Article May 12, 2003 Issue

No longer a foreigner

By Jacqueline Picha Ferguson

IT WAS THE FALL of 1979, and the preschool I operated and taught at in South Bend, Indiana, had opened for the year just after the US Labor Day holiday in September. The following month, a young family from Iran came to enroll their four-year-old son in our school. The boy's father was a former Iranian Air Force pilot, and they were planning to make their home in our community.

Two weeks later, the Shah of Iran was ousted, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini returned to Tehran and proclaimed the Islamic Republic, and Iranian students stormed the US Embassy, taking 66 Americans hostage. Our newcomer Iranian family found all their assets were frozen. I worked with them on a plan to keep their son in school through a scholarship that was available.

The boy was quiet and spent most of his time observing others, but he would work with me on a one-to-one basis. As the school year continued, I observed that he was not communicating or joining with the other children in their activities. At first, I decided to let him make these connections on his own.