The Power of Seeds

I sat there in the humble office of the Director of the Foreign Language Department at Bolivar State University with my notebook out, ready to discuss logistics. It was my first work trip to the small city of Guaranda, about 4 hours south of Quito. It was supposed to be routine site development: meet with the Language Department Director to discuss the Fall Semester teaching schedule for my volunteers, and to meet/interview potential host families. What I left with, however, was nothing short of a revelation that lit a fire in my soul. Instead of discussing logistics, the Director opened the floodgates. For the next hour, he passionately expressed his fears and concerns for the future of Ecuadorian students.

We have a problem…he stated. Students here start learning English in elementary school. Yet when they get to college, their English level is zero. Why? How? How can these students study a concept for 12 years, and come away with little to no knowledge of how to apply it? They know the rules but have no concept of how to use what they’ve learned. It would be like me taking chemistry for 12 years and still not know how to balance an equation. He attributed part of the problem to methodology (antiquated, teacher-centered), the teachers themselves not knowing enough English, and lack of relevance, context and opportunity to produce/use/speak English. Once he noticed an English teacher at the university giving an erroneous lesson. When he kindly tried to show the English teacher that the concept was incorrect, she refused to change her lesson and insisted that she was right. One English teacher was giving a lesson on Big Ben in London. The students were not only disengaged, but resentful. “Why are we learning about things that are not relevant to us and our lives? Realistically, will we ever go see Big Ben? Then why do we have to learn about it?”

I sat there amazed as this educator vehemently expressed his fear over the lack of English acquisition in Ecuadorian students that spend most of their lives studying English. He expressed that he is very worried about the future of these students. He said there are serious deficiencies in the system and the students are suffering the consequences of bad teaching and antiquated methods. Every word that left his mouth was laced with compassion and genuine concern. I have rarely experienced such unbridled passion in all my professional experience. It was a powerful thing to witness.

For quite a few moments I was speechless. Still recovering from the overload of critical information I just ingested, I told him that I am sending him five volunteers who are passionate, dedicated, talented, and flexible, and will do everything in their power to help him and Bolivar State University accomplish their goals.

From there we walked to the main campus where I thought I was going to get a tour of the university. Wrong, again. It didn’t dawn on me until the last second that I was sitting in the office of the Chancellor/President of the university. He spoke very highly of WorldTeach, our program, and our mission. Almost laughing, he said that they have a big problem and need our help. I reiterated what I said to the Director of the Foreign Language Department and told him it was a privilege to partner with them to help them achieve their goals. The same thing happened when I met with the Vice-Chancellor, the Director of International Relations, the Director of Finance and so on and so forth. I met (most unexpectedly) with almost every high official in the university, all who told me the same thing: The need is dire. Test scores are abysmal. The new national law now requires a certain level of English competency to graduate college and we are woefully underprepared. We are so happy you are here, and we are so grateful your volunteers are coming.

I left the university with such a profound sense of responsibility. English education has the power to radically change people’s lives, and they were hungry for it. Passionately yearning for it. I resolved to set the bar very high for my incoming volunteers. This program isn’t a one-year joy-ride, it’s the chance to make a lasting impact on students’ lives. The Language Department Director left me with this: a long time ago, Bolivar State University had WorldTeach volunteers. Years later, it is now those students who were taught English by WorldTeach volunteers who had the best jobs and the highest places of authority in the community today. He himself was taught by a WT volunteer. The president of the teacher’s union was once a student of a WT volunteer. The list went on and on. I know we are not going to change the English education system in Ecuador overnight. That’s the thing about sustainable development. We plant the seeds, but we may not always get to see the fruit it produces. I’m sure those volunteers at the time didn’t know they’d be teaching future government officials, university professors and directors. But they gave 100% of themselves to creating a better future for their students, and their hard work paid off.

My volunteers arrive on September 18^th. I am nervous. I am excited. I am terrified. I hope to empower them to set their aside their pride, step out of their comfort zone, and dedicate themselves fully to this vital task. 

This is why I left D.C. 

“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”

– Nelson Mandela

Until next time,

Stephanie