Yesterday morning the sun shone brightly as Conor and I headed out the door for a 45 minute walk to a school on the other end of town. We have been working with our Club GLOW girls on an environmental awareness project, Think Green Tetovo, for months and this was finally the day everything would begin. Two teams of four girls each -- mixed ethnic-wise -- were to spend the morning in the elementary school doing presentations for grades 5 - 8 (another two teams were to present in the afternoon to the lower grades). We zig-zagged our way through town, walking on the sidewalk when there was one - and when cars weren't parked on it, obstructing the way. Students were running around the hallways as we entered the school, however no teacher was to be seen. After questioning the students if they knew where the group of high school girls were and receiving many confused looks, we asked them to show us to the teachers' lounge. Three female teachers were inside taking their breaks and one just happened to be a former student from my adult English course! Unfortunately she was unable to attend the course often and therefore has very limited English abilities, so we had to rely on our Albanian skills to explain that we were in search of the group of high school girls who were supposed to be presenting at that moment somewhere in the school. This teacher friend of mine asked us to sit and wait a moment while she summoned the principal. She returned and we chatted a while until finally, after about fifteen minutes, I repeated, "It's really no problem for us go into the classroom and meet the girls ourselves. We just need to know which classroom they are in." She then said, "Well, see Kacey, our school is very large and we have many girls. The director is coming so you can tell him which girls you want for your project and then we can get them all together for you to meet with them." "No, no!" I said. "We already have the girls...and they should be implementing the project as we speak!" At that very moment the principal walked in and after a brief meeting in his office we were informed that our Club GLOW girls were sent home because the school had set up new computers in all the classrooms over the weekend and there was no room to do presentations being that boxes and materials were strewn all over the school. (**The Macedonian Government implemented a new project year called, "One Computer for Every Child"....this is another issue in itself.) The director seemed a little worried and wanted to make sure we weren't too upset, but we assured him everything was okay and that we would come again tomorrow. As we walked back toward the center of town, Conor started chuckling and commented that we had just walked into a random school, were offered any and all of the students we wanted (without ever indicating what for), discovered that our schedule and a project we'd been working on for months was shot on the very first day, and took it all in stride as we headed off for our respective work sites. Just a day in the life . . .
And now we come to today. Again the sun was shining and it was a beautiful morning as Conor and I departed for the same elementary school. (Note that I did call one of the girls before leaving just to make sure they were there.) Forty-five minutes later we reached the school and encountered the principal upon arrival. He quickly led us to the classroom the girls were presenting in and we spent the rest of the morning watching their presentations. I have to say, they were amazing, and the students were so interested!!
The presentations finished mid-morning and once again Conor headed off to the municipality and I walked to the other end of town (about a 50 minute walk) to catch a combi to Tearce. As we drove along, swerving around tractors pulling carts full of hay and vegetables, and often being three abreast on the road, we picked up several people waiting along the side of the road. An elderly Albanian man got on at one point and was very grateful for the empty seat next to me. (*Often the combis fill up quickly and although there are no remaining seats, the driver will continue to pick up passengers who stand, kneel, crouch, or sometimes sit on step-stools placed in the rear, behind the back seat.) As we continued, the man and I conversed a little in Albanian and we both got dropped off at Tearce on the main road at the bottom of the hill. I walked up the only road into the village, greeting adults and children along the way-- and receiving many greetings from students yelling from their homes or gardens. I soon ran into a Macedonian teacher from the school who likes to show off his language abilities to me by changing from Macedonian to Albanian to Turkish. We talked for a bit and I then continued on my way, only to shortly thereafter meet a Turkish teacher walking along the road. My Turkish is very limited and she seemed to be in a hurry, so I simply greeted her and continued to the school. Upon arrival I was bombarded with hugs, hellos and how are yous which always makes one feel liked and wanted.
I spent several hours at the school, however at this point the schedule is still being created so the classes are not run like normal. I left early in hopes of getting back to Tetovo in time to see at least one of the afternoon presentations that the GLOW girls had prepared for the younger students. I followed my same path, quickly walking down the hill to the main road, only to hear, "America!" as I passed by a combi that was parked on the side of the road. The driver was inside just getting ready to leave for town so I hopped in the front seat. After a short conversation in Macedonian he anxiously popped in a CD and happily pronounced, "Amerikanski musik!!" We continued on our way to Tetovo with hip-hop blaring and Mirko, the driver, dancing and hand-jiving to the tunes.
He dropped me off in the center and I once again made my way to the school on the other end of town. I arrived to a yard full of children attentively watching as puppets one-by-one popped up into view. Conor beat me there and had attended their previous performance as well, which he said went very smoothly. I felt so proud at that moment watching these young women stand up and make a difference in their community!
As Conor and I again walked the 45 minutes home we commented on how busy our day seemed, running this way and that, surprises around every corner. I guess that's what makes this job so unique.
No comments:
Post a Comment