Training Manual | Chat Archives | Trainees with Different Cultural Backgrounds 11/4/02

Submitted by Jessica on 11/05/2002
Jessica@CKP: Hi Linda! With us so far are Matt and LaFleur, our Hunger Fellows
Linda@CCSC: hi everyone, I would love some help with
Linda@CCSC: working with different cultural taboos and language barriers
Jessica@CKP: Linda, what are some of your experiences so far with this?
Linda@CCSC: we have many different cultures who live here now and we would love to be able to train, getting folks is the first challenge, but some times we lose them and don't know why. we have worked real hard with the Spanish population, but they have different cultural expecations at work than we do. For instance, they see the work place as more personal and family oriented than we do
Jessica@CKP: Linda, what kind of challenge does that present? Bringing kids to work? Having family members stop by?
Linda@CCSC: we are trying to connect with a group called The Lost Boys of Sudan, a group of young men who are not comfortable with women Hispanics sometimes bring children to work, but also they are more likely to quit a job if they have personal dislikes for individuals
Jessica@CKP: Do you have any problems with Hispanic males in the kitchen? My background is half Venezuelan, and my mom can attest to the fact that "machismo" is alive and well in South American culture.
Linda@CCSC: we have even been challlenged by the correct use of the term "Hispanic" or"Latino" we seem to have offended someone with either choice
Jessica@CKP: Then of course there's "Chicano", which I believe is limited to Mexicans?
LaFleur: as far as I know, Latino is the more politically correct term.
LaFleur: because someone is Mexican, does not make them automatically Chicano.
Linda@CCSC: yes we do have some male/female issues, more in the female students who are responding to male dominance at home. We had one lady who could not ride with the male chefs to events, I always had to take her
LaFleur: Chicano is more of politically conscious identity that some Mexicans choose to accept and identify with.
LaFleur: I think that there are more important things than what we call people.
Jessica@CKP: Well, I think that if people are hostile from the beginning because of terminology, then it's an important topic
LaFleur: I am all for political correctness, but it's easiest to ask people what they prefer to be called and then move on.
Linda@CCSC: maybe it's a regional thing, but I don't hear the term Chicano here. I have been told to not use Hispanic and Latino interchangeably but to say Hispanic/Latino
Jessica@CKP: Perhaps an initial discussion with each incoming class would clear things up. It could become a positive thing, kind of a cultural-sharing icebreaker.

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Submitted by Jessica on 11/05/2002
Kim@A2H: Do you find different learning styles with students of different backgrounds, and how do your chef instructors work through that?
Matt: a very good idea, becaue there may be discomfort on the volunteer sides as well
Linda@CCSC: I agree its good to ask an individual, but i guess I really mean in publicity and recruittment, I,m struggling with termonology
Jessica@CKP: That's a tough one, Linda. I'm wondering--my mom works for Catholic Charities up in NJ, and she works almost exclusively with immigrants from South America--Catholicism is huge there. Perhaps you could recruit through an organization like that, that would be more sensitive to the nuances and be able to save you the trouble.
Linda@CCSC: one thing that we do is we have bi-lingual Serv/safe tapes and Spanish Serv/Safe books, I am also very lucky to have both chefs be bi-lingual, we are hoping to employ a part time graduate to be around for translations and so forth
Jessica@CKP: I know that the Catholic Charities branch my mom works for acts as sort of a community hub in her area. Perhaps they can help you get the word out.
Linda@CCSC: we actually have a good relationship with the Spanish newspaper who runs a story before each class starts to get the word out
Jessica@CKP: Did you get that bilingual Serv Safe information donated?
Linda@CCSC: Is anyone having any luck reaching recent refuees from other areas
Linda@CCSC: we have several groups from Vietnam who many groups are working with, we are trying to reach some of them
Jessica@CKP: Linda, I am really interested in this Lost Boys of Sudan thing. How did you get hooked up with them? Have you trained any of them yet? lstephens just entered this room...
Linda@CCSC: it is really very interesting, they are a large group of young men in their 20's who were wandering in the desert for decades. Their tribe was being slaudered by an enemy tribe and the parents pushed them out into the deserts to save them. thousdands and thousands of children wandered for years. most who survived are male. we have some who are being sponsored by churches here. we interviewewed a young man for the school. and he was to volunteer as we like all prospective students to do, but his sponsors called and said he was not comfortable with working and being in school with women. this is a cultural and survival issue which is very challenging to say the least

