I am from..

The Department sent me to Boise, Idaho to attend a training courses. The training today discussed cultural competency. I wanted to highlight some interesting insights I gained.

1) One of the trainers discussed what she would place in her identity box. It got me to think what where I am from and what I would place in an identity box. The trainers had us write a poem describing our identity. The trainers had us watch a video that had adults who experienced foster care as children tell of their experiences. A huge part of my identity is my family. I can't even imagine being taken away from them and being placed separately from siblings and parents. Also, being placed in multiple homes with different expectations would be extremely difficult. Yet, these adults (used to be foster kids) overcame their situations and still kept a sense of their identity. This made me realize as a social worker, I need to build connections with children in foster care with other relatives, family members, or to community events that will strengthen their identity.

2) The trainers had us write a poem describing where we are from. The goal of writing the poem is building a sense of our own identity and bias. In order to help appreciate and respect other cultures, backgrounds, and etc. one must be comfortable with ourselves. Here is my poem:


I Am From...

The mountains of Utah, the sunflowers of Kansas, the trees of Washington, and the big blue open sky of Montana
Deer and elk hanging in the garage when home for Thanksgiving
Campers, bikers, and hikers
Love, support, and trust
Dad as the breadwinner and mom stays at home
Good food, board games, and laughter
Van Halen, Beach Boys, Def Leppard: classic rock
Kissing my dad through the television set                                            (he's a news anchor if you didn't know)
Church every Sunday
Building a relationship with Christ
You can do better, set the example, and work hard.

3) Helping Children Develop a Sense of Identity
- Involve them in opportunities to learn about customs, traditions, history, and experiences of others in order to develop a sense of pride
-Teach children them meanings of oppression and racism, also teach them hope to cope with it
-Highlight cultural history and individual abilities and traditional cultural strengths

4) An interesting question: Who did you eat lunch with in High School? For most people,it would be people with your same ethnicity, religion, or etc. I was thinking about who I ate lunch with and wondered how we all ended up there. We all had different religious beliefs if any at all and different ethnicities. Some cared about school and some not at all. 
These are some interesting highlights I thought I would share.