We visited a school, St. Raphael
Center about an hour drive from here that is for Sudan refugee students. We drove through the recently developed and rather nice area called New Cairo....wider roads, cleaner but still tall & close together housing & many nice shops...it's where the government buildings have relocated...therefore no need to fix up the old Cairo. And then we turned off that new road and onto a muddy alley crowded with people, small stands, and a variety of trash. Two 6-8 story buildings with laundry hanging out every window meant we had dot squeeze through. I felt sorrow for our driver...he drives the bishop around & has a nice car...one of the very few without scrapes, dings & smashed corners. It was hard to locate & our driver had to ask many times to find it.
Finally, found the principal waiting for us at the bottom of a stairway only partially broken. We climbed up a few flights to his neat office. He was so delighted to have us there & explained that all 210 students (1st-8th) were from Sudan and had very little education due to the war. They could not attend Egyptian schools. UN and some donors were funding the school. He asked us to please observe and make suggestions.
How do you make suggestions to a teacher whose classroom is crammed with rowdy displaced kids & only a white board? We observed two English classes—2nd & 6th grade. You could immediately tell both teachers loved their students & were passionate about teaching. They used the repeat method where teacher says it, kids repeat it. Over & over. The 6th graders were learning about treasures...seemed appropriate here in Egypt. He had examples of aluminum & steel. He was trying to explain gold & diamonds so I handed him my wedding ring. His eyes popped out & he held it up like it was the Hope Diamond. He asked if the students could hold it as they'd never seen real gold or a diamond. It was a dazzling time! In the 2nd grade, I read aloud, Leo, the Late Bloomer to attentive, wide-eyed students. We played Doggie Doggie Where's your Bone & 7 Up.
After class we met with the teachers and made a few suggestions which they were excited to get. It felt wrong but we did try to suggest only things we thought feasible in their situation. Example: pointer, don't talk until students quiet, have students come up to whiteboard & point out words/answers to comprehensive questions, reward good behavior by leaving a few minutes to play one of the game we taught at the end of the day. The teachers were overwhelmingly thankful and excited to use our suggestions.
We will go back to this school next week & see other classrooms. Sure wish we could take them loads of teaching materials that were so readily available to us when we were teaching!!!
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