This week, I'd like to write about the English class I have been teaching. It's easy to get frustrated with the class because, like most things in Egypt, the STAR program (through which we teach) is fairly unorganized. I try not to be too critical however because I realize the challenges it faces in establishing itself as an organization in this country and also that its goals are important, noble, and definitely worthwhile. This is difficult sometimes though. For example, two weeks ago, the car that is supposed to pick us (me and my teaching partners) up from the AUC campus and take us to the teaching facility never arrived. By the time we contacted someone from STAR, the car would not have arrived to pick us up until after 6PM, and considering that the ride takes over and hour we would not have arrived to begin teaching until almost 8PM. Class is scheduled from 6PM to 9PM, so it did not make sense for us to go. We would be unnecessarily keeping the students there waiting for us for almost two hours and then only give them an hour of instruction.
This was frustrating for several reasons. First of all, the hour long ride each week is the most difficult part of teaching and something my teaching partners and I dread each week. By the time we make it out to the spot where we are supposed to meet the driver though, we have mentally resigned ourselves to the fact that we are going to make the trip. This is one of the hardest parts of the ordeal. To then have the car not arrive is disappointing. Also, and more importantly, we put many people in a bad position by not arriving to teach. The students are obviously disadvantaged by this, and they are legitimately upset when they don't have a chance to have class. (On several occasions, they have asked us if it was possible for them to have more classes than the one per week that they do have. As I have said before they truly love to and are eager to learn). The director of the center where the classes are taught was the one who had to tell the students that we were not coming for class. There are language barriers and she was concerned that the students would be upset with her. I can see why she would be upset about this as they did not completely understand what happened and were upset with us. One e-mailed us, and the rest questioned us about it when we had class the following week, even after we had explained the situation. I think they are confused about what we are doing in Cairo; the fact that we are students, that we rely on the organization for transportation, that we do not know our way around to transport ourselves, etc. We apologized however, and I think, at least I hope, that all of them accepted our apologies.
Class this week, when we actually had class, went very well. Over the weekend, we had had a meeting with the directors of the program about the final exam for the students. As teachers we are responsible for making the exam. This makes the most sense because, although we were given a grammar book to work from, we have the best idea of what the students have learned and should be tested on. The test will consist of grammar questions, a listening section, and a reading section. We will also be grading the exams and we will determine who should move on to the next level based both on the exam and class performance. After learning that the exam would be formatted in this way, we decided that we had reached an appropriate in the grammar concepts and drills. So this week, we did not focus on grammar. Instead, we read a considerable amount from the Matilda book and also focused on things the students had suggested we focus on.
The things the students wanted to work on included conversation and writing. For homework, we asked them to write about their childhood or a memory from their childhood. At class this week, we assembled them into groups of three and told them to discuss what they had written with each other. They would then present each other's stories to the class. (We do this often in Arabic. It ensures that we both understand and speak). They understood the concept, but all of them were so excited about what they had written that they wanted to share their own stories as well. So we heard each story several times, but it was well worth it.
More of our students than we had originally thought are from Sudan. Most of them described their childhood in Sudan. They said the name of their home villages and the regions where their villages were located. Most of them spoke about their families, farming and animals, and swimming in the rivers. Most of them spoke about attending school also. They spoke very well, but beyond speaking, I was captivated by what they were saying. It was heartbreaking in a way. Most of them said at some point that they left their villages "for fear." I know that there are obviously developmental differences between Sudan and the US, and this impacts the way people live in the two societies, even before the escalation of the conflict in Sudan, but I thought of their childhoods as parallel to my childhood. And I thought about how I would feel is something like that was taken from me, or not necessarily taken from me, but made into a distant concept in my mind to be never attained again (because it is undeniable that the Sudan of today is not the Sudan they described). It was a little overwhelming to think about. Every time I meet with these students, I gain an even greater admiration and respect for them.
I had a favorite story. I got chills when the student told it to the class. He told about his childhood in Sudan, spoke about going to swim in a river. Apparently, there were animals in the river (another student said there were often snakes in the rivers and sometimes hippos), and because of this the children's parents thought it was dangerous for them to swim in the rivers and forbid them from doing so. The student said his parents would beat him (I don't think he meant this with quite the negative connotation with which an American would take it, I think he basically meant his parents would punish him) when he came home without dirt all over him because they would know that he had swam in the river. He said that one day he and his friends swam in the river but then rubbed dirt all over themselves, hoping to fool their parents. Apparently, the plot failed because his parents could tell he had swam in the river by the fact that his eyes were bloodshot! He meant this as a comical story and it was. It was amazing that he conveyed this in English, and, as I said, heartbreaking that such a childhood anecdote is not tainted by the current situation in Sudan. As I have said before, this experience teaching English, if nothing else, has made the conflict in Sudan much, much more real for me.
The last student to present was not from Sudan, but from Saudi Arabia. He is not in a refugee situation. He is an interesting man. He is probably not supposed to be in our class. He apparently is a level below our class, but he goes to every class he can. This shows his desire to learn but it is also a problem because he sometimes takes attention from other students. This aside, he is pretty funny because his grasp on the English language is probably the worst in the class. However, when we called him up to present, he began his presentation in front of the class by scolding us, as teachers, for not coming to the class the previous week. (He came late so he didn't hear our apology). We explained the situation to him, but he didn't understand very well, and, although smiling, continued to criticize and question us. And what was most interesting was he was doing it in the name of the entire class, saying things like, "We were all here..." It was like he was trying to lead a revolt in the class! So it was a little scary, but we noted later, it was probably the best English he has ever spoken in class. We decided it might be a good idea to enrage Abdullah more in class. It would probably be beneficial to his learning of the English language!
Like I was saying, it is a struggle to get to teaching each week and we really do dread it all day on Monday, but once we are there, there is no where else we would rather be. Although teaching is a struggle in some ways, it always puts me in a great mood on Monday nights, which is the opposite of what you might expect considering my Mondays last from before 7AM until after 10PM and I usually feel like I get nothing done on these days. This has helped me realize that sometimes, especially in the situation I am in here, it is worth the struggle for the eventual benefit. I think it might be useful for me to adopt this attitude regarding more aspects of my life. It is clear that although I am the one teaching English, I have also learned things that I will keep with me for the rest of my life.
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