The Cultural Experience
“Like just about anything in life it’s been everything and nothing like what I’d hoped for. There are certainly a lot of things that need work and I am eager to help in any way I can, but there are also plenty of things I feel they’re doing right. I really envy the strong family ties and warmth that’s at the heart of Afghanistan.”
Matthew Clark, wheelchair user and volunteer with The Mobility Project in Afghanistan
People with disabilities embark on international exchange programs for many well-known reasons – to learn a foreign language, earn academic credit, conduct research, and make new friends and lasting memories abroad. What few can fully plan for or anticipate is the incredible cultural experience that awaits them in a new country. International travel gives you an opportunity to reconsider your own priorities and cultural assumptions, and to delight in cultures that may be very different from your own.
International exchange participants to and from predominantly Muslim countries have the added experience of learning about the diverse cultures and religious faiths of the host community. This was an important consideration for film student and wheelchair user Matthew Clark, who traveled to Afghanistan as a volunteer with The Mobility Project. “Of all the countries I could have gone to, Afghanistan caught my interest the most. So current and so different. It was most outside my comfort zone, but most relevant to us right now.”
Marlon Celson, a high school exchange student and person of short-stature from the Philippines, had similar feelings about studying in the United States. “The exchange experience was important for me because I couldn’t think of a better place to experience a different culture and see the world from a very different perspective. Being a ‘melting pot,’ America is a country of people with many different ancestries. Therefore, there are more chances to meet a diverse group of people.”
In addition to excitement at the prospect of embarking on an international exchange program, many prospective participants with disabilities to and from predominantly Muslim countries also experience concerns about how they will be perceived based on their religious background and/or disability. Some worry about accessibility abroad and different educational models for students with disabilities. Parents and other family members may also be concerned about how the participant will be received in the culture of the host country.
Maria Nahil learned about the Youth Exchange and Study (YES) program from one of her teachers in the Philippines. Although her parents were supportive of her participation in the program, they were concerned about how Maria, who is blind, would live with an American host family and attend public school in the United States. “My parents were concerned that I might not be mature enough to handle some difficult challenges and that I cannot take care of myself while I am in the program.” As Maria prepares to return home after an academic year in the United States, she says, “I now notice that I have become confident and more talkative. I feel that I can do anything I want to do regardless of my disability.”
Abd Elghany Barakat’s parents also had mixed feelings about his participation in the YES program. “In her heart, my mom believed that I could go. She was worried, but she was excited. In my country, Egypt, parents are very protective of their children. However, I think that anywhere in the world parents probably worry about sending their children abroad.” Abd Elghany’s parents were quick to notice how much he has changed and matured as a result of his academic year in the United States. “My parents say that I am very mature now. I can solve my own problems now. I can make decisions.”
Often, the knowledge that participants will live with a family in the host country can help assuage parental concerns. This was the case for Marlon Celson, a person of short-stature from the Philippines who participated in the YES program. “My parents worried about how I would be taken care of so far from home. However, as soon as AFS described the program’s support system and told us that host families are carefully chosen, all of those worries were lessened.” Like Abd Elghany, Marlon noticed that he became more confident and mature as a result of his exchange experience. “The most obvious change I noticed about myself is the fact that I have gained more self-confidence. My parents noticed that I have become more independent – doing more things on my own.”
Working Across Cultures
Exchange participants with disabilities to and from predominantly Muslim countries may encounter noticeable cultural differences in perceptions of concepts like disability, independence, and accommodations during their travels abroad. Insight into these differences can be a useful tool for participants and their families as they prepare for an exchange experience in the host country.
For example, people with disabilities in the United States often view independence as the ability to accomplish daily tasks with little or no outside assistance, or with outside assistance that is under the direction of the person with the disability. In many Muslim cultures, people with disabilities look more to family, community and friends to offer informal support services, and less to professionals and the government to add additional support. For example, an exchange participant from Egypt commented that while a family member provided sighted guide services at home, in the United States, she learned to use a white cane through orientation and mobility training.
Participants with disabilities can gain insight into their own culturally based perceptions of disability, through the lens provided by interactions and experiences in a different culture.
Likewise, it may be difficult to explain a disability, especially a non-apparent disability, in the language or cultural context of the host country. There may be no precise word in the host country’s language for a student’s disability, or the disability may not be one that is easily accepted as legitimate in the host country. For example, in some cultures, a person with a learning disability may be considered unintelligent. A person with a physical disability or epilepsy may be thought to be “cursed” or “possessed.”
Educational models in predominantly Muslim countries may also be
different from the prevailing model in the United States. In many
countries in the Muslim world, students with disabilities are most
often educated in segregated schools with students with similar
disabilities – for example, in schools for students who are deaf,
blind, have cerebral palsy, etc. In the United States, most students
with disabilities attend regular or inclusive schools, that is, schools
in which disabled and non-disabled students attend classes together.
Inclusive education removes barriers so students with and without
disabilities can study and learn together, rather than by providing separate programs for people with disabilities. For more information about how inclusive education works in the United States, please see The Disability Experience in the United States article in the A World Awaits You – International Youth Issue.
Cross-cultural learning is an integral aspect of international exchange. The approach that exchange participants use to address disability-related issues and concepts can set the tone for positive dialogue and increased understanding. In turn, participants with disabilities can gain insight into their own culturally based perceptions of disability, through the lens provided by interactions and experiences in a different culture.
Sharing Religious Traditions in the United States
Exchange participants with disabilities from predominantly Muslim countries may be concerned that they will not be received positively in the United States because of their religion as well. Participants may also worry that they will not have an opportunity to practice their religion in their U.S. host community. Combined with concerns that their host family and community may not be receptive to hosting a participant with a disability, these concerns can be overwhelming for participants and their parents.
Fortunately, for many Muslim exchange participants with disabilities, these fears are quickly replaced by a sense of excitement at sharing their religious traditions with members of their U.S. host communities. In fact, exchange participants in the United States often experience curiosity about their cultures and religion, and the satisfaction of knowing they have a unique opportunity to correct common misconceptions about Islam.
This was true for Abd Elghany Barakat, a high school exchange student on the Youth Exchange and Study (YES) program from Egypt who is blind. “I’m from an Islamic country. Here in the United States, there are Muslims, but not around me. Around me everyone is Christian. I was very excited to know and learn about that culture. In America, it is very important that I practice my religion. I just went to a mosque in Wichita, Kansas. I am able to practice my religion very well [and] my family was very supportive during Ramadan. Many people now know about my culture and are excited to know me, and more people are trusting of the Muslim community.”
High school exchange student, Kawthar Taleb of Lebanon, who is also blind, had a similarly positive experience in her Pennsylvania community. “I personally didn’t face that problem [as a Muslim student in the United States]. I can say that I didn’t face problems at school or anywhere.” Graduate student Mohammed Loutfy of Lebanon who is blind adds, “I actually feel more comfortable practicing my religion in the U.S. than I do in my home country. People in America respect other people’s religious preferences. Here in the United States people do have some misconceptions about Muslims. But it depends a lot on where you are in the States.”
Adding Diversity to U.S. Communities
For U.S. host families and host communities, the opportunity to learn about Islam from an exchange student can be an incredibly rewarding experience. Cheryl Johnston hosted a high school exchange student from Malaysia in her Massachusetts home. “She [Ayu] is Muslim and so wore her scarf everyday to be covered. All the students were extremely curious and had a lot of questions for her about that. That was
interesting. They wanted to know a lot about her home in Malaysia…My
family learned a lot. We would like to host another deaf person who is
high school age…[When] Ayu left, my kids missed her. She was really fun
and loved to laugh,” says Cheryl.
Exchange program provider
and American Councils local coordinator, Tom Leis, agrees. Asked about
the impact of hosting a high school exchange student in his community,
Tom writes, “I hope it was to see that the Afghan people are a
people to be respected, as we respect each other. I hope having Ghaffar
in our small community of Cashton, Wisconsin changes how the people of
our community listen to and think about the news that is reported about
the people in this part of the world.”
Cross-Cultural Experiences in the Muslim World
For exchange participants from the United States, traveling to a country with a significant Muslim population and cultural identity can mean an unforgettable glimpse into cultures with different norms and traditions. For Chris Opsal, a student with diabetes, traveling to Turkey “was really incredible because it is a Muslim country. You are woken up by the call to prayer in the morning and you see a [broad] range of people, from the businesswoman to the woman who is fully covered. Definitely, my conceptions have very much been informed by my experience there.”
For film student Matthew Clark, living and working in Afghanistan brought with it the added benefit of visiting a country and culture in transition. “I went from working and socializing with women to a country where it’s disrespectful to make eye contact with a woman. In Kabul, maybe 1 out of every 10 women wears a burka. Most just wear a headscarf. Still, there have been little girls playing along with the little boys of my group and it's not seen as strange at all. It’s very exciting, [Afghanistan] really has a sense that it’s redefining its identity…they have a chance to say, these are our values, this is what we care about.”
Just as prospective exchange participants with disabilities from Muslim countries may have concerns about living in the United States, exchange participants in the Muslim World may have concerns about how they will be perceived abroad as people with disabilities.
Shonda McLaughlin traveled to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as a Center for International Rehabilitation Research Information and Exchange (CIRRIE) fellow. A wheelchair user, Shonda met few other people with disabilities in the UAE outside of the rehabilitation center where she was conducting interviews. Moreover, people with and without disabilities were surprised to learn that she had traveled independently to the UAE, and even more, that she is a professor in the United States. Still, she says, everyone she encountered was receptive, welcoming and genuinely curious to know about disability culture in the United States. Ken Rutherford had a similarly positive experience as a Fulbright scholar in Jordan. An amputee, Ken received a faculty appointment at the University of Jordan, where he taught international studies to undergraduate students. Asked how he was perceived as a person with a disability, Ken replied, “very good.” In fact, at the end of the term, his entire class took him and his family out to dinner, something he has yet to experience as a faculty member in the United States.
Disability culture is changing along with the culture as a whole, in part because of the presence of international volunteers, including volunteers with disabilities.
Disability rights movements are at different stages in different countries and parts of the world. Although disability rights laws exist in many countries in the Muslim world, laws are often sector-specific – related to access to rehabilitation or employment, for example – as opposed to comprehensive. During her month-long stay in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Shonda McLaughlin met with a number of young people who were receiving training in graphic arts, telecommunications and computer maintenance at a local rehabilitation center. She learned that most of these students would be hired by the rehabilitation center or a government agency after graduation. At present in the UAE, it is uncommon for people with disabilities to be integrated into mainstream employment.
Still, people with disabilities in the Muslim World are organizing in increasing numbers to expand opportunities – including international educational opportunities – for people with disabilities. The participation of people with disabilities in exchange programs to and from predominantly Muslim countries has the potential to have a positive impact on the rights and opportunities of all people with disabilities in the host country.
In Afghanistan, disability culture is changing along with the culture as a whole, in part because of the presence of international volunteers, including volunteers with disabilities. Matthew continues, “My main role [as a volunteer] has been to help acclimate people to their new wheelchairs, and this includes everything from simply using the brakes to getting down steps (with help of course). So many of the people who come to us have done literally nothing more than lie on the floor of their home for the bulk of their lives. So the prospective freedom that comes with a wheelchair is quite a concept. More importantly, however, in a culture that too often places little value in the life of a person with a disability, the fact that a group of westerners volunteer to come across the globe to help them makes quite an impact. Even those without disabilities who have helped us see the effort we put in and thank us for it. They are proud to see the people of their villages with potential they didn’t know was there before.”
Whether you choose to a short-term volunteer service program or an academic year abroad, you will have an unforgettable opportunity to view the world through a new cultural lens, and to bring home with you an expansive set of cross-cultural skills and a deeper understanding of your own culture and perspective. To read more about the unique cultural experience of living with a host family, see The Homestay Experience article.