Teaching in Sudan

Since I’ve been teaching for almost a month now, I figured it would be good to write about my experiences in the classroom so far. I must admit, teaching primary school was not my first choice when I started looking for jobs, but so far I have really enjoyed it. While I don’t know the exact tuition fees, from what I’ve heard Cambridge is fairly expensive for a Sudanese private school so most of these kids come from families with some resources. Obviously, one of the biggest issues in the classroom is the language barrier. Although most of these kids have been studying English from a very young age, it is still their second language and many of them struggle with reading and vocabulary. Cambridge follows the British curriculum which is written for British kids, not children for whom English is a second language. Therefore, a big part of my job is adjusting the curriculum to their language level. So even though I am teaching Primary 3, the kids are not at the level of a typical 3rd grader. Thankfully, I have an assistant teacher who is Sudanese so he can speak to the kids in Arabic when they struggle to understand the material. He is also a big help with disciplinary issues. As in any school, discipline is a concern and I am still working out my own method of dealing with behavioral problems. Some of the other teachers who I observed were constantly yelling at the kids and that is just not my style. I can remember teachers that I had back in school who were always yelling and it became so commonplace that it lost its effectiveness. So I try to be firm without yelling at the kids and if they’re really getting out of hand, I can raise my voice and they know to calm down. However, my teaching style is definitely still a work in progress.
When I was in school, my favorite teachers were the ones who had a sense of humor and made class fun. So I try to make the kids laugh and as long as they are on task, I try to maintain an easy-going attitude. I am starting to pick up a few Arabic words, and the kids go nuts when I try to speak some Arabic to them. I’m sure my pronunciation is terrible and they just think it’s the funniest thing in the world. They are also fascinated by my freckles and red hair. I know this will be a surprise to anyone reading this, but there aren’t many redheads with freckles here in Sudan. Many of the kids want to touch my hair and see if it’s real. White skin in general is pretty wild to many of these kids and the freckles just totally throw them off. Since it can get quite warm in the classroom, I often roll up my sleeves and the kids point and ask, “What are those?!” Again, many feel inclined to touch my arm to see if they will rub off. And if I look crazy to these kids who are somewhat used to foreigners teaching at their school, you can only imagine some of the looks I get around town.
There are some challenges unique to teaching in a third world country. While Cambridge is better off than many schools in Khartoum, there is still a general lack of resources. The library is tiny, both in size and number of books. The school where I teach has about 300 kids and I would estimate there are about 200 books in the library. We are also only allotted fifty copies a day and with a class of 26 kids, that can be a problem. The power is also known to come and go throughout the day. It’s not a huge problem since there is always enough sunlight to keep the classroom illuminated but it can heat up in a hurry with no air-conditioning. It’s funny, whenever the power comes back on, all of the students cheer. You just have to be flexible, creative, and have a sense of humor about everything. Some of the teachers just complain all day every day and that is just not my personality.
Anyways, teaching in Sudan has so far been challenging and rewarding. I came to Khartoum to get outside of my comfort zone and to really challenge and push myself and I am getting what I asked for, which is a good thing. Working with kids can be very stressful but when they get excited about learning it really makes it all worthwhile. That’s all I have for now but my next entries should be pretty interesting. I have a week-long vacation from school after this week and I am going with my Sudanese friend Umar to his village in Northern Sudan. I am staying with his family and from what he says it is really rustic so it should be quite the experience. Happy Thanksgiving!

Sudanese Hospitality

I mentioned in my last blog that the Sudanese people are very hospitable. But to really put this hospitality into perspective, I wanted to tell you about my afternoon last Saturday. Saturday is the teacher planning day so I was at school in the morning but my roommate Yusuf and I planned to go into downtown Khartoum in the afternoon. So the driver dropped us off at the Western Union office just outside of downtown because Yusuf had to send some money to his wife in Cambodia. After taking care of this business, we were going to catch a cab down to the river. Interesting side note: none of the cabs here have meters. You just hail the taxi, tell him were you want to go, and bargain for a fair price. It’s kind of nice because then you don’t have to worry about how long it takes to get somewhere and it’s usually pretty cheap, but I digress. So we were standing on the side of the road waiting for a taxi when a random car pulls over in front of us. The Sudanese driver rolled down his window and asked us where we were going. We told him we were going to the river and he said something like, “No problem. I go that way. Get in.” We asked him how much and he just shook his head and opened the door. Now I know we are taught from a young age not to get in the car with strangers, but what the hell, he seemed friendly. As we made our way through downtown, he asked us lots of questions about where we were from and what we thought about Sudan. He really liked the fact that Yusuf, a white American, is a Muslim. In fact, he was so into the conversation and looking at the two of us, he wasn’t really looking at the road and we nearly drove into a pothole at one point. Anyways, we get down to the river safely and when he dropped us off, we tried to offer him some money but he would not take it. He took our hands and with a huge smile on his face said, “You are my friends.” He then drove off smiling and waving and honking the horn. I was overwhelmed by this man’s generosity. It was as if it made his day to help us out and talk to a couple of foreigners and it just made me feel so good. But our day of Sudanese hospitality did not end there.
So far, one of my favorite things to do in Khartoum is to just walk along the banks of the Nile and enjoy the view. There is a street called Nile Street (very creative) with wide sidewalks and plenty of trees for shade that runs alongside the river. However, in many places the road is set back from the river because there are strips of farmland maybe thirty yards wide on the riverbank. These little farms grow many of the vegetables that feed the city. It’s really cool because you are in a huge city with development all around, but here are these little farms on the banks of the Nile and you can imagine that hasn’t changed for thousands of years. Anyways, as we walked along Nile Street, there was a group of kids working in one of these little farms and they saw us and said, “Hello!” We stopped to say hello and one of the men came over and struck up a conversation. He was the owner of the farm and he spoke very good English. He told us to climb over the wall and check out his crops. His name was Ali and he was a retired officer in the Sudanese army but he said he liked farming better than the army. He was a very nice guy and we had a long conversation. We then heard the call to prayer (there are so many mosques in Khartoum, no matter where you are you will hear the call to prayer) and Yusuf went to pray with some of the workers in the field. I wish I had my camera because it really was quite a site to see the men praying in this little field next to the Nile River. The kids made a pot of tea and after the prayer, we all sat down and had some tea that was very tasty. I just couldn’t get over what was happening. Two American guys sitting in a field by the Nile River sharing a cup of tea with a retired Sudanese army officer and about 6 Sudanese kids. It just felt surreal. After the tea, everyone had to get back to work so they could finish before nightfall. So Yusuf and I said goodbye, but not before Ali gave us his number and told us to call him anytime if we needed anything. We then caught a cab back to our apartment and we were both just so amazed at the generosity of the Sudanese people. I will close with something that my friend Yassir said about the Sudanese people. Yassir is a college student here in Khartoum that Yusuf met at a local mosque and we have become good friends. He is from Syria but he has lived in Sudan for ten years. He said, “The Sudanese have a wide heart.” So true.