The Start of the New School: Teacher Interviews

I'm currently sitting in American Corner Khujand, using the free wifi and recovering from a semi-successful discussion class on the pursuit of happiness (maybe too deep for a Friday afternoon talk). It's been a long couple of weeks of traveling, working, facing challenges, overcoming them, and little sleep! Last week I interviewed teachers for the new Access school in Shahriston. Access is a program for bright students between the ages of 14 and 16 who come from a disadvantaged family. Pretty much everyone from Shahriston comes from a disadvantaged family, so I had to implement criteria such as the student comes from a large family (6+ members), only one parent working or father is in Russia, and has a low level of English but a high capacity to learn. It's been exciting to be very active in the process of starting the new Access program. After getting funding approved (operating costs are about $15,000--pretty low for a new project) and a classroom secured, it was on to the teacher interviews.

I was told I was going to be the embassy representative and just tag along, but in reality, I was expected to run the interviews. I've never interviewed anyone before. I've been through my fair share of scary interviews (like ISW's ridiculously intense interview for an unpaid internship), and finally, the tables were turned. I was told to sit in the front of the room, and then people (who had like 8+ years of teaching experience!) came in one-by-one for the interview. Everyone then turned to me and said, "Davai!" (go!) So I conducted the interview. I had a mixture of personal questions, questions about their teaching experience and methodology, and situational questions. I think the situational questions went over really well and were unusual in Tajikistan. Then, at the end of the interview, I had to choose two teachers. I tried to have other people collaborate with me on the decision, but they kept insisting that this was my decision and they would go along with it. Alright, then...So I chose one younger woman whom everyone loved and was an easy choice. The second choice was more controversial. She was older, didn't have higher education, and was quieter than the first woman, but I thought she would be a good teacher and a good balance to the first woman. I think she didn't have an opportunity to go through higher education and was married young with children. However, this doesn't mean she won't be a good teacher! So, I was pretty confident in my decisions, but the whole process was really difficult.

When I announced who got the positions, the older woman started crying. She said she would remember me and this moment for the rest of her life. She asked me to write something in English that she could read to her family. I wrote a nice letter about how kind this woman is and how I am inspired by her passion. I also included an English children's song for her children.

After the selection, I met with the director of education in Shahriston, and we all went out for a tea. Of course, tea turned into a full meal. I had amazing smoked sheep meat, and the people with me kept insisting that I eat more (something I hear often here "iltimos, khorit!") and eat the best pieces. We then had toasts of vodka, which is a very slippery slope. I had to give a toast ("to new beginnings and new friendships") and we all had a good time.

By the time I got to Istaravshan, the town from where I would go back to my apartment in Khujand, there were no more cars leaving for the night. The taxi won't leave until all four of the passenger seats are filled, and unfortunately (fortunately?) for me I was out of luck and stuck in Istaravshan. A family took me in for the night and were completely hospitable. I met the grandparents, the brothers, sisters, uncles, aunts, and had several cups of tea and naan. I then went back to the family's own house, had more tea with the woman's husband and children, and finally was able to sleep! I left for Khujand early in the morning when the mother and daughter went to go cotton picking, and within 30 minutes, I was off to another village for another homestay! Things have been pretty non-stop, and I'm loving all of it.