Sarajevo Classroom Experiences

So I have had some trouble getting on a computer the last few days, hence the drought of blogging. Plus, we have been so busy and only recently had any down time.

The last few days we have been working in a Sarajevo classroom for kids with special needs - autism as well as other disabilities. Local staff worked at stations targeting specific skills, and then we rotated through the stations with our child and a student from the University of Tuzla. The first day was a rough start - imagine eight children with autism walking into their classroom to find over 30 adults standing there waiting to make them work. Let's just say there was a lot of crying, screaming and pinching. And the kids had a hard time too. ;).

My little guy was two years old, and was definitely having a hard time with the huge change in environment. It is amazing how quickly everything you thought you knew about therapy and behavior management can go out the window in the face of a screaming two-year old. He cried and screamed through the better part of two hours. However, we did get some great exchanges with PECS to help him to request a break. PECS is a system of communication using picture items that a child will hand to an adult to request the things he wants or needs. Although it may sound like it replaces verbal language, research shows that it does not - in fact it is shown to help many kids develop verbal language while giving them an effective means of communication in the meantime. So, we made it through two hours of screaming, but were rewarded with a lovely team dinner up on the hills surrounding Sarajevo. We got to see the sunset over the city and were able to hear the prayer calls coming from the Mosques spread over the city. As the city got darker, we were able to see the tops of all the Mosques lit up, as well as the glow from the new National Library, replacing the one that was burned to the ground in the war.

I settled into bed hoping the next day at school would be better.

We woke up in the morning and made our way to the Tunnel Museum. During the war, Sarajevo was almost completely surrounded by the Serbian Army, with the exception of the airport, which is located at one end of the city. The airport was occupied by the UN and they tried to keep it a neutral zone. However, Sarajevans would try to cross the airport to get out of the city and most were killed in the process. So, they built a 1/2 mile tunnel under the airport connecting Sarajevo to the zone on the other side that was unoccupied by the Serbian Army.

The museum was a nice look at history, and that tended to be the theme of the day. It's amazing to think that a city the size of Pittsburgh was essentially surrounded and under siege for almost four years, and what the people went through. However, there are two sides to every story, and I know very little about the other side of the story.

Since there are so many of us traveling together, it takes us a minimum of 3 taxis to go everywhere. The highlight of my day on Thursday was taxi drivers. A local man drove a group of us from the museum to downtown that day. He had lived in the neighborhood near the museum before the war. However, since this was essentially on the front lines, his family moved away during the war, and then moved back later. He took us on a little tour of the city between the museum and downtown. He pointed out all the lines separating the different sides, as well as important landmarks in the city. We saw the brewery where Sarajevans got water during the war, and the bridge on which Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria was killed - contributing to the start of World War I.

Later in the day we actually had a taxi driver who was a commander of the Bosnian Army during the war and who had used the tunnel extensively. They both talked about the different cultures and religions that currently coexist in Sarajevo. The second taxi driver said that he was Catholic, and the other two drivers with us were Muslim and Jewish. One commented that one big problem in Sarajevo was that no one could build any factories, because there are too many parties of people to please. For example, if someone wants to build a factory, everyone wants to know who they are - Croatian, Bosnian, Serbian, etc., and that nothing ends up getting done because nobody can come to an agreement. I couldn't help but think that it all sounded a bit familiar...

So after our history tour and lesson, we strolled through downtown, got some street food (cevapi), and made our way back to the hotel to set out for day two at the classroom.

Of course, it was much better than the first day. All of us and all the students had the hang of things from the day before, and although we had a different set of kids from the first day, things went much more smoothly, and there was a lot less crying. My child definitely had is issues, but was so smart and worked really hard at everything. I served as a much better teacher to both him and the student who was paired with me and left the day feeling like I may actually know what I'm doing from time to time. It's amazing how much confidence plays a role in everything. The first day, my confidence was shaken within the first 10 minutes of the session, and I felt useless and incompetent the rest of the time. Truthfully, I probably was - I was too in my own head to help my child or teach my student. But, being rejuvenated the next day, I was able to remember why I am here, why I love my job at home, and what I have to offer.

We went to an Italian restaurant downtown for dinner, then came back to work on our presentations for Saturday's conference.

