Isidro Maya-Jariego

Quality of Life and Health in Displaced Communities Affected by the Armed Conflict in Colombia

This chapter examines the factors that affect the quality of life (QoL) of displaced people in Colombia. First, previous studies on the factors that affect QoL of displaced persons including, inter alia, individual factors, traumatic events, situations of escape, and the adaptation of the refugee to host communities and new places of residence are reviewed. Second, the results of three studies carried out in the Atlantic Department (Northern Colombia) are summarized, with quantitative and qualitative data on the process of restoration and adaptation of displaced communities. The first study analyzes the impact of political violence on mental health and social networks on 49 displaced and 50 not displaced young people living in Barranquilla (Palacio and Sabatier in Impacto psicologico de la violencia politica en las familias: Salud mental y redes sociales en los desplazados. Ediciones Uninorte, Barranquilla, 2002). The second study explores the social identity construction of families displaced by collective violence that participated in a project of self-construction of housing for food in urban area of Cartagena (Revivir de los Campanos). In this project, which promoted social integration, 100 displaced families worked together to build their own homes. These families were supported both by different governmental institutions and nongovernmental organizations (Correa et al. in Desplazamiento interno forzado, restablecimiento urbano e identidad social. Ediciones Uninorte, Barranquilla, 2009). The third study analyzes the relationship between social networks and QoL of 19 individuals displaced by violence (Palacio and Madariaga in Investigacion y Desarrollo 14(1): 86–119, 2006) that live in a suburb of Barranquilla (Pinar del Rio). In the conclusion section two main issues are discussed: the dilemma for the restoration and reconstruction of a new life plan (between returning to the place of origin or resettling in a host community), and the need to integrate displaced persons and demobilized armed, with host communities.

Digital Media, Identity and Quality of Life of a Local Ecuadorian Community in Andalusia (SE Spain)

This article is a case study of the digital practices of Ecuadorians residing in Vera, a small city of 15,000 inhabitants in the Province of Almeria in Eastern Andalusia (Spain). Participant observation of the community and in-depth interviews of Internet shops’ owners and users were used to describe access to, use and appropriation of, digital media by recent immigrants. The ethnographic fieldwork was complemented with a survey to 60 young participants in a digital literacy course. Ecuadorian immigrants use digital media to maintain ties to the homeland and also as a tool for inclusion in the host society. The role of the Internet, locutorios and mobile phones are examined. Compared to mobile phones and online communities, locutorios are behaviour settings for recent immigrants, where digital media usage and appropriation take place in the context of local interaction among individuals in an active process of acculturation and adaptation to the receiving country. Participation in communities of recent immigrants contributes to subjective well-being of newcomers and has an indirect impact on the quality of life of local people.