Resilience and Empowerment through Higher Education in Kakuma Refugee Camp: A Conversation

Resilience and empowerment are concepts that recently have become popularised in the world of forced displacement management policy and practice. Often undervalued and dismissed as being buzzwords, these concepts have become bound up in the burgeoning study of higher education in refugee contexts. This article explores these themes in the frame of a real-world experience of studying a blended learning medical studies course in Kakuma refugee camp and the impact it has had on an individual’s life and that of his community. Building on the academic discourse, we present a case study of the individual’s experience of studying an online and face-to-face course in Kakuma refugee camp and subsequently undertaking an internship with a local health care organisation. Through a discursive conversation, the subject of the case study reveals the positive impact this educational experience has fostered in his life by instilling resilience and empowering him to become a force for positive change in his community.

explanation for this could be the relative novelty of the concepts in the literature, resulting in the concepts being untested and a lack of clarity as to the uncertainty around their meaning. Alternatively, as some authors suggest, such buzzwords are often used precisely for their vague and euphemistic qualities as they cannot be challenged and act as smokescreens for ulterior motives and political agendas (Arar, 2017;Kelberer, 2017;Tsourapas, 2019;Cornwall, 2019).
Regardless of the possible agendas at play, resilience and empowerment have a stature in the field of forced displacement and thus deserve academic attention. To better try to understand this stature and its impact, it is useful to begin with an understanding of what these concepts are generally purported to be.
In order to do so this article follows the popular Brodsky and Cattaneo"s (2013) perspective which defines resilience in a refugee context as a process of developing "intrapersonal changes" to allow refugees to successfully adapt to and/or withstand inevitable adversity. Empowerment, as a further process, allows the refugee to "take action" to change parts of the receiving context that hinders their well-being and that of their community (Brodsky & Cattaneo, 2013). Thus, resilience can be said to be something internal which enables the individuals" ability to function in a given context, whereas empowerment involves transformative changes in the receiving society. Resilience and empowerment feed into each other and produce a positive trend that helps to counteract some of the vulnerable conditions experienced by refugees (Paloma et al., 2020).
Education, and increasingly higher education, lies at the heart of the resilience and empowerment discourse popular in forced displacement academia, policies and practice. Education is often touted as providing a sense of purpose amidst the uprootedness of refugee status and the constraints of life in refugee camps (Kirk, 2010;Zeus, 2011). Furthermore, it is championed for playing a critical role in facilitating transitions for refugees by providing them with the skills that they need to increase their social capital and ability to successfully adapt to different contexts (Taylor & Sidhu, 2012;Wright & Plasterer, 2010).
The connection between the health and well-being of young people and higher education is well documented. A consensus exists in the literature which highlights the key role resilience plays in assisting students to overcome challenges, manage their wellbeing and complete their studies (Beltman, Mansfield, & Price, 2011;Howe, Smajdor, & Stockl, 2012;McAllister & McKinnon, 2009;Reyes et al., 2015). Furthermore, there is recognition that building resilience capabilities through curriculum increases the likelihood of positive academic and employment outcomes (Turner, Scott-Young & Holdsworth, 2017). The inference here being that resilience gained through participation in higher education can lead to increased empowerment through these outcomes. However, what appears to be missing in the discourse is consensus and clarity on how resilience itself is conceptualised (Brewer et al., 2019).
The lack of consensus and clarity surrounding the concept of resilience in academia is often referenced by the sceptics of the concepts of resilience and empowerment in the forced displacement discourse.
Critics point to them as mere buzzwords (Anderson, 2015)  used to erode governments" and other institutions" responsibilities to refugees (Mason Nunn, 2018).
Critics of policies and practices used to promote resilience and empowerment point to the seemingly contradictory notions of refugees as agents of their own change, while at the same time being vulnerable and in need of "humanitarian" oversight by institutions such as UNHCR (e.g., Krause & Schmidt, 2019). Putting these charges aside, it is perhaps unsurprising that as aid budgets tighten and displacement crises proliferate around the world, the promotion of resilience and empowerment have risen in prominence as humanitarian institutions struggle to cope (Anholt & Sinatti, 2019).
A similar and connected debate surrounds the role of higher education in refugee contexts. Until quite recently there has been little to no debate about it in the forced displacement discourse. With just 3% of refugee youth finding pathways to higher education (compared to 34% of non-refugee youth) (UNHCR 2019) it is reasonable to assume that further discussion on the role of higher education in this context is needed. Increasingly, international efforts, such as the Sustainable Development Goals for 2030, have been taking this on board and recognising higher education"s development potential (UNESCO, 2019).
Reflective of this, is the growing body of academic inquiry into the role and impact of higher education in refugee contexts. This area of study, while relatively new, has gone, and is perhaps still going, through a teething phase with various name changes coming into vogue (higher education in emergencies, higher education in crises and fragile contexts, higher education in refugee contexts and so on) as the field of study evolves.
The evolution of higher education in refugee contexts is further impacted by the landscape of actors involved, the pedagogies employed and course offerings made. The teaching and learning space accessible to most refugees is dominated by western institutions (O"Keeffe & Akkari, 2020). Whether this is through the proliferation of western online education delivery for refugees (Halkic & Arnold, 2018), the western institutions most active in the digital displacement space (Mandianou, 2019) or the internationalisation of higher education through dominating western perspectives (Majee & Ress, 2020), whose needs higher education in refugee contexts serves is not always clear.
Like the concepts of resilience and empowerment in the forced displacement discourse, there are many questions that surround the role of higher education in the same space. As mentioned, the connection between resilience, participation in higher education and empowerment is well documented, but what is less clear is how this is conceptualised. In addition, the specificities of higher education in refugee contexts (e.g., lack of education options and resources) and the realities of possible outcomes (e.g., reduced employment prospects) for refugee learners (Reinhardt et al., 2018) may add further uncertainty when trying to conceptualise these concepts in a refugee context. Improving our understanding of these issues will depend on a robust and dynamic field of studies evolving further. what he learned during his studies during an internship as a healthcare worker in the camp. Through this discursive case study, we explore whether or not higher education has played a meaningful role in creating a sense of real life resilience and empowerment for him and, if so, how this has contributed to the betterment of his community.

Method
Drawing on the perspective of Brodsky and Cattaneo (2013) that resilience involves developing internal coping skills to adapt to and withstand adverse conditions, and empowerment allows successful action to be taken to transform the society around, we use a case study to present the personal These questions inquired about the refugee student"s studies and the impact it had on his work (the questions are presented in the following case study). The refugee responded to the questions by recording sound files and sending them to the researcher via WhatsApp. These files were transcribed and formed the basis for the following conversation case study.

Case Study
InZone, a higher education and humanitarian programme at the University of Geneva, has been running an accredited basic medical training course in Kakuma refugee camp since September 2018. The course consists of 3 blended learning modules, delivered over 18 months for refugees living in the camp. Each module is 12 weeks in length and covers various relevant health care topics which are delivered through the University of Geneva"s learning platform, real time online tutoring given by master degree medical students based in Geneva and face-to-face classes delivered at the end of the course by tutors who visit the students in the camp.
The first cohort of students graduated from the course in 2020, with 8 students completing the course out of an initial 16. On completion of their studies, the students had planned to undertake internships at health clinics in Kakuma, where they hoped to put what they learned in class into practice and learn learned during the course. It is a good opportunity to see in real life all the things that I learned in the anatomy and physiology module and to better understand the symptoms and signs that I learned in the pathology module. Also, it gives me the opportunity to examine, interview and provide treatment to patients, like I learned about in the course on taking the history of patients. It was a good opportunity for me to use the knowledge and skills that I learned from InZone to save the lives of refugees like me.
A1: How has the internship experience impacted on you personally?
A2: It opened my mind that it is useful for all medical students to do an internship to enhance their knowledge as they prepare to serve their communities. It also allowed me to interact with other people, such as nurses, doctors, cleaners, which enhanced my work experience. It helped me to put what I learned into practice. Finally, it encouraged good relations with the refugees in the camp, as they felt that they were being helped by one of their own. A1: In your opinion, how can higher education in Kakuma be improved. A2 : I will answer this by making some proposals. Firstly, the course content to be learned should be focused on the situation and diseases that are found in Kakuma. Secondly, let some medical materials be provided to facilitators in Kakuma to better understand what they are learning, e.g., provide medical books and medical instruments to practice with. Studying online is never enough. Thirdly, students should be well-guided during an internship for a better understanding of what they are learning-for example appointing someone like a doctor in the hospital to guide them would help them to learn and also strengthen partnerships between the education providers and the hospitals. This in turn could help to strengthen the connection between internships and jobs-if refugees see that such opportunities lead somewhere, they will want to take part.
A1: What is the future of higher education in Kakuma and how can it help refugees?
A2: Higher education access in Kakuma is one of the windows that can help refugees to have a good future and find a solution for their problems. For the future I have 5 recommendations that I would like to make to help ensure the success of higher education programmes here.
1) The courses that are offered should meet the refugees" needs and reflect the refugee camp"s context and situation. The courses should not be limited to certificates and diplomas but also be offered at the degree level. Some of the refugees here already have certificates and diplomas from their home countries in the same fields, so courses at the degree level would be helpful, especially to help them in the job market. Courses should also be offered in both French and English as these are the main languages used by the refugees here.
2) We should remove any restrictions such as age, especially our outreach procedures when new students are recruited, as it blocks a lot of people who might benefit from studying. Connected to the removal of restrictions is the need for the government of Kenya to review its higher education policy.