On Saturday, most of us presented a topic to each other, as well as many of the students and therapists we have been working with over the past 9 days. I don't know about the students, but I learned so much from the other people on our team and know I will be a much better therapist next year because of it. I am really excited to go back to school next year with all this new information and with so many new skills and ideas.

After the conference, we walked to a restaurant in a park, where we had pizza for lunch. On our way, we ran into a Muslim family - a couple and their child. The dad was trying to talk to us in limited English - literally spitting out random words that he knew. Eventually, we found out that his wife was a psychologist in Kuwait, and Anna, our team leader got talking to her. Anna explained what we were doing here, and even as a highly-educated psychologist, she was so surprised to learn that kids with autism can be taught and that they could learn to speak. So, with that humbling thought, we made it to the restaurant, tried to avoid making out in public (see picture), and ate pizza.

Then, we took a horse-drawn carriage ride to a nearby park with natural springs. Sounds so nice, but I felt like the horses were so skinny to be pulling us, and our horse got spooked by a bike whizzing by and some stupid ladies who wouldn't get out of the road. So, I couldn't get off the carriage fast enough and insisted on walking the two miles back. I felt better both physically and morally after my walk, but realized I was turning into my mother =).

The park itself was beautiful. And, since the weather had dropped below 85 degrees for the first time since our arrival, we were actually able to enjoy it. While we were in the park, we saw a Muslim woman in a full burqua (although this one was purple). She had a little boy with her who clearly had some issues, and it was so difficult not to go up to her and try to explain about the classroom here and what it can offer. The classroom we are working in is really the only place like that in Sarajevo and there are so few services for kids with special needs here. However, I was so happy and impressed to see this woman out with the child in the park. As I've mentioned before, the culture in Bosnia view disability much differently than we do in the States and so many of the children are hidden in the house. It may not seem like it, but for this mother to have her child out and about in the park really was a big deal.

We went to a casual restaurant for dinner, and had yet another amazing meal.

The best part of the day - making it into bed before 11 for the first time since I've arrived.

This morning was our last day at the Sarajevo classroom - we ran two two-hour sessions for the two different groups of kids. As it turns out, the family of my two-year old child is from a different city in Bosnia (about 3 hours away) and had moved here to get services for this child. However, they have another child, and since he is enrolled in school in the other city, he stays with his grandparents and then the family drives the three hours to visit on the weekends. Since today is Sunday, my child wasn't able to come to school. This family literally split themselves up because the only services available were three hours away.

So, I worked closely this morning with the university student to develop some goals for our child and now have made it back to the hotel for some uninterrupted time on a computer.

Tonight, we are headed to dinner then out to a bar/club called Pussy Galore. Honestly, some things are the same wherever you go. The only difference is that here, the local women refuse to say the name of the bar.

Tomorrow, we take the three-hour bus ride to Tuzla/Zenica where we will stay until Friday morning.

Two cities down, one to go. I might actually survive this. =)

"Home" in Sarajevo.

Last night we made the bus ride from Zenica back to Sarajevo. I had to laugh on the bus when I realized I was feeling like we were going back "home".

Zenica home visits definitely had their ups and downs - but overall it was an amazing experience. We were able to work with both the current Bosnian therapists, as well as two university students on each team - modeling therapy techniques and providing feedback. The six Bosnian therapists are part of a team here that has recently become an NGO (Non-governmental Organization - basically a non-profit). Most of them have other full-time jobs and they go to people's homes in the evenings to provide therapy to the children. Some of the children have autism, others have other disabilities like Down Syndrome or cerebral palsy. The therapists are mostly speech pathologists, but some are psychologists, and they are all doing many different types of therapy. Scope of practice is a non-issue here, and I have to thank the COTAs and OTs I have worked with in the past for providing me with so much knowledge I could pass on here. These therapists have to work with the children and families on fine motor, gross motor, speech, language, swallowing, cognitive skills, school skills, behaviors, and pretty much anything under the sun. The concerns of the families seemed to be very focused on outward and visible signs of disability (i.e., hand flapping, squealing), and it has been a big challenge to help the families understand the benefits of treating the causes of these "symptoms" rather than the symptoms themselves. As we provide children with more functional ways to express their wants and needs, their screaming and other behaviors will decrease. I left Zenica feeling as though it had been a true success and it was so wonderful to hear that all the groups felt the same way. One therapist from our team works in California with older children with autism, with a heavy focus on taking them out into the community for functional skills training, and by her second day here had the Bosnian children out and about at the grocery store. The only real negative that there wasn't more time. Hopefully though, we have shared enough with the therapists, students, and parents that they can share with others.

