Experience Sharing /Girls' Night Out

Today we had two new ELIC (English Language Improvement Center) events. Since one of the goals of Debre Markos University is community outreach, I took 8 students to one of the local high schools to encourage the 9-10 grade students to speak more English. They prepared a short debate entitled "Teachers are more important than doctors". I must say, as a teacher, I was pleased to hear the impressive arguments of the ninth grader arguing on my behalf. "If it wasn't for teachers, there would be no doctor". Thanks you! Another student read a poem he had written. The university students were proud to serve as role models for the 9th and 10th graders. I doubt if they are given this kind of chance often. One student performed a (very) short drama in which he pretended to be a very drunk university student who failed college due to his bad habit. Two other students delivered a short debate about the necessity (or not) of school uniforms. The English teachers and school director at the high school were as eager as the tudents to share experiences together. We all agreed that we would meet again in two weeks.

 

Our second program today was Coffee Talk for only female students.  Since the women tend to be shy and lack confidence in front of the male students, we decided to try this. Although only 14 females came, I learned a lot by chatting with them. The program tonight was Problem Night. The women wrote down their personal problems and then discussed them in groups of four before sharing with the everyone.  The topics of discussion were about the lack of water, unclean (pit) toilets, freezing outdoor showers, and problem of  lack of baskets to throw their soiled sanitary pads. The school cafeteria was the next topic. Apparently, if the boys are not satisfied with the amount of food they are given, the cafeteria workers will give them more. But if the female students request more food, they are denied. All women in the Coffee Talk group agreed with the student who wrote that the young men in her classes felt that the female students were not able to accomplish what a male student could. I wasn't surprised at what they said, but I WAS surprised that these women were so aware of how they were discriminated against and they didn't like it!

Quarreling Night

Coffee Talk was a success once again. This week, we had Quarreling Night, led again by Gabre, an engineering student who learned about it at his English school in Axum. He divided the room into two sides..for and against Affirmative Action for Women. The games began as students from both sides were nvited to shout, insult, take the floor, or do whatever they had to do to get their voice heard. It was hysterical and the audience was so fired up, they didn't even realize they were speaking and listening in English, which of course was the whole point!

We are thinking of trying to have a Coffee Talk for females only, since they tend to be intimidated by the male students. The English skills of the women tend to be lower than the men's due to this. As in the U.S. in the past, women in Ethiopia are socialized to let men take the lead, so we are fighting that tendency here on the campus.

Return to Adama University

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.

Ethiopian Universities

One thing I appreciate about Ethiopia is that even the poorest child can become a doctor here. The universities are not free anymore, but students attend without paying until they get a job after graduation. It is called cost sharing. This is amazing to me because I have not been in any developing countries where this would ever happen. In order to continue one's studies, one has to have money. At least in Kenya, Mexico, and other places I have lived or visited. This policy means that many of the students are from the countryside.  Going to university is a big step for them, coming from their small farms without access to computers, television, newspapers, or even electricity. These young adults are shy and tend to be quiet in the classroom. Wheras in the U.S., I can't keep my students quiet, I have the opposite problem here. Getting the students to talk, ask questions, or make comments in class is like pulling teeth.

Students in the universities are divided into "batches". For example, all first year English students take all the same classes for three years. All fifth year engineering students are together for 5 years. They get to know each other intimately. If the teacher needs to schedule a make up class or can't be in class, he/she just has to call one student in the "batch" and the message will get out to everyone in the group. It is not unusual for an instructor to cancel a class and then hold a make-up class in the afternoon of that day or on a Sunday morning. Most students in ethiopia do not have jobs like in the U.S., so it is no big deal for them to attend classes whenever the instructor reschedules them.

Students are students everywhere. For most, it is the first time that they have been out of the watchful eyes of their families. Some find romance and spend time in the bars drinking or chewing chat. But most students are serious and focus on their studies. They are dependent on their families to send money for personal needs. The majority of students here do not have money to burn. Some receive nothing in their 3-5 years of university and have to depend on friends to help them buy soap, printing of handouts, an occasional cup of tea or a glass of beer.

A Day in My Life

My life is easy here compared to in the U.S.  My salary is enough that I don’t have to scrimp every month.  I have two young women living with me who are the sisters of one of my friends from Wollega.  I give them a better wage than any “servant” (they don’t feel like servants since I know their family so well)  in Ethiopia, but they have to manage their money. They both pay for school each month.  I save part of their salary in the bank so that when any medical or personal need arises, they can pay themselves rather than being dependent on me to add more money.  Tarike and Sintayo wash my clothes, cook my meals, clean the house. It is something amazing for an American. Giving women jobs is helping them in some way, but they work for such low wages that it is not enough to go to school or better their life. They are simply at the beck and call of their employers.   Keep in mind that all washing is done by hand and all food is cooked from scratch. No fast food or easy meal.

You must wonder what I do with my spare time since I have so much help in the house. I spend time on the internet, although the past few weeks it has been almost non-existent. I plan some lessons and prepare for English Club activities. My days are spent at the university, preparing for class, designing trainings, and organizing English Club Activities. The latter seems to take most of my time, so I feel pressured with creating lesson plans. My teaching partner, Zelalem, is wonderful and  we work well together. I am really blessed to have a counterpart who I can get along so well with.  We have a hard time getting any students to speak English.  The women are really dominated by any men in the class and barely speak a word or hide their faces with their head covering.

I have a good social life here and make time to enjoy the culture.  I ride my bicycle every day to and from school and in the beautiful countryside. So few people have cars here that the roads are almost empty. So much different than Addis Ababa or Adama, where I used to live. 

About once a month, I travel somewhere in the country to teach a workshop. The State Department has something called the ACCESS program for high achieving high school students. They attend Saturday morning classes for two years to improve their English and learn a bit about American culture.  I’m happy that I am creating lessons for the students rather than teacher training for the reasons I mentioned above. I want to feel like I am making a difference in peoples’ lives and be challenged intellectually.

 

 Tarike and Sintayo washing clothes. They are my friend's sisters from Wollega.

 

 

Coffee Talk: Boasting Night

On December 3, the ELIC hosted another successful Coffee Talk. Students seem to be attracted to the coffee and kolo rather than the event itself perhaps, but, hey, whatever works!  We showed a music video of the Backstreet Boys (yes, I know they are from the 80’s, but some students still like this band) and asked the students what they think the lyrics were about. We wrote all suggestions on the board and then played the video again. Once participants started coming, we began the program. Gabre, an engineering student from Tigray, explained how Boasting Night works. The idea is to pretend you are the person you have chosen and stay in that role while you are “on stage”. Gebre chose to impersonate Wayne Rooney,  a hot-headed professional soccer player.  Once he boasted about his accomplishments, he was challenged by questions and comments from the audience.  Two other volunteers followed Gabre. One impersonated Meles Zenawi and the other pretended he was Emperor Tedros. The group suggested that we limit the time if the Boasters to 3 minutes and only allow 3 questions so that more people have a chance.