bank Field Office. At the camp level, eight interviews were conducted with UNRWA Camp Service Officers and staff from community-based organizations in Shufat and Aida camps; 60 surveys were also distributed to camp residents of Aida and Shufat camps. Interviews and surveys focused on the Healthy Camp Initiative (HCI), a participatory project in Aida and Shufat camps from 2015 to 2017, as well as community participation facilitated by UNRWA more broadly. Findings revealed that while the level of participation achieved under the HCI was higher than UNRWA generally facilitates, the participation of vulnerable groups such as women and persons with disability was limited, community representatives were not involved in all stages of the project cycle, and some decisions were ultimately still made by UNRWA. In order for UNRWA to mitigate these challenges and achieve a higher level of participation in future initiatives, a number of practical recommendations are included such as developing a clear UNRWA definition of community participation, creating criteria to promote the genuine inclusion of vulnerable groups in participatory committees in camps, and providing capacity building and training for staff and community representatives on participation.
Key words: refugees, community participation, participatory development, conflict transformation, UNRWA, displacement, empowerment, Palestin
Herpetofauna of Sumak Allpa: A Baseline Assessment of an Unstudied Island Herpetofaunal Community
Get PDFSumak Allpa is an island dedicated to the provision and protection of habitat for the conservation and rehabilitation of primates. As such, the island - a varzea ecosystem located in the Western Amazon of Ecuador, one of the most biodiverse and also most threatened regions in the world – consists of protected primary forest that is home not only to a variety of primates, but also to an even wider variety of other taxa, nearly all of which have gone unstudied on the island. The present investigation assessed two of those taxa, amphibians and reptiles, in order to establish a baseline inventory of the island’s herpetofaunal community and provide a preliminary assessment of its composition, activity, and habitat use as a way to suggest and inform future investigations for the study and monitoring of the community and its populations. Through 78 hours of visual and acoustic encounter surveys spanned across 16 days, a community of 552 individuals representing 15 species of 5 families of Anura and 11 species of 7 families of Squamata was observed on the island. Analysis of this community indicated high species richness and low species diversity and that the majority of species are capable of occupying all of the island’s habitats, demonstrating preferences for specific habitat characteristics such as leaf litter microhabitats and high density understory vegetation. An additional analysis of the population of Adenomera hylaedactyla, a species accounting for 57.4% of all individuals encountered, also demonstrated these same overall community trends, and this particular population had an average snout-vent-length (SVL) much smaller than the average SVL reported for the species overall. Collectively, these findings indicate long-term seasonal monitoring of the island and future investigation of its individual populations would best inform the conservation of the island’s herpetofaunal community and fulfill some of the many gaps in the existent knowledge of Ecuadorian and Neotropical herpetofauna more generally.
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Sumak Allpa es una isla dedicada a la provisión y protección del hábitat para la conservación y rehabilitación de primates. Como tal, la isla - un ecosistema de várzea ubicado en la Amazonía occidental de Ecuador, una de las regiones más biodiversas y más amenazadas del mundo - consiste en un bosque primario protegido que alberga no solo una variedad de primates, sino también una variedad aún más amplia de otros taxones, casi todos los cuales no han sido estudiados en la isla. La presente investigación evaluó dos taxones, anfibios y reptiles, con el fin de establecer un inventario de línea de base de la comunidad de herpetofauna de la isla y de proporcionar una evaluación preliminar de su composición, actividad y uso del hábitat como una forma de sugerir e informar investigaciones futuras para el estudio y monitoreo de la comunidad y sus poblaciones. A través de 78 horas de encuestas visuales y acústicas durante 16 días, se observó en la isla una comunidad de 552 individuos que representaban a 15 especies de 5 familias de Anura y 11 especies de 7 familias de Squamata. El análisis de esta comunidad indicó una alta riqueza de especies y baja diversidad de especies y que la mayoría de las especies son capaces de ocupar todos los hábitats de la isla, demostrando preferencias por características específicas del hábitat tales como microhábitats de hojarasca y vegetación de sotobosque de alta densidad. Un análisis adicional de la población de Adenomera hylaedactyla, una especie que representa el 57.4% de todas los individuos encontrados, también demostró estas mismas tendencias generales de la comunidad, y esta población particular tuvo una longitud de rostro-cloacal promedio (LRC) mucho más pequeña que la LRC promedio declarada para la especie en general. Colectivamente, estos hallazgos indican un monitoreo estacional a largo plazo de la isla y la investigación futura de sus poblaciones individuales serían las mejores formas de informar la conservación de la comunidad herpetofauna de la isla y cubrirían algunas de las brechas en el conocimiento existente de la herpetofauna ecuatoriana y neotropical en general
Integration of plastic recycling within a smaller community: Reducing Plastic Pollution in the Environment
Get PDFThe purpose of this research is to bring awareness to plastic pollution and find a way integrate plastic recycling workshops in a smaller community. Plastic pollution is a worldwide issue. Plastic is a versatile material and can be used to make almost anything, which is an attractive trait but the amount of plastic being consumed is alarming and only continues to increase. Plastic essentially never goes away because the degradation of plastic can last hundreds of years. The challenge is to find ways that everyone can recycle plastic because over 90% of plastic does not end up being recycled. Most plastic ends up in the marine or terrestrial environment and eventually breaks down in microplastics that inflict danger on species and can enter food chains. Interviews were conducted with a precious plastic organization member and educators for perspective on bringing this to an educational setting or small town community. The research has identified that it is possible to set up a small recycling workshop in a community. A workshop began to be set up in at the local high school in Ísafjörður, Iceland. There is still more developing to be done but the ground work has been laid. A plastic shredder was set up, plastic was collected and shredded, a mold was welded together, and plastic was melted down, and finally milled to create a final product. The final product was a lunchbox and represents how normal household plastic can be turned into something useful and it can reduce plastic usage in the future
(Dis)locations: Dutch Disabled LGBTQ+ Subjects and Queer Social Space
Get PDFThe purpose of this research was to determine the architectural and social accessibility of “queer spaces” in the Netherlands. Via a series of personal interviews with LGBTQ+ disabled Dutch individuals, lived experiences inside and outside queer spaces were discussed in the con-text of their respective disabilities and other identities. Some sub-questions that were addressed include: the definitions of “access and of “queer space,” how architectural and social access bar-riers compare with and influence one another, and the present and future possibilities for queer spaces of increased accessibility. In concluding the research, the author distinguishes “queer spaces” from LGBTQ+ spaces, reflecting the finding that these two are distinct in the experi-ences of interviewees. The research found the majority of LGBTQ+-centered social spaces that interviewees were familiar with were not psychosocially or architecturally accessible, and that these two fac-tors are greatly informed by one another. It also found that ideas of “access cannot simply be located in the material accommodation of disability, and that factors such as race and gender can and do pose access barriers to LGBTQ+ spaces. It also found that these multiply-marginalized interviewees preferred “mixed spaces” over identity-specific social spaces, and suggested that there is further research to be done on the potential \u27queerness\u27\u27 of mixed-identity space