Twin Cities Zambia Disability Connection

Ministry of Education and ZAMESIE interest in College of Direct Support and Teacher Training Program

2011-04-13T03:42:00.000-07:00

There remains strong interest in the development of improved special education teacher training throughout the country of Zambia. The resources and instructional curriculum used in the special education programs is far from current. Teachers receives little if any continuing education and their focus within special education remains on reading, writing and math. The concept of functional skill and life skill development is not prevalent.

We have offered the College of Direct Support curriculum and offered to seek grant funding to improve educational opportunities for teachers and assistant teachers. The Ministry of Education in Lusaka which is the only registry for teachers in Zambia continues to express interest in a partnership and moving teacher training forward in Zambia. There is a new person in leadership at the Ministry in Lusaka and I do feel hopeful that he can leverage the needed political will to get this moving forward.

Each trip the connectivity to the internet is improved and there are certainly places for availability. Developing labs and seeking resources to pay for access remains a barrier but one worth tackling.

There were no electricity outages the entire two weeks that we were int he country. This too is a vast improvement over previous visits.

Another Day in Zambia

2011-04-13T03:41:00.000-07:00

On the scheduled day of our departure the stars simply were not aligned. The bus driver never arrived to pick us up to take us to the airport (later we found out he had a flat tire), Mikala really wanted us to stop by ZAMESIE (the special education training college), traffic was awful, we were stopped three time by road blocks and when we finally arrived at the airport there was a problem with our tickets (ticket numbers had changed and Kenyan Air did not seem to know this). The employees at Kenyan Air told us we had to leave the airport and go downtown to their offices in Lusaka. Needless to say they were not helpful at all. I was on the phone with Delta airlines over 2.5 hours trying to figure out a solution. Initially we were not going to get out until the 18th of April and it was going to cost each of us an addition $2,800. In the end we are leaving one day later, arrive home one day later and it cost $62.50 each.

The good news is that it was one more day in Zambia with Mikala and her family. Jean got her giant avocados for dinner and I got a few more bananas. Most importantly we got to listen to many more stories from Mikala and learned more about Zambian traditions and various tribal similarities and differences. I slept better then I have the entire two weeks and Jean is getting some needed rest as she has developed a full fledged crud in her chest type of cold (seems it has been passed around here for the past few weeks and Kelly, Jean and I were unable to escape it).

It is 7:15am on Wednesday April 13th and the driver has already arrived. Everyone here felt terrible we were not able to get out yesterday. The driver has arrived about 3 hours before we asked him to so that he ensures we are there on time. That just seems to be a way here – putting concerns of others first and praising God for it.

I am sure we will have a safe journey home. As always I have learned more then I could have possible taught. I look forward to the next journey here and to on-going relationships with my colleagues in Zambia.

Strong Community Abounds

2011-04-13T03:40:00.000-07:00

One of the greatest joys I get when I come to Zambia is this immediate awareness of community in this country. Parents help all children (not just their own). Children have so much more freedom at very young ages to roam their neighborhoods and adults (really any adult) will reprimand and redirect the children. If a mother sees a child crying she does not hesitate to ask the parent what is wrong and to offer advise. This is accepted and people do not seem to get offended or to think others are butting into their business. The children seem to have a general understanding that they should listen to adults and respect them.

Most Zambians seem to understand the need for sustainability and helping out their friends and families. “Buying local” is not a concept that has to be taught here, it is a way of life. Tradition is that if family shows up at your door (cousins, in laws anyone) they do not have to call first, ask permission, they show up and you take care of their needs until they leave.
On our way to Chwama we were in our van and a huge truck hauling cartons of something cut across the main road and into our side of the road and across three lanes of traffic; it then lost control and quickly went back across the three lanes of traffic. It nearly collided with a public mini bus (blue/white 12 passenger vans that are used as public transport). Of course the mini bus and other honked their horns. Then as if it were organized they caught up with the driver of the truck and got on three sides (front, back and side) and forced it off the road. Then they awaited the police. The truck driver was obviously drunk and these other members of the community took it upon them selves to get him off the road in a strategic yet peaceful way.

Neighbors all know neighbors here and they look out for one another. Workers care about one another and the health and well-being of their families. Churches are strong places of counsel and networking and entertainment. They also play significant roles in social welfare and establishing community norms.

Staple Foods

2011-04-13T03:24:00.000-07:00

The Zambian people definitely have staple foods that they eat every day. Nshima is the main staple. It is ground maize that is cooked very thick. The ground is larger then grits. The consistency between that of grits and polenta. It is white in color and the Zambian people eat this at least twice a day. They mold it in their hands and use it to sop up the juice and contents of another staple called relish. This relish is what I would describe as stewed vegetables. It usually has a green, tomatoes and onions in it and then a sauce. It is one of their primary sources of vegetables. Beans are another commonly eaten food. One of my favorite food items here is something called ground nuts. They obviously by their name are grown in the ground and look like peanuts but they have a much milder flavor and are roasted in a skillet on the stove or a fire. Eggs, bananas (the best in the world) and tea are also very common foods. Of course at the supermarkets one can find most anything.

As an indication of the rapid globalization and commercialism in this country in the past two years what was a small strip mall at Manda Hill is now a two story full fledged inside mall, there is a Subway, KFC and a McDonalds (UGH!).

Micro Enterprises Galore

2011-04-13T03:22:00.000-07:00

The first time I visited Zambia I was struck by the people with disabilities that I saw with their own “shops.” A way of life in Zambia is to sell goods in your neighborhood or along the side of the road. You see these selling stands nearly everywhere. I have seen several people with disabilities selling their own goods.
There is a pervasive lack of transition planning and programs in Zambia. We spent a great deal of time talking with policy makers about this need. Yet at the same time families and neighbors understand that if people with disabilities can be taught to make and sell something or to sell fruits and vegetables they can make a living. Mikala was sharing how they had at one time tried to teach a few children how to make sunflower oil by pressing seeds (sunflower oil is their stable cooking oil). While this effort in the end failed because it took so long for the children to hand press oil, it is such an indication of the creative thought yet simple idea to promote self-reliability and sustainability for people with disabilities as they grow older.

Home Visits in Baulini Compound and Kabannana Compound

2011-04-12T06:32:00.000-07:00

What a busy day. We did home visits in Baulini and at Kabannana Compounds for children who receive home based education. These children are deemed not ready for school and therefore receive one home visit a week in which a teacher, physio or assistant teacher (direct support professional) works with the family to implement educational programs. It was interesting to interact with the children and their families. Here is a glimpse of our learning:

Veronica (age 12 - though she looked to be about 6 or 7)- Veronica was outside of her home when we arrived. She is unable to walk on her feet though she seems to get around fine on her knees. She was able to make sounds and could say a few words. Her teacher had a bag with her with a puzzle and some books in it. Veronica's eyes lit up when she saw this. It was so clear that veronica was eager to learn. She used to attend Baulini school and also received physical therapy once a week. Unfortunately she no longer able to go to school or therapy because she has gotten too big for her friends to carry her a mile to school each day. Veronica's mother works and is a single parent so Veronica now stays home alone each day with only the supervision of younger children in the compound and neighbors. If she had a wheel chair she'd be able to find a friend to push her to/from school. A Zambian made wheelchair costs about 1.8 million Kwatcha or approximately $400. This is what prevents her from the opportunity to learn at Baulini.

Muika (age 1.8 years)-
This was wonderful to observe. This little boy is one of a few who receive early intervention services in Zambia. This is not common. Children attend school beginning at age 7 and very very few go to any type of pre-school program. Muika has cerebral palsy which was diagnosed shortly after his birth. He had a specialized chair made out of paper that enabled him to sit up. These chairs are often the result of an identified need by a physical therapist. Muika was not impressed with the white strangers in his home and he let us know that right quickly so we left shortly after meeting him.

Abraham (age 8 though he looked about age 3-4). Abraham was a young boy who lived with his father. His mother died this winter of AIDs and he is now cared for by his sisters and father. He was extremely small for his age and had cerebral palsy and epilepsy. He was not receiving special education because he was not thought to be ready and there was little opportunity to get him there because of the long walk and lack of wheel chair.

Sylvia (age 2) When I saw Sylvia I was pleased to see that she seemed to be about the appropriate size for her age. Every other child I had seen on this day and others appeared to be about half the size I would expect for their developmental age. I was also so excited to see another child receiving home based education who was under the age of 7. It leaves me with such hope that the Ministry of Education and the Disability Service Organizations are beginning to understand the importance of early intervention for children with disabilities. From her appearance I would guess that Sylvia has Cornelia De Lange Syndrome. No one who was with us, teachers, physical therapists (physios), administrators knew what this disorder was. Sylvia appeared to be having many seizures while we were in her home, she appear to having a hearing problem, was pretty floppy and had microcephaly. At the end of the day I was able to get access to the internet and sent Mikala some information on Cornelia De Lange Syndrome. I am also hopeful that Syvia will be able to get medications for her seizures (Baulini has a program commitment to providing seizure medication).

We met and heard so many stories about children and adults with untreated seizures. One little boy was left at home alone while his parents were working and he had a seizure and fell into the fire and was severely burned all over his face. A friend of Mikala’s at church was kicked out of school at grade 7 because the teachers and children ran away when she had a seizure because they thought she was possessed – this woman never married and has been an outcast every since. Mikala says she is such a smart woman and her educational opportunities were squashed due to her seizure disorder.

Bruce (age 16) was at home with his older brother. He has received home based education for some time. Though not diagnosed, it was clear that Bruce had autism disorder. He was not in school because of his difficulty focusing on learning and his repetitive behaviors which sometime result in others being hit. His teacher began their lesson plan and Bruce was currently working on trying to hold a pencil and write a line within a picture. This seemed like an almost irrelevant thing to be teaching Bruce at the moment. There was so much need in the areas of communication, social interaction and life skills that needed attention. Not to mention increasing Bruce's ability to be interested in learning new things. The concepts of applied behavioral analysis and augmentative communication just are not known to the teachers. There is so much need to reform and build improved special education services here. Bruce could thrive with the right help.

(Boy age 7) This little boy we met was not yet in home based education. He was being screened and was meeting his teacher for the first time. He lived with his grandmother. His mother was a school teacher and had been assigned by the Ministry of Education to teach at a school some 400 km away. Because she was a new teacher she had to go to her assigned post and could not yet ask for a transfer. She had no one to care for her son when she was away teaching. Therefore it was left up to the grandmother to provide care. She used to carry him on her back to the physio clinic which was a very long walk and then bus ride. The grandmother was recently diagnosed with a heart condition and was simply unable to carry this boy on her back any longer. This is why he was being referred for home based education. One interesting aspect of this initial meeting (we’d call it an intake) was the description of the home based program and the very strong emphasis placed on the role of the family to provide education and support 6/7 days a week with the home based educator only there one day a week. The family was asked to commit several times to this program and to their role in the program.

Will post photos soon.

Sunday at the Reformed Church in Zambia

2011-04-10T08:05:00.000-07:00

This morning Kelly and I went with Mikala again to her church service. This time we arrived on time and stayed the entire 3 hour service. While we could not understand the reverend it was fun to watch the children and women throughout the service. As always the music was spectacular. Kelly and I were introduced with other visitors and were mistaken for Catholic Sisters since we were visiting Mikala at Baulini Street Kids which is a Catholic supported program. The children loved the balloons and silly bands we brought for them after the service. An afternoon at the markets and then home for another meeting with the Ministry of Education who is very interested in trying to get a new college program going in Zambia for special education teachers. Time will tell, there is certainly great need.

Chawama Compound

2011-04-10T07:58:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we went to Chawama Compound hoping that we’d be able to meet with the parent disability advocacy group that formed there a few years ago after we worked with Fr. Patrick (the parish preist at the time) to announce a meeting at the church. Unfortunately signals were corssed and the word was never spread that we were going to have a meeting with the group yesterday so it is rescheduled for tomorrow, late morning. As long as it gets announced, I have no doubt these parents will arrive.

I was however completely taken aback by the Chawama compound. This is a huge housing area in Lusaka with nothing but dirt roads and mostly very small housing structures made with cinder blocks, dirt floors and tin roofs made from scraps found here and there. Last time I was there we witnessed the burning down of a community block of vendors who have made make shift store fronts out of which they sold various goods. One day there were hundreds of vendors and the next day they were all burned to the ground. Two years later a SPAR grocery store, Bata shoe store and PEP exist in this same exact area. Also several bank ATM machines. I could not believe it and am not sure how I feel about it. I’d feel better about it if it were Zambians doing the development but it seems many South African store chains are coming into the country. Good? Bad? I am not sure. Just very different then two years ago.

As I am sitting here and writing this (at about 6:30am local time on Sunday) from a distance I am listening to a church choir sing. Outside the door the pigs are grunting, the turkeys squawking and the birds have many voices. Last night Casey came over and we played Scrabble together. His Mom (he refers to Mikala as his Mom – she is his Great Aunt and is raising Casey) stayed up half the night one day playing Scrabble on my iPad. I am preparing Casey to compete with Mikala and beat her at this game – he thinks that is funny.

Sustainable Social Services and Education

2011-04-10T07:42:00.000-07:00

Baulini Street Kids Project is a multi service program that provides regular education to orphans, special education to children with disabilities, physical therapy, medication treatment, transitional and skills training as well as other services and supports to the community and families. It is truly a multi services and support organization. While it is partially supported by donors, the majority of its resources comes from self-sustaining activities. They receive no government support at all. Here is a partial listing of what they have built over the years to earn money to sustain their programs:
- raise pigs
- raise chickens
- banana fields
- brick making
- maize (corn) fields
- vegetable gardens (with every imaginable vegtable)
- bakery (sells bread and buns to local vendors and stores)
- feed store
- grocery store
- trade school makes scarves and hats that they knit on machines and sell to local shop keepers
- mushroom growing operation (this is very cool, they have three shack like houses and were taught by an NGO how to raise oyster mushrooms which they now grow and sell to the local grocery stores)
Business sense and social service sense are integrated at Baulini thorugh the leadership of Mikala. They will survive as needed even without any funding.

One of the focuses of our work over the past four years has been to develop a disability leadership team and to encourage and support networking across these organizations. Much good happens in each organization but initially there was no mechanism to share. As an example of the power of this sharing when we were at Cheshire Homes in Livingstone we met a group of Moms who came into the school twice a week to volunteer. They were taught how to make dolls and bags with recycled materials. These dolls are then sold in markets and through a connection in the United States. Mikala saw this activity and we had not been back in Lusaka at Baulini for more then a day before she had identified a person to learn to make the dolls and teach her PTA how to make them. The following day she secured her first outlet for sales at a local market in town. Entrepreneurialism is a celebrated must in this country and the leadership at Baulini and so many organizations here is definitely evident. Daily I think how little we do with so much in the U.S. for people with disabilities and how much they seem to be able to do with so little here in Zambia. There is much we can learn.

Rice Krispie Treats, S’Mores and Video Games – Universal Enjoyment

2011-04-10T07:39:00.000-07:00

For the past two evenings we have been sharing with Mikala and the children she looks after about the ways in which we enjoy marshmallows. The first evening it was Rice Krispie treats and last night we made S’Mores. We had to improvise a bit. We used biscuits (round mildly sweet and flat cookies), a dark chocolate Lindt bar I brought from the states with chilis in it and pink and white marshmallows. Everyone enjoyed them so much we are headed back to pic-n-pay today to purchase some more. I suspect S’mores will become a nightly occurrence for our remaining nights in Zambia.

I also gave Casey (Mikala’s nieces child that she is raising who has a disability caused by untreated sickle cell anemia) the Nintendo DS that Jack sent with me to give to a child in Zambia. I was trying to figure out how to turn it on and finally Casey asked if he could try. Just like Jack, he picked it up and began playing it immediately with no instruction. I am not sure I understand the universality of these electronic games but they certainly are made for children because as an adult I never can figure out what you are supposed to do and Casey figured it out immediately and he had never even seen such a toy. He was sooooo incredibly thrilled to have this new toy and the two games that came with it.

Village Children with Complex Diseases

2011-04-10T07:38:00.000-07:00

Mikala has been talking with us about the many children she sees through home based education that have challenges that no one has been able to help with in all of Zambia. It is so hard to listen to these stories and to know the enormous wealth and capacity within the U.S. We bought Mikala a flip video camera and have taught her how to use it and upload and e-mail the files. We are hopeful that she will be able to send us these files and we can find MDs to help us figure out what might possibly be going on with these children but more importantly what they might be able to do to help the children. To give you one example Mikala saw an almost 4 year old child in a village right before we got here. Mikala described this child’s condition as her “skin is melting.” We asked Mikala if the skin looked the same all over this child’s body or if it was just on the areas where the skin was exposed to the sun. Mikala called the home based education teacher and a few days later heard back that it is all over the child’s body. From Mikala’s description it sounds like it looks as if the skin is severely burned. The child’s mother rubs ashes onto the skin and into these wounds. Mikala says the child walks with an unusual gait because she feels the child is in a lot of pain. The child’s mother says that the village people believe that this disease is happening with the child because the mother must have stepped over a snake when she was pregnant. This belief is though of because the child’s skin is affected much like a snakes skin sheds.

Training Day at Baulini

2011-04-10T07:31:00.001-07:00

Yesterday was filled with training for teachers from all of the special needs schools in the Lusaka area. Training at Baulini started with the school choir singing (the lead singer was absolutely amazing and the choir was integrated with children with disabilities and regular education students) and a short prayer. The teachers were an extremely attentive audience throughout the day. They had a lot of questions about autism and you could tell that they were thinking about children they taught and as the training progressed, the teacher were beginning to understand that these children likely have autism. They were able to share a lot of examples and descriptive behaviors related to autism and children in Zambia. We had a number of videos that we had taken in the village of a Zambian child and then also children in the U.S.

Jean presented portions of her Expanding the Circles curriculum and this went over extremely well. The portions were interactive and reflective and it was clear that the teachers were not used to learning in ways other then lecture. Jean also made them do a learning styles inventory and this also was a huge success. Matt topped off the training day with some information on the Convention for the Rights of People with Disabilities and the various ways in which it interfaces with special education.

More singing from the group and then the Minister of Education came and formally presented certificates to each participant. After the training there were many formalities and we spent time talking with the employees who were there form the Ministry of Education and several of the teachers. There is much interest in starting a new college program that has more specialization in areas such as autism, applied behavior analysis, occupational and physical therapy, speech therapy etc…. They are so hungry for information.

Rice Krispie Treats the Zambian Way

2011-04-07T12:45:00.001-07:00

Mikala asked me to teach her how to make her favorite treat from her trip to the U.S. It took me a while to figure out what she was talking about but then I remembered - Rice Krispie Treats. We found Rice Krispies and pink and white marshmallows at the Pic N Pay and tonight was the lesson. They look a little funny because of the pink marshmallows but they taste the same. Mikala took the tray to share with her extended family. We have a few marshmallows leftover so tomorrow night we are going to teach her family about s'mores.

Policy Advocates

2011-04-07T12:30:00.000-07:00

Our day today was spent listening to policy advocates in Zambia. We went to the Zambian Federation of Disability Organizations - ZAFOD. Check out their web site: http://www.zafod.org/ This group has made much progress in building a coalition of disability organizations and in litigation on behalf of individuals with disabilities. Their priorities now seem to be with transition and employment - much like in the U.S.

After that we went to visit ADD Zambia today only to learn that last week it was shut down and does not exist any longer. I went onto their website tonight and they still say they have a program in Zambia. Interesting.... Here is their web site: http://www.add.org.uk/zambia.asp

The last stop was at the government disability entity which is in charge of disability policy and runs "training farms" for people with disabilities. This organization was called Zambian Agency for Persons with Disabilities. This was also interesting as there is such a disconnect between what policy says and what actually exists on the ground. I suppose this is true in any country though it seems so much more profound here in Zambia because there is so much need. Here is their web site: http://www.zapdgov.org/

More later....

Livingstone - No Work Days

2011-04-07T07:53:00.001-07:00

Livingstone (no work days)
Absolutely no work yesterday or today. The days were play days. You simply cannot come to Zambia and not go to the Livingstone area. We started day one with a trip to Victoria Falls. It is the time of year when the most water is flowing. There was so much power in the Falls. It is a true wonder of the world. If we had taken a shower we could not have gotten any more wet. The bridge walk is pretty far away from the actual falls but just walking across it we got soaking wet. You could hardly see the entire falls because there was mist blowing around. Luckily I was able to convince Kelly, Jean and Matt to go up in a micro-lite. Jean and Kelly thought it was awesome; Matt is still trying to balance fear with exhilaration. After the flights we went on a river cruise and saw a giant hippo completely outside of the water (I have to think this is unusual for this time of year). As always the African sunset was amazing on the Zambezi.

Day two we went over to Botswana on safari to the Chobe National Park. Jean got to see her giraffe up close and personal and we saw many amazing animals. Mikala saw a mongoose for the first time in her life. I actually thought the birds were the most amazing and just toward the end of the trip an eagle (their national bird) gave us quite a show. The trip across the Zambezi was an interesting experience. Because the river is at its highest, the big barges were not working well and the currents were so strong the one barge that was working was having a lot of trouble getting across – what should have taken twenty minutes was taking up to 2 hours. We actually crossed in a dingy boat and the white caps were pretty high. The most interesting thing was the line of semi-trucks awaiting to go over on the barge. Our guide told us the trucks sometimes sit for up to two weeks to be able to cross the river. On the Zambia side they were mostly carrying huge copper rocks and molasses. The lines on the Botswana side were equally as long.

The day ended with shopping at the market, a good cup of coffee (caffeine and full cream cappuccino) and then a great dinner at Charters outside in the courtyard (Bream, okra and curry).

Now we are ready for more work. Visits with policy advocates all day tomorrow, full day of training on Friday, Chawama advocacy group on Saturday and then a new week begins.

My head is spinning with thoughts of creating an interdisciplinary study abroad program at Beulini and the three outpost schools in the villages – everything is possible.

Cheshire Homes

2011-04-07T07:48:00.000-07:00

Cheshire Homes
We arrived late in Livingstone after an 8 hour bus ride from Lusaka. The Sisters were awaiting our arrival at the guesthouse at Cheshire Homes. Monday morning the students arrived at the school. At this school the special needs children are provided transportation in a school van. I sat with amazement at the eagerness and interdependence these children showed at school. Once off the bus the children who walked went right up to the school building and came back to the van with the wheelchairs used by the children who were unable to walk. These children were assisted by their peers in getting out of the van and into their wheelchairs (they do not use their chairs in village because of the terrain). All were eager to be at school and ready to learn.

Cheshire Homes provides special education services to children who have physical and intellectual disabilities. Their donors, Touch Ireland, built a new structure that opened in 2007 and included a physio room. They are now beginning a new project to build a whirlpool. About 24 children are currently enrolled and attend the school. There is one teacher for all of these students, Evelyn Malumbe, who has been teaching at Cheshire Homes for many years. I met her the first trip I made to Livingstone before the school was finished. She attended training we delivered each year we have been in Livingstone. In addition to being a teacher for the school she provides home based education.

A women’s group also meets at the school. This group is made up of the mom’s of the children served by the school. A recent visitor taught them how to make dolls and bags from recycled products and cloth and they make these goods to sell as a benefit to the school. We have asked them to send us a box of dolls and we will try to sell as well. The parents are very committed to the school and appreciative of the efforts of the sisters and Evelyn. The teacher and sisters are appreciative of the Mom’s and they all work together to make the best for the children.

It is fun to see the progress of the school. With so little resource so progress has been made. Evelyn asked us to make sure we said hello to all from the University team who have spent time with the school and training teachers and families in Livingstone.

Chifwema Village School and Veronica

2011-04-02T22:52:00.001-07:00

Yesterday we traveled an hour or so outside of Lusaka to the Chifwema Village. Mikala’s school, Beulini, provides outreach to three village schools including Chifwema. Once a quarter Mikala travels to each of these village schools to monitor their activities and offer support. The Head Master and one of the teachers at the school met us. They serve 450 students and have 10 unpaid volunteer teachers from the village – one classroom at the school is a special needs classroom and 5 children attend school in this classroom; 13 other children with special needs receive home based education where a teacher goes to the family home and assists the families with instructional ideas. For some children home based education is all that is possible because they are unable to make the physical journey walking to school (many children walk as much as 3 miles one way to get to school).

We walked to one of the family homes to meet a 14 year old child with autism who receives home based education. This was a remarkable experience. Veronica was completely included in her family home and her community. When Mikala first started helping the family Veronica’s mother would keep Veronica contained in a hut when she went to work in the fields, went to church or was away from the family home. Now Veronica has access to the village and the community embraces their responsibility of ensuring Veronica gets home to her family safely. She attends church and is now trying to go to the school classroom (instead of home based education). In very practical ways Veronica is being taught and her family has identified things that comfort her and assist her with learning (e.g. old plastic soda bottles with beans in it that rattle, kicking a plastic soda bottle to redirect behavior, pounding maze). We spent some time talking about strategies the family could use to teach her how to put on her own clothes and to teach her how to eat more then a two types of food. Simple suggestions such as using short word phrases instead of long drawn out explanations and requests (e.g. “Veronica up now,” “beans gone”) also how they could reinforce and shape desired behavior while eliminating undesired behavior. These were concepts that were knew to them but at the same time clearly they had figured many things out to get Veronica to learn new skills and be a part of her community.

Veronica has a couple of jobs. She pounds the maze to make their staple food enshima and she sweeps the area outside of their homes. She is extremely fond of her two older sisters and enjoys having her hair combed and braided – these are things she lets her family know that she wants and needs. One of the things we will develop for the family is a simple communication board. While Veronica seems to understand most words, she does not speak any words and communicates with gestures and sounds. A communication board may help her to learn how to express to her family what she wants.

What a wonderful opportunity to grow and learn from one another.

More later.

Amy and baby

2011-04-02T08:36:00.000-07:00

Did that get your attention?!? We met this lovely little lady yesterday. Her name is Taisha and she is Mikala's great neice. Jean also had trouble putting her down. Early in the evening Amy, Mikala, and myself walked to the bus stop down the road to meet Kwanda, a special ed teacher who came in from Kwite. Ok I'm probably spelling that wrong. Kwanda was one of the visitors from Zambia we hosted at ICI last May. What was funnier was Amy and I carrying this cute little baby down a major Zambia highway. It was probably an interesting site.

I also included a picture of the actual "work", yes work we are doing here. We met with Kwanda and Mikala after dinner to talk about the assessment tools we brought. While they are not appropriate to bring and use in the villages at this time, we hope they will be helpful in the near future.

And speaking of visiting the village, we just got back after 3 hours total in the back of a pick up truck with a home made topper on the back to keep it extra toasty. It was an amazing experience, but we have to rest our bottoms for now and we'll share more soon.

All the best, Kelly

photos

2011-04-01T08:29:00.000-07:00

Here we are! Holding our IPADS, we were desperate for an Internet connection and were standing in the front yard.

Day1

2011-04-01T07:05:00.000-07:00

We arrived in Zambia late last night and our colleague Mikala was at the airport to greet us. Three hours of sleep later and we were up and ready fir a meeting at the Ministry of Education. It was great to see Grace Banda (who was a member of the first team trained at U of MN) but even greater to hear the new administrator talking about her leadership and the progressiveness of Mikela's program. Our conversation was focused mostly on encouraging transition with more formal focus and purpose, testing accommodation for special education children and the need for early intervention. We also discussed the need to better prepare teachers to provide support to special education students in inclusive classrooms. Joel Kamoko, District Board Secretary, at the Ministry of Education emphasized the need to teach life skills and he seemed very committed to supporting children with special needs. Mikala and Grace seem very positive about Joel's ideas.

We had lunch with Sandy and Father Patrick. It was fun to catch up and hear about their new project in Milawi.

Tonight is a quiet night at Beulini. We'll have dinner and singing with Mikala and her family then call it an early night. Tomorrow we are spending the day in Chitwema village and will meet with a few families who have children with autism then work with Mikala on autism assessment. Lookingnforward to it.

More later

Zambia 2011

2011-03-15T13:07:00.000-07:00

Greetings,
We are excited to share that at team from the University's Institute on Community Integration will be traveling to Zambia on March 30th. This trip promises to be an exciting one with some new faces included. Joining us on this journey will be myself, Jean Ness, Matt Schulelka, and Amy Hewitt. Our visit will focusing around providing training around Autism Spectrum Disorders in Lusaka and beyond. We look forward to sharing our journey with you. Stay tuned for more details! -Kelly

Radio time

2009-09-01T04:23:00.000-07:00

On the eve of our departure from Zambia, we completed our work with an interview on disability issues on one of the local radio stations, Radio Mosi O Tunya (dubbed "Radio that Thunders", which reaches about 30,000 listeners during the time that we were on air. The interview was great, and we were able to cover many of the topics that we usually include in our trainings. There is no way to know, of course, how this will resonate with listeners, but being able to get ideas out to so many people at once is certainly a good thing. Audio won't upload now, but we will try again when we get home. We'll post again with some last impressions of our work here in Zambia once we get back to Minnesota.

Thank you to everyone in Zambia who has made this experience a great one for us, and for your work to improve the lives of people with disabilities. We hope to be back soon!

-Matt, Derek, and Kristin

Livingstone

2009-08-30T06:04:00.000-07:00

Greetings from Livingstone! We completed our final training of the trip on Saturday. A group of 21 special and basic school teachers (and the provincial inspector of special schools) from the Livingstone area schools gathered, on a Saturday on their holiday no less. We spent a few hours training and discussing issues related to inclusion, employment preparation, and advancing changes in schools. Since the training was in one of the school's three computer labs with legitatimate high-speed internet (the fastest in Zambia I think--they even had a SmartBoard) we couldnt pass on the opportunity to introduce the group to the College of Direct Support training program. After a brief crash course and discussion about how to overcome the internet/computer accessibility challenges we let people check it out on their own. Some people obviously hadn't used a computer/mouse before, let alone the internet. Those that had were able to practice and demonstrate using the program with less computer-experienced teachers by test driving a lesson. The engagement and enthusiasm was high. It was a great thing to witness and I am confident that a few of the teachers will use the program in the future. This morning we ran into the head master of the school the training was conducted at--he reported that he received 12 calls of appreciation and satisfaction about the training. In an informal evaluative sense, we feel we were at least successful reaching some of the teachers.

There may be one more work task involved here in that we may be on the radio on Tuesday morning to be interviewed about disability and the work we've been doing here. Apparently the show is wide-reaching in Livingstone, so this would be a good opportunity to reach many people.

The Copperbelt

2009-08-25T08:34:00.000-07:00

Hello all--we thought we'd write a quick post as long as we have got internet for... a little while? We have been busy up in the Copperbelt. Yesterday we had the opportunity to meet with officials from the Ministry of Education in Kitwe, 60 kilometers from where we are based, at the Franciscan Center in Ndola. We have heard a lot about the importance of the Ministry in bringing access to education for all children, so we were very happy to get the meeting and make some connections at the Ministry. The staff we met there were, a lot like people we have met in other groups, feeling constrained by their budgets, and also open to discussion and new ideas. It was good to make their acquaintance.
We then met a self-advocate, Julien, also in Kitwe. She is a dynamic woman, very outgoing, very personable, and is a strong advocate in her community, despite many, many challenges.
Today we did a training here in the morning at the Franciscan Center, with teachers, nurses, self-advocates (including Julien), parents, and clergy. The diversity of the group made for a strong conversation. We were happy that many of the people in the training connected with each other, and hopefully built upon their advocacy network. In particular, Julien had told us that she plays sports every week with her group of self-advocates, and in our group was a sports education teacher who needed ideas on how to include people with disabilities in class. It was wonderful to see these two make a connection and share ideas.
In the afternoon we did a training with the novitiate (friars in training, basically), who are in a year of spiritual reflection here at the Franciscan Center. The group asked a lot of good questions, and we had a fruitful discussion on inclusion, community, and the roles they can take towards advocacy as religious persons in their community.
Tomorrow we head back to Lusaka, then on to Livingstone. The friars have been gracious hosts, and we have been enjoying our time in the Copperbelt.

The latest from Lusaka

2009-08-21T13:43:00.000-07:00

It has been a busy few days since our last post. This is a lengthy message, but we hope some of you will find some of the updates interesting. We are covering a lot of new ground, so there is a lot to share...

08/17/09
The agenda for today was supposed to be meeting at the Ministry of Education. While it is not entirely clear to us exactly what the situation is, we do know that university students have been sent home for a two-week break; a cool down period after some ugly protests. The ministry people are busy with this and so we went to the hospital to see their autism assessment center. Derek, Matt and I were actually really excited about this change in plans; we were all hoping to visit the hospital while in Lusaka. We met with some of the staff involved in working at the autism assessment center, as well as Simate Simate, a volunteer in the Hearing and Speech Center (HSC). The HSC is not meant to function as a provider of hearing aids, but they have taken it upon themselves to do so. Parents do pay, but it is subsidized. Mr. Simate spoke with us about the process for providing support to those in need of hearing and speech supports, as well as his thoughts on needs for the HSC. As we have already heard here many times, early intervention is an issue. There are no hearing supports for children under pre-school age as they have no aids to fit them. The hearing aids they receive are mostly second-hand donations, which are then refurbished by technicians, and distributed to children (no adult services) who are deemed in need of them. Among the needs identified by Mr. Simate are a need for auditory trainers, tools to have successful early interventions, and training on how to use such tools. As with all the organizations we have encountered, the needs list is long. Another major issue is communication between parents and children. When children do learn sign language (American), the parents do not, and there is little way for parents and children to communicate with each other. There is also no work going on in speech therapy, and Mr. Simate noted the name of the HSC is a misnomer in this way.
Our next meeting was with Mr. Chongo, a physical therapist in the Center for Excellence. His work was made up of much more than working on autism, and he expressed that there are so many life-threatening conditions that they are dealing with at the hospital, that disability often takes a back seat. Basically, people are only seen for autism assessments if they present at the hospital for another condition and are then referred for an autism assessment. Mr. Chongo gave us a brief history of the work on autism at the hospital, which started with conversations in 2006. In 2008, the hospital started doing assessments, and within six months they identified 700 children. Currently, 50 children are being worked with at the clinic and there are three specialists including Mr. Chongo, an occupational therapist, and a speech therapist. For assessments, a pediatrician and a the parent also joins the team. They all conduct the assessment at the same time, taking notes while observing the child over 30 minutes. Mr. Chongo noted this is obviously not enough time to properly diagnose someone. They also rely heavily on sifting through past medical records and making judgments based on past notes that may indicate presence of autism. In the work they conduct after assessment, the therapists see the child and parent for 6-8 weeks, attempting to transfer skills to the parent on how to work with their child. After this, the parent and child work at home together for a month before coming back again to check in on how the work is progressing. We had the opportunity to walk through the assessment room, which doubles as the therapy room. It was very busy with two medical personnel, a parent who had been through the process and returns as a volunteer to work with other parents, and a roomful of children and parents all busy at work.
Mr. Chongo was really impressive to talk with. Though he spoke of the vast lack of knowledge across medical personnel at the hospital, it was clear he himself had taken pains to learn a lot, and he had a lot of good insight in to the Center’s needs. Some of these include training for staff, including pediatricians, as, like in the US, the medical doctor “has the final say.” Also, in Zambia, all children are required by law to visit a nurse once a month until they are five years old. Apparently there is good compliance with this, as the records are required to attend school. I wonder about compliance in the rural areas, but, for Lusaka, this seems to be the way it is. That said, nurses need training as identifiers of children in need of services. Mr. Chongo related to us that there are no supports for follow through on recommendations and supports. For example, a child may get a recommendation that says “fit for school” and that is where it ends. The child then goes to school without supports and is treated as a “nuisance.” In summary, Mr. Chongo told us that the missing link in Zambia is an interdisciplinary understanding of autism.
Briefly, Mikaela talked to us about her success in working with a girl with autism using CDS materials. After working with the girl using the “ABC” materials, the father returned to Mikaela and told her “I never thought I would be able to sit down and have a conversation with my daughter.” Mikaela has been asked to write a national course for autism. She is hopeful that the CDS course on autism will be helpful, and that more information and support can be provided. She is so committed to this work, it is wonderful to witness both her and Nama work, seemingly endlessly, around here.
8/18/09
Today, Tuesday, was another great day in Zambia. Despite the blue skies we were told it was unseasonably cold. As a Minnesotan in Zambia I was surprised how chilly it was. The day was also highly productive. Initially we were scheduled to provide advocacy training to parents from the Hidden Voices, a school specialized to provide education to children with disabilities. Unfortunately the Hidden Voices parents did not receive adequate notification. Initially we were unsure and pretty concerned about the appropriateness of our training and discussions for this new group but after introductions we were quiet excited and relieved to have the attention of our guests. They included five people from Parent Partnership Association for Children with Special Needs, an existing advocacy organization in Lusaka that is working to, according to their brochure, conduct training and assessments, operate a community school, and create disability committees in nine districts of Lusaka. Two people were from the Association of Parents with Special Learning Needs, an emerging national parent advocacy group that recently drafted its constitution and is nearly ready to register with the government. Professionally, these participants ranged greatly. Three had children with disabilities, one of which was also a Headmaster of a school. One was from the Ministry of Education and soon to be a Headmaster of a new school. Another was a Coordinator of Hidden Voices, and another woman has been working with parents and children with disabilities for thirteen years. She raised her own child with a disability with little to no supports, and now works to educate, support, and reduce stigma amongst parents. In all, we found the participants to be strategically positioned in their respective communities and professions to continue and expand their leadership and be effective agents of change in the area of disability supports and rights.
After recognizing our change in audience we quickly adapted the training to better meet the group’s higher sophistication in the disability arena and their organizational needs. A large portion of the training and discussions addressed topics of inclusion and normalization. Normalization in particular was a topic that resonated with the group, which led to an exciting discussion about ideas, experiences, and strategies. We also discussed employment and watched a video. It was clear to all of us that the group was thinking creatively about ways the current business community, individuals and families, and educational system could facilitate employment opportunities. Some ideas that we worked with included micro-enterprises, resource sharing, and skill development. We were able share our observations and learn a lot from the group’s experiences. The final topic we discussed with group encompassed strategies to plan, develop, and implement the type of social changes the respective groups were looking to make in their communities. Our hope was to provide some technical assistance in these organizational development and strategizing processes.
A few of the most exciting pieces of this training event were, first, the enthusiasm and dedication of this group. They were so interested in getting this knowledge so they could educate others that we provided each of them with the PowerPoint presentation so they could train others about these topics. We were also amazed how much this group engaged each other. As important as the training information was, we thought the most important outcome of this gathering was connecting these individuals and groups. It is clear that they understand the power of numbers in the advocacy world. Part way through the training, they all exchanged information so they could be in touch again. That was a huge success in our eyes, as well as the group’s.
Later, we took a walk into the Bauleni compound with Mikala’s daughter and another student here. It is about three blocks from where we are staying. The poverty we saw was unlike anything any of us have seen. There is a serious lack of water, sewage in the streets, children playing, working, washing, eating, all amongst garbage. In the rainy season, Mikala told us, most of the schools shut down because there is so much diarrheal disease. We asked the student touring us around what he thought we should take away from this and he said, “Zambians need education for a better life.”
8-19-09
Today we had a training with a group of teachers, some from special education schools, and some from basic schools with one or two classrooms for children with disabilities. There seems to be no age grouping for students with disabilities in many cases, so several teachers reported that they taught children ranging in age from 6 to 25 in the same room, which must be challenging at the very least. The group was well trained, most of them being graduates from ZAMISE, but many of the general topics that we cover in what has become our standard training were still new. Of particular interest was a section that we developed last night, at Mikela’s request, about positive behavioral supports. This was fairly well received.
An association of special education teachers has formed, but does not seem to be working with the parent groups yet, so this was a big point of conversation… that merging the efforts of the parent groups and teacher groups may help to raise the profile of the emerging disability movement if the groups can agree on basic goals and methods of advocacy, which seems quite feasible at this point as everyone seems concerned about providing educational opportunities, vocational training and opportunity, and reducing stigma.
Today was the anniversary of the former president’s death, so many people seemed sidetracked by the memorial events. He was hugely popular for fighting corruption, which, of course, is rampant. It’s interesting that the top news stories of the week have been the memorial for a president who fought corruption and that another former president, who had been charged with stealing a half million dollars worth of public funds, was acquitted by the high court, even though everyone seems to recognize that he did embezzle the funds. Irony.

