TEACHING AT THE TOP OF THE MOUNTAINS By Jens Jenkins

November 18, 2019 - 2019: Operation Parivar

TEACHING AT THE TOP OF THE MOUNTAINS

18 November 2019

Early this morning, after breakfast, the teens walked a few blocks into town. We met with and got on the bus that was destined for the three schools that we were scheduled to teach at. The bus took turns dropping off the three groups at their schools.

As we drove away, winding through the bustling streets, up towards the schools, several of your children commented on the buildings that they could see all the way up at the tops of the mountains. These buildings looked like mere specs and the teens wondered if anyone actually lived up there. Well, as it turns out, after an hour drive up the mountain switchbacks we finally arrived at the schools located at the tops of the mountains. On the drive, the bus had to periodically negotiate with other oncoming traffic on the narrow one way road to facilitate a way around the other vehicles. Sometimes, this process took several minutes and included one of the vehicles driving backwards for several hundred feet until the road was wide enough for two vehicles to pass each other.

I am lucky enough to work with the Green Team (Clara, Felicity, Hayden, Liberty, Samantha and Wyatt). Our school (named Bandal) is the furthest and the highest in the mountains. There are 29 children in this school, who were all dressed in uniforms when we arrived (of different styles and various stages of use, indicating years of wear, many of which are clearly hand-me-downs from earlier generations).

The students were all lined up in three lines when we arrived, and the teachers had several children take turns showing off the limited English they knew. Some sang twinkle twinkle and others counted up to 10 or 20. We soon learned that these were extraordinary presentations, as the children really didn’t speak hardly any English at all (nor did the teachers) and your teens were amazing at being able to communicate with them through gesture and patient repetition. Fortunately, we had a translator to help communicate with the teachers and, in rare emergencies, with the children.

When we first met, we broke the children into five groups of children which would rotate throughout the day with your teens, each teen teaching the lesson five times during the day.

Felicity did a great job as team leader today, confidently breaking the groups down with the teachers and translators. She also managed time and floated between groups to make sure that they all had what they needed. She did such a fabulous job. I found myself able to just sit and watch in awe as she did this. It was also tremendous exercise, as our school is broken into three terraced levels and this necessitated Felicity climbing up and down the stairs many times.

Clara was as happy as ever. I still wonder, sometimes, whether she has ever stopped smiling. I am starting to think she was born with that beautiful smile. Clara did a great job engaging the children and making them feel happy and comfortable. She really has a talent for making others feel good and for making everything so happy.

Hayden was very confident and comfortable teaching. He remarked that it was easier than he thought it would be. This is a credit to his preparation and skills in communicating with others. Every time I checked-in on him, he was rocking it with the kids, who all seemed very happy to be with him.

Liberty has such an amazing attitude and taught the children with great confidence and ability. It was great watching her interact with the children and find ways to communicate with them, even when the translator was unavailable. She did absolutely amazing!

Samantha started the day out with the biggest group of kids, nine (9) five-year old preschoolers. She started without the translator and did an amazing job of communicating with them and engaging them without being able to fully communicate with them (since none of them speak English). It was amazing to watch.

Wyatt was so great. He added a level of calm to the group, having done this before. He was incredibly steady and unwavering in his ability to handle the classes he taught. He was masterful at adjusting his lesson to accommodate the different lengths of time that we had to teach the lessons. His level of calm is particularly useful when he had to get children to behave and follow instructions.

I feel very fortunate to see your teens in this environment. I feel like I could write an entire page about each of them and how amazing they are. They really are incredible! They are all very happy and have very high spirits. It is great to see them have opportunities to experience new things and to stretch and grow.

 

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