Xavier University News Speech Path Students Take Project to Nicaragua New Orleans LA - Many college students use their summer breaks to travel and study abroad, but for five Xavier University of Louisiana students their summer trip involved service as well as immersion into a language and culture. Four speech pathology majors and one recent graduate - seniors Bernice Chaiasson of Ventress LA (Pointe Coupee High) and Trenai Lewis of New Orleans (Mt. Carmel High), juniors Erin Hale of New Orleans (Warren Easton High) and Michelle Johnson of Gretna LA (John Ehret High), and Kirstin Coleman '10 of Upper Malboro MD - spent two weeks in the Central American country of Nicaragua this summer, visiting some of the poorest parts of the country and conducting hearing and speech evaluations for children and adults as part of the University's Buena Lingua program. Project Buena Lingua, begun in 2008, is working to increase the number of speech pathologists qualified to provide services to native Spanish speakers who are learning English. "These students are part of a group who will be uniquely qualified to serve both native English speakers and Spanish speakers for whom English is not their first language," said Dr. Nancy Martino, director of the program. Each of the Project Buena Lingua students has an academic minor in Spanish and this semester they are currently working with a new program with the New Orleans Speech and Hearing Center, offering treatment programs to Spanish speaking preschoolers who are experience difficulty learning English. The summer experience in Nicaragua, helped prepare them for this and other future bilingual encounters in their speech pathology careers. The Xavier group traveled with a group of students from the University of Northern Iowa, with a coordinator who gave them a bit of a scare in his description of the country and its safety as they prepared for the trip. But the students felt it was a slight exaggeration in order to prepare them for the worst and keep them alert in a foreign country. "We really did appreciate the preparation and were pleasantly surprised when we found it was not as bad as we expected," said Michelle. Although two of the students have an ethnic Spanish speaking background - Michelle's mother is Mexican and Erin's father is from Belize - none of them are exactly fluent speakers of the language. The trip to Nicaragua gave them a chance to practice their language skills in a more concrete way, and while they reported it was easy to speak the language, they found it harder to understand and hold a conversation. "Our hardest time was in a restaurant where we tried to order and the waiter just didn't understand us and we couldn't understand him," said Erin. It was hilarious!" They found it was easier working with the children. "We learned basic words and phrases for the work we had to do, and the kids were really excited to have us there. The bonds we made with those kids was the best part of the trip," said Erin. "Our hearts really go out to that population," said Trenai. "After that trip, you can really have an appreciation for what we have here. The dire poverty and lack of resources that we came across is more intense than anything you see on television." "Overall it really was a good experience and I'm glad we did it," said Bernice. "It's helped us to be more confident and in approaching people and working with non-English speakers now." "Having the students work with Project Buena Lingua opens them to the fact that here are so many other ethnic groups out there," said Martino. Students in the program agree to provide two years of service in public schools with bilingual populations for every year of funding received. The program, currently open to junior and senior Xavier students, is made possible by a grant from the U.S. Department of Education. For more information on Xavier's Project Buena Lingua, contact Martino at nmartino@xula.edu<mailto:nmartino@xula.edu>. SANDRA M. PHOENIX Program Director HBCU Library Alliance sphoenix@hbculibraries.org<mailto:sphoenix@hbculibraries.org> www.hbculibraries.org<http://www.hbculibraries.org/> 404.592.4820 1438 West Peachtree Street NW Suite 200 Atlanta, GA 30309 Toll Free: 1.800.999.8558 (Lyrasis) Fax: 404.892.7879 www.lyrasis.org<http://www.lyrasis.org/> Honor the ancestors, honor the children.