Oh, the shame. I promised myself I would avoid English at all costs! But this situation is a bit different. Early on in the semester Yacoub contacted one of the Arabic professors at Cornell and asked him if he knew about any volunteer work in Jordan. He put Yacoub in touch with his friend Michael who told Yacoub about a school he taught English at in Hashemi Shemali, not too far from our apartment.
In the beginning, just Yacoub and Jafar were teaching, then slowly everyone seemed to try it for a day. About 2 or 3 weeks after they started, I finally decided it wouldn't hurt just to try teaching, even though I have no experience. Turns out it was a blast. And now I've been doing it at least once a week. Sometimes up to 4 times a week!
So let me try and explain this. There is this wonderful Japanese woman, Foseio, who worked with an organization "Women's Federation for World Peace" in Japan. Then around 12 years ago she came to Jordan to start a branch of the organization and ended up staying for 12 years. Yep, she is that dedicated to the schools here, visiting her husband and children only twice a year in Japan.
The program in Jordan has at least three schools. The schools teach English as well as Arabic literacy. Most of the students in the school are Iraqi refugees, although I believe there are a few Jordanians who take primarily the Arabic literacy classes as well. These English classes, some of which I help teach, are free for the Iraqi refugees as living in Jordan is a constant struggle for them. As life wasn't hard enough as a refugee, Jordan denies all Iraqi refugees from working. Period. Up until about three years ago, children were also barred from attending Jordanian schools. For the small percentage of those who receive help from the UNHCR, their salaries are only about 75 dinars (about $100) per month (with incremental increases depending on the number of children in the family). This is barely enough to feed a family, let alone pay for electricity and water.
Needless to say, working with Iraqi refugees has become quite an interest of mine. Through taking English classes, they can increase their chances of success if they are lucky enough to gain entrance into the US, Australia, or elsewhere. The main class that I teach, sometimes on my own and sometimes with Sarah, is a group of mostly older women. They are very good at picking up the language although it is like pulling teeth to get them to come to the front of the room to practice dialogs with me. Before the first time I taught I was a little afraid to be honest. About four women in the class wear the niqab, which covers their entire body with the exception of their eyes in black. Without ever speaking to women wearing the niqab in my life, the idea was a little daunting. That fear went away after about ten minutes. They are all so wonderful! What is nice too is that they take off the part of their niqab that covers the rest of their face when Sarah and I teach the class since there are only women. Normally, or when we are not there, there is a man who teaches the class which prevents them from showing their faces at all. Plus, I can tell they like us.
I also have taught at the school in Sahab, another town a bit farther away. This school is all kids, ranging between the ages of 5 and 8, and then about 4 men. In the beginning I didn't teach there because the supervisor thought it was better if just guys from our group taught there since there were a few men in the class. Then when the other guys were traveling and they needed teachers, Jafar and I taught together and there was no problem. I have taught there a few times since and it is so much fun to teach all the kids! Plus, I use Arabic quite a bit when I talk to them (yell at them - they are noisy!) since they do not know as much English as the women in the other school. Here are some pictures!
This is Kareem being weird as usual. He is the one that is in charge of holding a stick and yelling at the kids when they get out of hand. He is hilarious.
I don't have any pictures of me teaching quite yet, but this is a picture of Khalid and Yacoub teaching.
My favorite part about this school is how much the girls who sit in the front love me. Why? Not sure. After class they just pull me down by my hand and kiss me. That was a surprise the first time that happened! Then Mazin just laughs in the background of course. Speaking of someone I have yet to mention yet... Mazin is probably 50% or more of the reason I love teaching at the school. In fact I think we (mostly Yacoub, Khalid and I) have started to split our time between teaching and just general hang-out-with-Mazin time. Mazin was the previous supervisor at the schools. He acted, and still often does, as Foseio's right hand man. They share a car, have apartments next to each other, and organize everything about the schools.
Mazin may be one of the nicest, most genuine, and open person I have met in Jordan. He often plans fun things for us to do together with him and some of his Iraqi friends. Last weekend we went to a park and barbecued and danced debka together. So much fun. The sad part is he will be leaving us soon. The good news is, he got a visa to America! We plan on putting some money together to fly him from Colorado to Cornell next semester. So now he is quickly working on his English, which he can conveniently practice with us. For anyone else I would say that is not okay since I came here to learn Arabic, but for Mazin? No problem. He speaks English to us, and we speak Arabic to him. Then from his Iraqi friends who don't speak English, we can pick up the Iraqi dialect.
One more unique opportunity I have had is visiting the houses of Iraqis in Jordan with Mazin. It is one thing to read about the situation of refugees in Jordan and quite another to go to their homes and speak to them. Probably my most valued experiences yet. The stories are terribly difficult to hear. But that is the reality of their lives. For this reason I am doing my project on Iraqi refugees in Jordan for one my classes at the university. Furthermore I am seriously thinking about making work with refugees a career choice for the near future.
I don't have any pictures of Mazin with us now, but Mazin has a bunch so once I get them from him I will post them right away!
Back to learning Arabic...