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The cases in the Create Your Own Case Toolkit were developed by the Community Engagement Team (CET) outreach workers in the Department of Human Service Programs in Cambridge, Massachusetts. You can use the cases to draw inspiration for your own case writing or as a basis for discussions with others to improve your family engagement skills and knowledge.
    CASE 8: When Translation is Not Enough
Margulien Saintus


THE BACK STORY:
Marie is a 32-year-old mother of 2 children, David 6, and Sophia 3. Marie arrived in the U.S. 3 years ago from Haiti and moved into a housing development with her brother and his family. Her daughter’s preschool had asked Marie several times to come and meet with them about her daughter’s challenges in school, and although Marie had agreed, she had not come in for a meeting yet. The preschool had also sent Marie letters about payment for the school year because Marie hadn’t paid the tuition yet. As an outreach worker, I was called in to contact Marie about meeting with someone at the school. The preschool asked me to translate a letter to Marie.

DISCUSSION QUESTION:
What do you think will happen after Marie gets the letter?

THE FULL STORY:

I explained that just translating a letter into written Creole probably would not be effective since some Haitians do not read Creole. I decided to call Marie and explain why the school wanted to meet with her. After Marie and I talked, it was clear that Marie had not realized that the school had been asking to meet with her and thought they had only been letting her know that her daughter was having some “troubles” in school. In Haiti, parents do not usually work together with the schools about their children’s behavior, so Marie didn’t see any reason to go to the school. I then set up a time to meet with Marie at the preschool. This meeting went really well since I was able to translate the language in the letter as well as explain cultural understandings about what was going on. 

About a month after this first meeting, I was again contacted by the preschool, but this time it was because Marie had yet to pay any tuition. I called Marie, and after speaking with her, realized that she did not know she needed to pay for the preschool and thought school in America was free. Where she was from in Haiti, the schools cost money. When she came to the U.S., she was told that education was free. She had also enrolled her son in the public school, where no one mentioned money. Marie and I contacted the program and scheduled time to meet with the intake manager to fill out a scholarship application.


 

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