Opening the Window

Last summer, in August 2015, I was contacted by Lori Clark of the Jane Addams Senior Caucus (JASC).  Lori wanted to know if Access Living would like to host two international exchange fellows for a month starting in October. The program was called the Professional Fellows Program, and focused on advancing advocacy and organizing for social change.

The first candidate, Stoyan Pavlov, was a resource teacher for students with disabilities in Bulgaria, and a leader in Bulgaria's National Association of Resource Teachers (NART). NART was gathering strength to push for government reforms to improve disability education.  The second candidate was a Hungarian woman named Anett Csordás, coordinator of the group Lépjünk, hogy léphessenek, which focused on supporting families of children with cerebral palsy (CP). Anett herself is a mother of two children, one of whom has CP. She also had a background in drama and teaching, and had already done grassroots campaigns on disability awareness and improving the government stipend for parents providers. Both Anett and Stoyan were highly interested in furthering inclusive education.

At first, I thought that coordinating a one-month visit might be too much for Access Living to handle. Then I read Stoyan and Anett's stories, and I was impressed with their potential to take disability organizing in their countries to the next level. I felt that we should try our best to make the arrangements and see how it turned out.

After internal discussion at Access Living, it was decided that I would serve as the main coordinator for Stoyan and Anett's visit.  Two host families were secured for Stoyan---the Lopezes and the Willages---and Access Living education advocacy staffer Rod Estvan, who is Hungarian American and a parent of an adult daughter with a disability, agreed to host Anett.

Anett and Stoyan arrived in early October along with the rest of their cohort from Bulgaria, Hungary, Slovakia and Romania.  The cohort members were split up among several community organizing groups across the U.S., and would re-form after the monthlong fellowship with a two week stay in Washington, DC.

To make a long story very short, over the course of four weeks at Access Living, Stoyan and Anett visited with disability advocates at multiple levels in Chicago, and participated in actions and community events. I had asked if they wanted to be busy or to have a slower schedule, and they said they liked to be busy, so we had a VERY busy schedule. They gathered information to take back home to share with their communities, and connected with new friends in Chicago.  Access Living staff felt they were "our people" which is a big compliment.

Once Stoyan and Anett returned home, preparations began for the U.S. hosts to visit Eastern Europe. And that is the point where this blog begins. In less than a week, on Friday February 12, I will travel with American Sign Language interpreter Kristen Gaspar to begin our time learning about community organizing and disability work in Bulgaria and Hungary. We will be traveling with different groups of the U.S. community organizers (see About This Exchange).

Those of you who are curious about disability work in Bulgaria and Hungary may be curious to read those countries' states' parties reports to the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. You can search for the reports from Bulgaria and Hungary at this link.

While the trip will certainly involve meetings with disability and Deaf groups, the primary purpose of the exchange is to learn what people are doing to make their societies better. During the trip, I will be posting updates to this blog for those following in English. I will be sharing photos on the blog, but likely not as many as I will post to Facebook on my personal account. The purpose of this blog will be to capture a sense of the activities of the coming weeks, and some impressions. Consider it a snapshot of the act of learning.

One further thought in preparation: one can view the work of organizing as the act of awakening. I believe that Stoyan and Anett are doing this work, and I know that we at Access Living do this awakening work every day. I am curious to learn what that looks like in Eastern Europe, and what lessons can be brought home to Chicago. Looking forward to seeing everyone soon!

Image description: four people stand shoulder to shoulder. From left to right: Stoyan Pavlov with dark hair and a red shirt that says "Element", Amber Smock with short red hair, a navy blue cardigan, and a pink white and blue top, Anett Csordás with blond hair and a black shirt and sweater, and Rod Estvan with short gray hair, a moustache and goatee in a light/dark gray shirt. They are standing in front of purple and white Access Living signs.