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Problem analysis Thousands of children in Chechnya suffered from
post-traumatic stress following the 1994-96 war, with symptoms such as depression, hyper-activity and violent behaviour. When war broke out again in Autumn 1999, this situation was exacerbated, as villages and towns
came under attack, and civilians were forced into a precarious existence as IDPs, many for the second (or third) time. International human rights experts estimate that at least 10,000 civilians have lost their lives in
the latest conflict, and evidence of widespread atrocities has been documented. The children's psychological rehabilitation centre 'Little Star' was opened by CPCD in Grozny, Chechnya, in 1997. Until 1999, the staff -
experienced local psychologists, teachers and nurses - worked in schools diagnosing children with post-traumatic stress and providing teachers with
basic skills in how to assist such children. Children with the worst cases of trauma were invited to Little Star for two-week periods of treatment, repeated according to need.
Since the Little Star staff became refugees themselves in late 1999, the psychosocial programme relocated to IDP camps in Ingushetia. The team has expanded to 34 psychologists and counsellors working in six refugee
camps/spontaneous settlements in Ingushetia (Severny and MREO in Sleptsovskaya, Yandare and three camps in Karabulak) and in five villages in Chechnya: Sernovodsk, Urus-Martan, Alpatova, Staraya Sunzha
(Grozny) and Valerik. It is proposed that from 1 November 2000, the programme will grow again, with 18 new counsellors starting work in Chechnya: three villages, and five points in Grozny, where the need is
greatest of all.  It is important also to continue conducting such
work both in Chechnya and in the IDP camps in Ingushetia. Many tens of thousands of children will remain in these camps during the winter 2000/2001 and into next year. The conditions in
the camps are very poor, and many of the children are unable to attend school, as places in the makeshift IDP schools are seriously limited. 19,000 IDP children are presently not attending
school, and have not attended school for the last year. Emergency psycho-social support to these children is therefore very necessary, as they are experiencing a high level
of distress and have no activities to occupy themselves with during the days. Children living in the refugee camps do not have a chance to express themselves creatively, and often find themselves in stifling
environments in the cramped conditions of the railway carriages or tents where they live. The Little Star programmes offer them a positive reference
point in an otherwise miserable environment. It is a safe place where they can come to have fun, express themselves through art, games, dancing
and music, and play together with other children. Many of children are re-learning how to play and have fun in the Little Star centres
Psycho-social assistance is not an area which local medical or pedagogical specialists are experienced in. During and since the Soviet
period, no psychologists were working in Chechnya. Although it is widely accepted in Chechnya and Ingushetia that such work is urgently required,
there are almost no qualified people locally to work in this area. The Little Star programme therefore seeked to address this problem since its establishment in 1996. We have spent considerable time training local
staff in skills of psycho-social assistance such as art and music therapy and psychotherapy. A competent team has developed. The only other NGO with parallel experience is the Agency Rehabilitation
and Development, which has around ten counsellors in Chechnya and twelve in Ingushetia. The Ministries of Health and Education in both Ingushetia and Chechnya are not involved in psycho-social rehabilitation work.
As a result of the conditions created by the wars in Chechnya and the difficult inter-war period most children and adolescents have not received a
normal education. Today, even though IDP schools have been opened in many spontaneous settlements, not all of the children go to school. This
is partly because older children and adolescents consider themselves too grown up to sit at school desks, or because they are obliged to take upon
themselves or share with adults the responsibility for taking care of the family and other duties. Therefore, CPCD proposes to start a training programme in professional skills for children and adolescents in the Little
Star tents in Ingushetia, outside the normal Little Star psychological rehabilitation programme hours. This will be described below in more detail . |
