Pursuing Higher Education in Exile: A pilot partnership in Kakuma Refugee Camp

2018 ◽  
Vol 94 (5) ◽  
pp. 46-51 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michelle J. Bellino ◽  
Mohamud Hure
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Refugee Camp

scholarly journals Resilience and Empowerment through Higher Education in Kakuma Refugee Camp: A Conversation

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. p64
Author(s):  
Paul O’Keeffe ◽  
Samuel Niyonkuru
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Refugee Camp ◽  
Management Policy ◽  
Local Health ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Health Care Organisation ◽  
Care Organisation ◽  
The Impact

Resilience and empowerment are concepts that recently have become popularised in the world of forced displacement management policy and practice. Often undervalued and dismissed as being buzzwords, these concepts have become bound up in the burgeoning study of higher education in refugee contexts. This article explores these themes in the frame of a real-world experience of studying a blended learning medical studies course in Kakuma refugee camp and the impact it has had on an individual’s life and that of his community. Building on the academic discourse, we present a case study of the individual’s experience of studying an online and face-to-face course in Kakuma refugee camp and subsequently undertaking an internship with a local health care organisation. Through a discursive conversation, the subject of the case study reveals the positive impact this educational experience has fostered in his life by instilling resilience and empowering him to become a force for positive change in his community.

scholarly journals Bridging the Distance in Distance E-Learning

2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 38-49
Author(s):  
Gatitu Kiguru ◽  
Phyllis Mwangi ◽  
Purity Nthiga
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Distance Education ◽  
Emergency Situation ◽  
Refugee Camp ◽  
Physical Distance ◽  
Emergency Situations ◽  
Humanitarian Response ◽  
High Commissioner ◽  
Daunting Task ◽  
E Learning

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other humanitarian organisations now categorize the provision of education in emergencies as a humanitarian response to disaster. However, the very nature of an emergency situation makes the provision of education a daunting task. When entire populations are displaced and forced to live in camps as refugees in a host country, they are unlikely to have access to the physical infrastructure and other resources required for education, especially higher education. An innovative way of availing higher education opportunities to refugee populations is through distance education programmes, particularly those delivered through online e-learning platforms. As universities continue to embrace the role of humanitarian actors, they are increasingly recognizing that distance education programmes, more so e-learning ones, have the potential of reaching a wider population of refugees, enabling them access to education without requiring institutions to have a physical presence in a refugee camp. The actualization of this potential in a refugee camp setting, however, is not without challenges. Drawing on experiences from facilitating and managing a joint online certificate course targeted at refugees living in the Kakuma and Dadaab refugee camps in Kenya, this paper seeks to show that the challenges, ranging from physical distance to lack of computer skills, are doubly pronounced in refugee settings. Further, the paper highlights the innovative solutions that were used to mitigate the said challenges and shows how they can be adopted when designing distance e-learning programmes for both emergency and non-emergency situations in Africa.

scholarly journals Enabling Basic Medical Training for Refugees via Collaborative Blended Learning in Kakuma Refugee Camp (Preprint)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul O'Keeffe ◽  
Thibault Lovey ◽  
Ianis Petignat
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Health Services ◽  
Blended Learning ◽  
Medical Training ◽  
Refugee Camp ◽  
Refugee Camps ◽  
New Knowledge ◽  
The World ◽  
High Level ◽  
Basic Medical

BACKGROUND The world is currently witnessing its highest rates of refugees and displaced persons, with more than 68.5 million people worldwide forced to leave their homes due to persecution, conflict, violence and other human rights violations. International emergency responses have mostly focused on ensuring basic needs such as health, nutrition, and basic education are met. With little end in sight to the majority of refugee crises, there is an increasing realization that longer term solutions are needed to empower young people caught up in these protracted situations. As refugee camps across the world grow exponentially, tertiary education has the potential to provide a solution that could empower refugees and help fill qualified staff shortages in camps, especially in camp health services that aim to satisfy some basic needs of their populations. OBJECTIVE With the advancement of new technologies and easier access to the Internet, higher education has evolved to become a more attainable goal than ever before. Many across the world can now access online and blended learning courses, in situations, such as refugee camps, where brick and mortar higher education is not an option. With this in mind, the University of Geneva’s InZone–Raft project has implemented a blended learning course in Kakuma refugee camp to train 16 students in basic medical studies. METHODS This study focuses on the implementation, pedagogical evolution and impact of this project by looking at factors that influence the students’ knowledge acquisition, the amount of knowledge they acquired, and comparing student outcomes in the course with a previous course in Kakuma. RESULTS Of the 16 students who started the course, 10 received 6 ECTS for successful completion of the course. Overall, it was found that new knowledge was well received by the students, who scored higher in all learning modalities compared to students who took part the previous course. Pedagogical adjustments were also found to improve student involvement in the course, with higher participation rates and better overall satisfaction observed. CONCLUSIONS This project has provided refugees with high-level basic medical training in a challenging environment. This student cohort reached a high level of medical knowledge and was able to develop complex questions on medical topics. In addition, their excellent results in the quizzes and final exams prove that their new knowledge has been well received. This training allows refugees to integrate into the health services in the camp and will have a positive impact on the shortage of staff in the region. In addition, implementation in other refugee camps should be undertaken CLINICALTRIAL NA

Cluttering in the Communicative Disorders Curriculum

2009 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 52-57
Author(s):  
John A. Tetnowski
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Doctoral Students ◽  
Communication Disorders ◽  
Educational Opportunities ◽  
Opportunities For Learning ◽  
Communicative Disorders ◽  
Theoretical Issues

Abstract Cluttering is discussed openly in the fluency literature, but few educational opportunities for learning more about cluttering exist in higher education. The purpose of this manuscript is to explain how a seminar in cluttering was developed for a group of communication disorders doctoral students. The major theoretical issues, educational questions, and conclusions are discussed.

Systems of Oppression in Geriatric Clinical Service Delivery

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-3
Author(s):  
Diane L. Kendall
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Service Delivery ◽  
Clinical Setting ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Hard Work ◽  
Clinical Service ◽  
Meaningful Change ◽  
Important Work ◽  
Speech Language Pathologists ◽  
Medical Institutions

Purpose The purpose of this article was to extend the concepts of systems of oppression in higher education to the clinical setting where communication and swallowing services are delivered to geriatric persons, and to begin a conversation as to how clinicians can disrupt oppression in their workplace. Conclusions As clinical service providers to geriatric persons, it is imperative to understand systems of oppression to affect meaningful change. As trained speech-language pathologists and audiologists, we hold power and privilege in the medical institutions in which we work and are therefore obligated to do the hard work. Suggestions offered in this article are only the start of this important work.

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