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Ghana

Dubai

Nepal

Thailand

Hawaii

Home!

Our week in Hawaii was great, and now after becoming thoroughly sunburned, I am back in Delaware!

Our flight to Philadelphia last night got redirected to Newark, NJ due to the impending snowstorm. However, we made it to NJ & several of us to a bus back to UD campus. We made it around 9:30 pm & I'm glad to be back (even though I hate the snow)!

Thailand Recap

We are now safely in Hawaii! It is really beautiful here & I am so happy to be here (as are all of us!). We traveled for SO long to get here & then when we got here it was the same time as when we left. It was actually really nice because then we had an extra day, but by last night we were all exhausted.

Our first night in Thailand, we went to a really nice restaurant called Face. The staff seemed overwhelmed to have 20 of us show up (that has been a recurring theme every time we went out to eat on this trip), but they were very accommodating. They decided to set us up with a set meal, so we all just paid a flat rate & received a three course family-style meal. This was a great introduction to Thai food & we all tried things we wouldn't have otherwise, so we knew what would be good to eat the rest of the week!

Throughout our stay, we had three different site visits. Our first was on Monday with the Disabled Persons International Asia Pacific (DPI-AP). The first presentation at DPI was about the empowerment of persons with disabilities through ICT accessibility. ICT accessibility includes information, communication, and technology. Basically, the presentation was about making technology accessible to all persons with disabilities by using techniques such as large screen ATMs, visual and oral instructions for public transportation, and putting computers on tables low enough for wheelchair users, just to name a few. I really liked this presentation because technology is such a big part of my life, and I have witnessed how technology can help (and impede) persons with disabilities, but if we had more accessible technologies it would have great benefits. We also had a presentation at DPI about disabilities and poverty in Asia Pacific. The poverty has led to implementation gaps and problems with legislation. After the two presentations, we were able to meet with a group of individuals with disabilities and interview them about their experiences in Thailand. This was a really great insight into real people after hearing the presentations.

On Tuesday, we went to Ratchasuda College at Mahidol University. Ratchasuda College was started in 1993 specifically for students with disabilities, especially those with hearing impairments. It was a really nice school and had lots of supports in place for the students. The dean of the college gave us an overview of the program as well as the currently disability situation in Thailand. Her presentation was much more positive than the one at DPI, however, there are differences in outcomes for people with hearing impairments vs. other disabilities, people in higher ed vs. those who are not, etc., so it makes sense that they would have two different outlooks on the situation. Regardless, my favorite part of the tour at Ratchasuda College was the assistive technology display. They accumulated many different types of low-tech and high-tech AT & had it all on display. Many of the devices were quite low-tech, like magnified playing cards, talking calculators, and wider rulers, but would make a huge difference in the life with someone with a visual impairment. I took lots of pictures of everything there!

After Ratchasuda College, we went to the Thai Autism Center. The Thai Autism Center began as a parent advocacy organization and has evolved into vocational training. The students at the center create jewelry and other crafts as well as learn music, fitness, and computer skills. I am glad that we went and saw the Thai Autism Center because it was quite a contrast to the vocational work I do in Delaware. While it was great to see the interest taken in the young adults at the Thai Autism Center, there were no individualized, person-centered supports like at home.

Wednesday and Thursday were free days for us. Chelsea (my roommate) & I spent Wednesday relaxing! Spas were ubiquitous in Thailand, so of course we had to go to one! We got pedicures, facials, massages, etc. for much cheaper than in America. Then we spent the afternoon in MBK, a 7 story mall. It was a great day! : ) After shopping, we went out to dinner at a sushi restaurant, and then we all went out to celebrate Kim's birthday (one of our advisors)! Our hotel was in close proximity to Khaoson Road, a large gathering place for backpackers and tourists. There were tons of bars and clubs on this street, and we ended up staying up all night to celebrate, even after Kim left us! Thursday, Chelsea & I continued shopping & enjoying our time in Thailand. Then, late Thursday night we left and made it here in Hawaii!

