What We Do Here

I have been talking about the discovery group a bit and referring to things as if you are fully aware of what we do while in Russia. I will take some time here describing more fully what we do. At the same time I will use our recent trip to the countryside to exemplify what it was that we are doing.

We arrived in some city about 90 minutes train ride from Moscow. Only our group leaders know the name of the city. Not that it is a big secret, just that they are the kind of leaders who are not terribly adept at getting the many jumbled ideas in their head organized in such a way that information dissemination is possible on a very detailed level. I am accustomed to this after 8 years of working with Jean. She is an incredible person and I trust her to always choose the best path she can find. She is not only the head of our program but also one of those few people I care enough about to tell her what I am really feeling, and not just what I am thinking. She is a true friend and mentor. From the train station we were driven to a camp for kids led by Father Yvimmeny. We were given a room to drop our backpacks in and headed to the main hall to begin our program.

Jean designes the program and gives us sheets of paper with an outline of what we will be doing. Really it is a list of names of different activities to be done throughout the day. It is important to do them in order as each activities builds on skills learned previously. For every program, Jean leads the icebreakers and the staff, that’s us, is involved as well. Our role at this point is to participate and motivate the other participants. Hey if some guy next to you is shaking hands like a fish then it must be ok right? At least that is what I assume goes through their head because they will do some pretty wild thing. To me shaking hands like a fish is ALWAYS ok, even if you are the only one doing it. Jean leads several events like partner tag and playing card on the forehead, then she will tell a story, and end with some upbeat activity. One of the things I Learned from Jean is how to teach by telling stories. The lesson does not always need to be obvious and there can be more than one. I find it to be a very effective method of teaching as it allows the learner to develop a connection with the lesson instead of just lecturing and memorizing. Finally Jean will break up the large group into smaller more manageable groups and turn them over to our care. At this point Jean becomes a problem solver and an assistant to us.

We will lead the group trough several activities that develop a bond in the group while demonstrating self worth. They are required to problem solved, complete physically difficult tasks, and always discuss the results after each event. The activities are where the skills are learned, the discussion is where we help them find out what they already know. Either discussion or activity can be effective but by combining the two a synergy is created and the growth is incredible in a short amount of time.

My group was particularly difficult. In fact it was by far the most difficult group I have ever worked with. I am not sure if that was due to the group, the fact that it was the first group of this trip (ie warm up group), or because I was jet lagged. In the end my group grew and I could see the growth happen. I bonded with my group and they bonded to me. They bonded with each other and showed genuine concern where before there was very little. Everything I expect to see in a group. The problem was my head was not in the game. I was just going through the motions without any real commitment. I was frustrated most of time and exhausted. I assume they saw my frustration but they did not seem to react to it so perhaps I was not as apparent as I thought. Heather told me she did not see my frustration and she is supposed to be the one person able to read me most easily. Generally in a 3 hour period we will lead about 5 events with discussions, in our personal group. The first day I led 3 in the morning and two in the afternoon. The second day I lead 3 events all day instead of the 10 I should have been able to complete. The goal, of course, is for the participants to grow on a personal level, the goal is not to complete as many events as possible. My group was a huge success but I left feeling frustrated and drained.

While we were at the winter camp several cool things (pun intended) happened but I will only share two for now. I always enter a group exuding energy out of every poor. I am bouncy, happy, playful, and motivating. This program was no different. Sometimes this earns me a fan club. This was one of those times. I immediately had several of the kids around me and wanting to play, talk, fyi I do not speak Russian, and just hang out. After lunch several of the little girls wanted me to go back to their dorm to chit chat. I really just wanted to take a nap or crawl in a hole and hide for an hour. I decided to tell them I was going to do something outrageous in the hopes that they would shy away from me and I could have some solitude. I told them I planned on going out in the snow in the forest and getting really cold while rolling in the snow without a jacket. Much to my chagrin they all agreed enthusiastically. They insisted on wearing coats but I resisted the urge to wimp out and I played in just a short sleeve shirt and jeans. Much to my surprise I had a wonderful time. We made snow angels, threw snowballs at each other, and generally frolicked around.

When we got done I was energized and freezing but otherwise ready for the afternoon. It was at this point I found out there were Russian Deaf people at the camp. Through our travels in Russia we work with a group of hearing people, the local discovery staff. Generally they have connections in the hearing world. Many of the programs we run are with hearing people. They do make an effort to connect us with Deaf groups but they do not know the language well and this presents a problem. There is also the problem in their ability to organize and disseminate information I spoke of earlier. We were bothered by there being 60 deaf people at the camp, while we were running a program led by Deaf for hearing kids. Don’t get me wrong working with kids is rewarding but having deaf work with deaf, from other countries, is something a hearing person (myself included) can never fully appreciate. Perhaps it is their lack of comprehension in the enormity of the importance of such a deaf on deaf program, that creates the void of deaf groups in our programs. In the end we were not able to include the deaf group in our events. There was discussion of staying an extra day but the logistics never panned out for whatever reason.

The really awesome part is that Heather decided that this was very important to her. She made plans and contacts and arranged everything for herself. As we packed up in the evening of the second day she said good bye to us and stayed with the deaf Russians. I am both very nervous and very proud of her. I know she will be fine and will have a wonderful time there. This is actually a huge step for the group that we work with here. In Russia just as it was in the US several years ago, the deaf are oppressed. This often is not done out of malice but for a genuine concern for their well being. The hearing people have a view that deaf people are not capable of taking care of themselves and must be constantly accompanied by a hearing person to ensure their safety and well being. By Heather staying behind by herself she is helping to educate our friends over here that Deaf people really are capable of doing anything. Let me emphasize here that our hearing friends are acting with only the best intentions. Unfortunately there is a saying about a road being paved with good intentions, perhaps you have heard of it. If you are interested in where I am getting these crazy ideas from, then read the book “The Mask of Benevolence” by Harlan Lane. Harlan explains this concept very eloquently, much better than I could do in a blog.

After the programs we made our way back to Moscow, sans Heather, and to bed. It is now New Years Eve and a very important holiday in Russia. I have spent too much time typing this up and it is time for me to wrap up. I will be going out tonight with friends and having a wonderful time. I will try to get some photos and video for you to see. In the mean time I hope you now have a better understanding of what it is we do here.

Dana