The good, and the not so good and the bad.

It is Tuesday October 10th and we left this AM to see an inclusive child care center, called a kindergarten here in Bogata.  Interesting.  If I viewed from U S regulator standards it would not have been good.  Building needed paint, lots of sharp edges, a fence where kids could get their heads caught, mud on the playground.  But watching the 13 kids with disabilities out of about 150 at this center, play and be part of the goings on brings a smile to a person's face.  I will post some pictures when I download them.  It was wonderful.  A rotating special educator shows up three days a week and helps the teachers figure out what will work in particularly challenging situations, of which there are few he said.  Watching teachers, support staff and other students interact with a few of the students with disabilities was sheer joy.  Natural, not posed and easygoing.  For working parents, this center runs from 7:30-5:00 daily and is closed very little during the year.  Including not being able to close for staff development.  It is run by the government directly.

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.