To pour your heart and soul into something…and have it almost slip away…Challenges only make us stronger!

You may remember me talking a little about my roll at Hope for Himalayan Kids being one in regards to capacity building with the new and existing staff members including case managers, data mangers, the accountant etc. The way in which I feel that professional development is going to benefit the organization and in turn the children the quickest was to send 8 of our staff to English Language training at certain reputable institution here in Pokhara. So off they went last Wednesday for their first day of school

 

 (I was like the proud mother sending her loved ones to school, 

even made these profession case workers and accountants do a group photo…)

I had spend a majority of the last two months researching best practice deinstitutionalization documents for the teacher to incorporate into the curriculum once they got past beginner level so they start to use and comprehend global best practice report writing and case notes (about the kids) in English.

The challenge came (to make a very large and emotionally charged story short) when I sat in a couple of lessons this week and was a completely shocked by both the style of teaching and the content of the curriculum. This teacher has (what we now realize a self created excellent reputation in Pokhara). Both my self and my director screened him several times and talked about expectations and what we needed him to provide. We wanted them to be able to read, comprehend and write for the reports and case notes on the orphaned, abandoned and at risk children they will be working with. We wanted this training to be in line with the values and in the context of child protection, equality and human rights.

After sitting in on a couple of classes I realized that reputations and first impressions can be so terribly wrong. The two areas of concern I observed and which were reinforced by staff feedback were about: a) The style in which the teacher was conducting the class, and b) A lot of the English curriculum he was teaching was actually wrong (hard to sit in the corner and observe while biting my lip….more on that in moment)

So first point: The atmosphere and environment in the class room (and this is while I was there so I can imagine he was altering it to be more profession with a foreigner in the room) was like army camp for preschoolers…no more like puppy school actually, but with less love or rewards like schmackos (metaphorically speaking-just a “well done, that was correct, great effort would have done…”)… Anyway, hand gestures to stand up , sit down, stop…He would be an excellent drill sergeant, or king in the 1900s who likes to read dictionaries, pretend to know all the words in them, and then brag even though he doesn’t know the meanings….

What made me most upset was that after only one week in this school the motivation of these new green case workers as well as the existing staff to learn English and develop themselves professionally was peaking on Wednesday…and it had been sucked from them by Sunday. I had worked so hard to teach them about how important professional development is and the mutual benefits for them, the children and the NGO. I worked so hard to set up a culture for them and explain to them about how we will be investing into them and supporting them to be the best they can be to change the lives of the children they will be working with. I had worked so hard to explain in the induction that we value equality and respect and do not distinguish between gender, caste, village group or age in our organization…And to have this contradicted by this training was gut wrenching. Not really the capacity building I was after.

 

The second point of concern (and if I hadn’t just had the meeting to sack this man this morning I could find some of this funny) was that some of what he was teaching was sooooo wrong!!! He would stop my colleagues mid sentence with NO! Wrong! And proceed to give an alternative sentence, to the one they were trying so hard to say. This occurred even when what the student was saying was correct! And then he would either give an alternative way of saying the same thing, or give an incorrect alternative!…

I didn’t bite my lip in those instances I would ask the teacher “Sorry guru, is that a Nepali word you have just given?” He would respond with: “No, English”. I respectfully would answer “Um actually no its not a word guru, that sentence does not make much sence”. Of which he would respond, “Yes it is.”  And move on with the “class”. (Yep, that’s right, the Nepali teacher, with English as his second language was telling me, little English woman in the corner-with English as her first language that he was right and I was wrong). For those who know me well, don’t worry, this man is still with us today with dignity intact and only for the reason that all my precious colleagues were in the room and I have learned that biting my tongue is delicious and useful in international development.

So this morning I professionally went down with my director during what would have been our normal class time to give the feedback, (in a respectful manner-Army camp was only mentioned once by my Nepali Director) and deliver the news that we were pulling our students out of what would have been 3 months of classes with them. When giving the reasons why my ability to deliver constructive feedback kicked in thank the Lord and civil war did not erupt. In fact he took it quite well and I was impressed with his demeanor as Nepali culture as many Asian cultures do, has an element of saving face so he took it well given the cultural context.This challenge took me and is keeping me way out of my comfort zone. This will make me stronger and more well equipped for this type of bump in the road in the future. So new challenges this week:
1)Make an appointment with the manager of the institute in an attempt to get my money back!!! (Policies don’t really exist here, especially when it comes to consumer refunds.)

2) Find a new English Language teacher ASAP
3) Prepare the English Language classes I will now be giving every day until the new and improved teacher is found. PS: My Nepali will be put to the test!

Being taken out of my comfort zone so often has forced me to dig deep to find out just what I can achieve when I focus and not allow irrational draining emotions to get in the way. The capacity I have when options have seemed hopeless has been drawn from some of the amazing people I have met since being here. This week I will come out on top and be stronger for it. Bring on the whole gambit of emotions that will come this week with the challenges that lay a head, satisfaction, happiness, stress, tears and all. Here I feel. Here I am sentient. Bring it on!