“My name is Ahmad *clap*… My name is Ahmad *clap*…”

Jesuit Refugee Services (JRS) is an organization that (duh) works with Jesuits – but they are particularly unique of the humanitarian orgs here in that they have tapped into the Sudanese and Somali asylee community here in Amman (NOTE an Asylee or Asylum Seeker – is same as a refugee – fled his/her country and cannot return based on fear of  persecution —- BUT an asylee is granted this “status” when outside his country of origin, while a refugee is granted “status” while inside his country.)

In Jordan, Sudanese/Somali refugees are a tiny community – around 700 people. This pales in comparison to the 1.6 million Palestinian refugees, 200,000 Syrian refugees, and 30,000+ Iraqi refugees…. So they slip under the radar.

Yet JRS has come to serve this community as well – and offers night English classes tailored around the community’s needs. Although the night classes are open to all refugees/asylees, the majority are originally from Africa.

So I am teaching the Basic Literacy Class with my friend Maya. Our class is starting from scratch – A, B, C’s – and has about 25 students, all adult learners, majority men with a handful of women (and some cute babies).

And really, I LOVE IT. I could write a long rambling blog about it all… but instead, I’ll give some highlights in my favorite form… “Highs, Lows, and Weirdos:”

High: Maya and I currently conduct the whole class – by necessity – in Arabic aside from the actual English activities. That was daunting at first, but now feels “3adi” (normal!). The BEST moment of class so far – and possibly my life – was during the 1^st class. We were talking about “why it is important to study English” and as we wrapped up the conversation, I summed up the students’ comments && added my own thoughts on the importance of learning a new language… all in Arabic. I didn’t even realize it in the moment – but it was EASILY the most I’ve ever spoken in Arabic. Then to top it all off, when I finished, the adorable (solo) Syrian woman in our class, Adila, started clapping and everyone joined in :)

Low: Last night Maya and I tried to organize the class into groups, or “majmou3,” in order to divide up the alphabet. It was chaotic and taking forever. We couldn’t understand why no one seemed to get what we were doing, even though we were explaining in Arabic… Then, at the end of the activity, one of our Sudanese students turned to Maya and ask… (in Arabic) “What does majmou3” mean? ….. As it turns out, the Sudanese dialect uses a different word for group – meaning 3/4^th of our class didn’t understand what “majmou3” meant! #adventuresofESL #nevereasy

Weirdo: Our first class, we wanted to do a “dancing name game” modeled along the lines of the Orientation favorite – Bust a Move. The idea is that everyone says their name and does a dance move – then the class repeats the person’s name and dance move! So Maya and I tried to organize this, fairly well, considering at that point we were still using the word “majmou3” and probably being very unclear! …. However the game quickly dissolved into a game of our classes creation… Once a person said their name, the class started clapping and singing “My name is Ahmad *clap* my name is Ahmad *clap* “ and wooping and dancing in place all together. EVEN better than Bust a Move — if you can imagine a giant circle of adults clapping and dancing together singing “My name is ________” for 30 different students :)