More Presentations!!

This week once again we had many presentations. Before the presentations we talked a little about the out of my comfort zone activity. Chad and Beckie came up with an awesome idea. They went shopping at a mall but, they went around the mall in wheelchairs. They said they were treated horribly and if they were permanently in a wheelchair they would NEVER go out in the busy times. As a CYW this is so important to realize that you need to be aware of others needs. If a person is going to be inconsiderate and insensitive in this field, they might as well look for a new job.

I was especially excited for the Mohawk presentation! This summer I spent a week working at a native reserve and it was a great experience. Also, my family has Mi'kmaq heritage. It is great to hear about different cultures. I really enjoyed the thanksgiving greeting. I also think that working in this area it is important to be informed about the different family systems. They noted in their presentation that traditionally women make the decisions for the household but the elders make decisions for the community. Broadening our understanding of different parts of the community is very important as a CYW.

I had never really thought about having to work with Mennonite youth and families before. This presentation had a lot of personal stories, which I love to hear. I feel like they really add to presentations. In this presentation I learned about the difference between new order and old order Mennonite communities. These communities have a very different way that they grieve deaths, which I found interesting. This presentation helped me understand this community a bit more and in which setting I may be working with this culture. It was refreshing to have a presentation about something I don't know too much about.

The last presentation was on India and Pakistan. I will be honest it was very hard for me to pay attention because I was so excited for the weekend to come. What can I say... I am only human. The most useful piece of knowledge that I got from this was the information the group shared on the Caste system that is prevalent in these countries. This is something that CYW's need to be informed about. This can be a huge culture shock for a child who was so used to being put down because they were low in the Caste system. They might not think much of themselves because of the circumstances they were born into, in their home country. We might be called to work with a child that is dealing with fitting into Canadian culture but they cannot shake off the Caste system.

I did learn a lot through the last couple weeks of presentations. It has helped me to reflect on things that have happened in class. Too easily the days just pass by without thought.

But...alas, those are all the words that I have.

Leah :)