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.