A Coat of Many Colors, a Field of Many Dreams

Several days into my first week here at Abaarso Tech, and I am paralyzed.

Paralyzed, not by lack of possibility or motivation, but quite the opposite; there is just so much to be done here, so much that I can take part in, contribute to, create, that I am paralyzed by the possibilities, and the creeping knowledge that I will not have enough time to accomplish all that I want here in this windy oasis of learning.

First and foremost, I want to teach. As someone who has spent uncountable hours pushing and struggling to make students care about learning in the desperately underperforming yet even more desperately under-motivated Philadelphia school system, the chance to lead a classroom of students, many coming from some of the least privileged households in the world, yet thirsty for knowledge and advancement, is a ship finally come to shore.

To plunge fresh minds into the river of knowledge and immerse them completely, to start fires in the forest of curiosity, to squeeze the milk of reason and the syrup of intellectual stimulation from the craggy rocks and stunted trees of this desert landscape, this may seem slightly overwrought, but often these delusions of grandiosity are the greatest motivation to push onwards towards the mirage, against the insidious sands of ignorance, the unbearable heat of complacence, and through the stark desert landscape of a closed off mind.

A true love of learning is not such a dry and brittle tender that it is easily ignited, but with the effort to get it alight comes the knowledge that it will continue to burn with a smoldering alacrity long into the darkest night, serving as a beacon to others and lighting a path forward through the unknown. As the proud defender of one of the world’s last remaining libraries in Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 declared as she went up in flames along with her treasured stacks of books:

"Play the man, Master Ridley; we shall this day light such a candle, by God's grace, in England Somaliland, as I trust shall never be put out."

(Originally a quotation from heretics burned at the stake during the Reign of Bloody Mary)

Not that the state of the world is quite to the point of Bradbury’s dark vision yet, but a mounting number of books and documentaries have come to decry the state of education, at least in America, lamenting its long decline and calling to arms any and all who would strive to save this vaunted institution. While America’s primary and secondary schools fall further behind, our Universities remain a bastion of excellence, holding the majority of the top rankings throughout the world and attracting talent from every corner of the globe. Perhaps this merely represents a shift in our comparative advantage, just as the manufacturing industry has all but disappeared from our shores, so the “factories” of basic education are finding the competitive environment unencouraging, while high tech and higher education flourish. In any case, though I will attempt to comment on the macro trends of global education at a later date, let me return to the (plethora of) tasks at hand.

Yes, I want to teach, to instill a love of learning in my students, and to introduce and encourage them along a journey that includes a profound appreciation of the classics, knowledge of contemporary writers, and the empowerment to dive into any work of literature and find meaning. As I am teaching writing, I want my students not only to be great connoisseurs of the best writing available, but to become accomplished practitioners, eager and willing to make their own mark on the word wielding the greatest weapon of all, the pen, err, keyboard.

Beyond my core objective of teaching, my goals run the gamut, from the most mundane to the most complex of endeavors:

I want to improve the landscaping at this school, to align rocks into pathways and sculptures rather than them being a constant hazard underfoot.

I want to change the school’s system of waste management, to limit the burning of unsavory materials that pollutes the air and wastes potential resources, to turn plastic and glass into new things and to develop a sense of responsibility for the environment amongst the staff and students.

I want to raise the school’s image amongst the global conscience, through promotion and engagement of social media, as well as outreach to a greater base of donors and supporters.

I want to be active in the most literal sense, coaching a basketball team, giving tennis lessons, playing football, for the health of my own body as well as the promotion of team skills amongst the students, cohort that they are that must rely on each other to succeed.

I want to prepare the students for applying to college, to help them crack the SAT and TOEFL, to write superior personal essays, to secure feasible financial aid. Partnerships will need to be developed with US universities willing to give them a chance and the students must be ready to survive and compete in a culture very foreign to their own.

I want to introduce a system of peer mediation and conflict resolution amongst the students to further their independence and interdependence when dealing with life’s issues, and I want to enhance their emotional intelligence, teaching them the soft skills of cooperation, communication, trust, responsibility and tolerance.

As for myself, I want to improve my own teaching ability, increase my knowledge of Arabic and Somali, gain knowledge of management and finance from the AT University programs, and make connections within the Somali community for greater cultural understanding as well as future development projects in the region and the greater Middle East.

As of now, these are the tasks before me. Only time will tell whether a year’s time is sufficient, but all I

can do is begin. Each great oration starts with a single word, and even a small wall must begin with a
single stone, so it’s time to shake the paralysis and begin picking them up, one dusty rock after another.

Our current method of waste disposal, 

one of the many tasks to be accomplished.

(Notice the mini-guard in mid-air above the flame ;)

First Impressions: In Pictures

From the Highest Building in the World 

(Burgh Khalifa, Dubai)

                                                         

                                                       To Our Humble Mosque and Laundry Drying Apparatus 

                                        To the Great Plains of Scrubland and Valley's Surrounding Us

                                                     And One of Our Dashing Guards, Ahmed

                                               And the Pleasant Foliage that inhabits this land

                                          And the actually somewhat Pleasant Garden outside my Room

We have Abaarso Tech and its surroundings, a place to spend the next year exploring and enhancing!

Finding the Country that’s not on the Map

“No sir, that is not my passport number”, “No I don’t have any other passports, you must have made some mistake”

These were the first words I had the great fortune to speak to a Somaliland Official, uttered mid-morning at the tiny building that served as Hargeisa’s airport, arrival hall, customs, and immigration. We had done everything right, printed out the letter urging the government to waive the required exchange of our America dollars into the intensely devalued Somaliland currency, bringing with us our ticket stubs and the sheet of paper with all of our names printed on it that served as our official visa to enter the state-that-isn’t-a-state known as Somaliland. Of course doing everything right is no guarantee, and sure enough, my passport number and the one they had printed for me were completely  different, causing me some anxiety that I would be unable to enter the country…at least in any other country this might pose a problem, however, seeing that many other mistakes were present on our visa, not least the misspelling of the word “Republic” in the official title of the “Republic of Somaliland”, I thought I had a pretty good case for letting me in, and by golly, it had been too long of a flight to be turned back now!

My journey to the country that’s not on the map started off with a fairly typical though perhaps inauspicious delayed flight from Raleigh to New York’s JFK. I had planned to spend my 5 hour layover meeting up with my friend Mike Chen and relaxing in the airport, but instead had only time for a quick hello and the receiving of a gift of trail mix before I had to rush into the security line for my next flight to Moscow. Arriving in the gleaming (apparently brand new) Moscow airport, I immediately recognized how clean and soft the floors looked, and in following up on that intuition, lay down for a delightful 7 hour nap. Then it was time for our flight to Dubai, the Vegas of the Middle East, and a fitting juxtaposition to presage our arrival in one of the world’s newest and least developed countries. After checking in to our hotel, which appeared to double as a Chinese, Korean, and Pakistani brothel during the on-season, the other teachers and I had the chance to scout out some delicious Lebanese Shwarma at 3am before the sun rose and the iron curtain of fasting fell across the (outwardly) pious little Emirate. Awaking early, I had the distinct pleasure of taking Dubai’s brand new metro for a ride, an amazing piece of engineering that evoked the futuristic cities of science fiction, by which I was swiftly transported to the Tallest Building in the World, which proved too large to fit in one photograph, and too expensive to enter and rise to the top ($100 for a peek from its view). After a little more mall-centric site seeing, we met up with Kyle and Ayu, two former Abaarso Tech teachers, who for the next several hours fielded a constant barrage of questions from all of us information starved teachers, and valiantly stood their ground against this onslaught of curiosity.  After breaking our fast at a delicious Indian restaurant, we made our way to the airport, where we awaited the final two legs of our quest to enter the un-mapped nation across the sea.

Our Dallo (Djibouti)  Airlines flight, on an aircraft that appeared to be acquired from Spain, and was operated by a crew from Tajikistan, offered a number of peculiarities which bare relating. Among the expected group of Somali passengers, there was a large contingent of what appeared to be Pakistani Sheikhs, robed and bearded, who took every occasion to demonstrate their piety and defy the normal guidelines for airplane travel. As one took the loudspeaker to voice the call to prayer, several holed up in the small bathroom to purify themselves from head to foot, and as we approached an area of turbulence, though the pilot desperately flashed the seatbelt sign, all rose and knelt in the aisle to pray, much to the consternation of our anxious young flight attendant.

