Internally displaced people (IDPs) are individuals who have been forced to flee their homes due to conflict, violence, natural disasters, or human rights violations, but remain within the borders of their own country.
The sudden extended removal of a people fromt heir community fractures the fundamental human networks that a society relies upon to survive and thrive. Cast across Iraq and neighboring states, membersof the Sinjari Ezidixan ommunity found themselves rudderless in encampments with little view of the future.
When we arrived in 2014 it was apparent there was limited ability to provide aid through traditional resources. There were immediate decisions to focus on finding fulcrum points to leverage cultural competency in directing leadrship training in ways that would promote public health improvments in various refugee environments.
Our focus was on three areas:
- Camp Leadership
- Cultural Mainttainance
- Art therapy
In camp leadership we fcused on developing both administrative and logistic leaders. Training young Yezidi to become liasons with local wholesaleer that could provide food for the camps at lower rates than travelling to the Souk.
We also fostered industry through cultural traditions and crafts that could be used for trade with local businesses. We opened several baking facilities and developed some small number of craft wharehouses.
Finally, we directly facilitatd art therapy courses with Yezidi youth that had been traumatized by the continuously oppressive events.
