SINTAR

itiatives by refugees. Planning actions in the Centre we resolved to surpass the traditional educational and integrating operations and also took into consideration the essential elements of Chechen culture. The most important feature of this culture is a strong sense of group ties which express in necessity of frequent meetings, taking common actions, celebrating feasts in larger groups, etc. There was a deficiency of this type of place, so Sintar became a space for the Chechens to take their own initiatives and a meeting place for members of the diaspora. We want Sintar to become about one of the centers of modern Chechen thought - that was a authentic catalyst for development – not only for the Chechen diaspora, but for its individual representatives too (the name "Sintar" in the Chechen language means "Development"). The project was initiated by Issa Adajew, one of the leaders of the Chechen diaspora in Poland. Refugee Self-Help Centre SINTAR which is a project by the Institute of Culture of Nations of the Caucasus and the Other Space Foundation seeks to achieve three aims:
• Increasing the level of education of Chechen refugees (mostly women and children)
• Internal integration of the Chechen diaspora in Poland
• Social and cultural activation of Chechen refugees and support of their efforts to integrate with Polish society. The project also contributes to widening the existing integration offer for persons under international protection in the following areas:
• Learning of the Polish language,
• Courses shaping the civic awareness: not only the Centre held classes on the Polish history and culture, which assist the integration with Polish society, but also a similar activities related to the Chechen history and culture to enhance self-consciousness (especially among the younger generation) and to strengthen ties and a sense of national solidarity,
• Activities to raise public awareness of the host communities of foreigners, including dialogue between the host community and the foreigners,
• Organization of the foreigners and their mutual support: this project is the first such action in which the main role (including coordinators and experts) perform refugees. Furthermore, the project will be enriched with actions from so-called deficit areas such as participation in social and cultural life. The Centre is running courses on the Chechen language and culture, Polish language and culture, English language, vainakh dance workshops, drama workshops, art workshops, computer classes, music workshops and sports activities. In addition, Sintar also holds cultural events and trips with educational character. The activities mentioned above and workshops will be held throughout the duration of the project. In addition, we try to attract additional funding for future projects, for instance workshops in photography and film, the arts with particular emphasis on sculpture and painting, musical workshops, including learning to play the instruments typical for the Chechen culture, and many other activities. The project received funding from the European Refugee Fund, the Government Budget and the Capital City of Warsaw.