Shafaki Blog

Yesterday I attended a train the trainer session at the literacy department of the Nasr City branch of Resala. It was my first time to attend such a session.

The session discussed the literacy program offered to illiterate people. The focal point of the session was how to motivate learners and what approach to take when dealing with them. The session also covered some common issues that face the person who is teaching them how to read and write.

According to the session, some illiterate people come for the training in order to get a literacy certificate which is required by some job they want to apply for. Others come because they want to continue their education. Still others attend the training just to get to know new people and perhaps gain some extra cash upon passing their literacy exam in addition to the other positive reinforcement methods that Resala uses to motivate them to continue learning.

Happiness is a feeling I experienced yesterday while playing with kids during a visit organized by Resala to Al Azhar Park.

The Nasr City branch of Resala arranged the trip for the deaf people and their families as well as for children with developmental disabilities. I was among the lucky volunteers who accompanied them during the trip. We took off in a large bus from in front of Resala yesterday morning, spent a wonderful time at Al Azhar park then returned back to Resala after sunset.

Volunteers who had attended training in sign language at Resala started conversing with the deaf during the trip using whatever signs they knew. Two of the volunteers who had no previous knowledge of sign language tried to ‘talk’ to the deaf as well and were so pleased in being able to make some sort of conversations with them. I tried to brush up on my sign language knowledge and was able to communicate to some extent with a number of the deaf yet used a translator when things got too complex for me to comprehend. A young kind of around 12 years old was the best translator. His mother who accompanied us during the trip was deaf.

The kids also asked me to take group photos of them.

One of the kids asked me to take a photo of him while he was dong a stunt. Kids started to gather around me each wanting me to take a photo of him or her doing the same stunt.

One of the kids who was around 5 years old kept coming to me all the time and moved with me as I moved. He asked me to run with him which I did. When I sat down on the grass he came to me again and told me “I want to sit with you.” One of the young girls, a 6th grader, gave me a flower. The nice thing about kids is that when they show that they like you they are genuine about it.

Near the end of the trip, the kids sat down on the grass and started singing. I guess I should have had an MP3 recorder with me to record their wonderful songs. The trip was amazing, I am really looking forward to the next one with those same kids.