Think for a moment about the following two statistics:
- About 195 different countries exist in the world today.
- According to the U.S. census bureau, the United States’ population includes individuals and families from 150 different countries.
For this assignment, imagine the following scenario:
You are working in an early childhood setting of your choice—a hospital, a child care center, a social service agency. You receive word that the child of a family who has recently emigrated from a country you know nothing about will join your group soon. You want to prepare yourself to welcome the child and her family. Luckily, you are enrolled in a course about diversity and have learned that in order to support families who have immigrated you need to know more than surface facts about their country of origin.
In order to complete this assignment, first choose a country you know nothing about as this family’s country of origin.
The country of origin I chose for this assignment is: Sierra Leone
It’s a country with ultimate natural wealth -gold and diamonds and holds one of the world’s largest natural harbor at the capital city Freetown. 70% of the population is living under poverty making it the third poorest country in the world. Sierra Leone is also one of the world’s most religiously tolerant nation where large population of Muslims and Christians live in harmony.
To prepare myself to be culturally responsive towards this family, I would research the countries various religions, traditions, living conditions, education system, health and nutrition standards and so on. I would then interview the family via Skype, and ask for their expectations of their experience here in the U.S. along with helping me understand their personal culture. Because the differences between this family and others in my program, I am share information with other families so they can be comfortable and welcoming to the new family/child. I would familiarize myself with the typical way of life in Sierra Leone, their communities, markets, villages, mosques and other places of worship... the internet would be an invaluable resource tool for this investigation. I may contact our local community center, social services department and religious groups to attempt to connect from someone more familiar with the culture than I am. I would be especially careful to be aware of stereotypes of people from the country and work to not discriminate or be hurtful in my assumptions. I do know that Sierra Leone is still recovering from a devastating 11-year civil war that ended in 2002, so I would be especially careful with how I approach the families emotional state and subjects regarding war, suffering, loss, religion and so forth.
These preparations would benefit both the new family, myself, and others in our program. My job is to make families feel welcome, accepted, safe and respected. I need to be comfortable in my knowledge and understanding before I can begin the process of helping others. Knowledge is power, knowledge is a tool, and knowledge can build bridges. That's what being an educator is.
Education in Sierra Leone:
Utube video on Sierra Leone: Maternal health in a poverty stricken country
Amy,
ReplyDeleteI like agree with you that knowledge is tool and can build bridges. I like your way of using skype to interact with the family, great idea, I never thought of it before. Thanks for sharing
Amy:
ReplyDeleteI agree with Bouthaina. What a great way to use social media and web-based tools to communicate with families. Video conferencing could be more effective than using the phone because you may be able to evaluate gestures and body language or use props to help convey your words. The use of gestures and props can be helpful when there is a language difference. I also appreciate that you would work to avoid stereotypes. Cultural social clubs can be a great resource as well.
Thank you for sharing your ideas with us.
LouAnn