Day 0 – Sunday Night,
May 12 – Meet Justin McGurrin
Knowing that we were about to start teaching the kids
at
Haile Selassie High School (located in the
neighborhood of Trench Town in Kingston – this is where Bob Marley wrote many of his songs
and is basically the slums of Kingston) which is known for its
discipline and violence issues, we
called in for reinforcements.
Enter
Justin McGurrin, an Art of Living teacher experienced in teaching high school
kids in challenging environments.
Justin
is a legend among the teachers who teach the
YES! (Youth Empowerment Seminar)
program and we were so lucky to be able to get him to come down to Kingston for
a week to help set the stage and rhythm for the next several weeks during which
we were to teach a big portion of the students at HSHS.
And thank God we did…we didn’t realize how
much we really needed him until the week started.
Day 1 – Monday
Morning, May 13 – A Lesson in Making Connections
It was a different world that we had just entered. As humans, we all behave according to a set
of social norms determined by our upbringing, environment, etc. What a shock it was to observe, much less
teach, within the social norms at HSHS.
They were so foreign to our own school experiences, which entailed
actually remaining quiet and listening to the teacher. These kids would often use name-calling and
hitting to deal with conflict – even in class.
One native Jamaican friends described the culture of the children as one
of ‘‘arrested development” – the kids are sweet, full of smiles and enthusiasm
with a sense of innocence on one hand, but they are also very physical in their
expression of emotion, whether it by reacting violently to everyday situations
or in their level of sexual activity at a young age. They operated in a very adult world, dealing
with adult situations that most other children rarely deal with, yet their
mental maturity didn’t seem to match their level of life experience. It’s like they were children trying desperately
to have a childhood though their circumstances were determined to rob them of
that childhood. Monday began a lesson in
learning how to break up fights before they escalated – a good skill to have, I
suppose. Attention spans lasted not much
longer than a 30-second TV commercial in many cases. Some kids were texting, listening to music or
otherwise playing on cell phones throughout the class while others just
leaned forward and went to sleep.
According to the teachers, this behavior was typical. After the end of the first 2-hour session,
all three of us got into the car (Justin, Devan, and I) and were about to head
out to grab a quick bite before heading to teach at the men’s prison, feeling
doubtful that we made any impact on the kids at all. Then Justin shared a secret and a valuable
lesson – he said he would always go to a school a week in advance of teaching
and just hang out and around so the kids could meet and see him. He also made the effort to learn each and
every kid's name in the class. Doing
these things would create a connection and bond between him and them that would
allow him to get through to kids that others couldn’t reach. He said just remember, with kids “they don’t
care what you know until they know you care”.
So we turned the car around and went back to the school to just ‘hang
out’ and interact with the kids. Not
only was it fun, but we could also tell it was making an impact. This is a lesson we will carry with us for the
rest of our lives. Making a personal
connection makes all the difference in the world. Thanks Justin.
Day 2 – Tuesday
Morning, May 14 – A Discussion in Devil Worship
One thing I forgot to mention is that Jamaica is a Christian
country – a VERY Christian country.
Mainly, this means that many people are very kind and respectful. But, it also means that there are some people
that are a bit more extreme in their views.
We experienced this first hand at HSHS.
Apparently, there were two teachers from the faculty (whom we taught in
the adult class the week before) that claimed that what we were teaching was
demonic, devil-worship, etc. Why did
they say this? It seems that it boiled
down to just a few yoga stretches.
During the class, we usually teach something called Sun-Salutations,
which is nothing more than a series of 12 yoga poses that provides a whole body
workout. Based on the fact that it is
called ‘Sun-Salutations’ and that there is a position that is often called
‘Cobra’, the teachers interpreted the teaching as worshipping the snake (i.e.,
the devil). We further discovered that
they had been speaking to many of the students and filling their heads with the
same fears. We began Tuesday morning’s
class with an open and direct discussion about this topic, with the support of
the principal, Lorenzo Ellis. We began
by clarifying as much we could. We then asked
the kids to speak openly about any concerns they had and addressed those
too. The main message from both the principal
and us was – experience things for yourself and judge for yourself. It was so interesting to us how easily
unfounded fears can be instilled into the mind of a young person. What we felt most badly about was that the
kids who really were troubled about the whole thing were really frightened to
the point of thinking that doing a simple yoga stretch could invite evil
spirits into their lives. Fear is a
funny thing. It is, in many cases, a
complete figment of our imaginations, yet it can stop us from living our lives. A small dose is healthy to make sure you
don’t cross the street when cars come, but in excess, it is crippling. Here is a quote from Plato that says
it all:
“We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the
real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light.”
Day 3 – Wednesday
Morning, May 15 – We Get More Clued In
We continue to face challenges, but today we start to get
more insights into why. As mentioned
on day 1, the behavioral norms among the kids were foreign to us. Now we begin to get some clues as to why. Many of the kids are asking us to buy them a
juice or lunch. At first it seems that
they are just trying to take advantage of us.
