"High Five Yonas!"

A few weeks ago, a group of seven, 9-13 year old boys ran up to me as I walked along the main dirt road in Mezezo, and all at the same time, in fast Amharic, began talking to me.  I picked out words and phrases such as “teach English,” “three days a week,” and “please.” For full effect, as they finished talking they all knelt down at my feet as if to show how much they meant what they were saying!  After piecing those together it was easy to see that these boys really were so eager to learn English and were practically begging me to teach them!  Their eagerness and motivation is contagious!

Notice my chacos in the bottom of the picture for perspective!

Writing down new words and phrases during our first class!

We had our first class right then (it was Monday), talking about introducing yourself (name, nationality, work, age, etc..).  At the end of the class, they asked if we could have class again that evening! I was extremely touched, but unfortunately had to tell them we will have class on Wednesday.

Every time we have English class and as I walk down the road to our meeting spot, a group of seven smiling boys comes running toward me at full speed, each carrying a notebook and pen, greeting me with various English phrases and words they have learned.  Their motivation and eagerness to learn is simply contagious and so beautiful.  I am blessed to be able to teach these students who are so excited to learn that if it was possible they would want me to teach them twice a day everyday of the week!

While I am the “teacher,” I have certainly learned a lot from these boys:

I’ve learned how approaching something with eagerness and joy, as these boys do with learning English, makes the others around you feel the same way and makes the learning process much more enjoyable!

I’ve learned that if I could have the mentality and energy that these boys do, anything would be possible!

I’ve learned about the many different personalities represented in my class, as shown in this picture:

Such a great group of boys!

We always end class with individual high fives, as I say “High Five Rediet,” or “High Five Yonas!”  They leave class with smiles, beaming as they say, “See you Wednesday,” or “Bye” or “Thank you teacher!”    I can’t wait to watch these students continue to progress and grow over the coming months, and at the same time to watch myself continue to progress and grow as I progress into my second year in Mezezo.