8/20/09
First, and most importantly, before we get to activity updates, some absolutely amazing news… Mikela is one of five finalists to be named “Woman of the Year” for her efforts supporting and advocating for people with disabilities. Here’s what we know so far…
We were driving home from the reptile farm—where we saw many of what can only be described as a place of a few of Mikaela’s LEAST favorite things. Both she and Sister Nama endured it more than enjoyed it. We were sitting in the car preparing for the bumpy ride home (seriously—how none of us lost our lunch on that road…) when Mikaela received a phone call. It began with “We are live on the radio!” and went on to ask her a few questions that did not seem to follow the announcement of being live on the radio. “Are you Mikaela? Do you work with children with special needs? Do you know so and so?” and so on. We sort of thought, as did Mikaela, that she was about to receive bad news (save for the being live on the radio part). She said that she often receives such phone calls with that line of questioning when she is getting bad news on a child passing away. However, this call was of a much different nature. All of sudden we heard Mikaela saying, very excitedly, over and over again, “Oh thank you! Thank you so much!” and when she got off the phone, she was thrilled to relay the news that she is a woman of the year, an award for all of Zambia. She was nominated for the award by a very appreciative mother. There are now five finalists, who are women of the year, and another award will be given Monday for the one person chosen. Very exciting! It was only fitting that a minute or so after she got off the phone, she received another call. We remarked, “Wow—news travels fast—were people calling to congratulate you?” She said, “No, that was about a project I am working on with….” We all agreed, “That’s why you’re woman of the year!” Congratulations to Mikaela for this very wonderful honor!
Today we also visited the University of Zambia’s Special Education Department. We were meant to introduce the College of Direct Support, but internet access was quite poor, so we ended up explaining the CDS and its functions, and then talked about the special education curriculum offered at U of Z and how lecturers may be able to insert principles from CDS into their teaching. The crowd included the assistant dean, a couple lecturers, and three students who were very keen to learn, as are most students we have met here. The resources are scarce. Some of the textbooks they use are from the 1970s, and often times, students must share just 1 or 2 books among the whole class. They also have no access to modern journal articles, even online, so access to a tool such as CDS has the potential to revolutionize parts of their teaching and learning, but only if internet can hold up. Overall, this was a positive visit. The attendees were able to envision ways this could be useful in their practices. We agreed to get all attendees access to the CDS so they could determine appropriate ways to incorporate the training material in their training. They were also very interested in other partnerships where we could share information and collaborate.
We made a quick stop at Hidden Voice School as well, but there wasn’t much action since the students are on break. Parts of the school have had a new coat of paint, and some new ramps were built by a youth group that was here recently. They are expecting to have 20 students this year, with three teachers and one volunteer, plus Aggrey, the director. There is a great building on the other side of the school that could be turned into a skills training area for older students in transition to work. Service to older students is a massive problem since public transport is expensive and cannot offer accommodations, and parents cannot carry their children after they get too big. We talked about the idea of community education, whereby a teacher would visit older children in their homes. This happens on small scale, but funding for teachers is scarce, and people will not volunteer without expecting payment. This expectation of payment for everything (“volunteering”, attending meetings, etc.) is a real barrier to moving people with disabilities ahead in society, but until people are able to feed their families from other employment, it’s a tough problem to solve. On the other hand, if communities that have minimal financial resources are unable to identify and exploit the existing resources, such as each other, the barriers these communities face will be exacerbated. We have seen that community groups and voluntary advocacy organizations are present and growing, so there is hope that others will take notice and adapt their approaches. We asked Mikaela what she thinks needs to happen here to make some immediate impact and she responded that parents need to get involved, volunteering in and for the schools. When a school needs a new building the parents need to come together to either raise the funds with assistance from the broader community or they need to assist in the actual labor needed to create a new school. The community groups and the leaders in the disability field that we met with during this trip and previous trips are hopefully the leaders that can start that movement.
We ate pizza today!!!

Arrival! and Chawama advocacy training

2009-08-16T07:34:00.000-07:00

After some flight difficulties that required us to stay in Johannesburg overnight, we have arrived in Zambia, and could not be happier to be here! We were greeted at the airport by Sr. Nama and Mikela, who brought us to Bauleni Street Kids, which will be our home for the next week. We spent the first day getting acquainted our colleagues here, meeting some of the kids who live and learn here, and going over our itinerary for our time here. We were also very fortunate that today was the day that a number of employees from Barclays Bank were here to make donations and assist in projects. In recognition of their work, there was a special dance with drumming and singing, put on by some of the kids. It made for a wonderful introduction to Bauleni and to Zambian culture.
Bauleni is truly an amazing place, as some of you are aware. In addition to the education of children with and without disabilities, Bauleni is remarkable for their projects aimed at self-sustainability. There is a garden that more resembles a farm, complete with some of the largest cabbage I have ever seen, row upon row of tomatoes, chickens, and some very active pigs (which we were quickly assured were free of swine flu). In addition, there are a number of workshops for students who do not make the qualifying exam to move past seventh grade. These shops make clothes, weaving, woodwork, and teach agricultural skills, among other trades. The products from all of these projects are sold in the community to help sustain Bauleni’s operation. These shops not only provide vocational skills to those participating in them, they also provide possibilities for sustainable, job skills training programs for all of Zambia.
We will be doing a training tomorrow with the self- and parent-advocacy group from Chawama, who will be coming to Bauleni. I know this group is of particular interest to many of you in Minnesota, so we will do our best to get an update to you on how the group is doing as soon as possible.
Update after first training: We had a four hour training with the Chawama advocacy group today here at Bauleni. Topics included inclusion, creating valued social roles, generating employment (including microenterprise), and taking community approaches to health and wellness. The training included a lot of lecture but also incorporated some discussion. There were many stories that were presented by attendees to assist the group and the presenters (us) to better understand concepts and put the ideas into context. Mikela served as interpreter, as about 75% of the group today was brand new to the advocacy group from Chawama. Training went very well, but the conversation following was the really encouraging part.
There was some split between the more established members, who seem to understand the need for self-sustainability, and the new members who were eager for external financial support. The group seems to be in the position of needing to work out the balance for what can happen immediately and what should be seen as long-term goals. There are some strong emerging leaders in this group, and today seemed to be a breakthrough for those three or four strong members to raise their voices to begin taking the group towards a stronger, more focused mission. The debate today raised a commitment for the group to meet next week to start working towards that mission, perhaps with new members on board. This, we think is a very encouraging development for the Chawama group and for the start of our formal work here.
We’re heading out of the Bauleni gates for a while to try to find internet to get this posted. Just thought many of you in Minnesota who have had interaction with the Chawama group in the past would like to hear this encouraging news from today’s meeting.
-Matt

Just hours away

2009-08-12T08:03:00.000-07:00

In just a matter of hours now, Derek Nord, Kristin Hamre, and Matt Bogenschutz from the University of Minnesota will be arriving in Zambia to join in the work of the Twin Cities-Zambia Disability Connection. To our colleagues in Minnesota, we are so very grateful for all of your support and advice leading to our point of departure. To our colleagues in Zambia, we look forward to meeting you soon to work, live, travel, and learn with you, and to share what we can to assist people with disabilities around the country. We look forward to getting our experience underway, and to meeting you very soon. With best regards.
-Matt

Young Voices: Bringing the UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities to Life

2009-07-27T12:05:00.000-07:00

From the young voices website: Young Voices is a project of the Leonard Cheshire Disability Global Alliance.

It brings together groups of young people with disabilities from 18 different countries around the world. It gives an opportunity for them to share their experiences, learn about the UN Convention and their human rights. It gives them training in campaigning, advocacy and media skills to help them hold their governments to their obligations under the UN Convention.

The original idea for the Young Voices project came from discussions with groups of young people with disabilities, NGOs and development agencies in West Africa. These highlighted that young disabled people were a neglected group whose voices were rarely heard.

Starting with a pilot project in 2005, Leonard Cheshire Disability worked through local partners to support groups of young people with disabilities in twelve countries. This covered the last two years of the development of the Convention. As these young people became knowledgeable about the Convention, they began to understand how to use their voices to influence policy.

A highlight for participants in the early years of the project was the opportunity to attend the ad-hoc committee of the UN in New York, where they organised a side event. Their passion and enthusiasm reminded everybody deep in negotiations that the rights of millions of people around the world were at stake.

Three years on, groups of young people with disabilities have been formed or are being developed in the following 18 countries: Liberia, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Namibia, Swaziland, Botswana, Kenya, Uganda, India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, China, Guyana, South Africa, Mauritius, Zimbabwe, Ethiopia and the Philippines. A network of effective advocates working closely with disabled people’s organisations and others in civil society has come to life.

During 2008 and 2009 the groups have been telling their stories through film. You can view some of their films on this site now and others will follow shortly.

Updates from Zambia

2009-06-17T14:05:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow morning, a group of 14 youth and adults will be descending on Hidden Voice Special Needs school. They are representing my parish in Colorado, Our Lady of the Pines Catholic Church. They are on their first mission trip to Zambia and want to make a difference. So part of their mission trip is to work at street level and one of the projects is to complete some renovations and play with the kids at Hidden Voice. They are documenting their activities and posting blogs at http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/OLP/.

Follow their adventures. Some of the places they will visit include Hidden Voice and Bauleni Street Kids with Mikala. Sr Nama will also have them for a day at her school. One other place that they will be going is St Joseph's mission in Kalalushi...there is a deaf school on the mission grounds and it is run by the Sisters of St John the Baptists.

