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 ;)