But after speaking to Ms. Jackie Bryan (guidance counselor and saint, by our standards) we find out that many of the kids don’t have food to eat during
the day. Some of the kids have
government assistance for meals, but the program only covers 3 days of the
week! So, they essentially have to go
hungry on Tuesdays and Thursdays. How
can these kids study when their stomachs are empty??!!! Our hearts almost broke
when we heard this. From then on, we
arranged with Jackie to feed any kid from any of our classes that needed it, but made sure it
remained anonymous. We started to
realize how much of a challenge these kids face in all aspects of their
lives. Jackie enlightened us further
with some other stories of real students’ situations. She spoke of a girl who was a top student at
the school when she first came as a counselor to HSHS. This student told Jackie that she had to
study under her bed with a flashlight at night because a light on at night in
her room would attract gunfire and she was afraid that she would get shot. Jackie told the story of another girl who was
living with her older boyfriend (27 years old…this is, unfortunately, not uncommon
as parents can’t afford to take care of their children and girls find other
ways of survival by living with an older man/boyfriend who takes interest in
them – these men play both father-figure and lover to these girls). The boyfriend was helping this student pay
for her exams and study, etc. One day
this boyfriend was walking on the wrong street and was shot and killed (gang
territory divides often govern the neighborhoods in these areas). This young girl lost her benefactor/father-figure/lover
in a split second. He was the only
family she knew. She told Jackie that
she would still take her exams and do her best for him. We also found out that many of the kids in
our class are reading at only a first grade level though they are in
ninth. Hearing all this, we felt both
helpless and inspired to do more at the same time. On the one hand, we felt the need to work
harder to get through to these kids and provide tools and knowledge that could
help them be happy no matter what their situation. On the other hand, we felt grossly
underequipped to help them truly make a life change given the complex issues
they faced. And yet, they were just
children having to deal with a host of problems that many of us privileged
adults have never even come across. Knowing
all this, their ‘misbehavior’ took on a completely different light and the
compassion in us grew leaps and bounds.
Day 4 – Thursday
Morning, May 16 – A Frightening Insight Hits
We are trying the idea of breaking the bigger group of about
50 kids into smaller groups in order to reach out to them on a more personal
level.
The goal was to see if we could
foster more intimacy and trust between them and us and get them more focused at
the same time.
We are having mixed
levels of success.
However, the first
time we try this and we demonstrate that we know the their names, many of them are really impressed.
What a difference it made
just to know their names!
Thanks again Justin!
We are achieving incremental improvements
with this ‘circle time’ method.
It
dawned on me that the job of teaching these kids is not for the faint of
heart.
It takes a true warrior to keep
coming back everyday full of energy to give after having been deflated the day
before.
In fact, we only half-joked that
we looked forward to teaching at the maximum-security prison in the afternoons,
which we found to be relaxing after the trying mornings at the high school!
I had a frightening realization when we were
at the prison that afternoon.
In the
morning, at the high school, we were teaching these children who were the victims
– victims of neglect, abuse, violence, economic disadvantage, etc.
And in the afternoon, we were teaching the
culprits – the people who committed the violence and abuse. I could see how the
inmates were all once children just like the ones at HSHS and it was so clear
to me that many of these children were on a path to achieve the same fate as
the people at Tower Street prison.
This
is the reality of the vicious cycle in society unless someone intervenes.
I realized that sometimes it’s critical to
look beyond a person’s circumstances and even their behavior to find the
good in them.
It’s not always visible to the naked eye, it
takes an open heart to see it…but it is definitely there.
The experiences at the prisons reinforced
this important lesson.
Sri Sri RaviShankar (the founder of Art of Living) created the Prison program we are now
teaching because he believes:
“Inside
every culprit, there is a victim crying for help. That person is also a victim
of ignorance, small-mindedness and lack of awareness. It’s the stress, lack of
broad vision about life, lack of understanding, and bad communication that
leads to violence in society.”
I have now experienced this truth first hand. My only hope was that, in some small way,
maybe we were helping to break that vicious cycle for some of these kids.
Day 5 – Friday, May
17 – Celebration
On the drive to school we reviewed, as we always did, the teaching plan for the day. We discuss what’s working/not working and any new ideas or strategies we have to engage the kids. Justin reminds us that regardless of whether knowledge actually penetrates into the kids’ heads, what matters most is our presence. If we are embodying what we are teaching – calmness, centeredness, wisdom, and human values – we are planting the seeds in them that can flourish at any time. It was the last day of class with this batch of kids. As the days have gone by, we can see that some of the kids really feel close to us. We have been successful in creating some bonds and that is gratifying to know. At the end of the class, we celebrate with some dance music, and a handful of the kids stay back just to hang out and be with us (see the video)…today we feel we might have done at least something right.
In particular, Frenchman’s Cove is a
stunning beach. The relaxed beach with
fresh river-water running into the sea provides an amazing experience on the
beach. The colors are stunning, both greens & blues and warm & cold
water. The adjacent pictures provide
an idea of how lovely the beach is.
In particular, Frenchman’s Cove is a
stunning beach. The relaxed beach with
fresh river-water running into the sea provides an amazing experience on the
beach. The colors are stunning, both greens & blues and warm & cold
water. The adjacent pictures provide
an idea of how lovely the beach is.