Here are some pictures of the area surrounding one of our homes (about an hour outside Zenica) and of the Bosnian therapists going through all of the awesome things we brought.

So after three long days of therapy, we gathered at the hotel for pizza, loaded our 23 bags (yes, for 14 people) into the cars - and headed to the bus station. One of the SLPs in our group speaks the language here and we've learned quite a lot that we wouldn't otherwise have heard. For example, when one taxi driver called another he said "yep, it's a whole bunch of girls and lots of bags". And yes, I said pizza. The food here has truly been awesome (and cheap), but the pizza is spectacular. Thin crust, amazing cheese, and very little sauce. Who would have though I'd come to Bosnia and be obsessed with the pizza. I am pretty sure when I return, I'll be craving Bosnian pizza. Plus, they serve it with ketchup - the sweet kind.

We arrived in Sarajevo late last night, were assigned rooms, and set out to locate them. Of course, room 311 wouldn't be next to 310 or even 309 - or even in the same building as 308, so we had quite an experience finding it. We were directed at first to a totally different building across the courtyard, so we rolled ourselves past all the people (wait, did I say people? I meant men - since there are only ever men anywhere) eating ice cream (yep, grown men eat ice cream sundaes here on a regular basis) to the shady building across the way. We found the elevator, and when the door opened, neither of us moved. The 'elevator' was about 2x2, and didn't exactly look like it has annual inspections. After a look at each other and a shrug, we squeezed on, just to the have the elevator lurch six inches. Let's just say it was quite a scene to see us scramble out of the box, tripping over each other and out of the death trap. So, we rolled ourselves up a spiral staircase, up and down hallways, to find that every room number except ours appeared to be present. So we ambled back down to ask for directions (a third time) and were directed to another part of the hotel (in the original building). We finally found our room, just to find that the air conditioner wasn't working - in fact, the buttons were completely missing and the window was open. Since it's 90 degrees here and we were on the first floor, we figured this wasn't going to work, so we made our way back to reception where they informed us that someone would fix the air conditioner. We tried to tell them that the button was completely missing, but they assured us that it could be fixed. Sure enough, someone was able to fix it - by shoving a metal key into the holes and wiggling it until it kicked on. Oh thee of little faith. We cheered, and said Hvalla (thank you), and sent the man on his way (his reflective vest said "SECURITY"). Of course, the A/C wasn't actually working - just blowing out air, but hey - you've got to pick your battles.

We washed out feet in the designated basin, and went to bed.

This morning, Christine and I made our way down to the breakfast buffet. We were the first of our team to get there, and then realized we were literally the only women not wearing burqas. Now, today I am wearing cargo capris and a loose tank (so you can't see the sweat dripping down my back). In the grand scheme of things, the dress here varies and I've seen many people wearing tanks, strapless dresses, etc. But, as it turns out, we are staying at the same hotel as the Kuwait Consular Office, so all of a sudden I feel like a tramp. Based on the looks I get when I walk around, I don't think I'm the only one who feels that way. =)

So today we have a bit of free time this morning and then we work at the school from 3-7 (I think). This time, we will be in a setting more like a classroom, and are each paired with a specific child and a new university student. We will follow our child through their day in the classroom, and help them participate in activities, providing models and feedback of therapy to the current therapists and students. We do the same thing tomorrow and Sunday. On Saturday we are hosting a conference where we will each be presenting for all the therapists and many of the students from all three cities that are participating in this years program.

And with that, here are some photos of Sarajevo from our first day here.

In the back you can see a little green-topped structure. Back in the Ottoman empire, they were very concerned with hospitality and felt that water and food should be provided to travelers passing through. To this day, drinking water comes out of it. 

Markets in the old section of Sarajevo.

The Miljacka River, which runs the length of the city.

The Miljacka river, and houses on the hills surrounding Sarajevo. During the war, snipers held the city under siege from these hills and the others surrounding the city. The siege on Sarajevo lasted nearly four years (from '92 to '95) and was the longest siege of a capital city in Europe since WWII. Civilians were particularly targeted and the UN estimates that 50% of children at the time witnessed a death and 40% were themselves directly targeted (over 16,000 children were injured or killed). On the left of this photo you see construction of the 'new' National Library, which replaces the one that burnt to the ground during the siege.

