Determination

 “What are your dreams?” is a question we ask our upper-level English students.  

Most of our students are in their twenties and they have high hopes of doing something great with their lives.  Yet the answers we get to this question are regrettably mundane and repetitious.  In fact, most of the time we hear one of three answers:

El-Azima and some fellow students

“I want to become a doctor.”  While this is certainly an honorable profession and excellent dream.  Unfortunately, I think most students just desire the money and prestige that comes with such a position rather than the less selfish reason of serving and healing others.  

“I want to be rich and have a big house.” This is also an understandable dream in a poor country where most people live on less than $5 a day.

“I want to go to America and finish my studies.” This one is said with a grin as if not in their wildest dream could this ever really happen.  But that’s what dreams are for, right, dreaming big?

It is a wild dream—studying in America.  Most students only barely pass high school.  Even our best English students would struggle to write a college level paper.  And, at the root of even the best student’s dreams is the money issue.

Over the years we’ve had many, many students ask what it would take to study at an American university, and for most we try to discourage them.  It is too hard, too expensive and not a real possibility.  Often just a discussion of the amounts of money required and the tests and hoops one would need to jump through are enough to scare people off.  If they still push, we send them to a few web sites, articles that explain what is involved in applying to American universities.  Usually we don’t hear from them again. So in short, we’ve never seriously helped anyone apply to schools in the US.  But for the past two weeks I’ve been helping a young man do just that.  

El-Azima is determined.  He is bright—perhaps not the brightest student I’ve ever taught, but certainly up there.  He has done quite a lot with very little and that is commendable.  But what really sets him apart is his determination and his faith that studying in the US is a real possibility.

Tom with emerging teachers in El-Azima's village

It’s been more than 20 years since I applied to college, but the process certainly hasn’t gotten much easier, except for the fact that you can do it all online—a boon for international students.  So together we’ve waded through the piles of questions and forms necessary to apply.  El-Azima’s intent is unwavering.  He writes essays, answers obscure questions, calls people on the phone, and finds a way forward.

One of the roadblocks has been the school guidance counselor.  It is the guidance counselor’s job to send school transcripts and a recommendation.  El-Azima’s counselor is behind him, willing to help him in any way he can—but the older man doesn’t even have an email address and doesn’t speak English.  So El-Azima has to do all the work—create an email account for the counselor (with his permission), and send all the transcripts and recommendations in his name.  Does this sound a little sketchy to you?  Me too.  But then again, what choice does he have—and the counselor is happy to vouch for him.

Then there are financial aid forms to fill out.  For about 2 hours last week we worked together to fill out financial aid forms.  It felt like a nonsensical exercise—How many ways can a person say they are poor?  His father is a farmer, his mother sells the produce in the market.  They have no income.  Again and again we answered ‘no’ or ‘zero’ to questions about possible assets, savings or funds.  We told them the details of his 9 siblings—El-Azima calling family members on the phone to get their correct birth dates—who are in various levels of school or unemployment.  It was ridiculous, but finally we reached the end of the questions and hit the submit button.  It was at that point we were told to pay a $9 application fee and $16 per school.  I felt my heart sink.  He barely has money to get a taxi into town, let alone pay 100 times that in application fees—and this is for financial aid!  You have to pay for the application for financial aid???

But El-Azima is undaunted.  “I’ll find the money somehow,” he tells me.  And maybe he will.  I remind him again, that this is what it will be like.  There will be lots of fees—the airline ticket alone is thousands of dollars.  Then there will books, clothes, housing—all of it really expensive in the US.  How will he afford it?  It’s going to be really hard.  But El-Azima is undeterred.  With a smile he says, “Yes, but it will be worth it.”  

While we don’t carry his confidence that it will, we do what we can to be both realistic and supportive. Who knows? Maybe his dreams will come true.

Our youngest & oldest on river hike

PRAYERS ANSWERED
Some of our teammates are back, the others are still (hopefully) enjoying their vacation.  We’ve taken the lessening of team responsibilities as an opportunity to go on some hikes as a family.  It’s been nice.  The October rains have been helping the weather stay a bit cooler, but we can feel the heat and humidity rising. But hot season means fruit—mangos are back!  One of the men’s groups continues to go very well.  The other group will hopefully meet again this week.  Tom had an encouraging conversation with a neighbor and sent him home with a copy of the story of Zaccheus and the plan to send him home with other stories in the future. 


PRAYERS REQUESTED
The study for one of the men’s groups is drawing to an end.  Pray for wisdom as to what to do next.  Our medical team is getting really close to launching.  They will be spending some time with local village families this week as an opportunity to experience village life first hand and to make some connections in the village before moving there at the end of the month.  Pray for good health, good bonding, and good experiences.  We have a short-termer coming very soon.  Pray for her preparations and ours.  Keep praying for the divisions among brothers and sisters on the small island.  As far as we know things have yet to be resolved.