The last two days were filled with day-long conference participation. What an incredible participation rate. The 2-300 people in attendance showed up at 8 in the morning and were still going strong after 5 pm. Real commitment to both school inclusion and deinstitutionalization. I did two presentations, one on the CRPD and its implications for Colombia and the other on working with families around deinstitutionalization. You can see the first one here....
https://www.icbf.gov.co/icbf/directorio/portel/libreria/php/frame_detalle.php?h_id=8496
I used a lot of the same material I have been using, and borrowed some slides form both Michael Smull and Nancy Weiss. For those of you who do not know Michael's work, you can find it at
http://www.elpnet.net/
Nancy works here with us at UD, and is also a fabulous presenter.
The trip home began with a wake-up call at 4 AM, though I was already up and a quiet ride to the airport which was amazingly bust at 4:45 AM. Got some coffee for home, candy for work and was glad for the upgrade on the flights home. The international terminal in Miami is a zoo and, like most things in Florida, not quite right!
Off to Prague in a few weeks. More on that leter.
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Friday, October 14, 2011
Public Agency, Private Foundation a Long Walk and Dinner with Family Leaders
Thursday was a long and intense, mostly, day. I got to take a long walk in the neighborhood surrounding the hotel after a 5:30 AM breakfast. It felt good. This city, at least the district around the hotel, is bustling at 6 AM!
Ines and I went to the ICBF to do a presentation. I did a presentation on the CRPD and in particular its implications for how services and supports are delivered to the ICBF (https://www.icbf.gov.co/icbf/directorio/portel/libreria/php/03..html) the government ministry that does social protection and services for families, ranging from adoption to disability. The presentation was coordinated by a young social worker who had been in a presentation on Tuesday, and was to be to a dozen or so officials. It ended up being over 50 people in an auditorium, with simultaneous translation (everyone wears a headset), and lasted for about ninety minutes, with questions. The translator was a young Colombian man, who lived as a child in Logan Utah where his father completed his PhD at Utah State University. So when the questions came, his English was perfect. Made it easy to answer some challenging questions. This agency has perhaps the most things to change, and many of their practices are in direct conflict with CRPD. They are also following national law, so practices will change, some within current law, some after the law changes. Susanna Helfer-Vogel, from the Ministry of Social Protection, worked at both PAHO and the World Bank in DC and stayed for the presentation, and asked good questions. A lot of questions about the process of deinstitutionalization and some about child abuse, adoption (thank you Rachel for the dinner table tutorials over the years on that topic) and people with serious and persistent mental illness and community services. It was intense but productive I hope.
After a wonderful meal of traditional Colombian dishes (thanks Ines for ordering) we walked, on a beautiful day to Fundacion Saldarriaga Concha, set up by a business man in honor of the memory of his son with Cerebral Palsy who died as a young adult. This organization has influence and assets, and funds services and programs for people with disabilities. Carolina Cuevas and her mostly young staff and a board member heard the same presentation, and asked a lot of good questions about families, the process of inclusion, and how to move Colombia forward given their role and resources. They have a lot to contribute, and will also need to change a great deal of what they have been doing. It remains to be seen if they choose that leadership role.
Finally, a dinner meeting with the Network of Families for Change, a coalition of family groups from across the country. Relaxed conversation, some stories about successful inclusion efforts that prove both the theory and substantiate the efforts people put into social and school inclusion, and just plain relaxation. As is almost always the case, families will lead the charge for change, and there are enough of them in this network, with the passion and the willingness to work for it, that I feel good that change will occur.
A long day but went to bed with some hope that this prosperous hardworking nation can move forward on including people with disabilities int he fabric of Colombian society.
Ines and I went to the ICBF to do a presentation. I did a presentation on the CRPD and in particular its implications for how services and supports are delivered to the ICBF (https://www.icbf.gov.co/icbf/directorio/portel/libreria/php/03..html) the government ministry that does social protection and services for families, ranging from adoption to disability. The presentation was coordinated by a young social worker who had been in a presentation on Tuesday, and was to be to a dozen or so officials. It ended up being over 50 people in an auditorium, with simultaneous translation (everyone wears a headset), and lasted for about ninety minutes, with questions. The translator was a young Colombian man, who lived as a child in Logan Utah where his father completed his PhD at Utah State University. So when the questions came, his English was perfect. Made it easy to answer some challenging questions. This agency has perhaps the most things to change, and many of their practices are in direct conflict with CRPD. They are also following national law, so practices will change, some within current law, some after the law changes. Susanna Helfer-Vogel, from the Ministry of Social Protection, worked at both PAHO and the World Bank in DC and stayed for the presentation, and asked good questions. A lot of questions about the process of deinstitutionalization and some about child abuse, adoption (thank you Rachel for the dinner table tutorials over the years on that topic) and people with serious and persistent mental illness and community services. It was intense but productive I hope.
