Our Personal Experiences Look Book Project Issue 20 Home Page

An Exciting Teaching Experience Huseyin Malgir from Turkey Photo: Livan Hernandez The first day of school, when I went to the village, I saw the school. It did not have any doors, desks, tables, chairs, heaters, or any glass for the windows.   Kurdish people live in towns in the southeast region of Turkey. They have a hard time living in Turkey. Kurdish people want to send their children to Kurdish schools, so that they can learn their own culture and traditional history. They also want to have freedom of speech in Turkey. Kurds cannot talk Kurdish in government offices and cannot watch Kurdish TV, listen to Kurdish radio, read Kurdish newspapers or learn how to read and write Kurdish. They cannot do any of that. The Turkish government does not allow them to. For example, my mother and other Kurds do not know Turkish. All the programs in Turkey are in Turkish. My mother wants to watch Kurdish TV, so that she can know what is going on in the world, but she cannot. She does not understand it. The Turkish government does not allow the Kurds to have their own channel. The Kurdish people want freedom to speak Kurdish, learn about the Kurdish history, watch Kurdish shows and go to Kurdish events, but the Turkish government does not accept the Kurds' own identity. This forced the Kurds to take action and to fight for their freedom. When I finished high school in 1990 in Turkey, I studied to go to a top quality university. There had been a civil war going on for almost ten years between the Kurdish guerilla groups and the Turkish army. The fighting was in the east and southeast regions. I was born in the southeast in a town called Cizre, and I finished high school there, too. Because of the fighting, doctors, nurses and teachers did not come to those areas. That is why the government permitted a high school graduate to be a teacher in an elementary school. I applied for that opportunity in 1991 to teach young children. Photo from Huseyin Malgir I called all the children in the village, and we made chairs, desks and doors. We fixed the windows and painted the school. We fixed all the school's electric switches and lights. After one month, we started the school with fifty-two students.   After a month, I received a letter. When I got the letter, I read it immediately. Fortunately, they accepted me. I was extremely pleased. Almost a month later, I started teaching in an elementary school in a small Kurdish village. The first day of school, when I went to the village, I saw the school. It did not have any doors, desks, tables, chairs, heaters, or any glass for the windows. The school had been closed for five years. After that, I got some money from my brother, and I bought some wood, space heaters, and glass for windows, paint and accessories etc. I called all the children in the village, and we made chairs, desks and doors. We fixed the windows and painted the school. We fixed all the school's electric switches and lights. After one month, we started the school with fifty-two students. It was really exciting. Before that time, I had not communicated with many children. That is why, in the beginning, I was very nervous. After that, I got used to it. Read part 2 of Huseyin's story.  This story was written in The Look Book Project, which was created in Julia Karet's ESL class at Chaffey Community College. More personal experiences: One Day Everyone Needs Help | How Lucky I Am The 921 Earthquake in Taiwan  Return to: Our Personal Experiences | Issue 20 | Home Page TOPICS Online Magazine - ©1997-2008 - Sandy and Thomas Peters - topics.mag@gmail.com