Educate

I can’t begin to explain how lucky I am to be here in Bissau, but I will do my best to articulate the experiences I have had thus far and the lasting impact they have had on me.  I landed in Bissau full of confusion and no way to communicate to anyone around me because of the language barrier.  Up to this point I was not scared but standing in the airport where I had to fill out a paper with personal information which was only in Portuguese frightened me.  I walked around the small room where people were filling out this sheet and trying to look over the shoulder of others to get an idea of what to write.  While I was doing this a man came up to me grabbed my sheet and passport and started to fill it out for me and when he finished handed it back to me without asking for any compensation.  Once I had this paper I was in line for them to check my visa which I did not have yet, I didn’t tell my parents this because I don’t think they wouldn’t have let me gone if I did.  So ya sorry mom but sometimes you just got to send it lol.  As I was in the line I suddenly heard my name yelled from across the room from an unknown voice and looked over and saw Macote who I had heard about.  Macote is the local who has started the school here and was there to pick me up.  As they went to check for my visa he yelled to them something in Portuguese and then he lead me to a small room where I received my visa.  As simple as this sounds it seemed as if everything just fell into place and within a few minutes I was in his car on the way to my new home. 

When we arrived to my new home I quickly went to sleep and woke up the next day in a complete daze, I had no idea where I was which I can credit to only sleeping 4 hours during the two days it took me to get there. Once I was able to get myself together I asked what the plan for the day was and was told I had three classes that started in a few hours.  They told me not to worry but to just introduce myself for about 30 minutes and then the next day to actually start teaching.  I was relieved by this and slept a few more hours then walked to the school.  Once I got to the school there was a class of about eight people waiting for me.  As I glanced across the room I realized the sacrifice all of them made to get there, I couldn’t just introduce myself but I felt I had to try and teach them.  Teaching three classes for two hours with no preparation was extremely difficult but somehow I made it through it. 

During the first week I became conscious of the amazing people I was teaching.  The age range of my students is from 15-60 years old and all who are intensely motivated to learn English.  Some of my students are doctors, accountants, teachers, and students who understand how learning English can open many doors for them.  I quickly started to understand the kind of doors which they were looking to open which was different than what I thought they would be.  Every single one of my students has mentioned how if they learn English they will be able to help Guinea-Bissau grow and become a more independent country,   they are not here for person gain whatsoever. This made me ask myself why do I learn.  I think we get lost in the numbers, personal gain and what others think of us which effects what we want to learn. I’ve come to accept studying peace and conflict may never lead me to a country club membership or a big house on top of a hill but I do believe it will allow me to use my education as a way to help others.  My students have taught me so much in the time I have been here but the most important is the minute we stop learning we limit ourselves to our potential and our ability to help others.  Education and learning has never excited me the way I feel it now, there is a fire in my chest to learn because ignorance is one of the worst and vile excuses to not helping others. 

As you can already see, Guinea-Bissau has taught me more than I could ever teach myself.  If there is one thing I could share to those who read this it is to do things that make you uncomfortable.  One of my favorite quotes is “nothing is more damaging to the adventurous spirit than a secure future”, the minute we become complacent we stop growing and we cripple the joy which is rightfully ours.  Take the risk you have always longed and you will find in yourself a fire you didn’t know to exist.  

On a side note, if you are reading this, thank you.  Clearly what I am writing is nothing spectacular or life changing but it is significant to me.  Feel free to reach out to me, I’m slowly realizing the substance of good relationships and I want to have more of them.

Love you all!