My first experience as a teacher volunteer

By Theresa Toerien

July 1 - July 3

Ali Bey Kenagi Hotel

We arrived in Istanbul on July 1, and continued onto our next flight and destination - Gaziantep.  We arrived at this very quaint old style hotel, where we met up with Natasha.

We had a day and a half to get ourselves prepared for our workshops and orientate ourselves with our environment.   After a lovely day exploring we met up with Jehad, Furaz, Ms. Ruba and Captain Fawaz to explain our program and make arrangements for the next few days.

On Monday morning we all woke up refreshed and ready to go. After sharing a breakfast of a variety of cheeses, breads and fried eggs with Natasha and Naima, we did some further preparation for the day ahead at New World Academy.  

Communication is a barrier and messages get lost in translation.   We were waiting for Captain Fawaz, (he got that name because he coaches soccer) to pick us up at 12:00, since we thought after our previous evening’s meeting that we would be working with the teacher’s from 12:30-2:00, since the boys were swimming and the girls had another activity.  Captain Fawaz arrived at 1:15 pm and excitedly we jumped into the mini van.   We arrived at NWA and it seemed chaotic. The 3-4 year olds were running around getting ready to go for lunch, the girls were in English class, the boys were just returning from their swimming activity and heading to lunch.

We decided that we will take all the kids from ages 4-11 to work with them for the first 2 hours and then do some art at the end of the day...Oh boy what an interesting experience. I walked around and started taking photos as I was the designated photographer.

We had to wait a while for the kids to finish lunch and as they finished slowly they started peeking around the door of the multipurpose room that we were going to use as a drama room.   One little boy was brave enough to come in with a little bit of encouragement.  You could see by the look on his face that he was intrigued with these strange people.  We learned that his name is Said and that he can speak pretty good english, eventually his friends Assad and Ahmet joined them.   After a couple of minutes the rest of the school rushed in.   The “games” began.  I must say I loved seeing the little ones trying to mimic the Drama activities with as much gusto as the older children and with maybe even more concentration.  It goes to show that even with the language barrier actions speak louder than words. After an hour we decided that it was time to split the groups as it was a little chaotic and the AC was not working in the room. Naima took the older ones and continued the drama activities and Natasha took the 4-7 year olds for ELL.  It was interesting to learn that the kids were reluctant to remove their shoes and sit on a floor without carpeting.  I observed the kids and noted that they were very aggressive towards each other and then there were also groups who would not let go of each other.  We have an idea of what some of them have experienced in their short lives but we will never know the actual back story and the impact it already has on their future.

We arrived back at the hotel after a long and tiring day to meet up with Buket who joined us from Istanbul to help with the Art program.

Monday, July 3rd

We arrived at New World Academy and Naima and Natasha received a resounding welcoming. I moved between classes for the first two hours taking photographs and just observing the behavior of the kids. We had purchased books for the kids to do their writing and it was interesting to see that every time they were asked to do a different writing activity they would rip out the page and start on a new one. When they left the room they just left the writing books on the table although we had explained that it was theirs to keep and to bring back for the next lesson. For the last hour of the day Naima and I started a hand drawing activity with the boys as the girls were dancing.  We are getting them to make a friendship tree.  

Tuesday, July 4th

They drew their hands, wrote their names, drew a picture and then colored it. Once they were finished each boy had a turn to get up and explain why he had used the specific colors and what the words and pictures meant.  They were all very engaged in this activity and it was one of the quietest moments during the day.  The owner has kindly offered us 5 free meals. We day and enjoyed a lovely dinner at Imam Cagdas Restaurant.  

Wednesday, 5 June

Yet another interesting day to begin with the little mites. Today we introduced friendship bracelets. I prepared the card with the string and taught them how to start weaving the bracelets. They were all very interested in making these bracelets and took pride in their achievements when they saw how these loose pieces of string eventually became a knotted bracelet.  They could not complete the task in the given hour and were very excited that they could take them home and bring them back the next day to complete.  This was the only activity where the boys and girls were not aggressive toward each other and gender did not matter they were just being kids.  Mohammed had finished his bracelet and wanted to finish his as he was not coming back the next day.  I did not quite get the message from Naima and the poor child was so upset that he could not finish his bracelet.  Naima managed to get the message across that we would put the button on the next day and send it home with his mother who works at the school.

Thursday, July 6th

When we arrived at the school the kids came up to me with their bracelets and were anxious that they had to wait until the end of the day to finish their bracelets.  Some of the kids asked me to keep their bracelets until the art class.  It was very interesting to see their little faces light up once we had added the buttons and fastened the bracelets around their wrists.

Friday, July 7th

We took a rest day!

Saturday, July 8th  

Natasha and I decided to do a little sightseeing today.  We went to the Gaziantep Mosaic Museum. The mosaic’s displayed in the museum is from an archeological site that was discovered in 1987. The mosaics date back to 300 BC when Seleucus I Nicator, one of Alexander the great’s generals founded the city Seleucia (named after him) on the Euphrates as a strategic and commercial city. He also founded another city on the opposite side  named Apameia.  Seleucia grew and Apameia declined.  Seleucia was annexed by the Roman Empire and renamed Zeugma.  It was a major trade city on the Euphrates.  Over the year as history continued the cities were buried and rebuilt.  Since 1987 excavations for the two cities were carried out by the Gaziantep Museum, but in 2000 due to other artifacts found it came to the attention of the international spotlight.  Unfortunately with the completion of the Birecik Dam in 2000 the water began to rise over the ancient cities of Belkis/Zeugma and eventually submerged the cities for eternity.  Fortunately hundreds of square meters of mosaics columns, fountains and small artifacts were rescued and restored and these are on display at the Museum today.

We also went for a walk through the old markets, with displays, of copper wares, handmade leather shoes, dried vegetables used for the making of dolmades and of course the famous pistachio nuts.

BBQ in the Park

Jehad and Furaz picked us up at around 6.00pm for a barbecue in the park. We arrived and there was group of about 15 adults and a combination of teenagers and smaller kids.  We were a total of about 20 people.  Upon arriving Jehad walked us around the park where we able to observe different stages for “courtships”  from weddings to engagements.  We saw brides in wedding gowns ranging from white, blue, light pink, purple it was a rainbow of colors.  Some dresses were hijab styled and others were very western and quite revealing which I found very interesting.  I could hardly figure out which were wedding celebrations and which were engagement celebrations as all the outfits were so similar.

We finally settled down under some Eucalyptus trees and the evening preparations began.  The ladies prepared the salad and breads and hummus, while Captain Fawaz took charge of getting the fire going and cooking our chicken. Throughout the evening I had various conversations with individual people in the group and found more about their lives in Syria and how they arrived in Turkey and are coping with the current situation. They ranged from doctors, dentist, biochemists, educators and housewives. They were of the fortunate ones who still had a means of getting out of Syria and starting a life in Turkey without having to experience the hardships of the camps.

Jehad and Furaz, met at university. She is from Damascus and he is from Homms.  She was in her first year and he in his final year studying to be a chemist.  She jokes about how they fell in love and he was patient enough to wait for her for four years to finish her degree in biochemistry.  They married and opened a pharmacy in Homms. After the revolution started they travelled to Damascus one weekend to visit Furaz’s family. Upon returning to Homms they discovered that their building in which they worked and lived had been destroyed, many of their friends had died and disappeared that weekend.  They went to Damascus to try and rebuild their lives but eventually decided to come to Turkey, which was no easy feat, they packed their possessions into the car and drove a dangerous route to Lebanon, from there they continued their journey and eventually ended up in a small coastal town in Turkey, once they received their protective residence status they moved onto Gaziantep as they already had a network of friend here who had made the journey before.  The car they picked us up in is the one they came with four years ago.  They took psychology courses and are working at NGO’s within Gaziantep helping local Syrian’s as well as women and children within Syria.

We also chatted with a younger lady (Sarah) whose journey was even more challenging,  she has been in Gaziantep for just over two years now.  She was studying to be a doctor like her sister but according to her she unfortunately did not get the grades required to continue after two years of studies.  She is married to a doctor who has chosen to stay in the villages around Homms because there are no doctors looking after pregnant and sick females.   Her journey to Gaziantep began like all the other stories.  Their home was bombed and after numerous moves from one apartment to another and hiding away with 3 children all the time just became to stressful.  Her sister who is a dentist was already in Gaziantep. For Sarah the journey was even more daunting - she had a 3 month old baby and two 9 year old girls. One of the girls is severely brain damaged and in a wheelchair, unable to do anything for herself.  She was born normal but at two months old the doctors found a tumor on her brain and decided to operate.  Her condition just deteriorated from there.  So with a baby and a child in a wheelchair and no husband to help her, she started her journey.  She had to change vehicles eight times on the journey from Homms to Lebanon.   After that she had to take a boat to Iskenduren, Turkey to be able to arrive on a protective residence visa.  After her visa was granted she continued the journey to Gaziantep to meet up with her family.  She has only just moved into her own apartment with her kids and we were fortunate to meet her husband.   He had come to Turkey for Eid. He wasn’t sure when he was returning to Homms because his journey is extremely dangerous. Once he reaches the Turkish/Syrian border he walks or travels on a donkey for 6 hours back to Homms. He does not use any vehicles because he says that makes him an easy target and he needs to survive to keep doing his job.

This is just one of many stories we heard. It is amazing to me how these people have the strength and tenacity to rebuild their lives and continue to be so positive and happy.  I learned a lot about human nature from them.  Thank you to all.

10-13 July, 2017

We returned to the organized chaos of New World Academy on Monday refreshed and ready to continue our teaching quest. I was amazed at what these kids found valuable to them and hung onto that.  We would generally assume it would be textbooks, pencils, crayons, and books, but it wasn’t. It was the little things like the friendship bracelets they spent hours making, which I must admit I am very proud of being able to teach them how to make those.   The little click clack crocodile clips that made sounds, the plastic covered maraca bottles made me think that perhaps those are the things they miss the most. Having something simple, and what we think may view as irrelevant, to be able to call their own.

I learned that just showing up and caring, taking a minute of your time to stroke the arm of a distressed child who cannot handle the noise of another screaming child, meant the world to these children.

The thank you we received at the end of the week was overwhelming and brought tears to many, that made up for all the other frustrating events and language barriers which there were plenty of.

Finally:

We are always all so busy and caught up in our own lives, that our problems seem to be the only ones in the world, then you have an experience like this and realize how spoiled and privileged most of us are.  

I want to make an effort to continue helping those in real need.  I may not be an educator with all the necessary degrees required these days to be able to help those in need, but I am a mother and a grandmother and love and caring just comes naturally.  I’m sure I will be able to add the other things to my repertoire like learning more arts and crafts!!!!

Thank you Naima for giving me this opportunity to work with you and the team in Gaziantep 2017!

Global Chains

By Naima Thompson

As I sit in my hotel room at Ali Bey Konagi Gaziantep, Turkey for the last day of a two week visit, I can't help but reflect on the journey of our outreach program Reach the Unreachable.

Three years ago I travelled to Kenya to start an outreach program for Necessary Arts. It was my first trip to Kenya, indeed my first trip to the "motherland" and I was overwhelmed with mixed emotions. I was traveling alone and without a clear cut plan ahead of me. The mantra that propelled me into this state of uncertainty was one that I always turn to when my gut pushes me to take a risk: leap and the net will appear. When Maggie from Maggie Holidays greeted me I immediately felt at ease.

Once we chatted in person she understood that I would not be one of her regular clients. There would be no need to book a safari or visit any museums or go to any other tourist attractions. Instead, she quickly learned that my only interest in Kenya was to reach vulnerable children who could benefit from the program I had to offer through drama and other artistic activities. She immediately made some phone calls and soon enough I was introduced to and immersed in five very different groups of children over the span of ten days, from Nairobi to Port Victoria. I rolled out a flexible enough drama program to meet the specific needs of each group. Toward the end of the trip, Maggie coined the phrase "Reach the Unreachable" which I happily agreed to call the outreach program and a synergy was born, resulting in continued visits over the next three years. This year Reach the Unreachable extended its outreach to Trinidad and Tobago and Uganda where local volunteers carried out the program for street kids and other vulnerable children and youth. Thank you to those teams for contributing to the change we wish to see in this world.

Today I say goodbye to Gaziantep. I feel blessed to have had the opportunity to work with a team of volunteers who unselfishly gave of themselves to make a difference in the lives of over 75 Syrian refugee children, or more accurately defined as having the status of "temporary protection".

For those of you reading this post you probably followed us throughout our journey and have an idea of some of our experiences at the New World Academy. We led the children through programs in Drama, Art and English Literacy under the theme of Help a Friend.  Some of the activities included creating friendship bracelets and friendship trees; designing diamond poems comprising of newly learned english vocabulary and engaging in numerous theatre games including improvisations to demonstrate an understanding of humanity.

Yesterday, a research student from Yale University asked me how I choose the children we work with. The truth is, it is the universe which hears my plea to work with vulnerable children and sends its angels to make connections for the work to take place. In the case of Reach the Unreachable in Turkey, I must say thank you to Hala Trabolsi for introducing NAS to her Syrian comrade living in Turkey. It takes a global chain of like-minded links, with a common goal of working for humanity to make this world a better place. NAS is humbled to be a link in this armor.

To Bhuket Gurol who traveled from Istanbul, I say thank you for your tireless translations, relentless bargaining with locals for discounts and freebies, and brave heart for undertaking the role of "art teacher" when you are neither an artist nor a teacher. I trust that this journey inspires you to more artistic ventures. To Ozge Dinc, a special-needs art teacher from Istanbul who accepted the challenge to join us for one week, I say thank you for all the preparations you made with Buket to support our art program.  To Natasha Vrutska, a language learning specialist from Dubai who added Turkey to her list of travels for her summer vacation, I say thank you for your cool temperament among our team and fun filled learning strategies for the children. To Theresa Toerien, the admin director for the NAS Dubai branch, I say thank you for keeping track of all the on-site logistics as well as capturing the success of the program through your photographic eye. I also say thank you for your sensitivity and ability to sooth the emotional needs of some of the children during the more chaotic moments. Thank you to the local translators who showed up every day to help bridge the language gap between us and the children and staff. I also say thank you to those who contributed to the success of the program but could not make the trip: Melinda Eversteyn and Maria Martinez for your artistic ideas and supplies, Zak Matouche and Ruba Einein for translating our English documents to Arabic and Suzzanne Pautler for working with Natasha in preparing the language learning component.

For our final hours at the New World Academy we engaged in creativity, chaos and cake! We say thank you to the admin team of NWA for a great send off and wish you all the best in your continued efforts to shape the lives of and to bring stability to the children in your care. Keep well until we meet again.

Magic Art

By Buket Ozdel Gurol

In the first day of our second week, we started with the girls for art & craft. They came and sat wishfully. When we started to give the instructions for the friendship tree, they immediately began the activity. After they selected their hand which was drew and colored by them last week, they were choosing a place on this huge tree to stick their hand. You should once witness how they take it seriously.

And the boys followed them by a wild energy and participated the activity in a faster energy. At last when we started to get the 5 year old ones, we realized that the number of them highly increased. This made us understood that we should provide a place for newcomers who would make the activity from the scratch, and we were already ready for that due to our skills about flexibility improved day by day in the academy.

In the second day, when we announced the magical painting to the girls, they got excited. When we started the activity when they realized that they can not see what they’re drawing with the wax according to the “Help a Friend” theme, they were confused a bit. After they started painting with watercolor their faces started to change from confusion to clarity and curiosity. When they finish they were very much pleased with their work.

We selected the Scratching Paint Activity for the high energetic boys which can make them concentrate for longer time. When they started painting their paper with colorful pastels, they were quiet pleased. When the time passed and they were still on the same part of the activity, a few of their bodies started to show moodiness. However we kept them in the activity by the help of God :) and when the second step started to cover their paper with black, they tried complaining this time. As they saw our determination, they continued. Hopefully when they started scratch their dark painted paper, as they saw the outcome, they were more pleased. At the end of the day I could say that our strategy was right!

