The past six months I have been working at an elementary school in Madison, WI that has been labeled by test results as "high need." Indeed, the students and families I work with are faced with a variety of issues I never dreamed of when I was a kid. Many students face challenges of poverty including homelessness, transience, hunger, illness, racial tension, drug abuse, physical and emotional abuse, and long histories of economic failure and instability. My job at this school is "family, school, community partnerships" which is another way to say beat my head against a wall. As much as everyone really does want these kids to succeed, teachers are already overburdened with new, required pedagogy and parents are struggling to maintain multiple jobs and figure out how to pay the months' rent. So many parents just don't have time to go to parenting workshops and they don't check their kid's backpack to find the fliers about them. With truancy another issue, it's hard enough to get kids to school, let alone their parents. Despite my frustration seeing all of this, I have hope for this community. Because of its No Child Left Behind status, the school gets lots of extra Title 1 funding for school programming. We frequently get community grants and businesses wanting to donate to the school, and there is a dedicated staff that truly cares, not just about the students now, but for their families and futures too.
It's difficult for me not to compare this scenario to where I was this time last year. Last November some friends and I had just started in-home English classes for Sudanese refugees in Jordan. Like parents at my school in Madison, this community was worried about rent, putting food on the table, and racial injustice. They similarly had to work many jobs, though theirs provided undoubtedly a more unpredictable income. They had a difficult past following them- war, genocide, running, hiding, and being social and political outliers. This is where some of the striking differences come in between my situation now, dealing with American citizens. School officials aren't checking up on Sudanese kids to make sure they are in attendance. No one is reaching out to provide adult education or give food or rent assistance. No one is donating free coats, gloves, or hats. No free community dinners, family game nights, school carnivals. By being in the U.S., families in Madison, WI, though still facing hard times, have a great deal more than what is available to Sudanese in Jordan.
I do not mean to start a race to the bottom comparison of need, but rather to argue that the hope and drive of the individuals I met in Jordan is unmatched by anyone I have met before or since. All over the world, poverty strikes individuals in a variety of ways, all of them unjust, all of them "the worst case" for those affected. But when I met the Sudanese community in Amman, I was struck with the hope and happiness they maintained. With their dedication, persistence, and patience, we were able to expand English classes to a new building. Despite the cost of transportation, we had over 100 students every week crowd into one room (a class of 20+ in each corner). We asked people to arrive on time, though we understood it was difficult to get to class after a 12 hour day of physical labor. And of course, we excused the absence for the student whose uncle back in Sudan was brutally killed. Through all of this, along with worries that going to and from the building could be ground for police investigation leading to arrest, our students showed up eager to learn and participate. Their teachers untrained professionals, they never showed us anything other than complete respect and friendship. I have heard words out of kindergartners in Madison that I don't think my Sudanese students would dare utter in any language under their breath, let alone out loud to a teacher. With minimal resources, no books, and the stress of life, these students came passionately to learn. Why? They want to go back to Sudan and help. Their dream: education. Their goals: make their country a better place. Give their children a better life. Help people.
This Christmas, I am asking friends and family to donate to Jesuit Refugee Services specifically for this project that is near and dear to my heart. Go to https://www.jrs.net/donate#EN_3 and type in "For Sudanese and Somali education in Jordan" in the notes section of the donation. Funds will go directly toward books, educational materials, teachers, and maybe even a fun event for the individuals who I have been writing about and so completely deserve it. You can read more about JRS's different projects at jrsmena.org. I will be writing all this month about this amazing group of individuals, sharing more memories from Jordan, and encouraging you to give a donation as an alternative gift this Christmas. Help my friends help people. Give the gift of education, of language, of hope.
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