 

Zenica Day 2

Yesterday was our first day of home visits and suffice it to say, there were a few glitches. Overall the day was just fine and there is no doubt in my mind that we are so appreciated here. In Bosnia, there is such a different view toward Autism (and all disabilities) than we are used to. Many of the families we are seeing are trying to keep any diagnosis of Autism, or any sign that their child has a disability, a secret. Many of these kids can not attend school on account of their Autism, so they often do not leave the house. The local group of therapists here is trying to find some space to rent for an office/clinic, but no one so far will help them because no one knows/understands/cares about the work they are doing.
That being said, an American on the flight from Pittsburgh to Boston did tell us, "I thought Autism was only in America." Looks like we're all a bit in the dark.

So yesterday my partner and I did two hour (that's a long freaking time to spend doing therapy with one child!) sessions with three different children , while the local therapist, two university students, and the parents watched. Talk about pressure! All went well, and we returned to the hotel for an Fanta.

My highlight of yesterday was sitting on the porch of our hotel as a bus pulled up and let off a whole bus load of traditional Bosnian men and women. The filed onto the porch, even sitting in the empty seats at our table - not like 'oh may I borrow this seat and take it over to where my fellow Bosnians are' but more like 'hello, I am going to sit in this seat at your table, but turn away from you so I can listen to the accordion we brought with us.' So we sipped our Fanta and listened to live accordion music then retreated to our rooms for a shower.

Dinner with the group was at 8, followed by a night out with our Bosnian team.

Bar hopping in Zenica apparently means walking down a dark alley to a hidden staircase, then climbing up 4 flights of stairs to end up in what looks like someone's living room. Now, don't get me wrong, it was amazing - but I sort of wondered when I was going to have to use the secret password to get in.

To fully complete the effect of being in someone's living room, there was a tap that you poured your own beer from. Yep, you just went up, got a glass and poured your beer. Then, at the end told them how much you drank and paid your "bill".

With over thirty of us at the "bar" on a Monday night, we were quite the show, and this resulted in us being allowed to sign our names on the wall and also in them cooking us food. And no, this isn't a restaurant/bar - just a drinking bar. But the owner took it upon himself to whip up some salad and chicken at 1 in the morning to feed us all.

Not that I think people here diet, but if they do, they absolutely don't appreciate the concepts of low-carbs, or not eating within 5 minutes of bedtime. Everything is served with bread (my breakfast this morning is literally a basket of really good bread, and a plate of spreads - butter, jam, cream cheesy stuff, cheese, etc).

So with that, I will finish carbo loading and be off for another day of Bosnian culture training. :)

Zenica

We arrived safely in Zenica last night after a one hour bus ride through the countryside. Now I am sitting outside sipping coffee (more like espresso) with a lovely view of the steel mill across the street.

We are at a little hotel called Motel Almy which is quite nice (we have ac!) with the exception of the stuffed animals in the lobby .... not just a stuffed bear or anything, but one animal eating another.

Last night we met the team here in Zenica. Basically, the company I am with (Speech Pathology Group: Children's Services International / SPG: CSI) did a training here two years ago, and one of the speech pathologists, Bojan, from the training went home and helped a child with Autism in his home neighborhood. Then, that family told another family, and that family told another family, and so on. Now, Bojan has a team of 6 that does home visits around Zenica. People actually come in from Croatia to see the team and have them help.

For our time here, we are paired in groups of five - two SLPs from SPG: CSI, the therapist from Bosnia that currently works with the child, and two students from the University of Tuzla. So the five of us as a group will see three kids today, in two hour sessions, from 9-11, 1-3, and 5-7 (driving up to an hour between each child). We then follow the same schedule and see the same three kids tomorrow and the next day.

So, since blogging from my iPhone is quite tedious and my breakfast just arrived, that's all I have to report for the day, but at least I can get some photos up today.

Bosnia, barely.