Arriving safely in the early morning, the departure/arrival room of the small Djibouti airport was brimming with camouflage, a large contingent of US Navy personnel evidently were making their long awaited escape back home. The look in their eyes said it all; they had no intention of welcoming us to the small, hellishly hot country they had just been toiling in, their focus was purely on McDonald's, Mom, and Apple Pie. Finally we were called out onto the runway and exactly according to our expectations, boarded a propeller place with no AC and seats that flopped around brokenly in the wind. This proved surprisingly comfortable (for me) and the combination of hot air and roaring propellers lulled me into a deep sleep, until 45 minutes later we touched down on the dirt runway of Hargeisa (Int'l) Airport, and experienced fresh breezes sent down from the hills to welcome us to the country beyond the cartographer’s reach.

Now no matter how fresh those breezes were, I was not going to wait around in that airport for the next bunch of frazzled deliveries to push their way into line, so I explained, as best I could, that the visa was “full of mistakes!” I may have said something to the effect of “you even got the name of your bloody country wrong! Of course you made a mistake with my passport number!” In any case I eventually prevailed, and breathing deeply with relief (though somewhat disturbed at the same time by the depth (or lack thereof) of screening), was able to rejoin my compatriots, claim my luggage (they actually checked the tags!) and make my way along the dusty road to where the Abaarso Tech bus awaited us.

Driving through the streets of Hargeisa, I’m not sure what I had expected, but the dissonance that I felt led me to believe that it had been something else. Hargeisa was unlike any other capital city I had ever seen. In many other economically deprived, underdeveloped countries, the rest of the country may suffer, but corrupt dictators pour all the resources at their disposal into making their capital’s appropriate flagships to their pride and arrogance. Here however, nary a building of any size, nor a thoroughfare of any particular pomp or care was to be found. As we passed through the heart of town, and no large stores nor sizable offices appeared, and as we drove by the Presidential Palace, a building that distinguished itself mainly by its large fence and the cleanliness of its walls, it became apparent that either Somaliland distributed its wealth much more evenly… or the country simply had fewer resources than I had imagined. In any case, the capital was soon left behind and as we bounced along the road to Abaarso I was able to appreciate the removed location of the school where I would be living and working. On top of a hill, surrounded by valleys and dessert planes, the school was a bucolic call to action, and I had arrived at last to do my part.

Heeding the Horn's Call

Today is Sunday, and I am at the Illustrious Quail Ridge Books and Music, such a mecca of learning and opportunity to support your local community that I woke up at 530am to get here 3.5 hours before it opened!
(so now that Mom's happy...)

Tomorrow I leave lovely NC for a year to head to the Horn of Africa, where I will be teaching English at a high school called Abaarso Tech in the small independent (though unrecognized) country of Somaliland. 

For those who don't know where it is, don't worry, I didn't either

The first leg of my tarantula-like journey starts tomorrow afternoon, when I fly to JFK. From there I will be taking Aeroflot (is it just me or does that name not inspire soaring birds and flight? especially the "flot" part...) to Moscow, where I will be connecting to a flight to Dubai. Because Abaarso Tech takes the liberty of creatively finding the cheapest possible way to get to Somaliland (hey, I would have done the same), I get to stay in Dubai for a day! Whether this means I will go Skiing, or play Tennis on the highest outdoor court in the world, or take in the view of a series of Islands shaped like a Palm Tree from the Highest Building in the World, I'm not sure, but at least I am excited to be visiting a place that was a large component of my Thesis (see previous post, keyword: notfun) if only for a brief amount of time. I can only imagine that the skyscrapers of Dubai and the lavish celebrations of Ramadan will create a sharpe contraste (why did i just put e's on those wordes?) to Somaliland and the little village outside of Hargeisa where my school is located. However, some people live of juxtaposition (not saying i'm one, not saying i ain't) and at least the comparison should be informative.

The next day, from Dubai  I fly to Djibouti (jokes encouraged) where its just a quite morning hop over to Hargeisa where hopefully somebody will meet me at the airport (please?).

That's all I can really say for now, rest assured, after I rest, I will tell you if this series of puddle jumps went at all according to plan, and will begin blogging (fingers crossed) regularly, about my experience in Somaliland and the hands on work that I will be doing there!

For now, i leave you with this, a Hand (not mine), on Somaliland.