Yesterday, we spent the morning at Wakiki beach. It was really overwhelmed by tourists and not much like the beaches from home. The bottom of the ocean was volcanic rock, and there were really no waves at all. My dad asked me if I was sure we were in Hawaii haha. The boys and I ended up leaving the beach and we went to rent mopeds (of our group, there are 3 boys out of 21 people). The four of us rented mopeds for 24 hours and rode around the island a bit. Today we are going to go explore some more and hopefully find a better beach!

Back to the States

It's 7:30 pm in Thailand right now & we're leaving at 3:30 am to head to the airport for Hawaii! We have many hours of travel ahead of us, but we're actually arriving in Hawaii around 7:00 am after the time zone changes/crossing the International Date Line. One of our advisors, Dr. Michael Gamel-McCormick, wasn't with us in Nepal and Thailand, but he is rejoining us for Hawaii, so we are also all excited to see him again!

We have had a great week & I will be posting details when we get to Hawaii. As for now, I'm going to go try to get some rest before the travel that awaits!

P.S. - I apologize for the lack of postcards. I actually brought address labels to send postcards to many people, but with everything going on, it has been really hard to find time to locate a post office, let alone write out messages. I hope this blog can suffice instead : )

Made it to Thailand

Our week in Nepal is up & now we’re on to Thailand!

We rounded out our site visits with trips to the Nepal Association for the Blind, the Disability Human Rights Centre, and the National Federation of the Disabled.

On Wednesday afternoon, we visited the Nepal Association for the Blind (NAB). This was a great follow-up to the visit to the Technical & Skill Development Centre for Blind & Disabled on Tuesday. It is estimated that there are around 450,000 people who are blind or partially sighted in Nepal. NAB has around 2,500 active members in 36 out of 75 districts. They provide medical care, eye care, orientation/mobility training, education support, and vocational rehabilitation to those who are blind and partially sighted. The most interesting thing about their organization was their Braille printing press. They have the largest Braille press in Nepal and contract with the government to provide Braille materials to schools. They are also working on developing talking books, which they have found are much more effective for college students than Braille. It takes them about one month to convert a book to Braille because they first must type the book into the computer, print it in Braille, proofread/edit it three times, and then distribute the final copy. Although the final result takes longer and is bigger than an average book, it makes a great difference for those who need it. However, in Nepal electricity is not consistent (as we experienced many times in our hotel!), so it hinders their ability to use the printing press at times.

Thursday morning, we visited with the president and secretary general of the Disability Human Rights Centre (DHRC). DHRC is a group of self advocates established in 2000. They work solely in disability rights and issues throughout Nepal. To promote disability awareness, they publish a monthly journal about disability and have a weekly 15 minute radio program (to reach those who cannot read due to the high illiteracy rate in Nepal). It was very interesting to hear their impacts on the law in Nepal as well as their input into the new constitution. Nepal is currently undergoing a government “makeover” and they are writing a new constitution. DHRC has been actively involved in writing the constitution and has even written a book of suggestions for the government. This was a very informative site visit for me as this was very related to what I want to do in the future – impact the laws for people with disabilities in America (or perhaps internationally!).

Our last site visit was to the National Federation of the Disabled – Nepal (NFDN). This group was somewhat similar to DHRC in their focus on advocacy, but one big contrast is that they were started in 1993 in response to a movement by people without disabilities to provide services. NFDN acts as an umbrella organization for all of the other organizations we visited throughout the week. They have established 25 committees throughout the 75 districts to achieve their goals.

We concluded our week with a group excursion. First, we went to Changunarayan, a local temple, and then hiked to Nagarkot. The altitude and congestion from the pollution really got to me and a few others on the group, so halfway through the hike we ended up taking the bus to the top while the rest of the group completed the hike. Regardless, the mountain views were beautiful and we were able to watch the sunset from the top.

We had some rough travels from Nepal to Thailand, but we’ve made here safe & sound. Upon leaving Nepal, we had to go through three security checkpoints (we were frisked at each one) and had our bags torn apart at two of the checkpoints. We then had an 8 hour layover in Delhi before our 5 hour flight to Bangkok. While in Delhi, we were able to meet up with another group from University of Delaware! They are also on an around the world trip and they are also spending this week in Thailand so we were on the same flight.

We’re all settled in Thailand now & after sleeping all day, I’m ready to go explore tonight!

