2/4/09 Full Circle

Regular readers have heard me talk about H**, my language tutor and friend. She was my Language and Culture Facilitator during stage, and since she lives in SouqTown, she has continued to help me in countless ways since swearing-in.

On Monday morning, I told her about an email I'd gotten from our Country Director. He was passing along praise for PCVs teaching English classes, from an Embassy staffer. Here's an excerpt:

We had to choose 25 students to participate in the YES program (a 1 year student exchange program at the high school level) . My colleagues and I on the panel were very impressed with the English language skills of the students who had interacted with Peace Corps volunteers. In fact, their English was by far the best and they did a wonderful job expressing themselves. I also just went through a similar selection process for one of our university programs and one of the students whose English was truly superior was one who once again was taught by Peace Corps volunteers . The Peace Corps volunteers are clearly doing a wonderful job and should be commended.

In response, she said that she wished they'd put an English class at the Youth Center in SouqTown. I explained why there isn't one - politics, mostly - and she said that back when there was a Volunteer, she did a fantastic job.

H** never volunteers information about herself, but on a hunch, I asked if she'd worked with this long-ago PCV. She nodded.

A decade or so ago, a Volunteer taught H** English. This enabled her to study English language and linguistics in college, which made her eligible for employment with the Peace Corps, where she uses her flawless English to teach new PCVs the languages and culture of Morocco, which they use to teach young Moroccans English.

The circle has been completed. :)

This loop, anyway. But as the embassy officer's email indicates, our work continues to bear fruit. In fact, H**'s slightly ulterior motive is that her little sister is now at an age to start visiting the Youth Center...

And the circle keeps turning.