"Dead Aid" by Dambisa Moyo

2009-02-23T10:56:00.000-08:00

Dambisa Moyo is a native of Zambia with advanced degrees in public policy and economics from Harvard and Africa and is about to publish a book called "Dead Aid" which takes an interesting view of the impact of aid to African countries. An interview with her was published in the New York Times Magazine yesterday. To read the entire interview, click here.

Update on Happenings in Zambia

2009-02-18T09:42:00.000-08:00

Last night I had a delightful evening out with Mikala, Sr Nama and Grace Banda. It was fantastic getting caught up with these amazing women. A few days ago I had the absolute pleasure of touring Hidden Voice School with Sr Maura. As you know, Alice Kaunda is the managing person of the school. I have not been able to connect with her at this point. In addition, when I first arrived, as I mentioned to you on the phone, I had the great opportunity to meet with the newly formed self advocacy group at Chawama parish better known as Regina Pacis Catholic Church. Mikala was instrumental in making this very impressive meeting happen. In addition, I have had extensive chats with Fr Patrick Chisanga and Bro Joseph Ntumbila about what is ongoing through their groups. It has been quite impressive by any standard on all that is happening. I am extremely encouraged by the short term outcomes.

Here is just a sampling of the comings and goings...

Bro Joseph Ntumbila is seeking assistance for a young girl in the Copperbelt region. Her mother is single and must care for her at all times so is unable to work. There are no other family members that are identified. He is now in contact with Mikala and others from our trainings to find suitable accomondations for the young girl. It will be difficult at best but now that there is a 'team' environment, Bro Joseph can seek assistance from those who are more active in special needs...especially with direct service. I anticipate by the time I arrive back in the US around March 2nd, that this child will be placed and her mother can than seek employment.

The self advocacy group at Regina Pacis Catholic Church in Chawama is the first and only self advocacy group with special needs in operation in that particular compound...which holds a very high density population of over 50,000...some even estimate over 100,000 people. It meets regularly, about once a month and the group shares information with each other. With the assistance of Mikala and Sr Nama, negotiations are now continuing to find suitable classroom facilities for the first special needs classroom in the Chawama area. Grace Banda is working closely with Mikala and Sr Nama to find that place. At first we thought it might work well right at the church property...and it still might work well there...but for the short term, other sites are now being looked at for speed of delivery of special needs teachers which are paid for by the government. More on the success of finding a structure as time moves forward. The great news here is that these conversations are happening for the first time, networks are being created, infrastructure is being identified and the short and long term results are...families are beginning to have HOPE and encouraged by the interest shown to them. There is also a young friar who has shown some interest in this population and helping with the groups.

At Hidden Voice school, the first building has been renovated and now students are just beginning their classes. There are about 14 new students attending. They only have one teacher at the moment and she is not on government payroll. The school must first be registered which is in the works. It is the hope that this school will be grant aided and more teachers will come to teach as it grows. It is truly amazing what has transpired there. I will bring photos with me, too hard this time to upload from here.

My hope and dream now is that all the relationships that were begun just one year ago, especially with the not for profits in the US and the University of Minnesota's ICI department, that these relationships begin to flourish and stand on their own. The need for ongoing training is essential as is the need to fundraise to build more special needs schools...either integrated or stand alone...any is helpful. There are over 35 compounds with high density and exreme poverty. Many do not have any services or ability to have their children go to school.

With the Franciscan Conventual friars, they are in the midst of their Chapter which happens each 4 years. It is a time where they make their big 4 year plan. Part of their charism remains helping with special needs and disabilities so I am hopeful that this Chapter may make mention of it. If they do not, there is still hope with the new leadership in place, that continued participation and learning occur with this group. As you have stated and I still believe...the center of people's lives here and the influence of the Catholic Church and the local parishes can not be overstated.

Sandy

Recent News from Around the Continent

2009-01-06T08:52:00.000-08:00

Here are a couple of recent news items from Africa:

From Ghana:
Inclusion Of Children With Disabilities In Regular Schools Is Good(click here to read article)

From Malawi:
People with disabilities facing discrimination in Malawi - activists (click here to read article)

ANDD Conference in Namibia

2009-01-04T19:45:00.000-08:00

Self advocates from Kenya, Malawi, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zanzibar, Zambia, and Zimbabwe came together for a one day forum as part of the 7th African Network for Development and Disabilities (ANDD) Conference being held in Namibia.

Click here to read more.

Making Your Church More Accessible

2009-01-04T18:36:00.000-08:00

After returning from our trip to Zambia last September, Amy Hewitt set to work finding a few quick resources that church organizations in Zambia could use to help make their facilities more accessible. Here are links to some of the resources available on church and disability:

More Than 50 Ways to Make Your Church Accessible With Little or NO Cost Involved
Christian Reformed Church's resources on disability concerns

Presidential Election Appears to be Decided in Zambia

2008-11-03T07:15:00.000-08:00

From reports I have read this morning, it looks like Rupiah Banda of the MMD party will be Zambia's next president. For more information, click here.

Twin Cities Zambia Disability Connection Receives Write-up in Connect

2008-10-20T20:21:00.000-07:00

An article on the Twin Cities Zambia Disability Connection was published recently in Connect Magazine, a publication of the College of Education and Human Development at the University of Minnesota. Here is a link to the article: http://cehd.umn.edu/Pubs/Connect/2008fall/Zambia.html

Editorial on People with Disabilities in Zambia Published in The Times of Zambia

2008-10-14T07:08:00.000-07:00

An editorial recently appeared in The Times of Zambia on the need to change the attitudes and actions toward people with disabilities. To read the article, click here.

Zambian Presidential Elections and News Updates

2008-10-09T13:36:00.000-07:00

The election of a new president is set to take place in Zambia on October 30, 2008. There are four people running, but only two that are considered to be front runners. Here are a couple of recent articles on Zambia:
Zambian Voter Roll in Dispute

Zambia Faces Uncertain Future

Update on Chawama Special Needs group updated in Friar's Newsletter

2008-10-09T13:00:00.000-07:00

Father Patrick recently published an article in the Friar's Newsletter about the work the parish in Chawama is engaged in with people with disabilities. The article appears below:

With deep reflection and experience, Friar Patrick
Chisanga speaks on the trainging he recently
underwent in the USA, (Advanced Leadership
Training Program in Disability Advocacy, Services
and Policy):

I would like to share with you about some activities
going on here at Makeni Friary and Chawama
Parish with regard to the training I did this April in
Minnesota, USA.

As you are aware in August there was a follow-up
visit of our instructors from the USA, who stayed at
our Friary and carried out basic training
programmes here as well as at the Parish.
In agreement with the Parish Priest and his
Executive, I have since slowly began to identify and
meet with people with different disabilities within
Chawama - young-old, men-women, Catholics-non
Catholics; whose need include different degrees of
physical as well as mental developmental
disabilities. The turn-out has always been
overwhelmingly high from the very beginning,
indicating that there is indeed a real need and
pastoral challenge in our area. The number has
since risen to almost 100 people. The team that
visited this August met and spoke with some of them.
They also gave some basic training to a number of
parish community leaders. These have since formed
the core group that is actually identifying and
coordinating these people with various special
needs.

Our first task has been to clarify the expectation of
these people and what we are able to offer.
We emphasise the importance of realising that they
are not alone in this situation and that they can
hear and learn from the experiences of others. Their
voice can also be stronger when they speak as one
united voice. We also deal with the shame, fear and
suspicions that are often associated with such
conditions in the family. Of course, there will be
those with particular medical, mobility, and/or
educational needs, for whom we would have to seek
particular assistance. The USA team is ready to help
when need be.

We are trying as much as we can to empower the
parish community and leadership itself to own and
run this program so as not to burden the community
as well as to guarentee continuity. Some Lusaka
based team members who went with us to the USA
and are directly involved in this ministry are giving
us their support. That is all for now, Thanks and
pace e bene.

World Bicycle Relief

2008-09-30T11:32:00.000-07:00

Here's a simple idea making a big difference. World Bicycle Relief has donated 24,000 bicycles to HIV/AIDS caregivers in Zambia so that they can better care for their clients. For one man, this decreased his trip to see one of his clients from 5 hours to 40 minutes.

Update on Progress of Family Advocacy Group in Chawama

2008-09-26T08:59:00.000-07:00

Recently, we received an e-mail from Fr. Patrick in Chawama. In the e-mail, he updated the progress of the family advocacy group that has been meeting at the church in Chawama. Here is an excerpt from Patrick's e-mail:

Special needs Chawama Group: first meeting- Friday 12 September. The turn out was overwhelming; I walked into that hall and was greeted by so many expectant and/or anxious faces of children, men and women, young and old with different disabilities. Ba Father for whom they had been waiting had arrived. That in itself was a honour, but also a huge challenge for me. Before going to Italy, I had began talking with a very small group of women who come out voluntarily after I had preached about the reality of a person with a disability in the family. The subsequent visit of the team from the USA had overwhelming results- hat off for all of you.

On that our first meeting, the one thing they all expected was to have their picture taken. It turned out ot be an exciting photo-taking session- I'll send some as soon as I can; still have problems downloading pictures from my camera.

I addressed the group briefly, especially checking their expectations and clarifying the misdirected ones. I emphasized on the the power of unity and recognizing that they are not alone in the situation, as well as the need to come out of the shame, suspicion and fear that often accompany any disability in the family.

There was also a parent from another parish who spoke to the group about her experience as a mother of a child with a disability and how she has struggled until she's able to stand up for the rights of her child, without fear or shame.

The group met again the following Friday; more came. Many still expected to have their pictures taken. I was not able to attend. The Home Based Care team addressed them.
Our task is to identify a core team that will work with Mathew and I and the parish executive representative(s) to draw up a program and orientation of our work.

It is obvious that such work demands a lot of consistency, time and energy. The parish team shows a lot of interest to learn and make follow up. I really do count on them as well as your support.

On behalf of Mathew and the whole parish community, I thank all of you- dzikomo.
Patrick.

Patrick also sent photos of the group's meetings:

Final Training in Zambia

2008-09-05T13:32:00.000-07:00

Today we are in the process of conducting our 2nd workshop in Zambia. There are about 30 people in attendance. Unlike the workshop at Bauleni, we are flying through our material and had to add additional material for the afternoon.

As mentioned yesterday, Sister Agnes has the organization down to a science. Besides getting everything set up, we watched her actually cooking what ended up being an excellent lunch of fried chicken and other tasty morsels.

It’s pretty hot as well and we are sweltering in the classroom; but, we would be hot anywhere today. It’s pretty amazing how attentive people can continue to be in the face of this heat.

Beth covered collaboration and networking this afternoon within the context of person centered planning. She really did an amazing job. She asked for someone in the group to volunteer someone they knew with a disability. It worked really well to apply the principles to real life situations.

One of the big highlights for the group was listening to Lori pronounce the names of the participants as we handed out the certificates. They were given a choice of having someone from the group do it or for Lori to do it and Lori was elected unanimously! She really did a good job despite a few snickers here and there.

The end of the workshop today marks the end of our official work on this trip in Zambia.

Moving on to Livingstone

2008-09-04T13:24:00.000-07:00

Today we moved on to Livingstone for the rest of our trip. The sisters in Lusaka gave us a nice going away luncheon complete with wine(although none of us felt we could drink wine at 11:30 in the morning!) and a cake and probably the best cauliflower ever. Most of the produce we have eaten on this trip has been grown right out in the yards of wherever we are staying and has been pretty awesome.

Livingstone looks a lot different from Lusaka. There are definitely more trees and hills and not as much smog. The breathing is a little easier. We are staying with the sisters again at a guesthouse called Holy Cross. It’s definitely the smallest of all of the places we have stayed. It is cozy and features a kitchen for us to cook in…a very nice novelty to have even if we don’t end up using it.

We stopped by Cheshire homes, the location of our workshop tomorrow. Sister Agnes really has things organized and the space for our workshop is really nice and comfortable.

Possible Collaborations in Higher Education

2008-09-03T08:52:00.000-07:00

We had excellent meetings with the Zamise College (Zambia Institute for Special Education) and with the University of Zambia Faculty of Education, Department of Educational Psychology, Sociology of Education and Special Education. In both of these meetings we discussed possible collaborations between the University of Minnesota.

At Zamesi there is interest in using the College of Direct Support and identifying connections for special education textbooks and materials to send out to the special education programs throughout Zambia.

At the University of Zambia there was interest in a shared research agenda that would involve community organizations and perhaps a community intervention. Several faculty were present at this meeting and they expressed interest in working on projects that support teachers in working closer with family members and within communities. There was also interest in supporting students to conduct research and in reviewing and supporting these efforts. These faculty were also interested in connecting and collaborating with the Zambian leadership team.