Stone Soup in Gaziantep

By Natasha Vrutska

After a long weekend of exploring Gaziantep's bazaars and coffee shops - the Mosaic Museum was definitely a highlight - it was good to return to New World Academy today for another day of drama, English, and art. I started my day with the girls and guided them through the activity of creating a representation of themselves in the shape of their hand in paper to be added to the tree of New World Academy's students. The girls got to decorate the paper cut-out of the palm of their hand in the colors of their choice, writing their name and adding a drawing or two of something that was meaningful to them and made them think of peace and friendship. loved seeing what they chose to draw as I walked around and watched flowers, butterflies, sea waves and sailboats spring up on paper. What stood out to me the most was how much each and every one of them wanted to show me what they drew as they kept calling me over at every step of the process and showing me their work. Where in my "normal" teaching life in Dubai I would have to prod and coax students to work and even more so to share their product, here the girls were just too eager for me to look and comment. A few asked me to write something on their drawing and delighted in having a teacher's contribution to their design. It reminded me of an activity last week when, after I showed them a recording I had made of one of them presenting their "I like" word map, suddenly all of them changed from smiling shyly to wanting to present and demanded to be filmed. It struck me how much they wanted attention, how desperately they wanted to be seen and known. These children yearn for connection. As they finished decorating and cutting out their paper hands, they trickled out to join the art team in the spacious common area to add their "leaves" to the quickly expanding "tree". I snuck out for a quick look and was not disappointed - the "tree" looked fantastic!

We kicked off the literacy hour with a game of tic-tac-toe. Flashcards of the vocabulary studied last week attached to the whiteboard in a grid and the class of girls divided into two teams, the girls quickly got the hang of the game and we enjoyed quite a few rounds as they fine-tuned their strategy and pronounced the words ever more confidently. Next, it was reading circle time. To continue with our theme of helping a friend and working together toward a common goal, we chose to read "Stone Soup". I was afraid the girls might find the story too simple or the language too difficult or the picture in the book too small to see from the back row. I needn't have worried. I was blown away by how quickly me opening a book in frond of them transformed a rowdy crowd into a rapt audience. With Aya helping me with translation after every page, we went through the story, girls craning their necks to see the illustrations better. I caught myself thinking that this was the quietest I had experienced this class since starting to work with them. It reminded me of the power of a good story that we sometimes overlook. Even not understanding half the words, the girls were clearly enjoying it. With Aya's help, we talked about how mutual help led to a nice supper of hot soup in the story, and the girls gave me some examples of the help they get from their friends and give in return. It was time to see how these activities would work with the boys.

If I had to choose one quality that has been paramount for us here at New World Academy, I would say, it is flexibility. We can count on a few surprises every day, and while they keep us on our toes and make things interesting, they also challenge us and test our adaptability. No group is the same two days in a row, with some kids missing and new additions joining in. As students transition from swimming to class to ballet to snack and to class again, we have had to adjust starting and finishing times, transitions between drama and literacy and to welcome new faces to activities in progress. This was definitely the theme of my class with the boys today, as I had a few new-comers, a few familiar faces arriving late, and Ruba, the school director, knocking on my door in the middle of class telling me the boys needed to take a ten-minute break to have a snack. We took it all in stride and managed to play tic-tac-toe, although not as smoothly as with the girls as the boys let their individual competitiveness get in the way of the teams' goals. Me opening a book and announcing story time had the same effect though, and I discovered that it was indeed possible to have these boys be quiet for ten minutes. The tranquility was short-lived as the day was winding down and everyone was tired, so the discussion did not elicit quite the same level of responses from the boys as it did from the girls. I am still hopeful for some insights from them as we move on to creating diamond poems on the same topics tomorrow.

As I reflect on the time I have had with the children of New World Academy and look forward to what we have planned for them for the remainder of our time here, I am happy with the progress they are making and excited to see what they create as their final product reflecting on who they are and how they can help each other as a community of students and friends.