A Trip to Mt. Everest

Nepal has been great so far! The travel and time zones and everything have been catching up with me – and most of our group – but we’re still having a good time.

On Monday, we went to the Association for the Welfare of the Mentally Retarded (AWMR). They explained an overview of current disability issues in Nepal. AWMR was started in 1984 and currently serves 13 out of 75 districts through 21 units, totaling around 5000 children. We spoke with the president, whose own son has MR, and he was told that nothing would ever be done to help him. Now, as an adult, he can walk, talk, and can remember things. He is also married and has children. It is very interesting here in Nepal because it is among the norm for men with MR to be set up in an arranged marriage. It is important in the religious beliefs here for the men to carry on the family name, so it is a priority for them to get married. Additionally, a marriage partner serves as a type of “social security” to help the man as he ages. However, it is very uncommon for women with MR to be set up in a marriage, and they often remain with the parents and ultimately a sibling.

After visiting AWMR, we went to AutismCare Nepal. Founded on April 2, 2008 by parents of children with autism, AutismCare is the only active autism organization in Nepal. We spoke with a couple involved with AutismCare whose 3 ½ year old son has autism. They have strong ambitions to expand the center into a day care and ultimately a specialized school, hire interdisciplinary professionals, and advocate for inclusion in legislation. They also want to establish a home for children with autism. It reminded me very much of Autism Delaware, a nonprofit organization where I worked for two summers, before they were established to the point where they are today.

Then, we visited with Dr. Basu Dev Kafle, who gave us a more extensive overview of the current situation in Nepal. He explained that policies have been written to transform the curriculum in Nepalese schools since 1996, but none of them have been implemented. The goal was to have all children enrolled in primary school by 2000, but it has yet to happen. The approaches that Dr. Kafle referred to were very similar to special education in the United States. For example, he spoke of using resource rooms, integrating a small number of students with disabilities in regular education schools, using special schools for students with disabilities, and having fully inclusive schools. However, teachers in Nepal do not receive appropriate training for students with disabilities and do not feel comfortable with these students in their classrooms. Many myths in Nepalese culture affect the inclusion of students with disabilities.

Today, we all woke up very early to fly to Mt. Everest. Our tour guide in Nepal got all of us tickets on a very small plane (our group was split in two) through the mountains. It was really cool to see a landscape completely different than the United States and to fly right past Mt. Everest! We were back to our hotel in time for breakfast & then we went out on a site visit.

We visited the Technical & Skill Development Centre for Blind & Disabled (TSDCBD). This was one of my favorite visits on our whole trip. One of my best friends at UD has a recent visual impairment, and I have learned so much from her in terms of what it means to have a visual disability, when before I had focused mainly on developmental disabilities. Additionally, one of my cousins has visual impairments (he has cataracts & glaucoma), so it has been interesting to see the contrast between an acquired visual impairment and one from birth. Using my personal experience, I think this was the most interesting visit for me. TSDCBD was started in 1991 with only 3 students, and in 2008 was up to 606. They serve not only individuals with visual impairment, but also the disabled, deaf, “slow learners”, and disadvantaged. They provide training skills in areas such as computer training, office management & English language, art & clay work, chalk & candlemaking, knitting, tailoring, mobile repair, and weaving. They also have an early intervention program and health & physiotherapy. In addition, they have an internship occupational rehabilitation program that looked remarkably similar to the Swank Employment Initiative that I work with at the Center for Disabilities Studies! They train students in job areas, provide certification, find them an internship/job, and then help the student sustain themselves past the program. It was really interesting to see the same concepts applied halfway across the world and it was really the first place we have visited that focused on vocational issues.

Once we got back from TSDCBD, a few of us hit the Thamel District (where we are staying) to do lots of shopping! There are so many cool things for sale around here & everything is so much cheaper than it is in America. I purchased a few more pashminas (none of us can exercise self restraint when it comes to the pashminas!) and a new bedspread. I also got a new North Face jacket (very popular at UD) for much less than it would have cost at home. All in all, Nepal is completely different than the other two locations we have visited. Although Dubai was very Western, it is interesting that television channels here are what we are used to at home, and in Dubai we didn’t have any channels that I knew. Also, wireless internet is much more present in Nepal. However, the poverty level and street vendors make it feel very similar to Ghana. It will be interesting to see how Thailand will be even different, and as I see more of the world, this trip is just making me want to travel to even more locations!

