By mashod93
As part of our “Reflection Week”, my fellow students of Amideast and I have been writing pieces on our times here in the forms of blogs, videos accompanied with text and opinion editorials. At the beginning of the semester, I had no idea what I would write about as my final reflection piece. I thought I would focus on my language skills and gauging whether they had improved and if so, what I could attribute to this progress.
Teaching English to the Ethiopian refugees was something I considered a great experience and a chance for me to show my gratitude for everything that had been done for me when I went to the US. Throughout my experience working with these wonderful students of the Oromo Center, however, it became clear to me that what each volunteer and I were doing was not to be taken lightly. While teaching and interacting with these students was great and I do not regret a day of it, it has made me realize that the greater issue with refugees is graver than their acquisition of English. They need every human right (none of which they get now) implemented in their everyday lives. These refugees are supposedly having the support and protection of UN agencies and recognition of the Egyptian government, but in reality, they are ignored by both. These refugees are treated as if they are not human. Displaced refugees are people as well, and they also have the right to an education.
English would allow for a common language among refugees, not only of the same country, but also on a wider spectrum. As natives of African countries (as opposed to North African Arab countries), these expatriates are ostracized on a daily basis by the Egyptian government and most members of society for innumerable reasons such as their skin color or their inability to converse in any language but their own. Because they are legally supposed to be relocated (although there is no guarantee), there is no great incentive to learn the language of the city they are initially placed into. They have essentially become the “in-betweens” of Cairene society, which is why it is vitally important for refugees of different countries to be able to communicate with each other in order to form a community of non-community members.
This community service project has been a huge part of my experience abroad as it has taken me out of my academic portion of study abroad both mentally and physically. Because the center is in Maadi, I commute about an hour to get there by metro and tuk tuk, which has encouraged my use of Arabic. This commute brings me to Old Maadi, which is where most of the refugee population in Cairo lives. This itself requires a completely different mental state than the wealthier parts of Cairo, which, for safety and convenience reasons, is where my education program is located.
I teach in DC at The Perry School and will happily continue my work when I return to GW. Because I was unaware of many parts of refugee issues, I plan to try and create awareness of refugee and human rights issues through my project that is required of me for the Gilman Scholarship. This project will target high school students that plan to study abroad or even just learn another language. Encouragement of study abroad and community service is vital to creating awareness because experiencing something for oneself is, in my opinion, the most powerful way to truly know and be inspired to help relieve an issue.