This case study explores the communication platforms that youth in Nepal used to respond to the Gorkha earthquake that struck this country on 25 April 2015, and it delves into the role that social media played in shaping the relief efforts initialled and led by youth in Nepal. The data were collected through ethnographic fieldwork and 50 in‐depth interviews conducted in Nepal during the summers of 2015 and 2016 with Nepali youth directly involved in the relief efforts during the immediate aftermath. Findings show that Nepali youth served as integral agents of influence in the chaotic aftermath of the Gorkha earthquake, it highlights the various ways in which virtual communities mostly helped but (in some cases) hindered the relief distribution and coordination process, and it analyses how these 50 young people in Nepal conceptualized social media's role in shaping their agency and resilience. Implications are discussed on how the results of this case study can allow academics and practitioners gauge the effectiveness of social media platforms to respond to crises, understand their impact for people in distinct generations and evaluate the feasibility and inclusivity of using social media as a tool in national crises, especially in developing countries.
This study analyzes the strengths and challenges of a microenterprise program developed for refugees in a city of the U.S. South region. By offering a microfinance loan of about $4,500 per client, the microenterprise program, run by a nonprofit resettlement agency (RA), hopes to provide economically poor and newly resettled refugees, who have no credit history with banks, with low‐interest loans and business training needed to get integrated into their new environment, become economically self‐sufficient, and contribute to the local economy. Nevertheless, the limited resources, dramatic shifts in new refugee policies, and the business, language and cultural integration skills that need to be learned by the newcomers present challenges that the microentrepreneurs and the RA are trying to overcome. Using semistructured interviews and ethnographic observations, information was collected from about three‐dozen in‐depth interviews between summer 2016 and spring 2017. Data from these interviews explicate the role of personal entrepreneurial agency and structural support by the RA. The study also highlights lessons learned by the RA and offers suggestions for the future. Thus far, most of the refugees who participated in the program have started microbusinesses that help them support their families and provide new services in the community where they live. They are also repaying their loans on time, in 95 percent of the cases.
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