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The Community Development Support Program in the Russian Federation. Round 3

Project Complex

Integration of Internally Displaced Persons from Mountain Areas in Chechnya into the Local Community

Requested amount $65 000            Grantee contribution $10 367           Total cost   $75 367

Thematic projects included in the Project Complex :
1. Elimination of illiteracy and emotional rehabilitation of children from internal refugee families
2. Organizing creative activities in the Children’s Art School in Oiskhar Settlement
3.  Integrating internal refugees in the community of Oiskhar Settlement through organizing after-school activities for children and creating employment opportunities for women

Municipality Profile: This municipality includes the settlements of Novyi Shuani and Oiskhar in Gudermessky Raion, which is the second largest in the Republic of Chechnya. During the past two decades, the population of this raion almost doubled because of an inflow of internal refugees from  mountain areas feeling from the inhumane actions and abuse by the military and guerillas. Over 128,000 people live there now. During the war, local government authorities were based in this raion, which made it a safer and less destroyed place. Its close proximity to peaceful Dagestan made it still more attractive from the economic point of view.

The entire population of Novyi Shuani consists of migrants from Shuani Settlement in Nozhai-Yurtovsky Raion (11,000 people). During the past two years, 50 families have moved here from mountain villages. Over 1,500 migrants relocated to Oiskhar from Nozhai-Yurtovsky and Vedensky raions (the total population of the settlement is 16,000 people). The two settlements are located at a distance of several kilometers from each other and from the raion capital Gudermes.

Community problems addressed by the Project Complex:
Internal refuges from mountain areas lack sources of subsistence in their new place of residence and live below the poverty line.

• Almost 100% unemployment among the internal refugees who are unable to compete on the local employment market.  They are not supported by the state because they have not been granted the official status of “migrants” (which was only granted to those who left Chechnya or lived in refugee camps). They receive only a fraction of humanitarian aid for the same reason and also because they are living in the private sector and not in temporary residence centers.
• Children and adolescents from these families fall behind their local peers by their level of education and economic situation and feel withdrawn and isolated. In Novyi Shuani, over 20 children and adolescents who do not know how to read and write were identified. The many years of living in a state of fear and humiliation has affected their emotional state. These children easily come under the influence of extremist forces. Many of them have dropped out of school because they were ashamed to attend classes with younger children and without proper clothes and textbooks.

Synergetic effect of the Project Complex:
The successful integration of internally displaced persons into the life of the community and the creation of conditions for their development and professional growth will help lower social tension and improve the economic situation of their families. Creating conditions for leisure, athletic and art activities for the children will keep them out of mine danger. The positive changes in the lives of these people will prompt them to finally realize that the war is over and peace is back on our land. Following an agreement with the Department of Culture of Gudermessky Raion Administration, energy savings at the cost of replacing regular illumination with daylight illumination, replacing old wooden windows with plastic ones, and saving gas on heating the Children’s Art School will be used for renovating the school and running the summer Sunday Club at the school.

Contact person of the Project Complex:
Lilya Usupova, executive director of  Sozidaniye, a regional NGO

Contact information:
34 Beylorechenskaya St., # 61, Gudermes, Republic of Chechnya 366208
Tel./fax (87152) 22272, e-mail  ruslisozidanie@mail.ru

Organizations, members of the Project Complex проектов:

Title	Category	Profile
Sozidaniye, a regional NGO	Non-profit	Implementation of peacekeeping and children’s cultural and education programs; and emotional and social rehabilitation of children and women. Special attention is focused on internal refugees from mountain areas of the Republic of Chechnya. During the past 4 years, the organization founded 4 Sunday Clubs and 2 classes for eliminating illiteracy among children and adolescents.
Chechnya Regional Branch of the Russian Child Aid Fund	Non-profit	Implementation of cultural and educational programs; emotional and social rehabilitation of children; and support to talented children.
Art-Serlo, a regional NGO	Non-profit	Organization of after-school activities for children; support to talented children; emotional rehabilitation by means of art therapy; and preservation of traditional national crafts.

Duration (months)

9

Start date

01/04/ 2008

End date

31/12/2008

Project «Elimination of illiteracy and emotional rehabilitation of children from internal refugee families»

Organization:
Sozidaniye, a regional NGO
Type of organization:
Non-profit

Start date April 1, 2008

End date December 1, 2008

Project summary:
Project activities will include organizing an accelerated literacy course for 20 children and adolescents aged 12-19 at the school in Shuani Settlement. The one-year primary-school course will be taught by an experienced primary-school teacher together with an assistant and with the help of volunteers, high school students. Art-Sinten Sunday Club will be opened at the local Leisure Center with the participation of volunteer high school students.  In summer, children from problem families, orphans, and semi-orphans will undergo an art rehabilitation course at the Club. The children will plant trees and shrubs in the schoolyard that presently lacks a single plant.

Location of dissemination:
Novye Shuani Settlement, Gudermessky Raion, Republic of Chechnya (population 11,000). The local secondary school (459 pupils).
Contact information:
34Byelorechenskaya St., Apt. 61, Gudermes, Republic of Chechnya 366208
Tel.: (87152) 22272; e-mail ruslisozidanie@mail.ru
Project coordinator:
Lilya Yusupova, Executive Director of the Sozidaniye Regional Public Organization.

