Day 17: My First Week of Teaching

Sunday night the second guy of the house arrived. It is nowhere near reaching a balance of the sexes in the house, but at least it is now 2:13. His name is Watt and he has been placed at Destiny Academy with me. It is so good that he came when he did so that he was able to start on the first day of summer school. I did feel sorry for him though because we just put him to work immediately, and he still hasn’t had a chance to really take everything in. We were lucky to get a message to him in time to bring much needed school supplies. He was able to bring all the material I needed for my English class including two massive dictionaries. I was so excited to have it in time for my first class.

Monday morning I was the first one awake in the house and put breakfast out on the table. Watt and I left at 7:00 AM and got to Destiny a half hour before school started. I was apprehensive about my first day of teaching, but still trying to be a good guide for Watt. Again I felt sorry for him because our backpacks were weighed down by all of the materials we had gotten plus it was raining. When we got there I was blown away by how much Hareg had gotten done over the weekend. She had installed lights in my classroom, which also functions as the library, prepped all of the walls for painting, built a huge white erase board, built ten desks, and organized all of the classrooms. As she always says, “It will get done.” One thing I have learned from her is to push through tiredness and just do it.

Probably the most hilarious thing that happened to me that day occurred when I switched on the newly installed lights in my class…I actually got electrocuted. Needless to say it was shocking!

Watt chilling in my class/library.

Well, class started much sooner than I wanted and somehow I managed to teach for the next three and a half hours. I began with an introduction and an attempt at all of their names and then I had each one stand and say their name and something about themselves. Then I had the class say, “I am confident” in unison. (We are going to say that every morning until they truly mean it.) After introductions I explained a little about how the class is going to be structured over the next seven weeks. Fortunately, I had Jerry, one of the teachers, there to assist me in communicating instructions.

The rest of the day involved methods of learning vocabulary, reading out loud, journaling, using dictionaries, and hangman. Hangman is an excellent game to play because it helps them practice spelling, counting, and class interaction. My class jumped from 18 to 22 in two days, but that is going to be the limit. I have a 10 year-old and two 18 year-olds. The older kids were upset yesterday and felt like they were too old to be in my class, but as we worked on reading and writing I think I was able to convince them that they had more to learn. I’ve assured them that I would make it challenging enough for them. The fact is that I have 12 year-olds that are at the same level as some of the older kids so age really isn’t a factor.

By the time class was over I was exhausted. Matt, Diane and Jessica joined us for lunch at the Ethiopian restaurant next to the school. It was the first time for Diane, Jessica, and Watt. Hareg and Benjamin (Watt’s teaching partner) joined us. It was so nice to be through our first day. The rest of the afternoon we worked on lesson plans and working out some of the kinks in the schedule. My class is the only one that only has English all morning. The rest of the school is nursery through grade 5 and they are taught all of the other subjects. Watt and Benjamin are teaching science. Benjamin is Ethiopian. He lives next to the school and thanks to Yunatin and Hareg’s influence he is studying to be a teacher. He and Watt are a great team.

(The above was written two days ago…I finally found some time to get the rest caught up.)

I am amazed that I am almost through my first week of teaching, and even more shocked that it has almost been three weeks since I got here. Time has a funny way of passing when you are in a foreign country. You simultaneously feel as if you’re frozen in time and flying through weeks in an instant. On Tuesday as Watt and I were waiting to get a taxi home a man walked up to me and asked where I was from. When I told him America he looked amazed and said, “Ah, America, king of the world.” I just smiled and said thank you because he did not mean it in an antagonistic way. I am constantly self-conscious of the way I portray the image of an American and more importantly a Christian – here you can’t help being observed by everyone around you.

Days two and three of teaching were just as strenuous as my first. I now have 24 students and decided not to turn any away. We’ll make do somehow. Jerry has been pulled to teach Amharic (the native language) so I am on my own in the classroom. Sometimes Hareg’s sister Tenagne helps. My older students are no longer complaining about how “easy” my class is, and I am beginning to identify the needs of the individual students. Thursdays are my day off and are reserved for planning, but I told some of the younger students they could come to the library for extra tutoring if they needed. When I got to the school this morning there were six of them waiting for instructions. I wasn’t surprised since I know they don’t have much to go home to, but it is moving to see such an intense desire in young children. Deep down I had hoped to have my morning open for lesson planning, but I knew that these kids needed extra help so we read Cinderella together. They love that book.

All of the books in the library are donated. They are all used, mostly children’s books. Hareg and Yunatin are passionate about the library; it is the only one in a nine school radius. Like everything else, they have built it from scratch. They even glued library check-out cards and pockets in the back of every book. My class became the first official members of the library. I let them check out their first book yesterday since we didn’t have class today. Hareg hopes to be able to keep it open all day for people in the community.

My classroom/Destiny's library.

Yesterday, Hareg invited me and Watt to join them for lunch at the house. As I mentioned earlier, H&Y gave up their home for this school so they literally live at the school. They installed their own shower, toilet and have made a makeshift home out of the property. I usually pack a lunch and eat at the table with Hareg and her adorable girls, Ruth and Abigail, but yesterday I ate Habesha (Ethiopian) food with them. I truly like it. I don’t know that I could eat it three times a day like they do, but it is quite good. I left before Watt did so I took the taxi home alone. As I was walking, I struggled to keep from laughing because I was getting heckled from every direction and alongside me were three cows walking in the same direction. I could barely resist the urge to pet them, but I knew the locals would really think I was crazy then. Then a man came up from behind me and said, “I have a message for you.” I thought about ignoring him, but turned and he continued, “Did you know a man named Jesus Christ died for your sins?” I said, “Yes.” And he said, “Really? Then you are saved?” And I said, “Yes, I am.” He smiled and left. Religion, education, and poverty are the only real topics that get discussed here. Small talk about sports, pop culture, and politics rarely takes place. If it does, it’s discussed in Amharic and I don’t hear it! I’m still searching for a paper in English. Usually they are sold in hotels, but they are days old. I am really out of the loop. I have no idea what is going on in the rest of the world – here we just care about survival and hope for a better future.

I am so excited to have everyone from the Cherokee house over tomorrow to paint the school. Destiny Academy is one of those beacons of hope in this developing country.