Dubai Recap

We have had such a busy week! Dubai has been such a whirlwind – there was so much to do here that we used every free minute either out in the city or sleeping! Although I’m sad to leave Dubai, I am excited to continue our adventure. I’d love to return to Dubai sometime, though.

On Monday, we had a class session where we discussed our thoughts about Ghana & compared what we saw in Ghana to the US as well as what we expected to see in UAE. Then, Monday evening some of us took the metro out to the Mall of the Emirates (a HUGE mall). The metro in Dubai is brand new & only some of the stops are open, but it is an amazing form of public transportation. Everything in the metro station is accessible to people with disabilities. It was really remarkable to see such a high level of planning and foresight in a public structure – something that all governments and builders should take into consideration. Anyway, when we went to the Mall of the Emirates, we did the Ski Dubai attraction. It is an indoor ski slope inside the mall. In addition to skiing, they had tubing and other winter sport attractions (a chair lift, sledding, a big ball to get inside & roll down the snow, etc.) I purchased the Super Pass, which allowed me to go tubing & use all of the other features of Ski Dubai except the ski slope. (The slope was for experienced skiers only, and even though I’ve been before, I figured it would be safer for everyone involved if I didn’t go!) After the Mall of the Emirates, we went to a souq (market) in Jumeira where we ate dinner on the water and I finally found some vegetables! (It has been so hard to eat fruits & vegetables on this trip!)

On Tuesday, we went to Jumeira Mosque and Center for Cultural Understanding, where we received an overview of the Muslim culture in the Middle East. We all had to wear head scarves to cover our hair, and I also had to wear a long black dress over my clothes because my capris didn’t cover my ankles. A few other girls on our trip also had to wear them, and we took lots of pictures! After the mosque, we ate lunch at a cool little restaurant called Lime Tree Café (with the best carrot cake in town according to the guide book – and it was very good!), and then took a walk around Jumeira Beach. The water from the gulf was bright blue and beautiful and there were views of the Dubai skyline from the beach. Dubai is such a beautiful city! Then, after a much needed nap, we had tea with Dr. Hussain Masseh, the social care expert in Dubai Community Development Authority. The Community Development Authority oversees human rights, community center and social rights, and social care. Social care is in charge of family services, senior citizens services, and vulnerable groups, which includes persons with disabilities. Similar to the United States, Dubai has a history of institutionalization. Currently, institutionalization is really the only option for children with disabilities. Inclusion education, although legislated, is not in effect here, and services are hard to come by. Dr. Masseh’s own 17 year old son has autism, and he spoke of how he moved to the United States when his son was a child so that he could receive services. Now, Dubai has started an early intervention services, and they are working to implement 17 more services in 2010, including employment/vocational rehabilitation services (I work in employment services at the Center for Disabilities Studies at UD). After speaking with Dr. Masseh, some of us took an abra (water taxi) across the Dubai Creek to a textile souq. It was amazing – it was a huge marketplace just filled with fabrics, pashminas, bags, shirts, etc. I purchased a new pashmina to add to my growing collection as well as a few gifts for my mom & sister.

On Wednesday, we visited the Sharjah City for Humanitarian Services. Sharjah is another emirate that neighbors Dubai. One of the things I was most grateful to see was the Center for Youth with Autism. They had a program set up for teenagers with autism very similar to the classrooms at the Delaware Autism Program. After leaving Sharjah, we went back to our hotel in Dubai and went on a desert safari! We rode in 4x4s through the desert dunes. Unfortunately, I developed some photosensitivity from my malaria medication, which made me very sensitive to the sun. My hands and feet were tingling/burning all day Wednesday and some of the day on Thursday, so with that plus the motion sickness from riding through the dunes, I wasn’t feeling too great throughout the evening. However, when we reached our camp, there were lots of festivities set up. There were camel rides, different foods to sample, shisha (also known as hookah in the United States), henna tattoos, and traditional Arabic outfits to try on. We were also served a buffet dinner and there was a belly dancing show. It was a really nice time and a good contrast of the festivities in Ghana.

