Saturday, April 11, 2009

An education for the teacher...


This has been an interesting week for me. I know most of you have heard about the protests and the riots that went on in our capitol city last Tuesday. First let me say that I am far away the capitol and that we have had no problems down here in Cahul. Our staff at Peace Corps has done a great job of keeping us informed of what was happening and making sure that we were all in safety. They canceled all meetings for us in Chisinau and told us to stay put in our towns and villages while the situation was so unstable. Things right now are quiet and everyone seems to be cooling off.
I can't share much with you that you haven't seen on the news, but I will share with you something that makes me more sad and concerned than anything they played on UTube or the BBC. I am saddened by some of the misdirection of anger that I am seeing with my students. The events in Chisinau are sparking a lot of problems here between the Russian and Romanian speakers in our town. People here seem to be polarizing around language groups and (among my students anyway!) I am hearing some pretty predjudiced language. I decided Thursday and Friday to take some time out of my classes to give my students a chance to talk about the issues. I teach groups that are Romanian and groups that are Russian, and I wanted to give them the chance to talk about what was happening here. I know from my own life, that wild accusations about people are harder to make when you are sitting down at a table together. I wanted them to get past making generalizations about one another and remember that everyone has ideas and opinions that are based on their life experience, their families, and their own personal history. I think it was good for me to be a kind of "moderator" because this is not my country and not my fight. After a lot of rhetoric at the beginning, all of the students really wanted to talk about their own fears, their lack of faith in a future, and their lack of hope that they were ever going to be able to follow their dreams in Moldova. It didn't matter what language they spoke, their belief that they were never going to be able to make a good life in Moldova was universal. None of them want to stay here and try to make Moldova a better place because they have completely lost faith that that is possible.
Why does this make me sad? First, I am sad because they are so young and they have already lost faith in politics and government and, ultimitely, in their country. Second, because they are turning their anger over bad living conditions, lack of possibilities and an impossible economic situation turn into a kind of racism-Russian -vs-Romanian-instead of turning their anger into a passion to make Moldova a better place to live for everyone.
This past week has definitely been a lesson for the teacher. For my students, I think what they needed from me was someone who would just let them talk about their concerns out loud and who would make sure that everyone, regardless of their opinion or language, could be heard. Talking about their fears and concerns in English took the us-against-them factor out of the equation. For 80 minutes we were all speaking and listening in the SAME language. I hope it helped....

11 comments:

Sam and Chris said...

Way to go Jennifer. I was so worried about the riots that happened earlier. I am glad that you are opening a forum for your students. All in the Anytown spirit. Speaking of which, we need you back. So, we'll let you have this Summer of '09, but you are back in our grasps for July 2010.
Can't wait to see you in August -
Love, Chris, Sam, and Alli

Jeff Clarke said...

Nice post; nice lesson. Thanks.

Jennifer said...

Chris,
I thought you jumped ship and went to North Arkansas?!?!?!? AT least that is what Annette says.... You know I am an Anytown whore, but I don't do Anytown without you. NOrth Arkansas, Central Arkansas, it's you and me babe!

martha said...

Jennifer, I'm relieved to see this post, was worried about you. You were asked about in class yesterday; not too surprisingly, not many had heard about the unrest there.

Jen, darlin', there are kids in THIS country who have lost all hope for a better life. I know it's probably more prevalent there, and I'm glad you're there to let them know that there are real possibilties. What I keep on telling people is this: Do what you can, where you are, with what you have.

Shalom,
Martha

Maria said...

Hey Girl,
This is the Peace Corps.
Peace starts with talking and with listening to each other and you allowed them that opportunity. I am so way proud of you!!!
Wow. Is the political/government system so broken down, ineffective, or biased that noone has faith in it? Or is it the scapegoat for years of no economic growth? Wow. Last year, Julia decided against AP Social Studies and was in a regular class taking half a semester of Pysch and half of sociology. Martha is right, there are kids in this country who have also lost faith. Somehow they all thought that communism would be a good thing because "under communist governments EVERY one gets to go to college and get a good job"..where they got that idea, I don't know. My daughter, who in that class was the racial minority, tried to explain that there were all sorts of scholarships out there for under-represented minorities and that even "rich" middle-class kids aren't guaranteed entrance into college-you have to have the scores and the grades...but they just didn't believe her. My Romanian and Russian friends left their respective countries for the same reasons that your students want to leave Moldova. Maybe this new president of ours will help inspire hope, not only in possibilities for American youth, but also in possibilities for all youth. Who knows? Uncertainty breeds fear and I feel we are in a shift of sorts-economic, political, social....not just our country but globally. So it could be an exciting time for re-direction but for some a time to let fear and anger get the worst of them. I too feel sad for your students and sincerely hope that your forum helped re-direct anger and also place a name on what it is that they truly fear...not each other but their futures. Hopefully, this will help them find common solutions. It may be a long way down the road but what you did was to plant a tiny seed and what we can do is to hope and pray that it will sprout and take root.
God Bless you and have a very Holy Easter.
Sorry this is so long,
Maria

Sam and Chris said...

Jennifer-
Yes, I jumped ship and went with NWA. They are sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo much more aware of the TRUE meaning of diversity leadership. These people are the real deal. You would not believe the amazing camp that we put together in the summer of '08. It was truly mind-altering.
You're correct about one thing ya know, it is you and me no matter the locale!

Jennifer said...

Just for the record, Chris... I miss the shit out of you and will be making a bee line for your house as soon as I get home. Will I even recognize Alli? Sammy, are you still married to this lunatic? You know I believe in charity work, but you deserve a medal for this! Love you more than you will ever know!!!!
Jennifer

Sam and Chris said...

Well, Sami is still married to me- who else would take me? I miss the shit outta you too by the way.
Thursday Andreas Shöberl is coming to my house and it just won't be the same without you, believe me :)
Just an update, not a brag, but I won the 2009 Stephens Award. I am pretty happy about it; especially the $5,000!
Good hearing from you and again, miss you like crazy!
Chris

Jennifer said...

Sammy is a true glutton for punishment :) I hope you guys have a blast together with Andi. Don't forget to drink a glass of "For Drink" for me! I can't think of a better recipient of the Stephen's Award than you!!!!!!! Congratulations. Next party, I will be there. I am going to have to write it down so I don't forget, but I had a crazy dream about your whole family last night. I woke up laughing my ass off! It was hilarious!!!!!!

Anonymous said...

we had tons of fun w/ Andi and Miriam (sp?). I made this really disgusting pie that i forgot to put sugar in and they tried to act like they liked it until i had to make fun of it myself and then Andi just let me have it!!! fun night!! i certainly miss you too and look foward to when you come back. love sami

ps, had to use anonymous because i can't remember my password. looks my memory sucks lately!!

Jennifer said...

Sammy,
I hope you remember every time you laughed at your mother for forgetting things like this... This is divine pay-back! Isn't it amazing when you are a wife and a mother how many little details go by the wayside. We only have so much capacity in our brains. We only have so much space in our brains, better the little things (like passwords to blogs) go away than big things (like is that my mother-in-law!). I am so happy to hear from you guys and promise I will be making a bee line to you as soon as I get home!