Things you learned in Kindergarten, and then forgot…

October 23, 2008

This week has been a week of extreme up-and-downs .

I realized last week that the Flex (Future Leaders Exchange) Program, sponsored by American Councils, was testing this week for the next academic year. After a testing and interview process, the program will send a small number of Kyrgyz high school students to the United States where they will live with an American host family and attend high school for one year. This program is advertised to be free to the student. Needless to say, a lot of Kyrgyz students are interested.
(Above left: the line in front of Osh University for Flex testing, notice the young woman with a megacom)

I have one student that attends my English Club that I thought had a chance of passing the tests and whom, in my opinion would make an excellent exchange student. I talked to my English Club kids about it the day before the testing, which was to take place in Osh City (about an hour away from the village) at 7 o’clock in the morning.

The student that I wanted to take is not a student at my school, but at a kind of boarding school or ‘orphanage’ as it’s called here which is funded in part by UNICEF. He did not have money for transportation. I assured him that I would take care of it if need be, but to our surprise the other students in my English club had pooled money and gathered enough money for his transportation.

It was really a wonderful moment watching these kids who were themselves disappointed that their English was not good enough to take the test, give all the money they had to the young man who did have a chance to pass, and maybe, go to America.

The next morning, after getting ready in the dark (there is no electricity at 6 a.m.) and braving the early morning cold, I found myself in a cab on the way to Osh with my student, and two other girls who had come along to take the test too. Once in Osh, at the University, I discovered that my student did not have a passport or ID with him, or two passport-like photographs. This was of course, completely my fault. I, as usual, skimmed over the fine print … and, we had a problem.

By some miracle, the kid had a relative in the city where he happened to have an ID card, and we were able to find a photo place nearby the testing site. After sprinting threw Osh City for about an hour, we found ourselves panting in a long line of students waiting to take a test that was supposed to start an hour before. We had made it. I went inside the testing room. There were some Peace Corps volunteers who work in Osh City there, helping to proctor the exam. I ended up leaving with some volunteers to get food, and assumed my student would make it into the test room in the next one or two batches of students.

A few hours later, after several attempts to call the student, I received a text message that he would be staying in Osh and ‘not to bother with him’. I didn’t inquire further, but as it turns out, he was one year short of being eligible for the program.

And so, today I’m reminded of something my grade school teachers used to tell me: READ THE INSTRUCTIONS.

I have a bad habit of reading part of and not all of the instructions, and in this situation my shortcoming deflated the dream of a 14-year-old. I won’t sleep well tonight. I could comfort myself with fact that I had the best intentions, and thought I was doing everything in my power to help…. But, I guess it’s too little too late.