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!