Welcoming Families From Around the World

                                

    

                                                            Azerbaijan

            

The new child in my preschool classroom and her parents are from Azerbaijan a former Soviet republic but now an independent state since the collapse of the Soviet Union and situated in southwestern Asia. They have been in the United States for about two months and have found suitable housing. The child did attend preschool in her country of origin, and they want to enroll their child in our preschool next month. I have been given a packet with information filled out by the family.

            Building a relationship, establishing communication and developing a sense of trust with this family will be a priority. This will happen when I get to meet them personally.   To be culturally responsive to their needs I can:

·         Learn about their culture-  have some knowledge of basic things such as their language, religion, and type of cuisine in their country .Coming to a different country that has a lot of laws and regulations made by government officials may be different for them.  Culture, traditions, family and religious affiliation often take precedence over formal laws in Azerbaijani. (Azerbaijan- Language, Culture, Customs and Etiquette, n.d.)

·         Learn about languages spoken-    Azerbaijani 89%, Russian 3%, Armenian 2%, and other 6%. My new child in the classroom will have English as a second language so I will have to utilize resources available to help with communication with the child and her family.     

·         Learn about their religion- 95% of its population are Muslims, 85% are Shia Muslims and 15% Sunni Muslims. The family is Shia Muslims. I must be aware of their religious affiliation so that I do not offend them.

·         Learng about  the education system in country of origin - . Despite improvements in the status and welfare of children, the right to education is not guaranteed for each and every child. More than a quarter of children did not attend school because of how much it cost and the financial instability of some families prevented them from enrolling their children. The daughter  attended preschool for a year.

·         Learn about customs & traditions- learn about the customs and beliefs that are important to their family. 

·         Learn about the roles of the family- Gender roles were still mainly traditional in their country of origin where the man is considered the bread-winner and the woman taking care of the household. 

    Everybody wants to feel welcome when they come to a new place. Learning about the family and where they come from where will give me a head start in preparing to welcome them to an environment that feels warm and welcoming. 

Azerbaijan- Language, Culture, Customs and Etiquette ... (n.d.). Retrieved  April 15, 2016 from http://www.kwintessential.co.uk/resources/global-etiquette/azerbaijan.html

·        

The Personal Side of Bias, Prejudice, and Oppression

                                                             

A couple of years ago my grandson was getting baptized. I needed to take a baptism class because my son and his wife also wanted me to be the godparent.I was unable to schedule it at their church so I signed up for a baptism class at my church and attended the class. When I completed the class, I needed a written acknowledgement that I had participated in the class. The religious director refused to give me the statement after the fact when she found out the church was one that let people who have been divorced, remarry. I said what does that had to do with me taking the class.  I didn’t feel it was her business where the baptism was held but in fact, I told her the name of the church in the beginning. She said that the church would refund my fee that I paid. I told her to keep the money and donate it to a worthy cause for the children.

It diminished fairness because other people who were taking the class were not subject to the same scrutiny.  They made a decision because of where my grandson was getting baptized which wasn’t the main issue. The issue was that I took the class and deserved written acknowledgment that I attended. In the end I never receive an apology but instead an explanation of course, and it still weighs heavy on my mind when I think about it.

I was quite angry and offended by the fact that first she said that my grandson’s baptism would not be recognized and second because she would rather give my money back and lie about me taking the class. It made me start having negative thoughts.  I wondered if she would have said this to anyone one else because where I attend church there is only a small amount of African Americans who attend? I think back to my childhood and reflect that this person would have had a hard time relaying that message to people in my neighborhood because children who were getting baptized had certain situations that didn’t entirely agree with church doctrine. I think that she could have handled it different ways instead of making me feel that what I was doing was unacceptable. What made me angry was that there were others who were attending the class as stand- in for people who could not attend, and they got their letters

     

   

I think that it order to change  people will have to educate themselves and be more open to the different religious affiliations in the world today. A lot of religions have the same beliefs but use different ceremonies for various occasions. I would have liked to, at least, had the opportunity to talk about the situation and come up with a  solution. This person took it upon themselves to judge and render a decision based on her bias.