Teacher?

Despite my own misgivings about my ability to speak English, I have become a teacher in an ESL program for Adult Refugees at St. Andrew's Church. Cairo is the new home for thousands of refugees, largely from the Sudan, but also from Iraq, Somalia, Ethiopia, and other neighboring countries. My class is almost all Sudanese, with about 25 men and 5 women. Yes I know, 30 students. You may ask yourself, who placed the linguistic fate of 30 souls into the hands of an unexperienced and unqualified Pauline who this very day couldn't think of the word "motivation" -true story. I originally came to St. Andrew's to volunteer as a tutor for the Adult Education Program, where the only responsibility I would have would be sitting in a library, looking friendly, and waiting for an eager student who might have a question or two. As fate would have it, the teacher of Elementary III was leaving after Ramadan, and so the program director asked if anyone would be interested in teaching his class for the remainder of the semester. When it was clear that there was either no one qualified or no one interested (or both) I raised my hand, confessed my complete lack of experience, but stressed my committment and dedication, and nailed the job. It was decided that I would sit in on the class, learning from my predecessor, and becoming familiar with the various strategies of ESL so that the students wouldn't completely revolt and turn me in for a refund when I took over. It is a good thing that I eventually took over the class, because my presence proved quite a distraction to the lesson. I think I inspired a mix of curiosity, pity, and I like to think respect-although this false hope on my part is probably what inspired the pity. My predecessor, Pasquale, soon weened me off my position as observer, to assistant, and finally to teacher in less than a week. This Tuesday will be my third week teaching Elementary III, and I must say that each day, each minute, is still as thrilling as the first. I still can't get over the fact that when I walk into the room, there is a bit of a hush of chatter. When I smile and say "Hello Everyone" I receive 20 hellos. When I say "A-salaam alaykum" (peace be on you), I receive 30 "wa-alaykum a-salaam." I take my time erasing the board, enjoying the fact that for once during the hour and half, I am controlling the silence, and I am not afraid of it. Aside from those 10 seconds of wiping the board clean, silence is the only thing that scares me in that classroom. You should see the look of gratitude I give the students who answer my questions, ask me queries about vocab, and volunteer to do the readings. We discuss the meanings of "recognize" "professional" and learn that "Engineer" has a soft g and "pretty" becomes "prettier". I love the moments of shared humor, like the time that I asked the class what the word "tourist" meant, and one of the students pointed at me. The students beam when I resort to using Arabic in order to explain confusing vocab, and they have been very, very forgiving when it comes to roll call. I am thankful for every Muhammad, Ahmed, or Mariam I can get, and no matter how I try, I make an fool of myself when it comes to pronouncing the unfamiliar names. I am officially that teacher who simply can't prounce a grouping a syllables, and I must say that my students are much more forgiving than most people in my college classes. I am thankful for our text book, as without it I would have no idea how to teach anythng other then the english language should not be taught by a babbling tourist. However, the text is far from perfect. I am sure it would be great for teaching English in 1983 to upper middle class Americans with a penchant for PC subject matter that is still completely unapplicable to the lives of those who need to learn the damn language to begin with! These Sudanese refugees are reading passages entitled, "Which way do you prefer to shop?" which discusses the pros and cons of shopping through A. Phone in Catalogs B. TV Infomercials or C. Computer Shopping-The way of the future? In what way exactly will the phrases "Computer Shopping" or "Home Shopping Network" be useful to my students who would prefer to learn English to further their livlihoods than to discuss the consumer culture of America in the 1980's. But aside from these frustrations with the material, the class is the highlight of my week, and will certainly be one of the best things I do here in Cairo. I wanted to get involved with the program so that I could contribute something to the community, more so than just buying bottles of water one after the other. And when I enter the gates of St. Andrews, I immediately feel like I belong. Its not that I have particularly felt like a leper here in Cairo, but the streets are definitely not my home. And when I enter the gate, you just know that you there because you are needed. I enter the teachers lounge and greet my fellow teachers who are nothing but smiles, jokes and compliments, and I feel like I like I am among old friends. And when I guide my students to the correct answers, and can't keep up with their over enthused participation, I feel like I am actually making a difference.