Multidimensional Poverty Index

I've been thinking about the different places faculty from our department will travel in the summer months: three countries in Europe, one in Africa and one in Latin America.   By sharing these experiences, ultimately our UNO students will benefit.

Kris & Beth traveled to Norway in the September 2010 observing schools and building relationships with faculty at the University of Adger.

Phil led a group of UNO students to Norway in May 2012 and then traveled to Finland and Lithuania in August.  Phil has established connections for future research and some of his colleagues from Lithuania will be visiting UNO in October.

Our Graduate Assistant Julie Grotelueschen returned to Kisumu Kenya in June 2012 as a surprise to her former students.  She spent a month just loving on the children of Kisumu.

Jonathan and I traveled to Nicaragua in June to work with deaf children at our deaf school project.  It was amazing to see the impact on the teachers and the students to see a successful, independent deaf adult.

Kris, Beth, Mitzi and I traveled to Nicaragua in July as part of another sister university relationship.  One part of the UNO internal "Faculty Research International" grant was to introduce new faculty members to an existing project in a different country. As in previous posts, there were many lessons learned by all

All of this diversity has made me very reflective about comparisons and expectations.  Entering into another culture can be exciting, overwhelming and very educational.   There are so many thoughts and feelings running through me right now.  :-)

It is impossible to capture the full experience in pictures and videos-- the smells, the stereo sound, the varying cultural nuances----  something I'd love to do as an anthropologist.

For a more "quantitative" comparison, the closest I have come to trying to understand the diversity is the Multidimensional Poverty Index.  There are issues with accurate databases and data collections as well as differing views on how to report the data. While not perfect, it does provide a window into the complexities of these cultures much less their education systems.

The following chart explains this the best and is from  http://hdr.undp.org/en/statistics/mpi/ which is the United Nations Development Program.

The MPI identifies overlapping deprivations at the household level across the same three dimensions as the Human Development Index: living standards, health & education.

Looking at the variation in experiences this summer:

Country	MDI/HDI rank	Category of human development	Gross national income per capita	Meanyears of schooling	Expected years of schooling	Adult literacy rate (15 years older)	% living below the nation’s poverty line	% living on less than $1.25/day
Norway	1	Very High	$47,557	12.6	17.3	98.5	~4.5	NA
USA	4/6	Very high	$43,017	12.4	16	93.9	~15	NA
Lithuania	40	Very high	$16,234	10.2	16.1	88.3	~18	NA
Nicaragua	129	Medium	$2,430	5.8	10.8	52.5	46.3	15.8
Kenya	143	Low	$1,492	7.0	11.0	58.2	45.9	19.7

This specific  information might be great for contestants on Jeopardy but I've been more reflective on how we respond.  Education must be the foundation of any change we wish to see in the world and hopefully the SPED department at UNO will be part of that change.

(Julie Delkamiller)

Palanga Lithuania

After finishing up meetings in Siauliai, my hosts Ingrida Baranauskiene (Dean of Social Welfare and Disability Studies) and Luida (Associate Professor) took me on a tour of western Lithuania coastal towns and scenic parks. We finished our day at the resort town of Palanga. It is a beautiful town on the coast of the Baltic Sea. It has an excellent thoroughfare for walking down to the peer. Perhaps a bit like the boardwalk, but cleaner and safer. Highly recommend a visit to Palanga for anyone who comes to the Baltics.

Today my hosts are taking me to a camp for children with disabilities and then I am by myself until I head home. Having a remarkable time, but starting to get homesick. Head to Riga tomorrow then fly home on Sunday.

Siauliai University, Lithuania

Had a wonderful day today in Siauliai except that I lost most of my photographs via a computer error. Very disappointed to say the least.

My travel into Siauliai began with a visit to the Hill of Crosses which is a very meaningful part of Lithuanian culture. They are not certain why people began to leave crosses on the hill, but it is believe to represent lost loved ones of uprisings past. The Bolsheviks (Soviets) repeatedly tried to tear down the Hill, but the Lithuanians continued to persist. In 1993 the Pope visited the sight, gave a sermon, and placed a cross. This is a place of great pride for Siauliai and Lithuania.