All parties agreed to remain in contact via the internet and to look for concrete and specific ways to collaborate in the future.

Zambians Using College of Direct Support

2008-09-03T08:38:00.000-07:00

It has been exciting for us to hear about how the College of Direct Support (CDS) has been used in the country of Zambia. Makela has been using the CDS and has completed two courses, Positive Behavior Support and Teaching Skills. She is a Principal at Bauleni and has reported using the information and skills that she has learned in the CDS courses to teach and develop the skills of her teachers at the boarding school and in her home based education program. She indicated, "I learned that when a child has behavior it could be because they are trying to communicate. That had never even entered my mind."

In addition to the use of CDS by the Zambian team members who attending the leadership training program in the United States, others are interested as well. The Lusaka Ministry of Education is likely going to set up a learning lab in their resource center so that teachers can access the College of Direct Support. Additionally, Zamise (Zambia Institute for Special Education) is interested in providing the College of Direct Support curriculum to the 120+ special education teachers that they graduate each year. Having learned about their
curriculum, it is evident that the College of Direct Support curriculum could be useful in many ways.

In a meeting earlier in the week we learned about the many needs that educators, families and policy makers have regarding disability services and issues in Zambia. These include working with families and support networks, basic values and attitudes toward people with disabilities, supporting children and adults with autism, working with children who have challenging behavior, transition and employment issues among many others. The CDS certainly contains much of this content.

We will follow up with our Zambian colleagues and begin registering new learners for the CDS as they are identified.

President's Funeral

2008-09-03T02:37:00.000-07:00

Today was a national holiday due to the president’s funeral. So pretty much everything was closed and it seemed like pretty much the entire country was planning on spending the day in front of the television watching the proceedings. The funeral did pretty much last the whole day and when we ventured out in the afternoon, hardly anyone was out on the streets. Typically the sides of the roads are crowded with people and depending on the time of day, traffic is bumper to bumper.

Since we had some unexpected time off, we debriefed a bit about the workshop and what we have accomplished on the trip so far. There were some really positive connections made with the University of Zambia and we will most likely continue working on a research collaboration with them in the near future. A representative from ZAFOD attended our workshop on Tuesday, which gave us an excellent opportunity to interface with them again and begin to build more of a relationship for future work. Within faith-based organizations, we will continue to work with our established partners. One can’t underestimate what the sisters are able to accomplish here. We heard countless stories of sisters making something out of nothing.

We are really hoping to be able to work with Mikela Mukongolwa at Bauleni Street Kids Project to implement an autism classroom. Mikela already has some fantastic ideas about how to put this into action.

There are really a number of directions we could proceed with our work here and it seems as though we will easily be able to create a plan that satisfies research as well as technical assistance needs. Not surprisingly, Amy has a grand plan mapped out in her head for next steps.

Workshop Day

2008-09-02T02:25:00.000-07:00

Our big event today was the workshop we were giving at Bauleni Street Kids Project. We really had no idea how many people to expect, but we ended up with about 75 people in attendance. We had a very nice mix of parents, administrators, and educators.

Advocacy and self-advocacy were our main topics for the workshop. Amy spoke about person-first language and valued social-roles. She showed a video called “A Credo of Support” and the reactions to that were interesting. One man was surprised by the line, “Do not help, ask if I need help and what help I may need.” He related a couple of incidents where he did not ask and the person was very offended. In one, he pushed a wheelchair across the road when the light turned green and the man in the chair was very angry and told him he had not right to do so. In another incident, he threw a quarter into the bag of a disabled woman because he thought she was begging. She became angry as well and told him, “I don’t need your money.”

Another facet of “A Credo of Support” that surprised people was the line: “see my disability as an attribute.” It had never occurred to a few people that a disability could be seen as an attribute.

Liz presented next about law and policy, Lori was up next with self-advocacy, and Beth ended the day with community organizing.

One thing we found out today is Africans love to get certificates for going to education workshops. Apparently, they even keep them in scrapbooks to show people. They are very particular about having their names spelled correctly…I think I rewrote at least 10 certificates! I will admit I had a great deal of difficulty spelling some of the names.

After the workshop, we headed back to Kalundu and had dinner with the sisters. They are always such a joy to be around and have been very gracious. I also have to give a big thank you to Nama and Mikala. They have shepherded us around Lusaka for a week now and organized everything flawlessly.

2008-09-01T13:32:00.000-07:00

Today was a very full day of meeting with organizations and people in the community. So many, in fact, that we had to split into two groups to cover them all. Amy and Liz did the more official government and university meetings. Lori, Beth, and I went to meet a group of people with disabilities in Chawama at the church we had visited yesterday. The poverty and need is so great here that it is hard to know how we can make any sort of a difference. I felt a little selfish. Our main purpose for being there was to gauge what was happening in the poorer communities and how their needs were and were not being met. So, they really had more to offer us than we most likely had to offer them.

A couple of really incredible things happened, though. We found out that none of them had ever met together as a group and they indicated that they wanted to continue to meet on a regular basis. So, they have their first group meeting a week from this Friday. Organizing as a group is certainly one way to start to take back some of your own power and work for a better way of life. Also, there were some non-secular staff from the church there and they were so surprised at how many people showed up and they had no idea that so many people with disabilities lived in the community.

From there, we went to lunch at an Indian restaurant…which struck me as kind of odd for some reason. On the way there, we saw LOTS of military starting to gather around the area of the president’s funeral on Wednesday. Brother Joseph referred to them as “very serious.” I believed him.

Our last stop of the day was at an Organization called ZAFOD(Zambian Federation of Disability Organizations). It was very interesting and dynamic…which is a polite way of saying there was tension. ZAFOD is a self-advocacy organization and one of the ways they advocate is by using the court system to set enforceable precedents in the legal system. One of the gentlemen we met with made a comment about how little the church helps in advancing the cause of people with disabilities. He also mentioned that they were considering suing the church at some point and that offended brother Joseph greatly. He said, “How can you sue someone you have never even met?” He was very insistent that the church is an inclusive place. I don’t think it is as inclusive as he thinks, but I don’t think it is as exclusive as the representative from ZAFOD thought. In the end, these two groups need each other and the reality is that it would be very difficult to effect any sort of change in Zambia without involving the churches.

Zambia Training Plans

2008-08-28T00:56:00.000-07:00

The team of researcher/trainers from the U.S. has developed a training program in collaboration with the Zambian team members. The training will be delivered in both Lusaka and Livingstone. Over 100 Zambian professionals, family members and advocates will attend the training. Currently we have planned to share stories of about people with disabilities we know and with whom we have special relationships, a focus on inclusion, creating valued social roles, rights and respect, the role of the church in changing attitudes and creating opportunities. We have planned an interactive approach to the training and will be working with Mikala and Sr. Nama to ensure the training we have planned is still relevant and appropriate. More later.

U.S. Team Returns to Zambia

2008-08-28T00:38:00.000-07:00

The U.S. team from the University of Minnesota and Arc Greater Twin Cities are en route to Zambia. First we have stopped in South Africa and linked up with Mikala (Zambia team member) for an international conference on intellectual and developmental disabilities - IASSID. This has been a great conference and we have learned a lot, met new Zambians from Inclusion International who will join our work in Zambia and connected with a group of researchers who are interested in collaborative partnerships. Mikala presented a research paper at the conference and she was very well received and respected for the amazing work she is doing at Belani Street Kids.

In addition to the conference in South Africa, we are having some fun and doing some sight seeing. Amy has a friend in South Africa who has been a wonderful asset and tour guide for all of us. Our colleagues Lori and Beth experienced a close up encounter with a baboon who decided to leap into their laps while they were driving on the Cape. Our colleague Derek summed it up, "Yikes and hilarious." We also visited the penguins and have a beautiful view of table mountain from the inn where we are staying. Amy was excited to experience 10 rainbow sightings in one day (yes they were different rainbows and she has pictures as proof).

Kristin, Beth, Lori and Liz leave for Zambia Friday morning. Amy leaves Saturday morning. We are very excited to get to Zambia again. Our work there will be interrupted because of the funeral of the Zambian president. It will be an interesting time to be in Zambia. More later.

Opportunity Partners

2008-04-11T03:56:00.000-07:00

Wednesday, April 9, 2008
The group arrived at Opportunity Partners in Minnetonka to learn more about vocational and residential services for people with disabilities. Opportunity Partners Job Developer Deborah Lawrence, who traveled to Zambia 10 years ago to help teach the deaf, connected with the group about her experience in Zambia and offered suggestions for grassroots job training. They also heard from guest Ruth Murphy, Executive Director of the Community Design Center for Minnesota, who shared her success in implementing gardening projects with immigrants in Minnesota. The group also toured Opportunity Partners’ production facility to see examples of work being done here, and heard presentations on residential services and programs for youth. After a pizza lunch, the group visited two other Opportunity Partners locations: a work site and a group home, both in Bloomington. It was a full day of learning and exchanging ideas!

Zambian Team Attends University Class

2008-04-05T18:32:00.000-07:00

As a component of the leadership training program the Zambian Team members had the opportunity to attend one of the course sessions of the certificate in disability policy and practice offered by the Institute on Community Integration and the University of Minnesota. The topic for the class session that evening was on transition and the State Transition specialist, Jayne Spain was a guest lecturer. Prior to class the team attended a discussion forum for Graduate students at the Institute on Community Integration. This was an opportunity for them to see how post-secondary educational programs operate and what types of programs are available to students and the general public related to disability policy and practice.

Zambia Training Program Goes to the Capitol

2008-04-05T18:28:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Arc Greater Twin Cities and their excellent policy advocates, the Zambians got to participate in the policy advocacy efforts first hand. They went to the State Capitol and learned how various organizations in Minnesota work together to address public policy for individuals with disabilities. They also got to meet elected and appointed officials and see the legislative process in action.

It Snowed In Minnesota - Just For the Zambian Team

2008-04-05T18:23:00.000-07:00

April in Minnesota is good for at least one or two final snows. While most Minnesotans were highly discouraged and down right grumpy about the eight inches we got early in the week, there were at least nine people in the state that enjoyed it. For many of the Zambian team members it was the first time that they had ever even seen snow, let alone danced and played in it. If it has to snow in April in Minnesota then the training team was surely glad that it snowed for the Zambians!

Zambian Team Gets Artistic

2008-04-05T18:07:00.000-07:00

One important component of the training program the Zambian team is experiencing is to relate concepts and theories to real lives and real services. One aspect of the training program has been on inclusion and the importance of relationships and recreation in people's lives.

The Zambian team had many experiences during their first week of training to see how people with disabilities who are artists have opportunities to express and use their talents for fun, enjoyment and for paid work. Early in the week the team went to Dreamland Arts and learned about their inclusionary theater opportunities for children of all abilities.

One evening the group got to go to St. Stephens Parish and "do art" with a number of adults with disabilities. This is a program sponsored by St. Stephens and is open to people of all abilities. The Zambian team members enjoyed the opportunity to interact and to create art with the people they met there.

Another artistic experience for the Zambian team was to visit Interact theater and meet the artists during their training and work experiences. On Saturday they also got to attend an Interact theater production entitled, "Broken Brain Summit." After the production the Zambian team members had an opportunity to talk with the cast members about their performance and their lives as actors with disabilities.

Zambian Team Members Prepare for Minnesota Weather

2008-04-05T17:58:00.000-07:00

After a day of recovering from jet lag, the Zambian team prepared for Minnesota's weather by doing a little shopping at Arc's Value Village. Many bought warm coats and winter boots. The Arc Greater Twin Cities donated gift certificates to each team member.

During the welcome on Friday night at Mary and Mike's River Dance Ranch, Sister Joyce mentioned that she had never been horseback riding. So, on Sunday afternoon the entire Zambian team got the opportunity to horseback ride. This is a photo of Sister Joyce on her horse. Everyone had a good time and enjoyed their new experience.

After horseback riding it was time to get some sleep and prepare for their two week intensive leadership training program on disability policy and practice. On Monday everyone would meet their host families and begin their training.

Zambia Priests Catch Up With Friend

2008-03-30T06:10:00.000-07:00

Fathers Patrick and Deo, Brother Joseph and Billy Beddor had a chance to catch up with their friend and professor, Fr Jude Rochford who has been in Zambia for over 40 years! Fr Jude is recovering from health issues at St Gertrudes in Shokapee, MN. It was a wonderful time for them to see one another again and talk about familiar people and places.

