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1 The practice
2 Hints for an evaluation
2.1 Strenghts
One of the most positive and relevant aspects of "SOZE" is that it takes the leading part in helping migrants integrate in the Czech society. "SOZE" does not wait for the immigrants to contact them, but goes to the places where they are massively grouped (asylum camps, detention centres, and even countries of origin: Moldavia and Romania) to offer its help to those who need it. "SOZE" goes to where it is needed, making the migrants’ problems their own, and not waiting until migrants go to them for help. In most cases, institutions and organisations created to help immigrants provide help in order to lessen the negative effects that the diverse communities of (legal or illegal) immigrants produce in the target country. Helping immigrants is therefore focused in most cases as a way to help the new community of citizenship they become part of. "SOZE" finds them before they become part of such community and arranges everything so that their integration is the least traumatic for them. It really focuses on immigrants and their needs.
Another remarkable aspect of "SOZE" is the diversity of their actions. "SOZE" does not focus on a particular need that immigrants may have, but on the many needs that human beings have when adapting to a new country. This approach is the result of a direct contact with immigrants and a humane approach to their difficult circumstances. Thus, they focus on legal counselling, social counselling, and psychological counselling (one of the most needed, since the migratory experience is highly traumatic). "SOZE" helps foreigners find their place and some degree of identification with the new environment without undergoing a complete acculturation process. The general landscape of "SOZE" activities is so wide that immigrants find help in most of the immediate needs they may have in a first encounter with a new country and culture. This is most convenient for foreigners, who can find in the same place, all the help they need.
"SOZE" also provides humanitarian aid in the countries of origin of their largest immigrant groups, so as to improve the circumstances of those who might ever need to migrate to the Czech Republic. Thus, "SOZE" proves to care about the circumstances that make people leave their countries of origin and put themselves in such a difficult situation as a helpless immigrant’s in a foreign country. Most people love the places where they are born and raised and would hate to leave such places. To most people, emigration is the last recourse to an unbearable situation that they finally prefer to change for the uncertainty of displacement, acculturation and helplessness of migration. Worrying for the needs of those who did not leave their countries of origin yet, shows a deeper knowledge of migratory circumstances at an international level and a deeper implication with others’ needs.
They are innovative in selling refugees’ products in order to economically help refugees. As citizens of any society, people are strangely attracted to the difference and exoticism of other cultures (while rejecting their people), and like to buy products they cannot easily find in their own countries. The sale of refugees’ products helps both refugees by making them useful to the new community they are entering and to the people who benefit from the products they produce. Immigrants are thus highly involved in "SOZE"’s activities, not only as beneficiaries, but also as agents of their own development and integration.
As for financial resources, "SOZE" counts not only on the usual means (grants and economic donations). "SOZE" also encourages material gifts and sponsorship contracts, making donation/contribution easier for those who want to donate by increasing the means of donation.
2.2 Critical Points
We have underlined the width and diversity of "SOZE"’s activities as a positive aspect of their project. However, such width might sometimes result in certain deficiencies or lack of specialisation.
For instance, "SOZE" provides language courses so that immigrants adapt to the new linguistic environment, but does not provide help on the native language of immigrants (specially needed in a first contact with a new culture: legal help, health, etc.). It would be very positive to develop the same activities in different languages so as to lessen the linguistic impact of immigration. As an example of good practices in this field we could mention Nafsiyat-The Intercultural Therapy Centre in London (not only providing therapy in several languages, but also including professionals form diverse ethnic origins).
2.3 Lessons Learnt
Themes
Psychological counselling:
The circumstances of immigrants are sometimes so hard that we tend to focus on the satisfaction of especially urgent demands (i.e. lodgement, clothing, labour) and forget about other demands that are crucial for immigrant’s wellbeing. The experience of immigration is always a traumatic one, not only due to cultural reasons, but also to the circumstances that made people search for refuge/asylum in a different country (wars, starvation, etc.). The whole process of arriving and getting installed in a new country/culture is also highly traumatic (the journey, during which immigrants endure terrible hardships, see their mates and relatives die, get sick, are abused and starved, etc. or social rejection once they reach their destination; they are uprooted, do not know the language or uses, etc.) and does certainly negatively affect their process of integration (rejection of new language, customs, food, people, rules, etc) and their subsequent acceptance by society. The psychological component is central to any activity planned to help immigrants and is perfectly exportable to any practice.
Refugees’ products:
The sale of refugees’ products directly involves the community of refugees in the project. It does not only increase the organization’s funding, but also the refugees’, and increases their autonomy and self-esteem. It is also innovative in opening a new job market for refugees and their opportunities for self-employment.
Methodology
Global approach:
Despite the possible inconveniences that a global approach to intercultural issues in immigration may produce (i.e. lack of specialisation), the possibility of getting help in many areas from a single organisation, makes things much easier for immigrants. In many cases, the difficulties that immigrants find to get adapted to the new environment are interconnected and have a common or related cause/solution. For instance, immigrants might find it difficult to find lodgement because they do not have a remunerated job, and they cannot have a remunerated job because they cannot apply for it (due to language problems) or need legal counselling they cannot pay for because they do not have a remunerated job. It is certainly difficult for organisations with limited funding to provide such a wide scope of activities as "SOZE" does. In such cases, cooperation with other organisations might complement their services.
Active help:
We would like to distinguish active help from what we could call “passive help”. Most organisations provide this second kind of help; they wait for immigrants to reach them and ask for the help they need before providing it. With this type of action, there are many immigrants who take a long time to find out which organisations can help them with each particular problem they may have. In this sense, these organisations provide passive help, vs. immigrants’ active role in searching for help. On the contrary, "SOZE" meets the immigrants where they can be found (asylum camps and detention centres) and do not only provide help for already existing problems, but also give them counselling about the future problems they may have. For instance, if immigrants receive legal counselling before looking for a job, there are fewer chances that they are abused when they start working, become the victims of mafias, etc.
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