Saturday, October 20, 2012

Salaam Aleikum!

Salaam Aleikum!  This is the common greeting in Arabic that is translated "peace be with you."  It is essentially how they say "hello".  As I hear about the wonderful fall weather and fall activities back home, temperatures seem to be rising a bit here.  We have been blessed with a little bit of rain to cool it down a tad, but sunny days have been over 100, or at least they felt like it!  I have started to adjust to the African weather though, as I was actually a little cold one morning!  One of the brothers even joked that it might snow!  

Now for the story of the week:

Last Friday, I asked my class to write an essay answering the following three questions: 

1.  If you could change one thing in the world, what would it be? 
2.  How would you change it?
3.  Why would you change it?

After writing the essay, they would then present their answers to the class in a short speech of just a couple of minutes.  The essay (only 2 pages) was due on Wednesday, and the speeches were going to be on Friday.  I was also going to answer the three questions myself and give an example speech on Wednesday, to give them a base to work off of.  This assignment provided to be the best learning experience by far, for both them and me.  Everyday, I asked them if they had any questions about the assignments, and there were only very minor ones predominantly about the sppech.  On Wednesday, I asked for them to bring up their essays.  They responded with nothing but blank stares.  I asked again for their papers and again got nothing but crickets.  Finally, one student spoke up. 

"Teacher, we don't know how to write an essay". 

Talk about a wake-up call and a lesson in only 9 words.  I had completely taken for granted that the students, equivalent to high school freshmen, knew how to write an essay.  Yet another example of things taken for granted and the differences in culture and level of education.  This week, I will be teaching Essays 101.

For the speeches Friday, nobody wanted to go first, but once one brave soul broke the ice, there was a nice flow of volunteers who wanted to voice their opinion and get their first taste of public speaking.  While I could go on for hours about their answers as it gave me a great glimpse into their lives and history, I will give you a summary and what it taught me.  Feel free to email me if you want more details on anything (Ebenerlukem@sau.edu)  For the first question, the most common answers were:

1.  They would put an end to fighting, war and violence
2.  They would put an end to corruption

The history in South Sudan is filled with violence.  For most of the students, war and violence is all they know and has affected them in so many ways.  There was a Civil War from 1983-2005 (the second one of the country) and there was still a lot of violence and fighting from after the Civil War had officially ended.  While things have improved since the separation last year, there is still conflict and a lot of the tribes are in constant battle.  Corruption is also a big problem with the government.  There are a couple of my students who are "Lost Boys" (a great movie about this is "God grew tired of us"). 

That led to the question of why would they change it.  Because innocent people are dying, families are broken, and progress towards a peaceful and truly free coutnry are slowed.  The people of South Sudan are torn up both on the inside and outside because of war but they are SO PROUD of their newfound freedom and country.  They use the term "new beginnings" a lot when talking about their country and lifestyle.  What an appropiate term as they continue to move forward with their new life as a country and as individuals.  It reminds me of a Braveheart line "I've lived long enough to live free".  And they couldn't be any more proud. 

How would they change it?  The most common answers, to any of the problems and not just the two mentioned above, were that they would pray everyday, preach the Gospel to the people, and BE and live the example of the change they wanted to see.  How proud this made me of them!  Here is a group of young individuals, who have been through more than most ever will be, who have an unbreakable faith, want change, and are willing to change themselves.  Wow.

After the speeches, I asked for feedback about the assignment and how the speeches went.  They talked about the initial fear they had, but how happy they were after they got up to speak and finished!  We then had a great discussion about they just overcame the greatest fear in the world today (public speaking), which brought many smiles to their faces. I then added that they should have nothing to fear when they change the one thing in the world from their speech.  After all, the number one phrase in the Bible is "Do not be afraid."

I pray everyday for peace in our world, peace in our communities, peace in our families, and peace in our hearts.  I ask you to please do the same for my students.  God bless and Salaam Aleikum.


      

   

3 comments:

  1. Luke, wow. Brilliantly stated. What an accurate picture of the hearts of these kids. We are SO blessed to be a part of their lives in some small way. Thank you for sharing this with us all.

    ReplyDelete
  2. That was wonderful. Today our Mass was Do not fear. How funny, how God talks to us, and reaches out to us in such subtle ways? I love the way your students think, they are truly to be mentored after. How very inspirational. Your blogs are teaching all of us through these beautiful people. Will always keep you, and your South Sudan family in my prayers.

    ReplyDelete
  3. We have no idea how "good" we have it here. Thanks for opening up our eyes just a little to what others live with each day. Hope all is going well with you Luke! God's peace and protection be with you always!

    ReplyDelete