After a wonderful meal of traditional Colombian dishes (thanks Ines for ordering) we walked, on a beautiful day to Fundacion Saldarriaga Concha, set up by a business man in honor of the memory of his son with Cerebral Palsy who died as a young adult. This organization has influence and assets, and funds services and programs for people with disabilities. Carolina Cuevas and her mostly young staff and a board member heard the same presentation, and asked a lot of good questions about families, the process of inclusion, and how to move Colombia forward given their role and resources. They have a lot to contribute, and will also need to change a great deal of what they have been doing. It remains to be seen if they choose that leadership role.
Finally, a dinner meeting with the Network of Families for Change, a coalition of family groups from across the country. Relaxed conversation, some stories about successful inclusion efforts that prove both the theory and substantiate the efforts people put into social and school inclusion, and just plain relaxation. As is almost always the case, families will lead the charge for change, and there are enough of them in this network, with the passion and the willingness to work for it, that I feel good that change will occur.
A long day but went to bed with some hope that this prosperous hardworking nation can move forward on including people with disabilities int he fabric of Colombian society.
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
The good, and the not so good and the bad.
We then visited an "educational" setting that was very segregated, and interestingly run not by the ministry of education but by social welfare. Not much going on at all, and the buildings were barely accessible for those of us without mobility impairments. As in every place we have visited, most of the students are people of color and poor. The staff prepares, from scratch, breakfast, snacks and lunch. For many of these students the nutrition aspects of the program are vital to their good health. And talk about incentives in the wrong place. If children are in these programs, they go all day 9 months a year. If they go to inclusive schools, which are public, it is a half day only. What are families to do?
Finally we visited a 70+ person residential institution. If you have seen one custodial care facility you have seen them all, and this one was no different. Run by contractors, the government owns the building and there is competition to run the places-it is lucrative apparently.
Nothing much going on, again food made from scratch and a lot of cleaning happening. But 4 or 7 people to a room, 0 personalization and a high school sized locker for all of your personal possessions. Apparently about half the people there have been abandoned and have no family contact. For the others, visiting is encouraged but only two days during the week and not on weekends. I could go on, but you get the drift. Meaningless days with meaningless activity, or lack thereof. And Colombia both signed and ratified the UN Convention.
Dinner tonight with a varied crowd at an inclusion conference. More to come tomorrow.
Greetings from 9,000 feet above sea level
Sunday was on of those travel days. My flight to Miami and then Bogota was scheduled to leave at 6:00 A.M.so we stayed in a hotel at the Philadelphia Airport, literally attached to the airport and ventured to Philadelphia for dinner. So far so good. Lots of calls from American Airlines during the night and the 6 AM flight was finally moved to 9:30. Being awake, went to the terminal to check my bag at 4:30 AM and, after a wait of over an hour, got a seat to Miami and was re-booked on a much later flight to Bogota. After breakfast went through security and waited. And waited. 9:30 became 11:45 and we finally took off for Miami. American Airlines graciously gave those of us in steerage a granola bar for free. Oh joy. So, instead of getting into Bogota in the early afternoon and touring a bit got to the hotel at 9 PM and unpacked and tried to sleep. Not much luck there.
In the morning on Monday went with Ines Escallon from Inclusion International to visit Fundacion Fe (www.fundacionfe.org). Ines grew up in Columbia, in Bogota actually, and living in Toronto has not hampered her fluency in Spanish or knowledge of the city. Foundacion Fe was started by a mom, of course, and she is still involved and on the board 4 decades later. Programs there range from early intervention to programs for school age children. The staff all wear white coats, in part because the history and funding tie back into the health agency for funding. The challenge here is that for adults, there are essentially no services unless the family gives up custody and the person is supported in an institution by the Ministry of Protection. Nothing except a small pilot for supporting families or for supporting people to live in the community. The school age programs include a lot of therapy services, as does early intervention which is a clinical model of services. Parents, mostly mothers, bring their children daily for two hours of therapy and other services. Pretty much a huge time investment without consideration of the family's needs or other ways of providing early intervention benefits to families. An official from the government agency ICBF was present and she seemed to understand the need for changes to the system.
