To Be The One's To've Seen
I love my job. Being "actively engaged in redeeming Creation." Teaching young teens to "establish and sustain healthy relationships." The words themselves are exhilarating.
The first Tuesday of the month the theory comes to life. The Peer Educator meeting! The five Bangladeshi educators I work with meet with me to reflect on the month past and prepare for the month to come. It is, without a doubt, my favorite day every single month.
We've been working together for 2 years, exploring topics that range from vaccinations to problem solving to the character of God, so that they in turn can teach these lessons to our 785 adolescents. We can ask each other any question without shame or fear of ridicule. I ask them about their life expectations, or how they manage shame in their cultures. They ask me to explain in detail what to expect on their wedding night. And then ask accusatorily "How do you know all these things??" It's a fun day, full of laughter and learning.
We celebrate the successes each field has experienced. This month's successes included a teenager who quit school and mixed with bad friends. His mother couldn't get him to change, so she appealed to the educator for his group- Taslima. Taslima talked with him (in a complicated story my Bangla didn't follow) and he has returned to school. His
mother is ecstatic, and our reputation is built a little more solidly in that slum.
We consider the challenges the educators face in the field. How can we keep the six groups affected by the slum demolition intact? What should the guidelines be for savings groups? How will our program adapt so that it can expand? They are questions I can't answer on my own, since I don't have an adequate grasp of what is happening in the field. Together the six of us, and a "grown-up" staff (if we ask for one), work to clarify the problem and identify solutions.
At the end of the day I fall asleep, exhausted from a whole day teaching and problem solving, drained from the effort of communication in Bangla. Regardless, meeting with them remains my favorite day of the month and I celebrate that.
The first Tuesday of the month the theory comes to life. The Peer Educator meeting! The five Bangladeshi educators I work with meet with me to reflect on the month past and prepare for the month to come. It is, without a doubt, my favorite day every single month.
We've been working together for 2 years, exploring topics that range from vaccinations to problem solving to the character of God, so that they in turn can teach these lessons to our 785 adolescents. We can ask each other any question without shame or fear of ridicule. I ask them about their life expectations, or how they manage shame in their cultures. They ask me to explain in detail what to expect on their wedding night. And then ask accusatorily "How do you know all these things??" It's a fun day, full of laughter and learning.
We celebrate the successes each field has experienced. This month's successes included a teenager who quit school and mixed with bad friends. His mother couldn't get him to change, so she appealed to the educator for his group- Taslima. Taslima talked with him (in a complicated story my Bangla didn't follow) and he has returned to school. His
mother is ecstatic, and our reputation is built a little more solidly in that slum.
We consider the challenges the educators face in the field. How can we keep the six groups affected by the slum demolition intact? What should the guidelines be for savings groups? How will our program adapt so that it can expand? They are questions I can't answer on my own, since I don't have an adequate grasp of what is happening in the field. Together the six of us, and a "grown-up" staff (if we ask for one), work to clarify the problem and identify solutions.
At the end of the day I fall asleep, exhausted from a whole day teaching and problem solving, drained from the effort of communication in Bangla. Regardless, meeting with them remains my favorite day of the month and I celebrate that.
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