This morning I did a brief presentation to the faculty and toured the facilities. Siauliai University has a new library that is very modern and includes a chessboard.

I spent the rest of the afternoon visiting a living museum and being treated to the traditional cuisine of Lithuania. The hospitality has been incredible and the faculty are very eager for collaboration. Tomorrow they are taking me on a tour of the vacation town of Palanga. Hopefully my camera will not lose the pictures this time.

University of Eastern Finland-Joensuu

After spending 12 hours on airplanes, I was happy to arrive in Joensuu Finland on Sunday evening. I was greeted by Hannu Savolainen, Vice Dean of the Philosophical Faculty, and taken to a Finnish baseball game, which is very different from American baseball, except that they use a bat, ball, and glove to score runs and get outs.

It didn't take me long to realize that Finland is a beautiful country that is characterized by lots of trees and lakes. Unlike Nebraska they are having lots of rain this summer so everything is very green and the rivers are very high.

Today we spent the morning and afternoon discussing potential collaborative topics to pursue. These discussions centered on pursuing collaborative research related to school-wide positive behavioral supports, assessing teacher attitudes towards inclusion, and our online Master's degree in special education with the concentration in behavior disorders. In addition, we discussed some of the longitudinal data sets that we may be able to collaborate on. We had a wonderful exchange of ideas and look forward to turning these discussions into action in the near future.

This evening Hannu and his wife took me to Koli National Park for a beautiful view and a wonderful dinner that included steak with bear sausage. I also had a chance to enjoy wild blueberries that you can pick and eat directly from the forest. It was a wonderful experience with a fantastic view. Erkko Sointu was able to join us on this trip and he provided great entertainment by sharing his enthusiasm for Finland and the Lapland region in the north.

Although I have only been here for a short time, I have done my best to learn as much as I can about Finnish culture. The hospitality has been wonderful and I have experienced a new form of baseball, beautiful scenery, and great food. The last thing I did today was partake in the Finnish tradition of taking a sauna in the evening. I learned that almost every home in Finland has a sauna. At the hotel, it was an entertaining experience whereby I was told that a man's measure is determined by how long he can stay in a sauna. Of course I did not last long, and the jump in the freezing pool afterwards was both terrifying and refreshing. Sorry, I did not take any pictures of the sauna :)

Tomorrow I have one more meeting and then I'm off to Lithuania.

Who Needs Google When you Have Ulises?

Tuesday was spent visiting three schools.  We counted that we stopped six times to find a rural school, but Ulises says, "Who needs Google, when they have Ulises?"  Actually, when asking Ulises about different things in Nicaragua he would not know so we'd turn to Google.  So.... maybe it should be "who needs Ulises, when we have Google?"  Sleeping in the van does not help us find the schools!  Wake up, Ulises:)

The first traffic stop. Shockingly our driver passed someone when there was a solid yellow line! I think we passed at least 20 vehicles that way...on the way there.

We visited two schools in Chichigalpa, the Special School and Francisca Gonzalez, and one school in El Realajo.  Did we mention that involved two stops by the police that included one ticket for the driver?  We had no idea that there were any rules that were enforced on the roads based on our experiences, but there are a few!  The rural school is El Realajo had 11 students present in the one classroom that was holding class that day (another teacher had gone to another town for a meeting so no class.)  The very kind and eager to learn teacher said that she has 37 students in the 4th grade, but most students do not come to school every day as they have to help their parents by chopping firewood, fishing, or working in the fields.  She wants to be part of the Diplamato and is eager to learn how to teach students with disabilities.  She currently stays after school on Wednesdays to work with some students with disabilities so she can focus on their needs.

Wednesday

Wednesday was another busy day as we headed to the port town of Corinto.  The buses you see in the police photo above were shipped to Corinto.  Today we saw a line of small cars that were ready to go.

We visited three schools in Corinto, Ruben Dario, Sara Luisa Marquero, and the Special School.  It is difficult for us to see the special school tucked away behind the other school.  This is still common in Nicaragua.  The students at the special school had a range of disabilities, and there were only 6 students present at the school today.  The teacher said that there are 3 other classrooms, but the students did not show up.  Last week was a holiday week for the schools so many students have not come to school this week.

