G.I.C.H. - University of Georgia

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e S e a r C h Recreating Life in A Refugee Camp By Denise Horton 8 F A C S . S P R I N G . 2 0 0 8 When Abby Hardgrove was accepted into the child and family development graduate program she wasn’t sure what direction her research might take, but a book purchased to read at the beach provided the impetus for Hardgrove to travel half-way around the world and to begin learning the importance of faith for refugees who, in many cases, have lost everything else. “Notes From My Travels,” the published journal of actress Angelina Jolie, documents her experiences visiting refugee camps as a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. “I bought it on a whim and thought it would be this Hollywood princess telling about visiting the little impoverished children,” Hardgrove recalls. “Instead, it really opened my eyes. I had no idea how many people, including children, were living as refugees; how many land mines are still out there; the medical situations faced by refugees.”
After beginning her classes, Hardgrove began “poking around” the UGA library, looking for research that focused on the lives of refugees. “There’s been a lot of work on PTSD (posttraumatic stress disorder) among refugees and a lot of anthropological and ethnographic research,” she says, “but I couldn’t find anything about the lived experiences of refugees day in and day out and what are their thoughts about who they are since they’ve become refugees.” With the support of her major professor, Lynda Walters, Hardgrove began planning a research project to address those questions. A major hurdle was identifying a camp for her research. Not only is safety a concern, refugee camps are frequently known as havens for rebel groups, but Hardgrove also needed support in identifying refugees to interview for her project. She discovered Buduburam while researching camps on the United Nations website. Established 17 years ago to house those escaping the civil strife in Liberia, it housed 40,000 refugees at its peak. The recent calming of tensions in Liberia, however, has reduced Buduburam’s population to around 25,000. At Walters’ suggestion, Hardgrove looked for UGAsponsored study abroad programs to countries with refugee camps. She soon discovered that not only did UGA sponsor a study abroad program in Ghana, but co-director Alex Anderson, a FACS foods and nutrition faculty member, was very familiar with Buduburam—it’s located just down the road from where he attended high school in Ghana. Anderson put Hardgrove in touch with the Rev. Jerry Kandea, who is both a refugee and a Methodist minister living in Buduburam. Kandea helped Hardgrove find people to interview and also provided her a place to stay during the nearly two weeks she was in the camp. To further defray the expenses of the project, Hardgrove received the Sharon Y. Nickols International Study Award. Hardgrove began her research by talking with groups of refugee women and children. “The focus groups gave me the opportunity to get a general sense of how things are and to test my questions,” she says. “The focus groups were a little more casual and there was more collective story telling that occurred. The individual interviews that I conducted later were more personal and could feel slow at times. I think I was asking them to think about things they had never thought about.” Among the children she interviewed, Hardgrove found an acceptance of life in Buduburam. After all, most of these young people were born in the camp. It’s the only life they know. But for their parents, life is hard and they don’t see that ever changing. “I think every single person told me, ‘I have to pay for water; I have to pay to use the toilet,’” Hardgrove says. Few of the adults have a regular source of income. Instead they “go around,” Hardgrove says, looking for work each day. However, there are the occasional entrepreneurs, like the woman who has obtained a freezer and makes ice to sell to her neighbors. Hardgrove says few of those she interviewed have any hope of returning to their homes in Liberia. “They may be afraid to go back or they may not see a way to go back,” she says. “For many of them, there’s nothing left for them in Liberia.” Despite the daily hardships and lack of opportunities they face, Hardgrove says the people she interviewed remained continued on page 28 F A C S . S P R I N G . 2 0 0 8 9
Page 1 and 2: The UniversiTy of GeorGia ColleGe o
Page 3 and 4: SPrInG 2008 PUBLISHER University of
Page 5 and 6: GAFCS Developing Centennial Exhibit
Page 7 and 8: FACS faculty members Karen Tinsley
Page 9: including six that have been identi
Page 13 and 14: they have gained on design, product
Page 15 and 16: Photos by Peter Frey 2008 FACS Alum
Page 17 and 18: 2 0 0 8 F A C S A W A R D W I N N e
Page 19 and 20: 1980s Elaine Schmelz Bean (BSHE ’
Page 21 and 22: 2000s Britton Adams (BSFCS ’03, C
Page 23 and 24: Brandy Tolbert Martin (BSFCS ’00,
Page 25 and 26: John H. Taylor (BSFCS ’06, Consum
Page 27 and 28: Nutrition), and Mariana Souto- Mann
Page 29 and 30: Project Identify and Recognize Sear
Page 31 and 32: D e V e L o P m e n t Katrina L. Bo

G.I.C.H. - University of Georgia

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