Project objectives:
As a result of monitoring conducted by our organization, we have identified 20 illiterate children and adolescents in Shuani Settlement, whose residents are internal refugees that have relocated from the mountains. These children do not know how to read or write – this being a result of prolonged military actions. The project will also involve emotional rehabilitation and social adaptation activities for children from internal refugee families. Shrubs and trees will be planted in the yard of the local school.

Anticipated results:
20 children and adolescents will receive a primary education and, thus, will become full-fledged members of society; seven high-school students will acquire experience in volunteer work; 25 children with post-traumatic disorders will undergo an art therapy course that will cure them emotionally. During the summer, trees and shrubs will be planted in the schoolyard of the local school that presently does not have a single plant.  Project experience in art rehabilitation and elimination of illiteracy will be summarized in a brochure and offered to 200 NGOs and schools.

Total project amount $24 125

Grantee contribution $4 125

Awarded grant $20 000

Project «Organizing creative activities in the Children’s Art School in Oiskhar Settlement»

Organization:
Chechnya Regional Branch of the Russian Child Aid Fund
Type of organization:
Non-profit

Start date April 1, 2008

End date September 30, 2008

Project summary:
This project will replace wooden windows and doors with plastic ones that are heat and sound insulating; replace glow lamps with special energy-efficient lamps that will improve the level of illumination and save electricity;  and build a fence around the school that will secure the trees and shrubs from cattle and will create a convenient environment for the student’s art studies. In accordance with an agreement reached with the Department of Culture of Gudermess Administration, all energy savings will remain at the disposal of the school and will be used for renovating its building and organizing Sunday Clubs in the future.

Location of dissemination:
Oiskhar Settlement, Gudermessky Raion, where over fifteen hundred internal refugees from Nozhai-Yurtovsky and Vedensky raions reside currently (the total population of this settlement is 16,000)
Contact information:
46 Kadyrova St., Kurchaloi Settlement, Kurchaloisky Raion, Republic of Chechnya 366314
Tel.: 8-928-738-43-02; e-mail: tso75@mail.ru
Project coordinator:
Oyub Titiyev, Chechnya Regional Branch of the National Public Fund “National Children’s Fund”.

Project objectives:
The children’s art school in Oiskhar Settlement is one of the best in the republic. The creative works of its students have repeatedly won prizes at national and international exhibitions. The director of the school, Adem Ilyasov, is an Honored Worker of Culture of the Russian Federation. However, in the school building, which was built in 1946 and has never since been refurbished, the teachers are unable to realize their creative potential. The project will lay a foundation for a steady creative process in the school and will turn it into a center for assisting children from families of internal refugees.

Anticipated results:
Over one hundred students of the children’s art school will study in warm classrooms with good lighting. They will also attend nature drawing lessons right in the school yard -  because of the danger of land mines these lessons cannot be conducted in other places. The saved funds will allow 25 adolescents to study at the Sunday Club at an art rehabilitation group during the summer. The planned energy-saving activities (replacement of 12 windows and two doors and the use of energy-efficiency lamps) will reduce energy consumption in the school by four times.

Total project amount $29 362

Grantee contribution $4 362

Awarded grant $25 000

Project «Integrating internal refugees in the community of Oiskhar Settlement through organizing after-school activities for children and creating employment opportunities for women»

Organization:
Art-Serlo, a regional NGO
Type of organization:
Non-profit

Start date  April 1, 2008

End date  September 30, 2008

Project summary:
Art-Serlo will build a sports ground and a playground in the yard of School # 2 in Oiskhar Settlement and a running track in the yard of the local children’s art school. Sewing courses will be organized for women from internal refugee families who after graduation will be able to provide for their families.

Location of dissemination:
Oiskhar Settlement, Gudermessky Raion, Republic of Chechnya. The population of the settlement is 16,000 people, of which 5,000 are children, inlcuding 3, 500 of school age and 1,500 of pre-school age.
Contact information:
52 Pobedy St., Apt. 4, Oiskhar Settlement, Gudermessky Raion, Republic of Chechnya
Tel. 8-928-475-78-65; e-mail: ruslisozidanie@mail.ru (for N.Idalov)
Project coordinator:
Nazhemudi Idalov, director of Art-Serlo

Project objectives:
The goal of this project is to strengthen the health of young children and adolescents, to create suitable recreation sites for them and shield them from land mine danger. There are no recreation or sports facilities in the settlement and it is dangerous to play outside the settlement because of the presence of mines. The rate of unemployment among the settlement’s 1,500 internal refugees is nearly 100% (90% in the republic); and the majority of these people live on the poverty line.
Anticipated results:
The new sports ground and gym will give nearly five thousand children a chance to rest and go into sports without endangering their lives. At the sewing courses organized by the project, 30 women will learn a vocation and will be able to provide for their families.

Total project amount $21 880

Grantee contribution $1 880

Awarded grant $20 000