On Thursday, we went to see the Dubai Early Childhood Development Centre (DECDC), a program under the direction of the Community Development Authority. It has been in existence for 2 years and serves children ages 0-6 with special needs or at-risk. It is the first program of its type in the Middle East. The program is so unique because they employ a range of professions, including social workers, special educators, physical therapists, occupational therapists, speech language pathologists who go out to families’ homes and community sites to provide services in natural environments. Therefore, instead of the children coming to a center to learn skills, they learn adaptations for the environments they use on a daily basis, while also training parents how to help their children in those settings. DECDC currently serves 27 families and has a waiting list of 29 families, but what is so interesting about their clientele is that they only serve UAE nationals. Only 15% of people living in Dubai are UAE nationals, and the rest are from other countries within the Middle East or Asia, leaving a huge number of people without services. After seeing DECDC, we went to Inspire Children’s Nursery. Two women who used to work for the UAE government in social service positions left their jobs to open a nursery for all children – regardless of nationality, ability level, etc. They converted an old mansion into a school & it was absolutely beautiful. I had never seen a school like it before & it was such a nice, welcoming environment. They were actually still in the process of setting up when we took our tour, but they are opening on Sunday with 10 babies. (The weekend in Dubai is Thursday night, Friday, Saturday). Having an inclusion school is still virtually unheard of in Dubai, so they are pioneering into a new realm for UAE & then will show the government their success so it can be duplicated. After seeing Inspire, we went back to the souq in Jumeira where we went on Monday night. This time, all the stores were open, and we had quite a bit of time to browse to kill time before our tour of the Burj Al Arab! Seeing the Burj Al Arab (aka the sailboat hotel & the only 7 star hotel in the world) was an amazing opportunity for our group. One of the girls on our trip has a friend from UD whose father is one of the executives at Burj Al Arab. He allowed all 25 of us to come take a tour and see the whole hotel. It was truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience. I cannot even explain it in words – you’ll just have to see the pictures when I post them! When we left the Burj Al Arab, we went to the City Centre Mall, which is located close the hotel where we stayed. We did some clothes shopping (my favorite thing to do) and I also had to buy a new camera. I bought a camera the day before we left, but it incurred liquid damage while in Ghana. I’m not sure how this happened, but it was very hot and humid in Ghana, so I’m sure it had to do with environmental factors. Anyway, I got a new camera & will be able to take pictures throughout the rest of our trip!

Friday was our final day in Dubai. We spent much of the day just relaxing, sleeping, and packing. In the afternoon, we went over to the Palm Island to Atlantis. Atlantis is a huge water park and there are only two of them in the world – Dubai and the Bahamas. If anyone has seen the Dubai episode of the Amazing Race, they went to Atlantis and rode the biggest slide, Leap of Faith. Leap of Faith was a straight vertical drop from about 4 stories high. I was SO afraid, but realized it was again a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and I did it. It wasn’t as bad as it looked, but I was terrified on the way down. We did it a second time since our eyes were closed the first time, and the second time we kept them open. : ) It was really fun & I’m glad I did it. I didn’t take my camera to Atlantis, but there are lots of other pictures of the park online. After Atlantis, we went back to the Mall of the Emirates and had schwarma for dinner and gelato. It was delicious! All of the food we had in Dubai was so good. We got back to our room around 11 & then had to leave at 3:30 am for the airport. We flew out of Dubai to Doha and then to Kathmandu.

Kathmandu so far has been really interesting. It is quite a contrast to Dubai! It is somewhat like Ghana, but we are staying right in the Thamel District, so we are surrounded by things to do. Last night we went to dinner at a place called Rum Doodle, where we had an amazing dinner. It was nice to have everyone together and to be off the plane. This is definitely the mildest climate we’ve been in so far – everyone here has been bundled up in hats & gloves. Comparatively, it’s definitely not as cold as it was at home, but it is much chillier than Ghana & Dubai. We have a full week of visits to various disability organizations and I’ll try to update more frequently this week!