Welcome Celebration

2008-03-30T05:59:00.000-07:00

On Friday evening many of the host families, partner staff and the Zambian team members were welcomed at River Dance Ranch, hosted by Mary and Mike Meuwissen. It was a wonderful time to get to know one another and talk about the purpose and excitement around the project. The Zambian team shared about their work at home in Zambia and showed everyone a clip from a video about their country. Guests were treated to drumming and singing presented by the Zambian team. Music is clearly the universal language as the children who were at the event were totally focused and engaged in the music.

Thanks so much to Mary and Mike for hosting such a generous and fun evening.

The Zambian Team Arrived Safely

2008-03-27T18:29:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Minnesota and the United States! Everyone on the training team is so pleased that you arrived safely. We look forward to seeing you tomorrow night and beginning our leadership training in disability services and policy on Monday. We have worked hard to bring together many people from many organizations to share and learn together with you while you are in Minnesota. Rest, recover from jet lag and get ready to enjoy your trip and all of the experiences we will have together. - Amy Hewitt

"The Zambian Team in MN"

Meet the Zambian Team

2008-03-14T05:38:00.000-07:00

The Zambian team will be arriving in the United States the end of March. Their training program will begin March 31st and run through April 12th. We thought it would be great for you to begin to match faces with names and experiences. Here are your Zambian colleagues:

NAMA

1.When I come to the States I would like to be called by my original name Namangolwa or simply Nama.
2. I come from a family of 18 six girls and 12 boys and am 10th. Non of my brothers or sisters have Special needs but we do have one boy from my extended family who is deaf/dumb/mentally retarded.He is a son of my first cousin and his name is Hector..
3.The most difficult part of having him in the family is lack of proper communication skills with him within the family aswell as among the community.Sometimes one just feels helpless in trying to give him the best out of society so as to make him more independent and accepted since he is laughed at and teased so much by most people when they meet him alone.This has really been heart breaking.
4. The best thing about having Hector is that he has taught me and some other family members to be more patient in life childlike trust. He has also taught me never to take life for granted but always thank the Lord for making me whole thus thank him at all times.This implies that I should give the best service of my ability to the people I live with, work with and have committed my life service to.
5. My highest level of education is Diploma in Special Education at Zambia Institute of Special Education in Lusaka.
6. I have been outside Zambia and was Ireland for a month.
7. Am very open to this training we are coming to and have my attitude is to let God take charge or be in control of whatever is to come. As the saying goes "Let go and let God" At the same time I feel it will be a challenging training busy time of hard work and some fun of course. We will also build strong family bonds among ourselves and between our two countries.
8.While in MN I would like to learn; a) How the people there are able to make life easier for children with learning disabilities; b) Culture of the people, thus its effect towards children with special needs; c) What the country "government" is doing for these children with special education needs in short the support it renders to them.
9. I have no major fears about this journey but hope to meet friendly people and come
back safety home.

MIKALA
While in States I would like to be called Mikala.

I had my uncle who was blind and his daughter was both Hearing Impaired and Intellectually disabled.

The most difficult part is that here in Zambia service provisions of children with multiple disabilities and also with Intellectually disabled lack the necessary programmes and people don't seem to have a know how on the programmes and parental support services are not there.

The best thing is that you learn a lot while you are trying to help through try and error and you also learn to be patient.

I am a Special Education Teacher with a degree in Special Education obtained from the University of Zambia.

I have been outside Zambia to England and France for a week in each country.

I expect to observe and learn from what I will be exposed to at the same time I would also like to share what I know with the people there.

The three things I would like to learn about is advocacy concerning children with Special Needs. How to work with autistic children and the outreach programmes conducted but I would also be interested in whatever is there so that we adapt the programmes to our Zambian situation upon coming back.

I dont fear anything may be missing the terminals but i will be among other people so that is dealt with. The phota attachment will come later.

God bless,
Mikala

PATRICK

This is Fr. Patrick Chisanga, ofm conv.- better simply called Patrick.

We were born 11 in my family; we’ve since lost 5 and were now 6, that is one sister- a religious nun (Franciscan) and 5 guys. Lost dad almost 5 years now- he was 72. I can simply describe my family as a happy, united and religious one. We have an adopted sister, Gift (34), a single mother, living on her own with her kid. I’m not aware of any member of my family with special needs.

I was ordained priest in 1999 and served as parish priest for 2 years plus a year as formator (trainer of future priest) before going to Rome for specialised studies in clinical psychology (masters) at the Gregorian University. I returned home in August 2006 and have since returned to formation work and assistant pastor.

People with special needs are a reality we encounter regularly in our ministry in parishes as priests. My main expectations as I come to the training program is to learn more about this reality, especially with regard to the mentally challenged persons, and how such can be integrated in our parish communities. I hope to come back and share with the young men preparing to become priests and sensitise them about the pastoral care to person with special needs. I also look forward to meeting different people, the inter-cultural exchange and enrichment as well as the fun.

A bit worrying still after clearing the hurdle of visas: the looong trip, different time zone and weather? hope not too harsh. However, looking forward to the experience.

AGNES
Greetings!
1.The name to be used while there is Sr. Agnes.
2.We are three (3) in the family
- My mother of late had a stroke and is now finding it difficult to move about and she is undergoing physiotherapy.
3.Though it has been a month ago the most difficult thing is to go to the hospital for physiotherapy and also collecting drugs.
4.It has been very difficult but at the same time has made us close to her and want to find solutions to help her to be independent once more.
5. I am a grade 12 and a Zambia Enrolled Nurse.
6. I have been outside the country before
- Rome Asisi for one month
- Kenya for 6 weeks
-Malawi for 3 weeks
Swaziland for 2 weeks
-Tanzania for one week
7. Expectations-
To learn more about children with special needs and how to find ways of improving there lives and see them live better lives
8. (a) How to help the family be involved in the program of rehabilitation
(b)To find means and ways for the children who a growing and need a skill for there livelyhood
(c) How to get the community be involved to give their services freely and improve the lives of the Children with Special Needs.
9. My biggest fear is the weather how cold is it?

JOYCE
1. Sr. Joyce Phiri

2. in my family one niece and one of my religious sisters are with special needs

3. to misinterprete their needs

4. they keep me in check to see that I include them in my life. I have to make a decision and an effort to do this.

5. certificate in General Nursing at the Nursing School

6. I have been to Italy, Assisi for 4 weels and Kenya for 11 days

7.to learn how to go about people with special needs and how to influence change in their lives and influence the community to accommodate them.

8. a) how to advocate for people with special needs

b) how to influence policy makers
c) in case of change, (we religious are often on transfer) how to start in a new place
9. missing due to illness like malaria.
DEO

1. l want to be called Deo
2. no one in the family with special needs
3. not applicable but it is a sad experience. l witnessed that when l worked at Cheshire homes
4. you come to know the mystery of life. They are also human beings like us
5. Bachelor of arts at St. Dominics major seminaery affiliated to Urbanian University - Rome
6. no!
7. you come to know more about them better
8. a) the difficulties they go through
b)how can l help them
c)to change the mentality of people
9. the place and new people

GRACE
l have been to Japan for a short training and to the UK to visit my sisters. there are three sisters and five brothers in my family my daddy passed on but my mum is still alive.I have four children one girl and three boys married my husband is pursuing his Phd in Manchester. Two of my boys completed grade twelve daughter is doing her last grade and my last son is in grade
nine.their age range is 15 to 22.One of my sisters who is in the UK has a son who has speech and hearing problems it took time for her to accept but with my help she accepted and the child is in one of the special education schools in the UK. My mum lives on a farm.last year l lost my Grandma who was 79 years old.I like traveling, reading and writing.

ALICE

I would like to be called by my first name "Alice".I come from a big family of thirteen siblings.I have five children and my youngest Namposhya (known as poshya) is a special needs child.

The most difficult part of having a child with special needs is the lack of general information and advice on the best way to help my child achieve her full potential despite her disability.This has resulted in feelings of frustrations.

Having a child with disabilities has enriched my life through working with other children with special needs, which has helped me understand poshyas difficulties.

As for my education I did a three year diploma in Agriculture business management in Zambia and a diploma in business studies in the U.K.

Yes I have been out of Zambia.I have traveled to the U.K,Italy,U.S.A as well as most central and Southern African countries.

I hope to learn as much as possible from your experiences in working with special needs,so that we can also be empowered to advocate,take control and make life as rich and fulfilling as possible.

The three things I would like to learn while there are-

1.Advocacy-The best strategy to use in order to advocate for improved public as well as government awareness.To promote the implementation of all legal rights for persons with disabilities to ensure equal opportunities.
2.Empowering-the care unit and their children.
3.How to monitor and evaluate specific interventions.

Finally I have no fears but will put everything in Gods hands and pray for a safe journey and a fruitful stay.

JOSEPH

1. To be called Joseph
2. 6 (2 brothers and 4 step sisters)
3. I have an auntie with special needs. Taking care of her, seeing her going through pain, to find time to be with her.
4. It teaches patience, it reminds meof my own fragility as a person, it challenges me of how to handle my own needs and those of others
5. Grade 12. Doploma obtained at St Boniventure College in Lusaka
6. yes I have
England 1.5 years
Italy 2 weeks
Poland 2 weeks
Kenya 2 weeks
Tanzania 2 weeks
South Africa 2 weeks
Ireland 3 weeks

7. I expect to learn practical ways of dealing with people with special needs. I need the KNOW HOW
8. 1. Relationships with people in general, 2, Relationships with people who are with special needs and 3, How to be efficient in my work and how to plan and how to make my plans succeed.
9. My fear is I don't know how I will cope with my work for I am ignorant of your computer world! And how I shall cope with the people I will work with.

Preparing for the Zambian Team

2008-02-11T15:14:00.000-08:00

Representatives from Arc GTC, Fraser, Opportunity Partners, St. David's Children's Program, and the Institute on Community Integration met today to discuss and plan for the upcoming training of the Zambian Team. Dates that the team will be in the United States are March 28 to April 11. the training schedule is coming together for the formal training they will receive. Topics will include (but are not limited to): history of disability in the U.S. and Minnesota, core values of services in the U.S (valued social roles, social justice, empowerment, inclusion), overview of management and fundraising in non-profit organizations, employment and residential service, special education and early intervention, faith based initiatives and the role of church in service development and delivery, disability and arts, children with special health care needs, and autism.

The basic training methodology will include a combination of lecture, discussion and on-line training each morning that is focused on a specific topic. Each afternoon the group will then complete site visits that assist then in applying the information they learned each morning with the real world application in the afternoon. In the evenings participants will spend time at disability cultural events, civic events, organizational and parent events as well as learning about what typical American families do in the evenings.

Each partnering organization is now seeking volunteers to serve as host families for one or two members of the Zambian team.

More to come. Amy

Reflections on Zambian Trip

2008-02-11T14:54:00.001-08:00

I have been home now and in the hustle and bustle of life here in the U.S. for nearly two weeks now. Not yet fully unpacked nor organized and caught up from having been gone. Yet, definitely back into the swing of work, home and American politics!

It is sometimes hard to reconcile the need I saw from every aspect of life in Zambia with the privilege we all have in the U.S. We talk about poverty and we talk about need but it nearly trivial when compared to a country like Zambia.

This weekend I had an opportunity (thanks Sandy!) to attend the Arc GTC Arcacdemy gala. It was a lot of fun and a huge success. Many people at that event were asking me about Zambia and I thought to myself that just with the money I spent on my outfit and my husbands suit we could have rented a building for the Hidden Voices School for nearly 12 months. If you took all of the money spent and raised at that event it is nearly unimaginable how far it would go in the right hands in Zambia. I am not at all saying we should stop having galas or that we should stop spending money - I am merely pointing out that there is much human perspective to consider when you think about the resources we have at our fingertips in this country.

I have also been thinking a lot about the intellectual capital we have. We take this for granted I think in the U.S. The number of people in the U.S. with and without disabilities who have become experts on this topic is amazing. This knowledge is so needed and so valued in Zambia. To give you perspective, I spent a lot of time with young men who were studying to become priests. They were working on degrees in philosophy, accounting many areas. They had no access to an on line library system. Imagine your children, yourself or your grandchildren going to college today and not having access to a complete on-line library system. For us, this is unimaginable. For most Zambians in college having limited access to library resources is the norm.

The children in the picture above go to school in a freight container that has had some windows cut into it. You can only imagine how hot it was. But, each of these children were pleased to have a school to attend. They walked for distances of over miles to get to and from school each day. Teachers had chalk boards and chalk. Children had small notebooks on which they wrote on every square inch of paper. Children with physical disabilities more often then not used adult wheelchairs and/or adult crutches that had been cut off. Custom fit - not on the radar of experiences for nearly all of the children I met.

