The Tribune

By LAMECH JOHNSON

Tribune Staff Reporter

ljohnson@tribunemedia.net

DISABILITIES, among some of the social challenges developing countries like The Bahamas face, are being studied this week by international students in Abaco.

Lyn Major, founder of the Every Child Counts (ECC) learning centre, told The Tribune about the school’s partnership with Ryerson University, which was fostered by Jean Golden, professor of sociology at the Toronto faculty.

The ECC school, which costs about $400,000 a year to run, was founded 16 years ago to provide an alternative education for children with learning, developmental or physical disabilities regardless of financial, family or social restraints and to maximise each child’s ability to become a productive, successful, and independent citizen.

“We’ve met with students from Ryerson to just give them a bit of an overview of ECC and the philosophy and history of the school,” said Ms Major.

She said that the students were also informed about “how the kids classes run, how our volunteers help us and any other questions and discussions on disabilities that we’ve encountered and some of the thinking that we’ve tried to change about disabilities”.

“We had a couple of hours on that and then the (Ryerson) students went and observed the classes to see what we do. Our kids are very open to other people coming and learning about other places and taking about snow and cold and those kinds of things. Their presence here is great.”

According to 2010 Census figures, there were 5,250 disabled males and 4,888 disabled females in The Bahamas at the time.

Only one per cent of those 10,138 thought to have disabilities are registered with the Department of Social Services, however.

Five of the 26 students taking the International Community Engagement course spoke to The Tribune on Monday about the motivation to take the course and what they have learned in Marsh Harbour.

Brooke Pickering, a Sociology major, said: “We get a lot at Ryerson (University) teaching us about social issues globally but this was a way to get involved with the community and actually get on the ground and see first hand.

“We’re putting what we’ve learned in our text books and lectures into practical experience and so far, it’s been surprising that’s for sure. Even though we do learn about these issues that developing countries face in Sociology, it’s still difficult to put into context and the reality of it is just a little bit difficult to take in.”

Kiyoshi Kobayashi shared similar sentiments with his fellow Sociology major.

“I’ve learned that it isn’t everything it seems” he said, explaining that “from the perception I got it was kind of like a paradise from what I’ve seen in previous years through the media but it’s not entirely like that. Also I didn’t know a lot about its diversity and how there’s so many different cultures, different backgrounds, different races.”

Ben Zimmerman, majoring in Psychology, said he worked “a lot with disabled children and adults so hearing that we would be volunteering with ECC, that was a big part of me taking this course.

“So far, it’s been a good experience. It’s different from where we come from. But I intend to use this experience of looking at the issues that people have, whether they’re in poverty or with disabilities, finding ways to deal with those issues, helping parents deal with the issues and to find common ground, fairness and equality for everyone.”

Global Studies major Aashna Malhotra said she thought the course “would be a great opportunity for me to explore this part of the world that I know nothing about” and to “see if I would be interested in this part of the world to work”.

“I think there are a lot of similarities between The Bahamas and India in the sense that the culture is very similar. There are a lot of contradictions within itself. India is always portrayed to the world as a third world country and The Bahamas is always portrayed to the world as a paradise.”

Aspiring diplomat Nikita Drakokhurst said he had “been around the world to a few countries but I’ve never been to The Bahamas. Part of the course is visiting the ECC and I wanted to get exposure with children with special needs. I’ve never had that before even though I’ve worked in poor communities in Toronto, volunteering in camps, but I’ve never had this specific experience.”

The Politics and Governance major added that the short time on the ground and conversations with people in the community have revealed “a lot of issues that are not being covered by the government and the government here is not really involved in the communities as well as it should be.”

Dr Keithley Woolward, Director of Graduate Programmes at the College of The Bahamas,  was present at the ECC’s hosting of the students and faculty of Ryerson University and noted an existing agreement between ECC and Ryerson that is expected to last three more years.

“Hopefully soon there can be a formal relationship with ECC in terms of community engagement, including those aspect in some of the courses we’re going to be developing out as we transition to university status but also putting into the work that the college does, an obligation to be involved in the community in some kind of way,” he said.

In May 2012, COB was given a mandate by the returning Progressive Liberal Party government to become the University of The Bahamas by 2015.

To that end, Council Chairman Alfred Sears approved and appointed the UTS team two months later to outline a roadmap for the transition.

They were given a 12-month deadline to produce and present a report to council and the 539-page report was not delivered to council until the end of October 2013, nearly three months beyond deadline.

Following this, the college council appointed rapporteurs to respond to the findings and make further recommendations, which it did in December 2013.

They advised that the college should create an Office of Outreach and Community Relations (or similar) to solidify and co-ordinate the efforts already under way across the institution and to be a catalyst for the deepening of the ties between the University of The Bahamas and its constituent groups.

The transition to university status is scheduled for June this year.