On Friday, December 14, Semira (my supervisor at the American Embassy), Tahra (Assistant Cultural Affairs Officer) and I piled into an embassy vehicle and headed to Adama, my old stomping grounds. We were there for the kickoff of the latest site for the Access program, a two year program to introduce high school students to American culture and values and improve their English Language skills.
Back in 2007-2008, I taught in the English Department at Adama University, so seeing my former colleagues in the English Department was like a homecoming. After Tahra and Semira introduced themselves and the Access program, it was my turn. I had prepared a lesson about the women's suffrage movement in the U.S. to honor International Day of Human Rights (December 10). I gave the English teachers, who would eventually be teaching the high school students, an idea of how an Access class could be organized and run using technology. I had a cloze exercize for listening to a short documentary, song lyrics to analyze as they watched the music video, and newspaper stories in which they eventually had to use to write personal letters to characters from the suffrage movement.
Fortunately, Adama University has internet and the budget from the American Embassy will be used to buy any supplies the Access teachers may lack in order to create interesting and powerful lessons.
The teachers' comments concerning the imprisonment, beating, forced feeding, and torture of these strong and persistant women was pure amazement. They could not believe it had happened in the U.S.!
Tahra explaining the Access program to the English Instructors at Adama University.
Back in 2007-2008, I taught in the English Department at Adama University, so seeing my former colleagues in the English Department was like a homecoming. After Tahra and Semira introduced themselves and the Access program, it was my turn. I had prepared a lesson about the women's suffrage movement in the U.S. to honor International Day of Human Rights (December 10). I gave the English teachers, who would eventually be teaching the high school students, an idea of how an Access class could be organized and run using technology. I had a cloze exercize for listening to a short documentary, song lyrics to analyze as they watched the music video, and newspaper stories in which they eventually had to use to write personal letters to characters from the suffrage movement.
Fortunately, Adama University has internet and the budget from the American Embassy will be used to buy any supplies the Access teachers may lack in order to create interesting and powerful lessons.
The teachers' comments concerning the imprisonment, beating, forced feeding, and torture of these strong and persistant women was pure amazement. They could not believe it had happened in the U.S.!
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