Traffic stop number 2. Just checking registration it seemed. Check out the row of buses that had just been shipped to Nicaragua.

Google Ulises pumping water at a Corinto school. This is where the water is.

Beth with one of the student from the Especial School in Corinto.

Julie and Mitzi then headed back to the Leon Deaf School to pick up surveys from the teachers. Mariella gave Mitzi a name sign and the students gave Julie lots of Nicaraguan hugs "adios".  It's very difficult for Julie to leave those students each time so luckily the tears blended in with the sweat rolling down her face.

We were able to find time for the best iced coffee in Leon at Barbaro!!!

We need to remember where to get the best iced coffee in Leon. What a treat!

Chacraseca and La Paz Centro

Being in Nicaragua, we were very fortunate to have internet without interruption for six days in a row.  That ended on Wednesday afternoon so we were not able to keep up with things.  We went to a restaurant near la Casa de Protocolo called Barbaro that had free wifi.  We looked so geeky with all of us on our iPads! :-)

The four of us enjoying hummus and nachos at Barbaro

Thursday morning began at 3:30 a.m. for Mitzi as she headed to Des Moines for a conference.  Beth, Kris and I went to Emily Sendin's non-profit school in Chacraseca.  This is a rural subsistence farming community where the average family wage is $2/day.  The students and teachers here were clean, well-dressed and eager to work.  It was great to see a school with books and even creative materials.

A student making a book of vocabulary and pictures-- the teacher was fantastic!

One of the 13 schools in Chacraseca-- all of them have been built with private funding.

World map painted on the wall

Then went to La Paz Centro to visit the Special School.  The students were being sent home at 11:00 so the teachers could prepare for a meeting the next day, but they were nice enough to stay for 10 minutes to let us observe their teaching.  Then we were able to go to another school which also had no students, but the teachers were willing to complete surveys.  Following that school visit, our driver surprised us by taking us to the Miramar Beach for 5 minutes. This is a well-known beach for surfing and vacations in March! On the way there, we saw many, many houses made with tin and old black trash bags right next to such a beautiful beach.

Special School in La Paz Centro.

FINALLY !! Got the picture of the tractor in the street as another mode of transportation. We kept missing it.

It was 12:40, and we still had not eaten! Around 1:15, we arrived at UNAN-Leon La Preppa for a meeting with the Dean of the college.  There was no food that we could eat at the outdoor "student center" so we survived a little longer on Coke Zero and Oreos.  After a very productive meeting with Francisco, the Dean of the College, we had one more place to stop. Boy were we exhausted and extremely hungry at this point----roughly 3:50pm.  Our final school visit was at Los Pipitos, a Nicaraguan organization that supports children with disabilities. We did get to meet the one Speech Pathologist in Leon. Then, FINALLY, around 4:45, we sat down to eat at El Convento hotel. Our waiter must have thought we were starving and nearly ate all of the warm bread in the restaurant.  :-)

After we were finished eating and walking along the streets of Leon, we ran into Ulises!  This was the second time we randomly ran into him in the city.  (We were avoiding going back to la Casa because Maria would expect us to eat again.)  We had one last walk near the Cathedral before heading back to pack all the pottery and hammocks!  Then, the real adventure began..... trying to communicate our plans to Maria ourselves in Spanish or with the Cuban who knew little English as our translator.  We could only laugh!

One last sunset in Leon (at 5:30 p.m.)-- and-- another look at the electrical wires.

Modes of Transportation

Today we headed to Chichigalpa to visit rural schools. When we arrived at our first school, Especial School, we were turned away as we did not have permission from the Ministerio of Education in Chichigalpa. Therefore, we headed to the Administration building (asking for directions in Nicaragua means asking anyone on the street if they know where your destination is because there are no addresses in Nicaragua).  Once there, we received the proper documentation which was a hand written document signed by the the Ministerio of Education Lic. Hugo A. Ulloa Lopez.

While we waited, we began taking photos of the different types of transportation used in this small community.

pedal trike taxi

bicycle and car

Oxen and cart

There are usually 2 people on a bike. This little guys was taking a nap.