We are a rich nation. We are have so much at our finger tips. Do we all really know, appreciate and understand this? - Amy

An Excellent Adventure in Zambia

2008-01-26T22:18:00.000-08:00

Wow! What a wonderful trip traveling with Amy Hewitt and with Beth Metzler. I cannot imagine accomplishing all that was accomplished without the enormous help and technical assistance from both.

I have traveled to Zambia a few times during the past 3 years. Each time I learn so much. Each time something never changes and that is the heart of the Zambian people. This has not changed. It amazes me the capacity of the Zambian people to welcome strangers, to be hospitable, and to genuinely want to get to know us. In this picture Amy is learning how to eat Nshima (national food) with one of the seminary students at a friary we were welcomed at.

One of our most promising visits was to Bouleni, a residential and day school which has classrooms for both special needs and children without disabilities. This is a classroom with autistic children. In just a few minutes, Beth worked with one of the boys with jumping up and down and helping the child to focus more on the tasks at hand. In this school, there were many more toys and therapeutic equipment than anywhere we saw previously.

As Amy and I work our way back to the freezing temperatures of Minnesota and Colorado, I can hardly wait to move forward with our new friends. We have so much to learn from each other and to discover different approaches and how cultures impact our learning.

Sandy Beddor

Zambian Team Forms

2008-01-25T05:23:00.001-08:00

The Zambian team came together yesterday in Lusaka for an initial meeting regarding the Disability Partnership. Sisters, Priests, Family Advocates and Disability Professionals were all in attendance. It was the first time that many of them had ever been together in the same room and the first time they had learned of the important work one another did. There were 12 people in attendance from all over the country.

Each team member shared their story about how they got into disability services and about their work and personal experiences in working with people with disabilities. many shared that they had family members with disabilities.

The team includes individuals who provide in home family support, parent-to-parent networking and support, special education, skill training and also government officials involved in disability policy work and special education.

Sandy did a few team building exercises with the Zambian team and they began to meld as a team. They will meet a few times together in person before they arrive in the United States. We gathered names adn contact information and one of the members agreed to facilitate this meeting and do the logistical coordination.

This initial meeting was very helpful to me as I think about pulling together proposals for funding and the training program for the Zambian team. I was able to get ideas about priorities and more importantly have greater understanding about many aspects of supports to Zambians with disabilities that I want them to share with the U.S. team. I have also been able to visit and interact with staff from most of the programs they represent.

Once we have returned to the states we can share photos with you and profiles of each of the Zambian team members and the services they provide to people with disabilities.

I leave tomorrow morning and return on Sunday to Minnesota. I am not sure where the time has gone and there is so much more to see and do in this country. I have had a life changing experience.

See you all very soon. More later. Amy

EDPA 5356 Students

2008-01-22T21:35:00.001-08:00

EDPA 5356 Students

Hello from Zambia. I am so sorry to miss our first class of the semester but you are in excellent hands with Marijo and Maggie.

Have any of you traveled to Zambia before? I will be curious to talk with you about your African experiences when I am in class next week.

If you read this “blog” you will begin to hear about some of my experiences and travels over here. I have been unable to put into words much of what I have been thinking about as I observe and experience what this trip has offered me. I have now had a chance to see and observe many programs for people with disabilities. I am struck at what best practice means here and what it means in the US and how these compare. More importantly thinking about why these differences exist and what the similarities are is critical.

I am invigorated by the opportunity to host a group of disability professionals from Zambia in April in the US. I am hoping they will all be able to join one of our Thursday evening classes as a part of their training. Enjoy your first class and I will see you next week.

Amy

Arc GTC Board Meeting

2008-01-22T21:32:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone,

I tried to post this yesterday before the Board meeting. I had it all written and when I was ready to hit "send" the power went out. for the last 4 evenings the power has been out in the entire country. Anyhow, after the fact, here are some comments intended for the Board meeting:

Hello from Africa

Sorry to miss the Board meeting but Kim has me on assignment in Zambia. I truly wish that you were all here too because the only way you can understand the need and the relevance to our work is to be here and see and feel what I have had the opportunity to experience over the past many days.

I had hoped to upload a lot more photos and perhaps video but the internet connection here is fragmented at best and extremely slow – though high speed for Zambians. I promise to prepare a short slide show for you to watch at an upcoming BOD meeting.

I can tell you that the hard work of the Arc and its leadership over the years has truly paid off for persons with disabilities in our country. We have made remarkable progress over the years. Yet, the reality of services in the US and the many frustrations we all feel over them and discuss at Board meetings is simply irrelevant in the Zambian context. These children and adults merely want an opportunity to exist, to be fed, to have a place to call home and to be seen as a person. Any child in Zambia is thrilled by the opportunity to be educated and only a few children with disabilities have these opportunities. The schools and services I have seen are institutions, mostly residential schools. The children receive some education (but they only have teachers if the government recognizes the school and assigns teachers).

We certainly worry about the many things in the US that are simply not issues here in Zambia – liability, litigation, regulations, supervision, qualifications. Yet we both seem to worry about funding……. This is ironic to me and I am having a hard time reconciling it in my mind and heart. The enormous wealth of the US and we still never feel we have enough money.

I am recognizing each day that there are many lessons we can learn from the Zambians. The church as the “community” for Zambian people is essential. Church communities and extended families take care of the needs of their family members. The Zambian missionaries and lay people that are serving others seem to recognize the risk of entitlements and how often entitlements can create unnecessary dependency. Interdependence among families, extended families and among the children with and without disabilities has been ever-present in every situation I have observed and experienced.

Amy

Copperbelt Services

2008-01-21T22:03:00.000-08:00

We drove up to the Copperbelt area on Monday and will spend Monday and Tuesday here touring and visiting with the few disability programs in this area. Yesterday while Sandy was at Mission Press I went to visit three programs. One was what they call a "hostel" for about 6 women with disabilities who are able to "support themselves" by making goods and selling them. Another program was a residential school for young adults ages 15 - 30 and then the third was a program for children, again a residential school.

One woman I met, Helen, who was selling chips and sweets at a stand outside her house asked me, "How do people with disabilities live in America?" I was stumbling to answer that. Because, if I were in the US I would answer it differently then in the context of how this woman was living in Africa. She has challenged me to think about the cultural relevance of services and the context. As we think about the training for the Zambian team it will be important to challenge the way we think about disability services in the US.

I have been heartstruck by the way in which children and adults with disabilities live in Zambia. You have to think about the worst of possible services in the US 30 years ago and that is best practice here now. There is hope but there is little money and no empowerment of people with disabilities.

Our work together is hope for the future. More later.

Amy

Cawama

2008-01-20T06:48:00.000-08:00

Today is Sunday and we we went to Catholic Mass in Cawama. Cawama is a "compound" community outside of Lusaka. The priests, friers and sisters are in charge of the church and then also work in missions; some of which help children with disabilities. 5000 families are served by this one catholic church. There was not an empty seat in the church and people were lined up. the choir was amazingly beautiful.

One of the priests that runs this church is perhaps one of the Zambians that will be identified to be on a team to come to the U.S. this Spring. It was good to meet him and we are stying at the friery this evening so I will get to talk with him more and with his students about the disability services and what they see as their biggest needs.

Tomorrow we head up to the Copperbelt area to meet with a number of people there who are working with children and adults with disabilities. It will be good to see their programs and what they are trying to do.

Sandy's cousin Beth left today. She works at St. David's and was with Sandy all last week doing interviews and trying to identify people from Zambia who are interested in joining a team to evolve advocacy leadership among the many missionaries and family members in Zambia. After observations and interviews in the Copperbelt on Monday and Tuesday we will then host a pre-meeting on Wednesday and a more formal meeting on Thursday with possible team members to learn more about what they see as their needs and their ideas about how a mutual exchange program and leadership training could support their needs.

Look for posts from Beth and Sandy soon. More later - Amy

Cheshire Home for Children With Disabilities

2008-01-19T07:07:00.000-08:00

kers
My first visit to a program was at Cheshire Homes in Livingston, Zambia. This program is designed to serve children with physical and intellectual disabilities. They provide special education to about 20 children (although it is difficult to understand the number because they do not keep accurate records) and physical therapy to about 60 children. These children are dropped off and only served during the day - there is an emphasis of keeping them connected with their families. The children attend school only M - W. On Thursday and Friday the workers (Sisters) follow the children to their homes to see how their families are doing. Cheshire Home also serves children out in their communities.

When they talk of services you have to think of it in a totally different way then you think of it in the U.S or at Arc GTC, Opportunity Partners, Fraser and St. David's Child Development and Family Services. My impression is that services usually means feeding programs (giving these children food to eat) and physical therapy and some very basic education. One of these photos illustrates what the therapy room looks like. Supplies are seriously lacking. They have a new building and are going to have two trained special education teachers assigned from the "Zambian Ministry of Education" which means these two teachers will receive a minimal salary for teaching (most special education teachers are untrained and volunteers). The new building will have two rooms for special education. Sustainability is an issue for all of these programs. This program raises chickens and has a guest house that they are trying to rent out to obtain resource to provide their services.

The more I see and the more I learn the more I think that empowering some Zambians who are enthusiastic and committed to helping people with disabilities to learn and develop is a very worthy and much needed effort. I also wish that every CEO who has ever complained about not having enough money (I mean this in the best of ways) and every Direct Support Professional who works with people with disabilities and has African immigrants as co-workers could see and experience the little that I have so far. More to come later - Amy

Arrived in Lusaka and off to Livingston

2008-01-19T06:21:00.000-08:00

I arrived safely in Zambia as planned a few hours late due to weather in London. Sandy Beddor was at the airport waiting for me just as promised. Lusaka was much smaller and far more remote then I had anticipated. The man behind me on the plane was asking where the radio tower was at the airport. I have never landed at such a small airport.

I had just enough time to get to the guest house at the Italian Orthopedic Hospital which is managed by the Sisters of St. Francis of Assisi. Sandy and Beth had stayed there overnight and I was able to shower and get a cup of coffee and then we headed back to the airport to go to Livingston. The children and adults in Zambia come to this hospital for physical therapy and for orthopedic surgery - it looks nothing like an American hospital or even clinic. Very primitive.

While in Livingston we were able to see the Victoria Falls (one of the seven natural wonders of the world) and went on a river boat on the Zambezi River where we saw hippos, giraffe and crocs. We also walked to the Victoria Falls and then down the gorge so we could be on the Zambezi River by the Falls. Brad would have found the trek down and up adventuresome. Sandy talked me into going on an ultralight that day too!!!! Kim watch out - there is A LOT of Sandy's type of adventure in Zambia! we also were able to go to a few markets and get an understanding of the community and the role of the many missions and the various sisters.

This was a time to get settled and get over jet lag. Sandy said is was to be the only "fun time." The work began the following day for me. - More later, Amy

About Zambia

2008-01-15T12:54:00.001-08:00

Victoria Falls

This post is designed to give you an overview of information about the country of Zambia so that you have an idea of the demographics of this country. Zambia has approximately 12 million people; 7 million of these people are under the age of 12. while children and adults with disabilities depend on extended family, extended family between the ages of 30 - 50 are not typically available to most of the country's children. The most common cause of death for Zambians is Malaria and then HIV/AIDS. It is not known how many children and adults with disabilities live in Zambia and there are no systemic services to support these individuals.

Zambia is one of the poorest countries in the world (usually in the bottom 5 - 10 countries) and is dependent on outside assistance from other countries for sustainability. It is one of the most stable countries in Africa and is considered a democratic country.

Twin Cities Zambia Disability Connection - Purpose

2008-01-14T12:08:00.000-08:00

Arc Greater Twin Cities, Opportunity Partners, Fraser and the Institute on Community Integration at the University of Minnesota have joined with advocate, Sandy Beddor, to explore a possible development project with advocates, educators, missionaries and government officials in the country of Zambia, Africa regarding children and adults with disabilities. This project will build on a leadership training program developed by Sandy Beddor to train non-governmental organization employees in Zambia. However, the focus and purpose of this project will be the preferences and needs of children and adults with disabilities and their families.

The leadership model currently being explored involves identifying a group of partners in the United States and a group of partners from Zambia and promoting a cultural and professional exchange. Arc Greater Twin Cities, Fraser, Opportunity Partners and the Institute on Community Integration are working together to pull together the U.S team. Amy Hewitt from the Institute on Community Integration and Sandy Beddor will be spending time in Zambia in January 2008 to meet with various possible partners, listen to their needs and preferences and then to identify a potential team to travel to Minnesota and the U.S. sometime in 2008 on a learning and leadership exchange.

This blog has been developed to provide information, visual illustration and exchange between the potential partners in both the United States and Zambia. Amy Hewitt and Sandy Beddor will provide information and commentary on their travel to Zambia beginning in mid January 2008.