So far I have easy access to wifi, which means easy blogging, face booking, and e-mailing, but no great way to upload pics from my camera, but bear with me. So far it's been quite the whirlwind, and of course not in any way you might expect. To begin our travels (we flew to Sarajevo from Pittsburgh via Boston and Munich), we sat down and assessed our connections, realizing that we only had 60 minutes in Boston to get from one terminal to another (obviously complete opposite sides of the airport). So, being the proactive person I am, I went up to the desk to find out what our plan B would be, in the case that we would miss our connection. Of course we only had one hour in Munich also, and since there are not exactly hourly flights in to Bosnia, a missed connection would mean arriving at least a day later. At least. So, as I am talking to the gate lady, she asks me to hold on, gets on the speaker, and announces that the first officer was coming in on another flight, which was late. So, our 60 minute connection dwindled away to 30 minutes. However, being that there were no other flight options, we decided to just get on the Boston flight and then assess the damage from there. In Europe it is so easy to get from one country to another, so we decided if we could just get somewhere in Europe that night, we could get a train or another flight to Bosnia the next day. So, we get off our Boston flight at 8:00 (our next flight is already boarding) and the gate agent is already calling our name, telling us we've missed our connection. I asked him if there was any chance at all of us running to make it and he's all like "um, uh, well..." .... Enough said - let's go! So we take off running, with backpacks banging, wheels squeaking, and flip flips slapping - oh, and I of course am laughing hysterically because we are 'those people' looking like absolute idiots running through the airport for a flight we're not likely to catch. 20 minutes later, after the longest sprint of my life, sweating and panting, we squeeze into the middle two seats between two German guys who are not happy (along with the entire crew of Lufthansa) that we have delayed their departure by 30 seconds. All was well for the first three hours of our flight, until I woke up from napping light headed and passed out in my sleep. My last memory is of the infamous announcement "we have a medical emergency - any medical personnel on the plane please ring your call button". How embarrassing. But, Matt the medic was very helpful and brought me back to life. I spent the rest of the flight sitting in the galley in one of those flight attendant chairs, which are not, by the way, particularly comfortable. Miraculously, we arrived in Sarajevo in one piece and on time, sans luggage. I know I'm not the world's fastest runner, but unless that luggage moves faster than I can sprint, it never stood a chance. We spent the day yesterday fighting sleep and wandering around Sarajevo. It's really a beautiful city. Geographically, it's located in a valley between mountains, but the city itself is quite flat. It's really narrow, with one main street and river running through it. Now, I'm not an architecture guru here, but even I can see the striking difference between different parts of the city. There are the oldest buildings, from the Turkish-Ottoman empire, and then Austro-Hungarian styled buildings, all in stark contrast to the Communist-style housing. All of them are missing chunks out of the sides. As you move through the streets the stores change from little bazaars selling trinkets and tin, to L'Occitane and high-end clothing stores. Mosques and churches are mixed in between, as are hundreds of little outdoor cafes. In fact, many restaurants didn't even seem to have an inside at all - just hundreds of chairs organized outside and labeled with chair covers. We meandered through the shops, got some coffee, and made sure not to sit too long so we wouldn't fall asleep. There is such a contrast between people here - walking down the street you'll see a girl in a mini-skirt and heels, followed by a woman in full body and face cover. I did, however, have to stay outside the mosque on account of my bare shoulders. Slutty tanktop. The churches, mosques, and temples are everywhere. You can be standing outside a Jewish temple and hear the Muslim call to prayer from across the street. We returned to our hotel room, I washed my feet in the designated foot basin, then went back out for dinner. So far the food here has been quite good - not so different really, but it's always fun to find out what you ordered since the menus are in Bosnian only. The biggest challenge so far will be avoided an asthma attack as people here smoke EVERYWHERE. Supposedly, there is a law prohibiting smoking indoors in Bosnia, but since there are ashtrays as soon as you get off the plane at the airport, I am thinking this isn't widely enforced. After depriving ourselves of sleep all day, we slept well, had breakfast at the hotel, and then met to split up all our therapy materials for the three different cities we will visit. SO MUCH STUFF! We have 10 FULL suitcases of materials for the therapists and kids here - its so awesome! Right now, we are sitting and sipping espresso as I blog and send happy thoughts to the airport in hopes that my bags are there. We will catch a 4:30 bus for the hour ride to Zenica, where we will start home-visits tomorrow. Next time I'll try to blog from a computer so I can upload some pics. Love to all!