It’s a little after 6am on Tuesday morning. It’s absolutely
pouring outside. When I woke up I thought that our water tank on the roof was
overflowing as it does occasionally. This sound is different. I
walked out onto the porch and there was that river flowing through our street
again. I haven’t seen it in weeks. The one thing that the countryside could
definitely use is a big storm. Hopefully it will make the fading green of the
hills more vibrant for a few more days.
Yesterday was a very interesting day at school. When we
arrived the flag ceremony, which is the flag raising that we do every morning,
was still going on. This typically ends right before first period begins. We were
teaching second period and the flag ceremony went on. I found out quickly from
one of the teachers that it was National Flag Day in Ethiopia The students and
teachers alike were celebrating the Ethiopian flag, a day that’s been
recognized by the government for five years now.
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| Morning Flag Ceremony at Fasiledes. This is only about half of the students at the ceremony |
The flag itself is beautiful. From top to bottom it has a stripe
of green, a stripe of gold and a stripe of red. I was told that the green stands for
fertility and hope. The gold stands for peace, purity and religion. The red stands for
blood (certification) and heroism. There is a beautiful star in the middle of the flag, but I
am working on the meaning of that. Everything in Ethiopia has a story, from
people's names to the flag. I really enjoy learning about the history here.
When I got to my first class there were only 10 students in
the classroom. I was shocked, I just saw the largest flag ceremony of the year and to my knowledge all of the students from the morning session were
there. My students told me that most of the students went home after the flag
ceremony. It didn’t make sense to me – walk an hour or more to school to be
there for an hour and then walk an hour or more home. What it did show me was a
small number of students that really wanted to be there. To be honest it was
disheartening. No one brought his or her books. I decided that we would all sit
around and talk about the history of the flag. The students were eager to learn
about the American flag and I was eager to tell them. One student knew what the
American flag looked like and he drew it on the board. I thought more students
would know that. They asked to hear the national anthem, so I sang it …..they
all laughed at me. I asked one of the students to sing the Ethiopian national
anthem, he did and we all had some fun with that as well. My entire morning
went like this. No students and no books.
It started to get loud outside of the classroom. When I looked outside none of the students were in class. It turned out
that a lot of the teachers left school also. This really blew me away. When
students could hear us talking in our classroom groups of them walked down
and asked if they could come in and join. I was glad to have them all. During my last morning section, a group of
students walked into class and asked if they could learn with us. I asked them to please take a seat. Unfortunately the bell sounded right when they sat
down and most of the students were eager to go. The group that just came in was
bummed. One student, whom I particularly like, asked “why can’t we learn
with you today?” Because class is over, I responded. He was genuinely unhappy. If I needed validation for our progress I got it then. The students enjoy our class. They like having us at school. It made me feel good to know that we are having such a positive impact on so
many young people.
In another class I asked one student if the others use the
library. He said he did whenever he could. When I prodded about other students
and why they didn’t utilize all the great books and materials at school his
answer was simple: “because most of them don’t care.” His answer was direct
and true; it really broke my heart.
Barely any of the students did the homework assignment this
week. And when I say barely any I mean maybe one per class. We asked the
students to write a letter to us as if we were already back in D.C. We asked
them to write about anything – futbol, school, their family, Gondar,
America…..anything. Most students didn’t take the time to do it, but those that
did wrote beautifully. It hasn’t been difficult for Elizabeth and I to find the
brightest and most eager students. They are easy to weed out from those that
couldn’t care less about being there and constantly disrupt class. I had to ask
two students to leave class last Thursday because their constant interruptions
and disrespect for their classmates were unbearable. In some way, we would like
to set up a program and get the brightest students together. I bought some
children’s books in Addis that I think would be great reading. It’s
of utmost importance for the brightest students to help those of lower skill
levels. We see it naturally in some classes. Others need to be pushed a bit to
notice and accept their leadership roll. If we could get these students
together, realize a common goal and really decide with them to make a
difference I think something great could happen here.
Lastly, I’d like to share an enlightening conversation that
I had with another teacher This will give you insight into some
teachers and their hardships with finding employment. This teacher
teaches a class in Information Computer Technology (ICT). This fascinates me
because the school has a computer lab but the administration doesn’t allow the
students to use it – the library operates much the same. So the teacher tries
to teach the history of computers, their practical use and theory. To me, it
seems impossible to learn how to use a computer without putting my hands on
one. He explained the difficulties in teaching the history of computers because
he has no idea how the original computers worked. I told him neither did I. He
graduated from University in 1989 with the first class of ICT graduates.
I asked him if he’d ever thought about working elsewhere. He
said of course but jobs were close to impossible to find in Gondar. Most of the
good jobs are in Addis and even then they are still almost impossible to find.
Why, I inquired. He said he would love to work with the government or an NGO
but his GPA at University was too low and he doesn’t have enough experience.
This is a common theme among teachers here. A lot of them have a degree in
another field, but their GPA hinders them from getting a job in said field.
Think about this – the college graduates with the lowest GPAs become teachers
because they don’t have a choice. To me, this is counterintuitive. A system is
developed where people become teachers out of necessity and you find that their
academic background puts them in a position of desperation. I would hope that
some of the brightest students would become teachers but this isn’t the case.
Most graduates need a profession that makes money and being a teacher isn’t one
of them. This country has plenty of issues that need help. Hell, so does
America. One of the issues that needs more attention is the education system.
This particular teacher didn’t want to teach. He’s been teaching now for five
years and counting and is still unable to get another job. He explained that
companies are now taking fresh college grads with good experience and good
GPAs. Companies and NGOs post their vacancies and job openings online, but no
one here has Internet. There is a board in Piazza where announcements are
posted. He explained that when a good job is posted, he is at school teaching.
By the time he gets a break to go check the board someone has taken down the
posting so that no one else will have the opportunity to apply. This was
particularly troubling. How do you escape this predicament? I didn’t have the
answer to that and we sat in silence for a few minutes before I went to class.
In Gondar, we learn something new every single day.
Something eye-opening. Something confusing. Something shocking. Something
terrible. Always something new. It makes me cherish the life that we lead and
the freedom that we have in America. It also makes the wheels start turning in
my head. I can’t say it enough but there’s so much to do here. What’s sad is
that most Ethiopians here won’t take it upon themselves to make these changes.
How long before you are just fed up with the way things are? It doesn’t take
long for me. You can’t go through life relying on other people to change
things. It has to start with you. You have to want to make a difference. Having
an idea is being 50% there. Making that idea come to fruition isn’t even the
difficult part; all that takes is effort and hard work. The tough part is
making something sustainable, so that when you are gone people here will
continue to maintain and grow what you’ve started. That, my friends, is the
challenge.
I know the hurricane is pounding the East Coast right now.
It’s ironic, we have a small tropical storm of our own going on here. The
similarities are few and far between but they’re there….sometimes. I hope everyone is safe with plenty of water. I wish
everyone well.
A SPECIAL HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY MOTHER! I LOVE YOU
TREMENDOUSLY MOM! HAVE A SPECIAL DAY! YOU’RE IN MY THOUGHTS ALWAYS!
Pictures from Class:
