After my first visit to the Found Africa Child learning Centre (FACLC)
I saw how poor the quality of education was for them, especially in
comparison to my own. It was a humbling experience to see these people
eager to go to their small, crowded school and learn when I go to my
school that couldn’t be any more different. It struck me how many
students could attend such a small school, fashioned out of a ground
floor apartment. The few teachers present were overwhelmed by the
large numbers of students squeezed into the tiny classrooms, a quarter
of the size of those here at CAC. Here I saw a chance to make a
difference. The students, despite being eager to learn, would not be
able to take much from the overcrowded lessons with the teachers, but
we would be able to achieve far more by breaking them up into groups
and teaching them. I also saw an opportunity to do little things to
help their education experience such as much needed cleaning and
organization of the little school. I left after that first visit to
the school feeling humbled and saddened after seeing how their
education compares to mine, but also feeling good that I could make a
difference to people who would really appreciate it.
Journal 2
One of the times we went to the school we went on a holiday for the
FACLC Students. We used the time at the school without the students
cleaning up the school and fixing some of the broken benches and
tables. The school was completely filthy. We spent over 5 hours
cleaning and an hour sending the benches and table to be fixed. Here
at CAC we have a dedicated full time cleaning and maintenance team
that keep our school spotless and fully functional. At the FACLC,
where there was nothing of the sort, the resultant build-up of dust and
litter, as well as the amount of work needed to clean up such a
comparatively small school, greatly enhanced my appreciation of the
cleaning and maintenance team here at CAC. The huge pile of broken
desks and benches also showed me how lucky we are to have such great
equipment here at CAC which is constantly maintained to a good
standard. At the FACLC they didn’t even have enough unbroken desks and
benches to use, something we take for granted here at CAC. Before I
had gone to the FACLC I had never really pondered on the idea of what
my life would have been like if I had been born elsewhere, but I am
now far more great full of the upbringing I have been given.
Journal 3
As I began to regularly attend the FACLC I began to recognize some of
the problems in the education and see the importance in the activities
we were carrying out. In English for example, although they were
already being taught by the teachers in the overcrowded classes, the
students were only able to recite sentences and basic rules without
fully understanding them and their connotations. This was much the
same with their maths, as although they could recite times tables,
they showed little true understanding of what was going on. As a
result we made it our focus to concentrate on the understanding side
of the learning. By doing this we have able to make far greater
progress with the students than before. This experience has given me
an insight into what being an educator must be like and has yet again
made me feel grateful that I go to a good school like CAC and have
talented teachers who value our understanding.
Journal 4
My experience volunteering at FACLC has greatly altered my view on my
life for the better. While teaching there I heard the stories of the
great lengths students went on to get to school. One story in
particular that stays with me is that of a girl who lives on the
outskirts of Cairo who travels near to the complete length of the
metro and on various minibuses to get to the school located in New
Maadi. This trip takes the girl over two hours on a bad day. In
comparison my 15 minute walk down the length of Port Said street
every morning seems effortless and I feel ashamed of the complaints I
have made about having to complete it. I am also grateful for the
opportunity taking this course has given me to help other people's
lives. The students we taught came on massively during the time we had
them, not only in terms of their academics but also our relationships.
Towards the end we were building what felt like the begging of a friendship with some of the students. Especially after we took a group of them to CAC to play football we began to feel quite close.
After my first visit to the Found Africa Child learning Centre (FACLC)
I saw how poor the quality of education was for them, especially in
comparison to my own. It was a humbling experience to see these people
eager to go to their small, crowded school and learn when I go to my
school that couldn’t be any more different. It struck me how many
students could attend such a small school, fashioned out of a ground
floor apartment. The few teachers present were overwhelmed by the
large numbers of students squeezed into the tiny classrooms, a quarter
of the size of those here at CAC. Here I saw a chance to make a
difference. The students, despite being eager to learn, would not be
able to take much from the overcrowded lessons with the teachers, but
we would be able to achieve far more by breaking them up into groups
and teaching them. I also saw an opportunity to do little things to
help their education experience such as much needed cleaning and
organization of the little school. I left after that first visit to
the school feeling humbled and saddened after seeing how their
education compares to mine, but also feeling good that I could make a
difference to people who would really appreciate it.
Journal 2
One of the times we went to the school we went on a holiday for the
FACLC Students. We used the time at the school without the students
cleaning up the school and fixing some of the broken benches and
tables. The school was completely filthy. We spent over 5 hours
cleaning and an hour sending the benches and table to be fixed. Here
at CAC we have a dedicated full time cleaning and maintenance team
that keep our school spotless and fully functional. At the FACLC,
where there was nothing of the sort, the resultant build-up of dust and
litter, as well as the amount of work needed to clean up such a
comparatively small school, greatly enhanced my appreciation of the
cleaning and maintenance team here at CAC. The huge pile of broken
desks and benches also showed me how lucky we are to have such great
equipment here at CAC which is constantly maintained to a good
standard. At the FACLC they didn’t even have enough unbroken desks and
benches to use, something we take for granted here at CAC. Before I
had gone to the FACLC I had never really pondered on the idea of what
my life would have been like if I had been born elsewhere, but I am
now far more great full of the upbringing I have been given.
Journal 3
As I began to regularly attend the FACLC I began to recognize some of
the problems in the education and see the importance in the activities
we were carrying out. In English for example, although they were
already being taught by the teachers in the overcrowded classes, the
students were only able to recite sentences and basic rules without
fully understanding them and their connotations. This was much the
same with their maths, as although they could recite times tables,
they showed little true understanding of what was going on. As a
result we made it our focus to concentrate on the understanding side
of the learning. By doing this we have able to make far greater
progress with the students than before. This experience has given me
an insight into what being an educator must be like and has yet again
made me feel grateful that I go to a good school like CAC and have
talented teachers who value our understanding.
Journal 4
My experience volunteering at FACLC has greatly altered my view on my
life for the better. While teaching there I heard the stories of the
great lengths students went on to get to school. One story in
particular that stays with me is that of a girl who lives on the
outskirts of Cairo who travels near to the complete length of the
metro and on various minibuses to get to the school located in New
Maadi. This trip takes the girl over two hours on a bad day. In
comparison my 15 minute walk down the length of Port Said street
every morning seems effortless and I feel ashamed of the complaints I
have made about having to complete it. I am also grateful for the
opportunity taking this course has given me to help other people's
lives. The students we taught came on massively during the time we had
them, not only in terms of their academics but also our relationships.
Towards the end we were building what felt like the begging of a friendship with some of the students. Especially after we took a group of them to CAC to play football we began to feel quite close.
Back to the Table of Contents