Berkley Center

Background: As a part of the Education and Social Justice Project, in June 2016 undergraduate student Jonathan Thrall interviewed Mahaba, a student learning English at the intermediate level, following a curriculum designed and implemented at the Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) in Jordan in partnership with Jesuit Commons: Higher Education at the Margins (JC:HEM). In this interview, conducted at the JRS Higher Education Center in Amman, Mahaba discusses her inability to work and pursue studies in Jordan as a refugee, as well as her appreciation for the JRS Center and its engaging classes.

Could you please introduce yourself?

My name is Mahaba. I am 23 years old. I came from Baghdad. I [arrived] in Jordan about one year ago; [my family] are all here with me. I have my mother and brother and father, so we are four members.

What is your educational and/or professional background?

I’m a pharmacist; I graduated last year from Baghdad. It was five years' study in English. But here I don’t work, and that’s the problem in Jordan. I hope to work someday. I have to go to Canada and get my equivalency certificate, you know. I hope to work some day!

So you hope to be going to Canada?

We are here all for immigration. All the people you will interview, especially the Christians from Iraq, from Mosul, they are applying for immigration. For my family, we got accepted, but it takes very long processing time even after someone is accepted. For us it has been six months since we were accepted.

Do you know where you’ll be living? Are you excited?

We know Windsor [Ontario]. Kind of [excited]. I am afraid. It’s a new future.

So you arrived here right after you graduated?

Yeah, 2015. So about one week after [I] graduated, we came here. Because my father and mother [were] waiting [for] me to graduate. Because of the situation in Baghdad, they were afraid, so they just waited [for] me to graduate and [then] came here. My brother didn’t finish his college because he is younger. He was studying to be a doctor, so [his studies last] six years, so they didn’t wait [for] him to finish because the situation is so bad in Iraq—our neighbor was kidnapped, and we were very afraid.

What were your first experiences, arriving in Amman?

Well, it’s a new country. The [being able to talk] in Arabic is good, so all the people I know I can get used to them. I have no problems with the people; I love the Jordanian[s]. I love that they are trying to help us. There is organization to help us, and that is good. But the main problem is not working. And the other problem for the others, like for my brother, the education. Like, my brother couldn’t go to college. So that’s another problem. So I think that’s something that all we will say to you, all the ones you will interview—having no license or permissions to work and education problems. And the college is more difficult because it costs more. Some of them are going to [primary and secondary] schools; an organization paid for them. But college, no.

And so the plan was never to stay here? It was always to leave?

Yeah, it’s always to leave. Jordan is a temporary place.

Were there other difficulties, too?

There are many problems facing the refugees concerning the access to health care services. There is a long waiting list because of large number of patients. Buying the medicines or drugs is very costly, and we can’t afford that, so in many times we choose the cheaper alternative drug. But here the weather is good. We have churches. Like, when my uncle went to Turkey, there is no church there. So this is a big problem. But here, churches are open all the time, and that is a good thing. No, I don’t have any other problem. I am enjoying [my time] with friends; I got a lot of friends. I go to [the] mall. So, yeah, that’s okay for everything else; it’s good.

Are some of these friends from the host Jordanian community?

Jordanian and also Iraqis...Iraqis and Jordanians. I went to hospital to get a training. It was free—so, six months' training. So, that was a lot of time I spent in the King Hussein Cancer Foundation. I got friends from this hospital; they were working. But me, [I was a] volunteer because they don’t pay me. But I got experience, and that was nice.

How did you find out about JRS?

From my friends. Every Tuesday we came [to the Jesuit Center, which rents out the space used by JRS for its educational programs]. The youth have a meeting every Tuesday—just the Iraqi, the Chaldeans. We have some kind of Christian lectures, we watch movies, we do activities. Every Tuesday we came here, so the friends told me that they took an English class, and they were making friends, and the class was very useful for them. So I applied. I applied two times: the first time I didn’t get accepted, so this is my second time I’m applying. This is the fourth lecture. [I just started the course] about two weeks ago.

How was the admissions process in general, the exam and all that?

The exam was easy. It was four parts—listening, reading, grammar—so I did them; it was one hour I think. And after that Miss Jumana called me, and she said, "You were accepted," and she asked some questions on the telephone, to know what level am I. So after the questions she told me I am in the intermediate. Because there is elementary and pre-intermediate, too, and there is the diploma. So they have four levels. Because the diploma is three years, so I didn’t apply for the diploma.

Could you tell me a little about your studies here?

I’m enjoying them, yeah. It’s very fun [to] get to spend time with people, get to know them better, make friends with them, and I’m trying to improve my English, because obviously I will need it. I will go to Canada, and I need to speak English so that I could communicate more easily.

In the class, are the students from very diverse backgrounds and from different countries?

Yeah, we have from Sudan, Somalia also, and one Jordanian. And the others are Iraqis. So yeah, we have different cultures. That’s nice! To get to know them, know more about their cultures. [With time I’ll get] to know them more. Make friends more, maybe we’ll go out sometimes. Because I know it’s a four month course, so we [will become] like a family at the end. I think that.

