Following where Community-Driven Organizations Lead: Lessons for strengthening refugee financial integration
By Julie Zollman and Kim Wilson “We have many people with a broken heart because of their history. So, we
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Religion
Two Flights
A mother from Côte d’Ivoire encounters hardship and exploitation in search of a better life in Tunisia.
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Economic Integration
This video draws on a case study of Uganda, where refugees move from their early arrival phase to coping long term with economic opportunities and set-backs. The information draws on Fletcher research in Uganda.
Read moreOrigins and Outcomes: Migrant Integration in Uganda
By Dan Creamer, under the supervision of Kim Wilson.
In the United States, the postal code of one’s birthplace predicts more about one’s future than nearly any other factor. While interviewing refugees in Kampala and Bidi Bidi Camp, I found a parallel observation in which specific details of a refugee’s origin could predict their outcomes, particularly economic and locational outcomes. Refugees from similar places of origin tend to settle in similar locales. While this finding may be obvious to refugees and development organizations, the deterministic elements of a refugee’s place of origin do not seem to influence programming in the Uganda refugee context.
Archetypes of Escape #2: “I felt compelled to escape grinding poverty and exploitation”
Includes: escape from debt; Juju; weakening incomes; exploitative work like sex work; indentured farm labor
Read moreThe Story of Precious
A nearly blind mother of three leaves Cameroon to travel alone through South and Mesoamerica in hopes of reaching the
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Migrants Hold onto Their Religious Identities for Emotional Support and to Build Networks Crucial to Their Journeys
By Lea Abi Zeid Daou and Nidhisha Philip, under the supervision of Kim Wilson. Writings on why religion is of significance to individual migrants have explored themes of religion as a reason for migration, religion as a means of sustenance in difficult circumstances, religion as an identity marker in new socio-cultural contexts, and religion as a source of reconciliation and healing. In this essay, we explore some of these same themes, basing our insights on interviews with trans-continental migrants traveling through Costa Rica and bound for the north.
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