Tiring work!

Monday in the Schools

Indiana came from UNAN-Leon this morning to take us to the schools for our first visits and observations.  As things go here, they don't go as planned!  When she arrived, she explained that the schools were getting out at noon so we could visit both schools in the morning.  I think this worked well for Julie as we were able to visit her favorite, the Deaf school in the afternoon.

The first school we visited was the Special School, Centro De Especial-Leon where we met up with Ulises so he could translate.  We had planned to have two of us in each room to observe to establish interrater reliability. However, after a long wait and Indiana talking to the school administrator, we were allowed to go in to the classrooms, but needed to go alone and without a translator. Once, we saw the size of the classrooms, we understood why we needed to go into the classrooms alone as the rooms were very small- approximately 15 feet x 20 feet with a range 5-6 students with a teacher and an assistant.

We all had very different experiences in the four classrooms that we were in with children with varying abilities.  The students were also fascinated by the visitors to their classrooms.

During the 30 minute morning snack and recess, we were able to meet many students.  Mitzi and Kris were guided in imitation by a very enthusiastic student who gave physical prompts when we needed to adjust our responses.  We also watched several boys signing to teach another student how to be the goalie for a soccer game.  During the break, students had rice, tortillas and  juice.

Mitzi and a student at the Special School in Leon enjoying recess.

Waiting to do his part cleaning the yard.

Getting some instruction before the soccer game begins.

After recess, we all had the opportunity to visit one more classroom each at the Special School and then on to the next school, Coleciao Madre Maria Luisa in Leon.  We were greeted warmly at this private school and were able to visit both primary and secondary classrooms.  The busy classrooms had 15-20 students with both general education and students in special education.

We enjoyed an hour in the classrooms before school was dismissing for the day at noon.  Our morning consisted of two eventful visits to schools which were not air conditioned and most of the time without fans.  The heat isn't something that you can prepare for and describing the heat won't do it justice!

Juan, Julie, Loryin & Mariella

The afternoon school visit was to the Deaf School project-- which was part of Julie's first trip this summer and an earlier blog.  This time was fantastic to see the students again and to have them asking if I was going to be teaching them & doing activities with them.  They asked about Jonathan & Maia too.  Each of the teachers was trying at least one activity we had demonstrated in June which made me very, very happy.  The students also tried spelling my name-- which is significant because they all know my name sign but in June we really emphasized the need to know how to spell people's complete names.  :-)   There wasn't much of a breeze but seeing the students again was very invigorating for me!

Squished in the back seat of a cab on the way back to la Casa de Protocolo

We are one step closer to getting Beth, Mitzi & Kris to ride Nicaraguan public transportation:  we got a cab driver who said he could take four people, no problem.  The four of us were squished in the back seat.  It's all part of the experience!

Fireworks and Roosters

The LOUD sounds of Nicaragua are never ending.  Ulises said that when he came to the United States, it was so quiet. Well, now we understand why! The noise is constant...Car horns, motorcycles, music, birds, animals, people everywhere, and fireworks. FIREWORKS have a new place in our hearts since being in Leon. For the past few days we could hear a firework now and then throughout the day, but last night was unforgettable. There were a few fireworks here and there in the evening, but around midnight the blasting began. I thought someone was bombing Casa de Protocolo. I actually opened the door at 12:36am to make sure the place was still standing. Finally about 3am the continuous fireworks stopped, but at 5am, they were in full force again. Then, the rooster began to crow. Are you kidding me? Sleep was over at that point. Mitzi and I were laughing and asking ourselves "Why? I just don't understand."

Then, following breakfast we were informed that July 23 is a day of celebration called the Hereoes and Martires  (1959-2012) "Su Sangre Sonstiene La Dignidad Historicia Mov. Estudiantil". This is a day when four college students were killed while protesting against Somoza's army.   On the second anniversary of the massacre, Carlos Fonseca founded the FSLN.  It is now called the Day of the University Students (and classes were cancelled).

Now the running joke is.....Which would you prefer fireworks or roosters??

Click here for a video of the celebration and the BOOM!