 

Learning and Serving in Egypt and the US

Ok I lied, I am ALMOST going to bring us up to present day in this next post, only because I had the privilege to take part in an incredible program this summer called LearnServe Egypt, which I think deserves a little mention here. ( For more complete coverage and perspectives, visit www.ifeegypt.org )

LearnServe Egypt was a six week program created by the Institute for Education in partnership with Mercator XXI LLC, and the AUC School of Business, where 6 Americans and 6 Egyptians were united to form lasting bonds of friendship and have endless hours of bus sing a longs (initiated by yours truly) and discussions over everything from sarcasm in different cultures to the Egyptian Revolution and the prospects for its future. oh, and we also had a mission of creating the plans for social businesses that would benefit Egypt and forge greater ties between Egypt and the US.

The first 2 weeks we spent in Egypt, traveling around to visit sites, businesses and listen to speakers from the government, business and education worlds, while staying at the lovely dorms at the new campus of the American University in Cairo. Here we identified social problems and started coming up with business plans that would address our problem areas, culminating in a final pitch on the last day where a group of Egyptian Business leaders shredded our hopes and dreams with a chain-saw.

The second two weeks we tried to keep working on the putting the pieces back together but mostly fiddled with Skype and Google+ and decided it would be easier to sleep alot and post on each others Facebook walls :D

The Third and Final Phase took place in Washington DC, where we all stayed in the Dupont Circle Hotel and at first really enjoyed DC, then met tons of super interesting speakers (like the former deputy secretary of defense and current president of CSIS, the former mayor of DC, the CEO of DCs fastest growing company, and the Ambassador from Egypt, among others!), then had to work ALOT, then enjoyed DC even more! This all culminated in another Final Pitch, this time to a panel of American venture capitalists and Business Leaders who then proceeded to... be alot nicer than we had expected, gave us great feedback and told us our plans were excellent!

All in all in was a fantastic intro to many new things for me, particularly in entrepreneurship and business formation, and I'm sure the many skills and connections will prove invaluable both in the immediate future and on down the long and winding road (dah dah, dah dah, daaa)

Ok next post I really will enter the present, pinkyswear

(Yet another) Updater Interlude

Salaam Alaykum!

For anyone who may still upon occassion pass by this blog (hopefully not like a ship in the night), you have probably noticed that not much has happened in a while... OR HAS IT??

The fact is, yet again, I have been remiss in my blog duties (bluties?) and haven't updated in quite awhile, much like the last trip to the middle east when I left us hanging after a *thrilling* part one story of a trip to Syria, I have left "us" hanging once again, somewhere in Jaipur if I recall correctly...

Now if my virtual self were to be accorded a physical manifestation, he could be assumed to have remained in "Double-Jaipurdy" for quite some time now. For the living, physically embodied Siler, this is not the case though, and a few things have happened since we left our protagonist, trekking through the forts of the old Marahaja and fending of men with mangoes and boundless curiosity.

In summary:

I left Jaipur, finished my internship in Bagar, went to Delhi and stayed with Shubhi in her delightful abode where I ate meat! and was eaten by her "delightful" dog Mischief. Planned to meet up with Lindsey and go to Agra, Went to the wrong train station in Delhi, finally found a bus to Agra, barely saw Agra fort and the Taj Mahal, ran to the next train, parted ways with Lindsey, arrived in Amritsar. Had a truly amazing experience at the Golden Temple where I had free lodging and meals (!!!!) Saw the crazy border closing ceremony between the goose-steppers and shouters of Pakistan and the Shouters and goose-steppers of India. Went back to Delhi and stayed with Sam, Michelle and Sean in The Den Of Disease. Went to Kujaraho and saw pornographic temples :P Became somewhat ill, escaped the Den of Disease, went to Jaisalmer, Jodhpur and Udaipur (the Most Romantic City on Earth), returned to Delhi and the Den of Disease :( left with Sam for a healing and rough and tumble (at the same time!) jaunt through Lucknow, Varanasi, Pokara, Kathmandu, Darjeeling and Kolkata. Missed our Fastest Train in India, Took the LONGEST TRAIN RIDE EVER. Arrived in Delhi to return home to the USofA.

whew. After that I went back to Penn, had no sleep but lots of fun, wrote a thesis (also no sleep but NOT fun), graduated, came home to NC.

That should be enough update for now, bring us up to the present day in the next post, I promise!