Welcoming Cultural Diversity

For this blog I am supposed to select a country I am unfamiliar about, and prepare to welcome a child in my early learn program who recently emigrated from this country.

I selected the country of Eritrea because I do not know anything about this country.

The five things I would do to prepare to welcome my new student include:

1. Conduct a basic online search about general facts about this country using credible websites for information.
2. Find key words in the country’s official languages Trinyan, Arabic and English to display to make it more inviting for the family.
3. Welcome the family and child into the classroom and determine our ability to communicate with one another. If there is a language barrier, find non-verbal ways to communicate such as pictures of familiar object, signs for basic instructions, or a physical demonstration. I will learn their non-verbal cues, and be careful to note their level of comfort with my approach.
4. I will ask questions about the family culture. Discipline, routine, dietary basics and other familiar habits that might help me understand the needs of the child in the classroom.
5. I will encourage the family to visit often, bring familiar objects or pictures in the classroom for display. I will ask if I could have a picture of the family to display for the child to see during the day.

Official Map of Eritrea 

Internet research of Eritrea:

African country bordering Ethiopia, Sudan and Red Sea capital is Asmara.  The area has suffered a lot of uncertainty with government and civil war. It is a diverse country with nine recognized ethnicities and over seven languages. The predominant religion is Islam. Other religions in the area include Coptic Christian, Roman Catholic and Protestant  (https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/er.html).

Official Flag

Flag Description:

Red isosceles triangle (based on the hoist side) dividing the flag into two right triangles; the upper triangle is green, the lower one is blue; a gold wreath encircling a gold olive branch is centered on the hoist side of the red triangle; green stands for the country's agriculture economy, red signifies the blood shed in the fight for freedom, and blue symbolizes the bounty of the sea; the wreath-olive branch symbol is similar to that on the first flag of Eritrea from 1952; the shape of the red triangle broadly mimics the shape of the country (https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/flags/flagtemplate_er.html).

English

 Trinyan

Arabic

References
http://www.google.com/transliterate
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications