Left work early today to get my 3 miles done. Went to Gold's again and got the run done in 30:45- just a bit over 10 min/mile. I didn't get a chance to stretch before or after and also no ice for the knees. I did just get done stretching at home though so I hope that will keep the injury gremlins away.
The CASA training was very interesting tonight. The first speaker talked about cultural diversity but it was her first time and I could barely hear her from the back of the room. There was a bit of controversy when someone asked why kids come to school not knowing English. Someone up front said this was sterotypical, and that in fact, families do want their young ones to learn English but life in a new country can be overwhelming. Oftentimes, there is no previous education, no money, and a bulk of the effort is spent just trying to survive so learning/teaching English gets low on the list.
The really intersting talk was the second speaker. His introductory bio was amazing and he was president of a bunch of committees, on TV and radio. It seriously took a couple of minutes to go through everything he had done. Made me feel like a bum. His main point was to keep the kids in the family even if there is alot of "craziness" there (his word). One girl mentioned how her sister was taken into foster care temporarily because of some locks the parents put on the door. She took crack cocaine while in foster care and the rest of her life went downhill. Point being much more damage can be done in foster care then in trying to keep the family together. He also said he believes in the majority of cases of sexual abuse both spouses are aware and should be blamed (e.g., don't accept the excuse I didn't know what he was doing). Also, he cautioned against providing too much personal information as it can be used against you, literally (he said he was driven off the road by someone who figured out where he lived). It was all alot to think about since your gut instinct is to take the kid out of this environment. He convinced me this is often NOT the right thing to do. His other bit of advice is to not be judgemental and just focus on the facts (e.g., why aren't you going to therapy).