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Submitted by Jessica on 11/05/2002
Casey: Hello everyone. I am signing in from Chicago. I apologize for being out of the loop for so long. Linda, ironically our umbrella organization, Heartland Alliance, has also worked with the Lost Boys of Sudan here in Chicago finding them housing and social services.
Linda@CCSC: I guess one real issue with all the cultural barriers is how do we make them feel safe From SarahDUCK: how did this man end up here in the US?
Linda@CCSC: I would love to learn how you are working with these young men, Casey
Linda@CCSC: I think they are coming in groups, sponsored by churches. Our Catholic Social Services does a tremendous outreach with refugees from all around the world
Casey: Linda, I can put you in contact with our social services division. They have been the ones working with the young men from Sudan.
Linda@CCSC: have any of you considered visiting the local English as a second language as a form of outreach for students. I have thought about it myself
Jessica@CKP: Linda, that's a great idea. Community colleges, libraries, and even universities all offer ESL/EFL classes
Linda@CCSC: Thanks, Casey, I would love that. Our day chef, Ron Ahlert has really taken a special interest in them and was insturumental in getting the one over here
Kim@A2H: To partner with an ESL program, or to recruit students from one of those programs?
Linda@CCSC: I was thinking of recrutting from them, but I'm sure they would welcome some type of partnership
Kim@A2H: Might be nice to have some support from their instructors for students in the CCSC, as well!
Jessica@CKP: Partnering with an ESL program would be great. I have taught ESL, and I was trained to try to teach through communication and experience. If you could get an ESL class to incorporate working/food/kitchen terms into the curriculum, you could put it into practice in the kitchen.

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Submitted by Jessica on 11/05/2002
Karen@CKP: Hi there. I don't know much about this subject, but it's very interesting to hear your perspectives. I wanted to suggest a book by Mary Pipher called "The Middle of Everywhere" -- it's a great look at refugees learning, working, and living in typical American communities. It speaks a lot of the Lost Boys of Sudan and many other nationalities. I think it has a lot of great practical advice for those who teach and employ refugees.
Linda@CCSC: Some of the elememtary schools in our area offers ESL classes because that is such a good way to find out where the different refugree pockets are located
Linda@CCSC: thanks,Karen, I'll look for that on my next very frequent visit to Barnes and Nobles
Linda@CCSC: The thing I love so about the different cultural groups is the richness of cusines we can be exposed to, in our classes and out as well
Linda@CCSC: what about the street culture? Do any of you have particular methods to train that population?
Karen@CKP: We had experience this summer in training young men and women who would definitely be considered "street culture." Their idea of fun on Fourth of July is sticking fireworks in each others pockets. I'm not kidding.
Karen@CKP: Anyway, our key with those guys was this: personal attention and letting them know that we completely support and believe in their success.
Linda@CCSC: It is a little hard to reach people where they are when they do things like that
Karen@CKP: We talked a lot at the A2H conference about teaching men and women with different ideas of language and culture... especially those in a "street culture."
Karen@CKP: One thing a speaker indicated was how important it was to understand different "registers of language." Men and women who have grown up on the street don't speak in what we consider a "professional register" of language -- they speak in a "casual register" that we consider in appropriate, disrespectful, etc. It was a great way of understanding "street culture" and the men and women we're training.
Linda@CCSC: I think with the street poplualtion, it is sometimes good to be really honest about how much I don't know. If I act like I know where they are coming from like I'm from their world, they feel put down. But they know when you are sincere about their success. Sometimes I just try to help them see that the success of the school and their success depend on each other

