TEACHING IN TORIT 2/08 Excerpts from letter to LCS Students

Where can I start? Many of you asked about the weather…it’s hot. The average temperature is between 90 degrees and often even 100. It is not humid here but it’s very dry, almost desert like scorching, windy heat. The past week I have been sleeping outside our compound in a tent as it is far more cool in the open air overnight. Here in the town of Torit, many…if not most, of the Sudanese people live in open air houses made out of mud and bricks so that the air and wind can cool them during the evening hours. This is the dry season so rain has been scarce. That is one of the differences in African climate; Rain is seasonal and of course, no snow. Which I do not miss, sorry guys! I heard how cold it has been in Lincoln. Maybe you can send some ice and snow in the next mail package.

I love teaching. Working within the South Sudan school system so far has been a very hit and miss process. I taught for three weeks, then the students had two weeks for the Sudan examinations. So my job was to proctor, or observe, the students to make sure they were diligently finishing their tests without cheating. The classrooms are dirty as wooden desks litter the rooms, and the windows are old and damaged. In every room are chalkboards; Ancient relics from years ago that create dust storms every time they are used. This Torit high school has yet to be rebuilt after the long civil war that destroyed the region.

The new school year began exactly one day after the end of the year! So on the 15th of February all teachers were reporting back to begin duties. Biology and English are now two subjects that I have been able to teach to the high school students here at the Torit Secondary School. The students do not have access to all the reading materials and textbooks that we do in America. No Encyclopedia Britannica’s, dictionaries or almanacs. The Sudanese teachers themselves use very old, and dusty hand-me-down instruction books and small hand size notebooks. Since the Sudan is rebuilding after many years of civil war the new government of the South Sudan is re-writing new curriculum textbooks for science, math, chemistry and history. Unfortunately, at the beginning of a new school year here the new textbooks are not yet even finished and have not been distributed to the Sudanese schools. So, you can see how chaotic and crazy is this school system. It is very unpredictable.

At the Torit Secondary School classes begin at eight in the morning and last until almost three o’ clock in the afternoon. Every day, at ten-thirty in the morning, the teachers eat a large meal together. This meal is called “ Fatur” which is Arabic for breakfast. Every day, twice a day, the cooks serve a very sugary drink called Shay. This is a sweetened tea. Most Sudanese eat only at ten-thirty in the morning and then again at four in the afternoon. These meals are almost always rice, beans, lentils or thick bread. These eating times are so different from our schedule in America!

My co-teachers are also very different! I am the only American on a staff of almost thirty teachers. Every other teacher is from Africa; Uganda, Kenya, South Sudan and North Sudan. Several of the North Sudan Arabic teachers are polite gentlemen who moved from the very large Sudan city called Khartoum. Khartoum is the capital of all of Sudan but is located hundreds of miles north from Torit. So these Arabic, men have traveled far, far from their homes.