Training Day

What a wonderful day I had today in Addis Ababa. Thanks be to God for everything running fairly smooth, and getting through the day without any major issues. This morning I was told I am becoming a true Ethiopian because I was late to our meeting. Those of you who know me best will know I cringed at this statement – not because I don’t want to be Ethiopian (that was a compliment) – but because I HATE being late. The truth is, I was ready at 8:15, waiting for my ride that was going to come at 8:30, and who did not show up until 9:10 (our meeting was at 9). Oh well… they meant nothing negative by the comment, for it is true, Ethiopian time is being late. You say you will meet at 9, and maybe around 9:30 the first people will show up.  It was just the first cultural difference we ran into.

People started showing up throughout the morning, and about 10am we decided to start doing introductions. There were about 12 women there, 1 man, and 3 children (one who had Autism). Only four of the women there were going to be involved in the school and the rest were general ed teachers and mothers who wanted to be involved in my “training.” They did not speak English, so everything I said had to be translated. This seemed to work out just fine, except when they would have lengthy conversations about what I had just said. I would make a comment about something we do in my classroom, and the next five minutes would be spent discussing this back and forth in Ahmeric. When they were finished, the translator would look at me and ask me to continue without any explanation of what had just occurred. I was honestly very nervous about this… were they disagreeing? Did they not agree with what I was telling them? Are there questions they need to ask? What I have learned over the past couple of days is that Ethiopian people are very sensitive, so they do not speak up in fear of hurting your feelings. When I asked if people had questions, they would all just stare at me without saying a word.

I kept talking throughout the morning, and prayed that something I said would be beneficial for them to hear. The school did not yet have a schedule set up for when the kids would arrive so I made this my first priority. My initial plan was to take what they usually did, create a schedule of activities for the day, and then help them beef it up with activities that we usually do in my classroom, things that have worked well for me, and strategies that have been researched. However, they were not interested in sharing what they knew, they simply wanted me to tell them what I do at home. So, I spent the next hour or so sharing a typical day in my classroom, and creating a schedule for them that followed a similar timeline. I knew it worked well for my students, but without any feedback from these women I had no idea what they thought about it.

I frequently asked if they had any questions, but did not get much of a response. By the end of the training day, I was not sure how I thought everything went… but then they started to come up one by one and talk with me. Their questions poured out, and they repeatedly told me how thankful they were that I had come.  I now see what the issue was… as I mentioned earlier, they are very sensitive people. They did not want to offend me by making comments or asking questions in front of a larger group. However, one by one they came up after and I immediately felt relieved. The program director said she really liked the organization of the schedule, and that they would keep it. The school teacher (who had been teaching at the other Autism school for 8 years) came up and talked with me about the similarities and differences, and asked me how to teach certain skills. This woman has been teaching much longer than I have, but you could see how much she valued learning new strategies. All of the women involved have such a heart for these children, and this school will be a great place for the students.

Something interesting about Ethiopia is that there is no diagnosis for Autism. If you think your child is Autistic, then he/she is. There are no professional evaluations done to determine whether or not a child would fall into this category. One of the first things they have asked me to do is evaluate the children… However, this is not my training. I explained to them that when I receive a new student, I also am given their IEP, psychological evaluations, etc… it is not something that I do. – My answer was not good enough for them. “But you are the expert, and we have no one like you here… please, evaluate our children.” I have told them what I can do, and we will see where it goes from there. Starting tomorrow they would like to bring in a few children and their families for me to evaluate. Basically, they are looking for a number between 1 and 10 that will describe how autistic their child is – there is no way to do this even in the US. However, what I can offer them is a very basic IEP. I will talk with the families and write up a summary of their child’s strengths and weaknesses. They are less concerned with academics here, so the skills will most likely include: does the child make eye contact? Are they verbal? Can they use the bathroom? – Adaptive skills are key. I can then ask the families what they would hope for their child to learn in school. Again, most answers will be in the adaptive/independence areas. This will provide a very basic outline of the student that can be used to share with the new teachers that come into the school.

Finally… I want to say a word about the people here. They are wonderful – almost TOO wonderful. They are so giving and go out of their way to make sure you feel comfortable. Three women came to pick me up at the hospital today for the meeting, and the passenger seat in front was vacant when they pulled up. There was also a pillow on the seat for me to sit on. When we walked to the car it was slightly raining so someone made sure to hold an umbrella over my head the entire way so I did not get wet (which I wouldn’t have minded – I love the rain. I always ask Eric to go outside with me when it is raining!). They have all asked me to come to dinner at their house, and they made sure to plan the night so that we will make it happen. One woman even asked me to stay with her so that I would no longer have to pay for lodging. They are so wonderful here, and I look forward to getting to know them even more throughout the next few weeks.