News From Around The World

I decided to post (with the permission of the writer)an email sent by a friend to her friends. I am honored to be one of them. If ever I could be anyone else I would choose this person. She rocks. She and her husband are teaching in a foreign land. They are not missionaries by title, and that is what I think is so awesome. They do not need the title.

As we read the news our minds our swirling and wondering what the implications will be for Egypt, Libyia, Tunisia etc. So I am posting her reflections, insider scoop. For those of you who know me well, you will know who is writing.

Hi everyone!

It was time for my yearly trek to the Malaysian jungle with 70 eighth
graders. This year I went to a different location and thoroughly
enjoyed the life on a jungle island. The group of kids I was with was
amazing. They took every opportunity to fully experience all the
jungle had to offer, from food to bugs. I even got a chance to brush
off my blow-dart skills. We were aiming at a large fruit hanging from
a long stem and I hit the stem! My students thought it was amazing
but it was pure luck.

Since I’ve been back, we have watched a wave of revolution in the
region. One of the students on our trip was from Tunisia and she was
so excited about the freedom beginning in her country. Others in our
school are from Egypt and again, they can’t even believe that they
have the right to say what they really feel. We are all hoping that
this region will birth its own true democracy, one of freedom AND
justice. There is a long way to go. What is unusual about Qatar is
that, even though it is a monarchy, it has low corruption
(comparatively speaking) and the most freedom of the press in the
region. The network Al Jazeera is based here in Doha and has been
covering every gritty detail of all the protests, which has earned it
the right to be banned by most of the vulnerable countries.

Because Egypt is getting itself together, E. and K. are running
cross-country races in Abu Dhabi this weekend instead of Cairo.
H. and S. are in Kuwait for baseball, so hopefully everything
will stay calm there. It sounds crazy, but probably no worse than
having an event planned in Madison, Wisconsin this weekend. (Just
kidding).

My apologies to my friends who support teachers’ unions, but I wanted
to go to Madison with a video camera in one hand and a sign that
reads, “I’m a great teacher and I don’t need a union” in the other. I
know that there once was a need for unions, but after sitting on a
school board with my hands tied by the teachers unions, I just cannot
support them. Our best teachers could not even get the same raises as
the mediocre teachers if the union wanted to “reward” a certain age
group. Most teachers don’t know that the unions are the ones who
divide up the raises, not the school board or administration. If the
union wanted, they could give 10% raises to one group and 1% to
another, arbitrarily. Now our district is furloughing teachers, not
based on their performance, but based on being the most recent hires.
In other words, we have to let go of some of our best teachers. How
is that fair? Whatever happened to the steel industry in Pittsburgh
and the auto industry in Detroit? Seems to me that if there was ever
a test of the effectiveness of unions on the economy, Detroit should
be the poster child for greatness.

Okay, I know you want me to stop beating around the bush and tell you
how I really feel. Sorry about that. I can’t help it.


Thanks for reading and keep me posted on your happenings anytime!!!

Take care,

R.