Cultural and Linguistic Competency (CALC) Professional Development Training for the Vermont LEND Program

May 23, 2013

The Vermont LEND program faculty and staff enjoyed a full day of Cultural and Linguistic Competence professional development with some very special guests.

The morning started off with a New American from Somalia, presenting on her experiences accessing early intervention services for her son with Autism in the United States. Her powerful presentation was followed by presentations from six local youth and young adult refugees from Bhutan, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Vietnam, and Kenya. Their stories of challenges with discrimination, language barriers, etc. also provided very powerful learning experiences.

With us for the whole day, and presenting in the afternoon, was Sefakor Grateful-Miranda Komabu-Pomeyie, a Ford Foundation Fellow from Ghana, Development Practitioner, Policy Analyst, and Advocate (Sefakor is in the photo with faculty and staff). Sefakor is also a person with a physical disability, from which she draws her theories or frameworks, blending her professionalism with her personal experiences.

Learning about other cultures and how best to support them in the program and in the community has been and will continue to be a strong goal of the VT LEND program.