Xeyala Means 'Dream'

I only get to spend 1 hour a week with Latifa's 8th form class. I don't get a chance to visit with Tofig's section at all. And by this age, the students have either decided whether they want to learn English or not. (The motivated kids get a spot in my clubs. The others I don't see outside of that single hour of class)

Today. I was working with this class. On Monday, they had talked about 'if clauses' and Latifa said no one really understood the concept.

So I wrote "If I had a million dollars, I would...." on the blackboard. Then I went around the classroom and asked each student what they would do with a million dollars. Everyone willing participated. A feat in itself. Most were the standard answers you would expect. ' I would buy a house.' ' I would buy a car.' 'I would travel around the world.' Xeyala was the last girl to speak: ' I would use half the money to buy a house for my family. I would give the other half to charity.' I was blown away. I've never heard anyone in this country refer to charities, let alone giving money to such an organisation. I was impressed

Then I wrote "If I could be someone famous or important, I would want to be..." on the blackboard. The majority of the students wanted to be various actors and actresses or popstars of the Eurovision variety. Some of the boys wanted to be footballers. The usual stuff. Some had more realistic ambitions. One boy wanted to be a policeman. One girl wanted to be a university director.

Then Xeyala spoke up again: "If I could be someone famous or important I would want to be a Peace Corps Volunteer like Miss. Melissa, so I could travel to different countries and teach and help people."

You could have knocked me over with a feather.

This girl is one of the students that transferred into Latifa's section from Tofig's class at the start of the year because she said she wasn't learning English in the other class. She sought me out to ask for a place in my most advanced club, and promised she would keep up. And she has. In fact she's probably the hardest working. . She is a quiet, studious (and clearly very thoughtful) young lady.
Her name is Xeyala Xeyala translates from Azerbaijani as dream or day-dream.

And it wasn't so much the inherent compliment in her statement. Or that she said the whole sentence in English. It was the fact that my mere presence in the classroom inspired Xeyala to dream for herself
I don't always feel like my monkey like antics at the front of the classroom make all that much of a difference in my students' learning process. Or that my presence in the village is little more than the foreigner who lives in the half-built house with no TV and occasionally shows up for tea or a meal.

But when little moments like today happen. I realise that it doesn't matter if I'm not the best or most creative teacher in the world. Or that I am not a bad person if I don't leave my house every single afternoon to socialise with my neighbours.

I am here.
That simple fact makes all the difference in the world to the people of a village In one of the most looked-down upon regions in the country. More than I will probably ever realise.