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Submitted by Jessica on 11/05/2002
Linda@CCSC: I wish I had heard that speaker, there are really some things that are taboo to the street culture that are acceptable to others and vice versa
Jessica@CKP: I found with our trainees, most of them with enormous chips on their shoulders, a few things: *set rules and make them stick to them *don't assume that just because they aren't responsive, they don't notice what you're saying or doing--this goes especially for showing them support *don't try to be too "cool". it will never happen :)
Jessica@CKP: Linda, I think that's an excellent point: appropriate language on the street vs. in the kitchen. I think it is important to begin to teach trainees that there is a different set of rules for interviewing and work situations. I interviewed someone recently on the phone--the first thing he said when I identified myself was "Yeah, wassup?" It was a big turnoff, but I'm sure just a product of never being taught that there are different levels of formality for different situations.
Linda@CCSC: we are traing more and more from the prison systems, from courts and work release. We have more and more who literally
Linda@CCSC: we are traing more and more from the prison systems, from courts and work release. We have more and more who literally
Linda@CCSC: When my daughter was a teenager," wassup" was like a creed or something. I have come to learn it means "Hello, how are you?'!
Kim@A2H: Ruby Paine was the speaker at the A2H conference, and I would love to have her come to this year's Programs conference, too. I think she has lots to offer to Comunity Kitchens staff!
Linda@CCSC: One of the issues we addressed early on by learning the hard way was the issue of dress for an interview. No matter how much we said or how much the experts said, we found that they would go to job interviews in "club" attire, short, short, skirts, hat, see through stuff and worse. Now we give them a nice new uniform for graudation or before and have them intervies in that
Jessica@CKP: There's nothing WRONG with "wassup," it is just totally inappropriate for a job interview. That's what the speaker at the Utah conference was talking about; many people just don't know that.
Jessica@CKP: I would love to hear more from Ruby Paine! Maybe she could speak directly to this topic of training.
Kim@A2H: Having a new chef coat seems to be a great self-esteem builder, too, so that's a good use of $!
Linda@CCSC: I agree, I don't think it's wrong, it can get annoying after a million times though. I guess the trick is to help them see that just as you dress differently for job interviews than you dress for partyiing with friends, the same goes with language.
Jessica@CKP: I think that the chef coats are priceless. To go from homelessness, or prison, or street life, to wearing the mark of a respected professional--you can't put a price tag on that.
Linda@CCSC: I guess the real issue is to some how help them see that there is such a thing as business culture too and we all have to"go along to get along" sometime.
Linda@CCSC: I still remember the first time I put on a chef coat, it was an incredible feeling. I still feel that way most of the time even after all these years.
Linda@CCSC: We work with ACF and other groups for fund raisers for the uniforms and we have used ones for day to day kitchen work, but when our graduates are on stage all in crisp chef jackets, it takes my breath away Matt just left this room...
Jessica@CKP: Going back a bit to the idea of people from different cultural backgrounds--in my experience (having immigrant parents and living abroad), there are countless cultures that have many more gender issues than we see out in the open here--be it women being introverted around men, or the issue you raised, Linda, with the Lost Boys. Has anyone done gender-specific trainings (all men, or all women)? I know this would be a plus for many Muslim immigrants as well.
Linda@CCSC: I really got a lot out of this discussion, I hope everyone else got somethig as well
Linda@CCSC: we did one class of only women, not by desing, but it just happened and we geared the whole training that wayi. we did a lot of domestic abuse workshops and childcare stuff
Jessica@CKP: I guess it's too difficult to pick and choose your classes so you can do them by gender, but that's great that you were able to do something positive with it when it happened by chance!
Jessica@CKP: It seems like we are winding down here. Shall we sign off, or does anyone want to add anything?
Linda@CCSC: It was fun, though I missed the guys. We do a day for women and brought in make up artist, birth control experts, parenting classes and it was really great.