[psych-hr] Nora Sveaass comments on the IPEDEHP case study

[***Note from Marcy in Guatemala. Nora Sveaass sent her comments directly
to my home e-mail address. I picked them up at an Internet cafe in
Panahachel, Guatemala. At her request I made some very minor formating
changes and am sending this e-mail to Frank Elbers so that he can put it
on the List Serve. I have taken the liberty of highlighting places where
Nora poses a question by putting a dash before the question. Please find
Nora's comments and questions below. Regards to all***]

1. SOME GENERAL COMMENTS ON THE WORK DONE BY IPEDEHP

It is impressive reading, and very inspiring. The creative and brave
initiative taken by the Peruvian Institute for Education in Human Rights
and Peace deserves a lot of attention, follow up and dissemination. And
the presentation of and reflections on this work as formulated in the
report, communicate these important experiences with great respect and
clarity. 

Human rights education is a field that seems to be growing. The
understanding of the psychological and social importance of providing
people with knowledge about their rights is becoming more accepted and
there are many different initiatives regarding this around. It is in this
context that the experiences described in this case study are extremely
valuable, and all of us who are lucky to have read it, should do what we
can to present it to others, in different context. 

2. METHODOLOGY

The chapter on methodology is short, but this seems a correct decision to
make as it is a case study and not a large scale evaluation report. It
makes sense to do it this way, and it is definitely an important starting
point for any kind of follow up regarding this material.

3. HUMAN RIGHTS: WORK, HEALTH, EDUCATION

The report includes good descriptions of the structure and topics of the
program as well as the effects on individuals, families and community. The
author comments clearly that the report has certain limitations, and that
the study is focused on effects on the participants and their close
network, and partly, when it has been possible to look at community
effects. 

Some issues or questions came on my mind when I read the material.

-- The education in human rights had great impact on the participants and
their networks in terms of higher consciousness, more awareness and
reflections regarding human rights and human dignity. Although it was not
possible to assess this at this point, it would be interesting to know
what kind of initiatives followed by this process. The multiplier effect
has been mentioned, but were there other kinds of social initiatives as
well?

-- Human rights were discussed extensively with regard to violence, a very
big problem in Peru. But how were questions regarding other rights
discussed and worked with - like, work, health, education etc.? It seems
natural that once there is a higher awareness on rights, social and
economic rights and needs will become clearer. 

4. SOCIAL CHANGE AND EMPOWERMENT

This is somewhat related to the point above - I think Martin-Baro one
place talks about the importance of ideology and how this may lead to
social action and social change. The foundation that is laid during the
training courses seem very important as first steps in a process of
empowering, and that this, may naturally lead to social action and change. 

-- The comment or question would be - is there a room for this kind
of changes in present Peru - how is the security situation and what is the
institutional resistance regarding education and processes that very well
- and surely will - lead to stronger claims for changes - not only in the
interpersonal context but in the social and economic. Like Mike and Anne I
am concerned about the security for the participants in the training
courses, and it seems very important to follow their situation closely and
quickly present protests if anything happens or threats appear.

5. HUMAN RIGHTS EDUCATION AND THE CREATION OF MEANING

One place is mentioned the importance of the courses in relation to
personal experiences of violence - and that being able to talk about this
and exchange experiences created a therapeutic atmosphere that was surely
beneficial. I just want to underline the importance of this comment made
by the author. Human rights education should be highlighted as a way of
creating meaning as well as a way of working with and coming to terms with
traumatic incidents. In this way human rights education is a way of
restoring the self and the relation to others, and a way in which a
community can reconstruct itself after destruction and violence. Mike
Wessell's referred to this as well. 

6. RECONCILIATION

-- How were the issues of reconciliation and justice worked with? As this
is an important process in a society in transformation, I should like to
hear some comments on how this issue is dealt with. 
-- Was the process of justice or impunity in any way touched upon? 
-- In cases where people with different political positions met - was this
dealt with directly or indirectly?

7. APPLYING OWN CULTURAL PRACTICES

-- The report mentions cultural sensitivity and cultural awareness - but
were traditional ways of conflict resolutions or problem solving, cultural
practices of different sorts included in the training? I met Peruvian
psychologists both in San Francisco and in Cape Town at conferences there,
who talked a lot about Peru as a multicultural society and the importance
of incorporating cultural aspects in their work - in this case - with
displaced people. 

8 . HOW THESE EXPERIENCES MAY BE USED

I have already used the case study as an example for important work in
connection with work with victims of violence, war and forced migration.
Within the work that the International Society for Health and Human Rights
is doing it is important to present these experiences, and I would like to
come back to ways of doing this. I think the model developed in Peru may
be a model to be adopted in many similar situations, and parts of it may
be adopted in other contexts as well. The Human Rights Institute at the
University of Oslo is active in developing models for Human Rights
training and information and I will tell them to look up the report on the
net.

9. ADDITIONAL COMMENTS

It seems as if all my comments just evolve around wanting to know more. 
The reason is that I became very enthusiastic about this project and I
hope that there will be some way of following up the present case study -
to see, both what happens after some time, what kind of changes can be
observed in the community, and what kind of dynamics are set in motion - I
am thinking about democratic versus less democratic movements. I really
hope that either Marcy or others, who know this important work, will go on
observing and exploring what happens. 

In many ways this work may serve as a model on many different levels and
where there seems to be a high congruency between aims and objectives,
methods and results, as well as between objectives and the respectful
analysis and description of the work, made by Marcy.