And how are the relations with the teacher?

Yeah, it’s great. I love Miss Jumana, really. Because she is like a friend, she ask[s] a question in a funny way. Yeah, not like a teacher. [And there’s] not a lot of grammar, so I love her. I love her way [of teaching].

So you think she helps make that class dynamic?

Yeah, 100 percent!

Could you describe your study habits so far?

For this class, from the book obviously. And from websites Miss Jumana gave us. And we have a group on Facebook, so she will give us the links, and we will go to the link. I learned English from watching movies and from my five years study in college, which was all in English. And sometimes there is examples of questions for TOEFL exams [on] the internet, so I download them from the net and try to solve them.

What kind of movies do you like to watch?

Drama movies. Yeah, not the action ones.

How do you find the course materials, either the curriculum, the book, or the things that Miss Jumana adds, the websites?

Yeah, of course they are useful! I hope it would be more difficult; this is my opinion. I wish that, to be a little bit more difficult. But I think we have a level, we have another students, so [the level] must be intermediate between them, so she couldn’t be more difficult. But I hope to get use of this class for the TOEFL. The TOEFL is very hard, so I hope [the class] to be more difficult so I could pass the TOEFL, but I don’t think that will be.

So having different levels in the class, is that a challenge?

[The levels are] not very, very far, but some of us, when she ask a question, some of us will finish it in three minutes, some of us will take five minutes. So, we will have to wait for these two minutes.

What are the biggest challenges to your studies at JRS, if any?

No, why there difficulties? No, no. Yeah, I really like it, I like that they thought about us. It's all free, and transportation are provided, there is a coffee break...we are spoiled here!

So even with the experience being great, there’s nothing that could be improved?

I hope it [could] be bigger, the room is bigger. Because it’s a little bit crowded. A lot of my friends got not accepted, so I hope that they could get accepted, too. Because here the number is very limited, like only 24 in the class. So if the building is more big, or more enough so they could [accept a] larger number. So everyone could benefit. Yeah, this is the only, the main thing—like another building, or the class will be more bigger.

What is your greatest source of motivation in pursuing your studies?

Well, this is a big question. I think my mother. Yeah, she always motivates me; she always keep encourage me. My mother and father, but mother [especially], yeah. She provide all the encouragement.

What does learning English mean to you?

Well, the most important thing because of us coming to Canada, so I need the English. So it is important for the life to go on. Because if I don’t understand what they are saying, how could I communicate with them? If I want to get my certificate [in pharmacy, I will need English.] Or how could I be a pharmacist? And communicate with patients? They told me they are sick. How could I understand them? So it’s for my occupation, yeah.

What does "social justice" mean to you?

Well, I think I’ll interpret it on [the basis of] education. So I like that education is for all. I like that in this center, the education for Christians, for Muslims, I like that. Because it must be for all. And it’s free. This is also [important] because not everyone could afford it. So this is kind of implies justice, because if the poor can’t get educated, this is not justice. So I think the two main things are that it’s for all religions and nationalities, and it’s free. Because some of us can’t afford to go to British Council to improve his English; it’s very costly.

So you find that social justice plays a role here at the center?

Yeah, it plays a role.

Are there any other core values or ideals that you see emphasized in the curriculum and in the teaching? Or, more broadly, by the center and JRS in general?

No. You talked about the justice. This is the most important.

Is there anything else that you want to add? Or a question that I didn’t ask?

Yeah, you talked about only the English in this center. I think there is another thing, the [Jesuit] fathers are doing. There is sewing class, I think. I am not going to this class, but my friends are going. So, they are very interest[ed] in it, and it is very good class. There is another class I think for dancing. They also organize sports activities, teams from different nationalities competing to win. So this center is not only for the English; they provide another things. And I like this, the sewing, because my friends, they are spending their time here, making friends and knowing this kind of things. It’s beautiful. Yesterday they made, like, a dress for the Pope to wear in the Mass! They sew this dress, and they gave him, like, a gift, and they wrote him a letter with pictures and put it in the dress. So it’s nice for them.

I like all the activities! Not [just] the English. Because we have a lot of free time here in Jordan, so it’s important to spend your time in something useful. If it is dancing, if it is sewing, if it is English. Those are useful. But if you are at home, not doing anything else, not working, this is bad, lead to depression—especially for the young ones. Because the adult and old could stay at home, but the young ones, they don’t have money, so they couldn’t go to the movie and every time spend money. Because every time you go you will spend money: if you watch movie, if you get dinner. But here, spend time and get something useful from the dance, from the sewing, from the English. All the activities are useful.

Anything else you want to add?

Yeah, I think, like, my father and mother, they also [would] like to come here. But I think if they make a class for older ones, English for them, like maybe simpler. Not just for my father and mother! But for older age groups, because they will be little embarrassed if they come with the younger ones.

So to have classes specifically for age groups?

Yeah, for age groups—if they could apply, I think it’s good.