Welcoming Families From Around the World

I am working as a Child Life Specialist in a hospital where we are receiving victims from a major catastrophe in Guam. There was an earthquake in the Philippines, and that caused a tsunami in Guam. The island is so small, many people were swept away. It was a 12 foot wave. This particular family lost the mom and their little boy. They were walking to their car and the little girl fell down. The rushing water pulled her under a truck and she held onto the truck. The little boy was in a stroller with his mom pushing him. The water swept them both away. The girl was found hours later when the truck driver returned to his truck. The dad had already been looking for his family since the tsunami ended. This girl suffered abrasions to her hands and legs from holding onto the truck and the debri  that scraped her legs while she was holding onto the truck. Her major difficulty was emotional. She saw her mom and little brother get carried away in the water and is having nightmares about the screaming she heard.
They transferred this family to another Micronesian island, Palau. I am a CLS at the local hospital. the ED doctor wants to keep her for observation. I will ask dad to tell me about their extended family, their customs about family members passing away, their food choices, and any suggestions he has for comforting his daughter. I hope that by gathering this information, I can enable them to accept what has happened and to begin healing. I will do my best to offer hope and comfort to this family and encourage them to get to a place where healing can begin.

Life Lessons Learned

I have a memory of a movie I watched, called Nell. She experienced bias, prejudice and oppression. Nell was twin who grew up in the woods with her grandma who had a stroke. She and her sister had their own twin language and their language model was her grandmother whose speech was impaired from a stroke. The grandmother and sister passed away, so Nell was left alone. She was found sometime later and her "rescuer" was very nice to her, but obviously the people who evaluated her were biased because of her situation and she experienced prejudice from people who look at her outward characteristics. Nell was oppressed because of her situation. She had no control over things surrounding her growing up. Being poor, illiterate and alone were not choices Nell made.

This made me feel empathetic with Nell. She was wounded and alone with a long road to her recovery. I am not really sure she felt the need to "recover" as much as her rescuers did.

I believe that her rescuers would have to be more accepting of her cultural differences and get to know her as a person to help her determine the direction in which she wants to go. Equity would be greater because Nell would become an active participant in her own life.

Practicing Awareness of Microaggressions

The example of microaggression I observed this week was at Walmart. Several people were in line for Customer Service returning items. There was a couple two people ahead of me who spoke limited English. I think they may have been they may have been of German or Polish descent. The person in front of me was extremely rude remarking that if they didn't want to learn English, they should have stayed wherever they were from. She was loud and boisterous. The couple obviously did not understand what she was saying and the customer service person did a great job trying to help them and make them feel comfortable. After they left, that person continued her little tirade and the clerk hurried her along as quickly as she could. Obviously to her, her behavior was amusing, because she laughed and carried on like she was at a party. No one else in line was laughing.

I personally, felt horrible for this couple who expressed no idea they even knew what she was talking about. I was also pleased to witness that no one else in that line agreed or participated with her. Perhaps, we are further along in our understanding of how microaggressions affect the people they target.

My perception of the way some people still react to non-English speaking people has widened to know that as many steps forward we make towards unity, there is always someone available to move us back 2 steps! Sad, but true. Being in the 21st century makes little difference to some people, who living in a small town like I do, do not get enough exposure to the real world!

3 Opinions on Culture and Diversity

The first person I questioned was my husband. His definition of culture is the work ethic ( you can't tell that is important to him, right??), mannerisms, and parental leanings (generational) you inherit from your family. Diversity is going out of the box to engage others without fear.
My second person was my eldest son, Michael. His definition of culture is the way you are raised, how you learned to socialize, and the methods you use to define yourself. Diversity is how people do everything differently and how you adjust to it.
And thirdly, I chose my manager at work. She said culture is the dynamics of anywhere you are. She also said that diversity is the differences you don't know.
The answers I received did include some examples of what I am learning in this course. I particularly liked my husband's answer about going out of the box and approaching others without fear. Diversity is all about how you relate to and adjust to others.
Examples of some omissions are really not evident to me. I think that they pretty well covered culture and diversity. I was actually proud of their responses.

My Family Culture

A major catastrophe.............I am imagining all different types of scenarios. The three items I would choose to bring with me would be my bible, a family photo and the dog. I hold the bible dear to me and would explain it as my "rule book" to remind me how to live my life. I would bring a family photo so I can remember my family with love and be reminded of how dear to me they are. And lastly, I would bring our dog because he is a true reminder of the love we share. My children have always had a dog and although we have gone through a few over the years, they are always loved like family members and would be lost without us and us without them.

My feelings upon arrival if I was told I could only keep one item would be extreme devastation. I would probably experience the same feelings I had when I had to choose only three items in the aftermath of the major catastrophe. I would definitely feel lost and floundering. All three of the items I chose are integral parts of my life and who I am.

The insights I gained just from doing this exercise are enormous. It must be devastating to leave behind all you hold dear and then move to a place where you will never see any of your family or "things" again. Refugees are lucky to have their lives, but I am sure some of them feel like they were leaving their entire lives behind and had no idea of what direction they should go in. How easy it must have been to sweep them up and assimilate them into the dominant culture! If really thinking this through doesn't make you more culturally sensitive, nothing will!

When I think of Research....

The insights I have gained through this course are many. I have learned there are many ways in which research is classified, and I have only begun to understand a few of them. Many avenues have to be considered before beginning a research adventure.

I have changed my ideas about research because I had no idea research was such a complex endeavor. I am in awe of people who do this as a career.

The challenges I have encountered have been the complexity of dissecting a research method in order to better understand it. I believe the only ways available to meet it are to slow down and take it step by step.

My perceptions of an early childhood professional have been modified because I truly had no idea of the immensity of a research foundation. I understood it required much work, but perhaps not the magnitude of it!

I would like to thank my classmates for all the positive comments and support they have provided throughout such a challenging course. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Dr. Davis for enlightening us about such a necessary subject. She has truly showed us the light at the end of the tunnel! I wish blessings to all and good luck in your future endeavors!

Research Around the World

I was very interested in the Early Childhood Australia website. It is very similar to the NAEYC website. Some of the current international topics that I noticed were: Childhood Allergies are on the Rise; this interested me because it seems the same here in the United States. However, Australia is reporting the highest of any other country!
Workforce Strategy is in the news because each state and territory government have committed to develop implementations that outline steps to be taken to support people to join the Early Education and Care workforce and get the qualifications and skills they need to support children from diverse backgrounds and with differing needs.
Crisis in Syria is a report about how it is affecting children and families. At AlZaatari Camp there are 5000 children under the age of 4! How will this affect their futures?

Australians belive in the support of their youngest citizens. Something the United States could take lessons in.

I found the information on this website very noteworthy and I would definitely look here in the future to see what types of things are happening internationally and how Australia is dealing with problems that are similar to ours.