"Horse meat" was the one big idea Stephen Prendergast had of Sweden before he went there with 13 other people from the Kare Foundation for Training and Development (CFTD) Centre in Naas, Co Kildare.
Learning Swedish with a view to going to Sweden was an unusual task to take on for a group of students with learning disabilities. But overcoming such difficulties has taught the students a lot - not to mention that Swedish people don't actually eat horse meat.
Cathy Connolly is a member of staff at the KFTD centre, and it was because she had a contact in the Scandinavian country that the students went there and learned the language. Connolly says the trip has changed the students.
"They would never have thought they would have been capable of learning something like that," she says. "That boosted their confidence. A lot of them had never travelled abroad before and it was their first time on an airplane." The trip seemed to be of therapeutic value to one student in particular. "One guy has a speech impediment and he is very quiet," explains Connolly. "I found that he really came out of himself because it was a relaxed atmosphere and he was away with a group of his friends. "He began to speak more and get more involved in the group."
Challenging the students is what the staff at the KFTD centre are constantly aiming for. In the past, the thinking surrounding care for people with learning disabilities was that they were helpless and could not think for themselves. They were bussed from their localities to big institutions where they would be looked after for the day.
"Now they are an integral part of their own communities," says Edi Kennedy, who manages the centre. The centre provides training to enable the students to gain employment. The work they typically do is in local offices, restaurants and bars. They have usually just come out of school and are generally over the age of 18. There are 24 full-time students in the centre.
Personal development, dealing with relationships, work experience, communication and computer skills are just some of the areas covered in the programme, which can last up to three years depending on each student's needs. But at the moment the talk around the centre, which has just moved into an attractive new building, is of Sweden. Through the Lingua Action C, a European Social Fund project, the centre was able to bring over a teacher from Sweden to give the students first-hand knowledge of the country. "They ask me everything - what do we eat, what clothes we wear, what shows we have on TV," says Cecilia Andersson, who will be staying in Ireland for eight months. She teaches the students Swedish and also discusses European and Swedish culture with the classes. The students who have been to Sweden are anxious to go back and those haven't been are always asking when they can go, Connolly says. Although Andersson trained as a school teacher in Sweden, this is her first time teaching people with learning disabilities. "It's very different. I'm learning every day," she says. "Before I never considered working with students with disabilities. I have to explain things I wouldn't have thought of explaining before and I have to be thorough and go over things a lot. But it's great - I would consider teaching people with disabilities when I return to Sweden."
Mandy Sharpe (22) and Gillian Moore (22), along with Stephen Prendergast (19), are three people from the group who went on the trip in August. They were able to practice Swedish while in Sweden and, as it was their first foreign language, were very excited about it. They still remember the all-important greetings and come into the centre on Mondays to have classes with Andersson.
Gillian Moore says Swedish is not that difficult, but the pronunciation can be hard. Prendergast says he will keep up learning Swedish and he will "definitely, definitely go back next year".
Although Sharpe says she was nervous on the plane. all agree that they were sad to leave. Discos, parties, trips and, above all, rehearsals for a play kept them very busy during their two weeks in Lund. The play was done with Swedish students with learning disabilities and involved the theme of overcoming barriers. The stage was divided into two and showed an Irish group of people and a Swedish group of people happening upon a deserted paradise island and having to communicate with each other through linguistic and cultural barriers. Prendergast played the part of the Irish Romeo who falls in love with a Swedish Juliet and then convinces his Irish friends that the Swedes aren't that different after all.
The Swedish students then came over to Ireland as part of an exchange. "It went really well," says Andersson. "We even had some love affairs." Although most of the love affairs fizzled out, the Irish and Swedish students became great friends. By studying each other's language and by taking part in an exchange they made an important connection between the two countries and have become an encouragement to other people with learning disabilities.
