Life goes on and we just got to keep on keeping on as Bob Dylan said. Anne-Sophie is still working for Rights and Resources as a paid intern. She’s been busy organizing a conference in Ghana by arranging travel plans for representatives from all over Africa to come. Unfortunately she won’t be the one going to represent her organization and see her planning come to fruition. I will be cutting back my ESL teaching to just weekday mornings so I can start taking classes at night this Fall towards my teaching credentials in Secondary Education Social Studies.
One of the benefits of being in DC and being an ESL instructor is meeting people from all over the world without having to travel. Each student has an interesting story to tell or something to teach me about their culture. Some were doctors and expert professionals in their home countries but have to start over here in the US. Some have only a middle school education. Some were refugees in war torn countries, and others are diplomats. Some work hard every day in a restaurant to pay for the class, and some come from rich families arriving here in limos and living in mansions. Some have come here by winning the green card lottery and others by more difficult means. There are musicians and professional sports players. 2 of the DC United soccer players study at our school. Sometimes the stories of my students are quite extraordinary. One student of mine was kidnapped and held captive for months during the civil war in Sudan. Another was kidnapped by local thugs in her home country of Brazil for money. Many have become our friends and part of our social network. I’ve posted some photos in the DC album featuring some students/friends and other recent DC pics.