Passing the Torch

English Club

One of our goals on the islands is to work ourselves out of a job— to see others empowered to do for themselves what we are doing. This is something we hope for in all parts of our work. It is why we are team leaders and why we are working to mentor islanders. But part of passing the torch, part of empowering others is allowing things to get messy. If others are going to take things on, they have to be given the opportunity to try, to struggle, to even fail.

One small example of this is with our English club. We’ve convinced islanders that they can teach English classes but most of them still look to us to lead the club. So we’ve been encouraging them to volunteer to lead an activity for our club. We’re there to support them but when they lead an activity it is their show.

Recently we have had a number of people step up and take on the challenge. It isn’t always pretty. This past week was a good example. “Bako” had offered to lead an activity. Bako is an interesting guy. We’ve known him a long time now. He’s very serious and formal, almost incapable of light-hearted joking. He tends to be longwinded and use big words. He also respects Tom a lot and has done English teacher training with him. He wants to improve himself, which is a wonderful quality.

So we’ve taught him how to make his classroom a fun environment, a place where it is safe to make mistakes. We’ve show him the value of encouraging students and even playing silly games to reinforce your lessons.  But it doesn’t seem like these values have quite gotten through to him.  I think, deep down, Bako actually prefers the normal island way of teaching, which is writing on the chalkboard, a good deal of lecturing, and just having your students copy it down. He likes the authority and respect of being a teacher, which is somewhat diminished by silly fun in the classroom.  But at the same time, he sees our success in the classroom, and respects us as teachers.  So he listens and he tries.

At the club, we caught ourselves smiling and shaking our heads several times. There was still a lot of mini-lectures with him writing on the board and expounding in big words. But we see him learning too. Okay so his monotone delivery of phrases like “Let’s have some fun” and “Good try” make you doubt his sincerity, but at least he is saying them!  At least he’s going for it!

The reality is that perhaps we could do better clubs if we just always planned and did them ourselves. We have enough experience to not make a lot of the “beginner” mistakes, but if we are always the ones in charge then when we leave it all stops.

This principle extends beyond English teaching. We want to see others empowered to carry on the things that we are passionate about.  We want them to embrace for themselves the vision of a bright future for the islands. But if we are the only ones that know how to do something or feel capable of doing something, then we are failing. We are succeeding when we aren’t needed, when things don’t grind to a halt in our absence, when the work can carry on even when we move on to something else. 

Greeting short-termer at airport

So we cringe through bad English clubs.  We give constructive criticism and encouragements.  We try to keep a balance between effective work without reproduction and reproduction without effective work.  But like we tell our students.  If you’ve never made a mistake, you’ve never really tried. 

PRAYERS ANSWERED
Our new short term team mate has arrived safely.  It looks like she is going to be a great addition to the team.  Tom’s final mediation meeting went well with general agreement found and more chances to share about the importance of forgiveness.  The government meetings were completed without incident.  There are still a lot of questions about what the results will be, but for now things are peaceful. 

PRAYERS REQUESTED
We are looking to renew our visas.  This is an annual event and though not usually a problem, there is always potential for disruption, so pray for a smooth processing.  Two of our teammates were victims of theft- pray for them as they navigate the island justice system and process this experience. We will be hosting a small gathering of our NGO’s English teachers this coming weekend.  Pray for those traveling from other islands and that the time will help to solidify some of our new curriculum and strengthen the English work on all the islands.  Our short termer is living with us for a few days of orientation and then she has a week long stay with a local family ahead of her.  Pray for stamina, openness, and a good heart as she engages in this new culture.