Here's a post by my clown partner, Gwen Rooker----
Dear Friends and Family,
Another amazing week has passed for us, here in Cairo, and so it is our great pleasure to share with you the outstanding clown adventures that have transpired in this short time. The first school we visited this week is named The Modern Education Center, it too is a school for Sudanese and other refugees, and the teachers and students there have made a deeply positive impression on us. When we got there, we were also happy to see a familiar face. Isaac, the Sudanese actor playing Tybalt in the AUC production of Romeo and Juliet, is substitute teaching/volunteering at the school. We met with the principle of the school, Mr. Mark, who took us on a quick tour of the classes before we went out into the yard to clown for about 270-300 students. Elisa and I were impressed yet again by how organized everyone was, and when the students sang us a song welcoming their visitors, (wow, that’s us!), my face warmed with pleasure and awe. After sweet giggles and curious stares concluded our show, we had a very informative conversation with Mr. Mark, about how the Modern Education Center came to be, what challenges face the school, and about some of the other Sudanese schools barely surviving in Cairo.
He told us that the school facility has been donated by a religious organization, (although the school is not religious,) and that the organization checks in from time to time to see that their property is indeed a functioning school. The money, however, that covers the costs of running the school, including paying water and power bills, paying teacher’s salaries, buying teaching materials, and much more, comes from the Sudanese/African refugee community itself. UNHCR helps some, but this money only covers about one month of the school’s total annual costs. They’ve applied for other types of grants, but without success. Money from parents also helps a little. They can’t help much, though, because almost every cent they earn goes to the exorbitantly high cost of renting apartments from predatory landlords. (Several Sudanese have told us that what they pay for one month’s rent, an Egyptian national pays for one year. I believe this is true, and that for many Sudanese, this injustice is the most financially crippling trap they face.) When the school’s funds run dangerously low, teachers work for less pay, or sometimes they work for free. No matter what obstacles there are, the community makes it work. That’s strength.
We taught five workshops at the Modern Education Center, to over 200 of the most fantastic kids, with the help of some wonderful teachers who translated for us. (The school emphasizes learning English, hoping the kids will eventually be relocated to an English speaking county/US, Canada, England, Australia. Also, we were told that English is the official language of Sudan. I had no idea! I suspect there is a hope that a unifying language will help overcome disparate tribes.) So, we taught the children our games and our songs, and they in returned shared with us their songs and dances, their bright innocent faces, and their strength.
Our final day at the Center, Elisa and I had an educational experience we won’t forget. We hope it inspires you too. Some of the teachers asked us to teach them all the songs that we knew, so that they could in turn share more songs with the kids. So, for about two hours after class, we sat together, singing songs into an old tape recorder and writing down the words. We taught them the songs of our own youth; songs like, “Row, Row, Row Your Boat”, “The Itsy-Bitsy Spider”, and a beautiful South African song Elisa knows and that all the kids really like. We even taught them the “ABCs”. (This was a great help to the teachers, who struggle with the correct pronunciation of our alphabet themselves. They told us that B and P are especially difficult for them to differentiate. Yeah, when you think about it, that is tough!) All these children’s songs are so completely taken for granted within the confines of our busy, “grown-up” lives back home. Here, though, these songs are precious lessons about caring, wisdom, and the English language. We learned that anyone who knows a song has a gift to offer this world. What a sweet, important lesson!
While we were at the Modern Education Center, we made plans with the principal of another nearby Sudanese school, called the SCDP (Sudanese Centre Development Program), to visit and perform there. This school was also awesome, but it stands out in particular because of how packed into the classrooms all the students were. Principal Deng took us to meet each class, and we had to squeeze just to get inside the small rooms. The school has two shifts everyday in order accommodate all the kids attending there. Small children go in the morning, and teenagers go in the afternoon. When we returned the next day, our plans to perform the clown show were thwarted because water had flooded their small schoolyard, (Egypt has some troubles keeping water flowing nicely, just like Philadelphia.) Drats! These schools face so many daily challenges. We’ll be going back to try again, though, don’t worry. Elisa and I are clowns on a mission.
We hope you are doing well and have enjoyed this update. If you don’t wish to receive emails from us just let us know.
We are still encouraging donations for this work. As much as we love eating 35-cent bean sandwiches everyday, we’d like to step it up to the $2 chicken special! You’re contributions keep us fed and energized so that we may continue bringing smiles to children’s faces. You can donate online at: http://www.clownswithoutborders.org/helping/index.shtml
Sincerely,
Gwen Rooker
Project Egypt
www.clownswithoutborders.org
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