Very often it restricts refugee access to higher education opportunities. UNHCR should raise its voice to encourage a change in policy. This could help a lot more people access higher education.
3) Higher education institutions active in this field should increase their budgets and support for refugees. It would really help if refugee students had better resources to help them study. When students finish a course, they should get help to do things like starting a business or finding jobs.
Taking part in InZone"s course not only helped me to better understand many health issues that we face here, but the support I got helped me to get my current job. This allows me to work directly with my community and to help them to be healthier. I think that education can in the long run help us all to be more self-sufficient, to improve our lives as refugees here and empower ourselves. We can make our environment better for ourselves. I think we need more opportunities for us to work and support for our lives here.
4) Create an information sharing platform between refugees, higher education institutions, UNHCR and other partners active in the field to share ideas about developing higher education in Kakuma. where we need to improve our efforts and thus ensure higher education is meeting the needs of the community.

Discussion and Conclusion
In the introduction we discussed the connections between higher education, resilience and empowerment and elaborated on the uncertainty and lack of clarity surrounding their conceptualisation.
While quantifying these concepts as something tangible or measurable is difficult and therefore debatable at an academic level, the above conversation on a personal experience of participating in higher education in refugee contexts confirms that it can be a positive force for internal and external change. From the conversation with the refugee student, the benefits of taking part in InZone"s Basic Medical Training course are apparent-sharpening existing knowledge, learning new knowledge and skills, getting a job, learning new approaches and getting an opportunity to help the wider refugee community during the Covid-19 pandemic. By participating in and completing the Basic Medical Training course successfully and then going on to work as a healthcare intern in the camp, the student improved his own coping skills to help him succeed in this environment and has been able to make a positive impact on the environment around him by becoming an active healthcare worker. In summation, it can be argued that by participating in higher education he has become more "resilient" with new and improved knowledge and skills and has become empowered to improve the environment around him.
Academic discussions about the meaning of resilience and empowerment enunciated in this article are relevant to the wider debate about the role of higher education in refugee contexts. Criticisms of the use of these concepts as buzzwords may also be relevant in the forced displacement discourse. However, for the individual, as illustrated in this case study, the benefits that higher education can bring are clear. In the context of a refugee camp like Kakuma, where there is a real and present need for expertise to improve lives. Endowing refugees with skills and knowledge to help themselves can lead to real resilience and empowerment. Higher education that is localised, contextualised and puts the needs of the refugees first has the power to do this.
Furthermore, by pursuing academic co-creation of discourse on the role of higher education in refugee contexts, as we do in this article, a refugee"s voice is enabled. Through his assessment of his own experience and the provision of recommendations for the future of higher education in Kakuma, the refugee student is contributing to the shaping of the future of higher education in refugee contexts. In this evolving field, incorporating and including the voices of more refugees will add legitimacy to academic discussions, help provide clearer representations of reality of refugee lives and pave the way for a more successful future. All too often academia faces accusations of being elitist and abstract and, therefore, it is our final recommendation that, as the study of higher education in refugee contexts grows, the inclusion of more refugee voices will help it to be grounded in the reality of the lives it discusses. This, in our view, is how higher education can best foster true resilience and empowerment in refugee contexts.