Journals+Youssef+El+Sheikh


 * Journal 1: **

It was my first day returning to Yanbou3 el Nour once again, after a long summer break. I was excited to see the kids again and get back to work. We found some difficulty that day, contacting the orphanage, as we had lost their phone number from last year, however we overcame this issue after making many calls, and researching on the internet. When I called the orphanage I felt that they didn’t remember me, however when we arrived that immediately changed. Seif Said, Timmy Khalifa, Youssef Rizk and I went to Yanbou3 el Nour orphanage that day right after the Friday prayer. We met up at school and had a long walk to Yanbou3 el Nour, which is located on the outskirts of Maadi. Before reaching the orphanage we decided to stop by Metro Supermarket to get some food and common necessities that they would need as a re-union gift. We bought them Chicken, Rice, Macaroni, vegetables, salt, sugar, oil, milk, juice, soap and some candy, that we individually passed out. I arrived at the orphanage not expecting the kids to remember me, however I was wrong. The second I entered the orphanage the kids came running embracing me with hugs and smiles; they shouted “Mr. Youssef! Where have you been?” I enjoyed the moment as it made me feel like I had impacted their lives on some level. We proceeded to enter General Ahmed El Bishir’s office where also greeted us warmly. We began to converse about future plans in working with the orphanage to help the children with their English skills, it took him a while before he remembered us from last year. He was joyous and he praised us for efforts in working with the children. The conversation changed course as we began talking about major issues such as politics and education, I left that day with a new found appreciation for education. We scheduled to come in, and help the children every Saturday morning, with their English.


 * Journal 2: **

On Saturday, after swimming practice I met up with the same group, which consisted of, Timmy Khalifa, Youssef Rizk and Seif Said. We all went to the orphanage once again, also passing by Metro Supermarket on the way there, as they were in desperate need of food and supplies. We felt a moral obligation to buy them as much food as we can, and we did so. We entered the orphanage once again the following week but this time we were there to begin tutoring these children and helping them in writing, reading, speaking and understanding the English language. To our surprise, the owner allowed us to only tutor 5 of the children, as they where the one’s he saw who had “Hope.” We were surprised but, we understood where he was coming from, as he explained to us that the rest of them, were not intelligent enough and would ultimately bringing the rest of them down. This was good in the sense that we could focus greatly on the few that we had with us, but at the same time I felt like I wanted to help them all as much as I could. However we proceeded with our lesson, as we covered almost half of their book. I felt that we were making progress, as each of us could focus on one aspect on their learning, for example one of us could focus on definitions while the other can focus on spelling and someone else could focus on pronunciation. We covered the material well and the children were fully engaged, always working hard in order to be the one that writes the word on the board. We rewarded them with little things such as high fives or compliments, to keep them motivated, which proved to work quite well. After a long session, the kids began getting tired so we decided to end our lesson for the day and we started telling jokes and having fun with the kids, I felt that they enjoyed their lesson and so did we. I was happy, as I felt confident that we made a positive impact on some people’s lives.


 * Journal 3: **

Saturday after Swimming practice once again. Yet another long walk to the Yanbou3 El Nour orphanage. I was accompanied with regular group consisting of Timmy Khalifa, Seif Said and Youssef Rizk. Unfortunately there was no car available to take us this time, and we needed the money in order to purchase food from Metro on the way there so we couldn’t get a taxi. . We bought them 2 packs of Macaroni, 2 packs of rice and a bottle of cooking oil. Again, the children were happy to see us all and welcomed us warmly as usual. One of the women that worked at the orphanage handed us their book and told us to start from where left off last time. So we decided to have quick review over what we already taught them before we move on to the new material. They seemed to understand everything pretty well; they were also very calm today, which made it much easier for us, as teachers. We went through the second part of the lesson and everyone got a chance to go up to the chalk board and write a word and to say it’s meaning. I think that going up to the chalkboard was their favorite thing to do because it allowed them to show off their new skills in front of us. We continued the lesson at a steady pace making sure that they all comprehended what we had taught them. But suddenly there was an uncalled for interruption as another charity organization came in and rudely walked right into the area where we were teaching the kids. They came in with bags full of toys without even waiting to see if we were done with our lesson, of course, as kids, they were immediately distracted. They completely disregarded the lesson and any candy incentives we offered for them to pay attention. Once we felt that it was hopeless trying to regain their attention from such excitement we decided that the lesson was over. We felt that they knew all the words quite well, and we scheduled to visit them once again the following Saturday.


 * Journal 4: **

Our final visit to the orphanage before the children take their end of year exams was one of our most productive sessions yet. They were all fully focused and eager to learn. We were not able to buy them food that day, however we planned to give them food the following week. As usual they were all very excited to see us, and they took us by the hand and guided us to their room handing us the book and telling us what they need help with, which was very helpful. I felt proud that I was able to get the children interested in the English language. I see English as a very important part in one’s life as it will open up a lot more job opportunities especially if someone is bilingual in this country. Honestly these children deserve as many opportunities as possible. We immediately started our lesson without hesitation, we all knew our roles and we all knew who each of us would focus on and provide with additional help. We managed to cover the entire book and we felt confident that they would do well on their exams to due the hard work and focus that they put into the lessons that we provided them with. We were done reviewing and we had some extra time to sit down and have some fun with these children. We talked to these children and tried to comfort them, we tried to make them feel good, we cracked jokes, listened to their songs, talked about sports and listened to their wild imaginations. It was a great day that I truly enjoyed. I was happy to see children with so little, be so appreciative and to be so pleasant.