After a lunch which was delicious and surely consumed an entire cow, we met with staff working on inclusion from the District Secretariat of Social Inclusion for Bogota. The city, with 8 million people, is divided into 20 districts. The staff, including one senior official, were primarily young and, after my presentation about CRPD, asked questions for 45 minutes. They have developed programs to include over 3,000 children in early childhood programs and are working their was into the primary grades. What a wonderful experience. We talked about the challenges in closing institutions and developing alternatives, and in how to change the culture which is not supportive of poor and struggling families.
Dinner was with Diane Richler and Gordon Porter from Inclusion International, along with other guests, including Ines, her sister, the Director of the Inclusion International chapter in Colombia, essentially a Down Syndrome parents group, held at the home of Ines' mother-in-law who, at 85 is going strong with some full time support. I have been in many beautiful houses over the years but this one was magnificent by any standard, and she has lived there for 46 years and is quite the gardener. Beautiful flowers, lively discussion and a wonderful meal.
That's it for Monday. Off to visit more programs on Tuesday and an unexpected free day on Wednesday due to a meeting cancellation. An enormous amount of work to be done here. Interesting that the government signed and ratified the CRPD yet there is no plan as to its implementation.
In the morning on Monday went with Ines Escallon from Inclusion International to visit Fundacion Fe (www.fundacionfe.org). Ines grew up in Columbia, in Bogota actually, and living in Toronto has not hampered her fluency in Spanish or knowledge of the city. Foundacion Fe was started by a mom, of course, and she is still involved and on the board 4 decades later. Programs there range from early intervention to programs for school age children. The staff all wear white coats, in part because the history and funding tie back into the health agency for funding. The challenge here is that for adults, there are essentially no services unless the family gives up custody and the person is supported in an institution by the Ministry of Protection. Nothing except a small pilot for supporting families or for supporting people to live in the community. The school age programs include a lot of therapy services, as does early intervention which is a clinical model of services. Parents, mostly mothers, bring their children daily for two hours of therapy and other services. Pretty much a huge time investment without consideration of the family's needs or other ways of providing early intervention benefits to families. An official from the government agency ICBF was present and she seemed to understand the need for changes to the system.
After a lunch which was delicious and surely consumed an entire cow, we met with staff working on inclusion from the District Secretariat of Social Inclusion for Bogota. The city, with 8 million people, is divided into 20 districts. The staff, including one senior official, were primarily young and, after my presentation about CRPD, asked questions for 45 minutes. They have developed programs to include over 3,000 children in early childhood programs and are working their was into the primary grades. What a wonderful experience. We talked about the challenges in closing institutions and developing alternatives, and in how to change the culture which is not supportive of poor and struggling families.
Dinner was with Diane Richler and Gordon Porter from Inclusion International, along with other guests, including Ines, her sister, the Director of the Inclusion International chapter in Colombia, essentially a Down Syndrome parents group, held at the home of Ines' mother-in-law who, at 85 is going strong with some full time support. I have been in many beautiful houses over the years but this one was magnificent by any standard, and she has lived there for 46 years and is quite the gardener. Beautiful flowers, lively discussion and a wonderful meal.
That's it for Monday. Off to visit more programs on Tuesday and an unexpected free day on Wednesday due to a meeting cancellation. An enormous amount of work to be done here. Interesting that the government signed and ratified the CRPD yet there is no plan as to its implementation.
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
Preparing for Inclusion Conference in Prague
Spend half the day working on a presentation on deinstitutionalization, focused on "it's not housing" and some other themes, The conference organizers wanted it yesterday so they can translate it into Czech, so I was only one day late! Spent the other half a day working on some background for an international prize for organizations doing inclusive work concerning people with disabilities. More about that when it is public.
Excited about Prague. Some strong leaders there are committed to moving forward and have done some very good work in getting people out of facilities.
More when I get to Bogata.
Excited about Prague. Some strong leaders there are committed to moving forward and have done some very good work in getting people out of facilities.
More when I get to Bogata.
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