Leaders in ethnic communities here get training in mediation skills
By Eun Kyung Kim
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
01/24/2006

SzuchingFu unloaded a string of complaints on Fadumo Sheikh Hassan. Fu's next-doorneighbor constantly lets a dozen or so of her grandchildren run amok outsideunsupervised. The screams of the younger kids rival the noise made by the olderchildren shouting obscenities and jacking up their boom boxes. And last week,someone broke Fu's ceramic birdbath.

To top it off, she said, everyonenext door speaks "some African language."

Fu wanted the problem fixed,but Hassan said she first needed to hear the grandmother's side. And then, shesaid, the two sides hopefully could resolve the problem forthemselves.

In reality, Fu has no such neighbor. She and Hassan wereacting out roles in a program teaching professional mediation skills to severaldozen ethnic leaders throughout the St. Louis area. The program is meantto help refugees and immigrants get along with each other, as well as their newAmerican neighbors. Program organizers say that with the help of such mediators,common disputes like those over barking dogs, loud music, unruly children orminor property damage could be prevented from escalating into a spiteful battleof wills, a trip to jail or an expensive legal fight.

"This is pre-fight,pre-legal, pre-formality," said Pam DeVoe, who serves as the liaison betweenethnic organizations in the area and the International Institute, a programsponsor.

"It's to keep communities together, not to dismiss the problemsthey have, but to deal with them when they're small," she said. "We know it'snot easy to live with others, even with our own loved ones, so of course we'regoing to have conflicts with people outside our family."

The program isintended to promote understanding between different cultures and ethniccommunities. Participants include people from Ethiopia, Eritrea, Argentina,Puerto Rico, Mexico, Liberia, Vietnam, Taiwan, Kenya, Somalia and many othernations. Most are considered local leaders or people of influence in theirethnic group. Some already have mediated conflicts, but on an informal level atpublic schools or with social agencies.

Many conflicts involvingimmigrants often are hindered by communication problems and a lack of culturalunderstanding. For example, being loud and expressive is nothing unusual in theBosnian community, said Jasminka Hadzibegovic, a participant in theprogram.

"It is something normal, and they don't think that it's a bigdeal. Making noise for Bosnians is just the normal way," she said. "But forAmericans, in some neighborhoods, especially with elderly people, people canthink it is an attack on privacy."

Gedlu Metaferia, executive director ofthe African Mutual Assistance Association of Missouri, a refugee assistancegroup, said his new skills already had helped mediate conflicts ranging fromimmigrant parents quarreling with a child over behavior and clothing, toresolving a grudge between a pair of refugees who were from the same Africannation but from different clans.

Mediation "touches all aspects of humannature and shows how to reach compromise regardless of color or ethnicity,"Metaferia said.

The program includes two separate training sessions, eachwith 24 hours of instruction. Mediators then will get follow-up instruction andhands-on practice for the next year. All participants must have strong Englishskills and will volunteer their services to the community. The program was paidfor by a $90,000 grant from the ASC Foundation and is sponsored by theInternational Institute and the Alternative Dispute Resolution program atWashington University's School of Law.

In the mediation process,solutions are generated by the parties in the dispute. Mediators are taughtskills ranging from complex negotiation strategies to seemingly simple tacticssuch as where to sit and how to listen. Most of all, they are offered advice onhow to stay neutral.

C.J. Larkin, who teaches mediation for theAlternative Dispute Resolution program, said mediation is an extremelypersuasive process for resolving conflicts.

"Once you get people to thetable, it's pie in the sky. Mediation is almost a magical process," said Larkin,who is teaching the classes in the program. "People come out of it totallyresolving their issues, or feeling a little bit better, or understanding eachother, at the very least."

Anyone interested in contacing a mediator maycall the International Institute, at 314-773-9090, and ask the operator for theConflict Resolution Center.

ekim@post-dispatch.com 314-340-8116