Berkley Center

Background: As a part of the Education and Social Justice Project, in June 2016 undergraduate student Jonathan Thrall interviewed Mohamed Mohamud Farah, a second year student pursuing the Jesuit Commons: Higher Education at the Margins (JC:HEM) online diploma in liberal studies, implemented by the Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) in Jordan, as well as a volunteer English teacher for JRS’ informal English program. In this interview, conducted at the JRS Higher Education Center in Amman, Farah discusses his experience as a non-native speaker teaching English to students of different backgrounds, the particularities of pursuing higher education online, and putting his studies and teaching experience to the service of his community.

Could you please introduce yourself?

Mohamed Mohamud Farah. I am from Somalia. [I was born] in 1989, [and I am] single. I studied English certificate or diploma for two years in Kenya, and here I study [for the JC:HEM diploma offered by JRS]. I also volunteered with JRS [at the school in the Ashrafiyeh neighborhood of Amman where the organization ran its educational programs until 2015] as an English teacher for three years, and now I am volunteering as a teacher of English language for only one day a week, and I teach informal intermediate class. And I also volunteer as a [member of JRS’ home visits team, which visits families and individuals whom the organization serves].

When did you arrive in Jordan?

2012...May 1, I think.

And what were your experiences upon arrival in Amman?

You know it was a bit difficulty, obvious[ly]. It wasn’t like the way I am today, anyhow. You know, the first few days it’s very difficult to manage your livelihood in a new country. So my first problem was getting a job. I mean something that I can work on, I can benefit more. I worked, and I did informal jobs, like a cleaner, you know, cleaning offices, whatever. And that’s how I managed myself, yeah.

So were those the main difficulties you faced in the first few months here?

I think, yes...definitely, yes. You know, livelihood is very important. Just coming to a new country—you need something to eat. You need a place to live, to use. Everything, basic needs.

So how is life in general today, or life in Amman today?

Okay, so for me—at least I have hope. Okay, although I still feel as a guest, as someone who’s not in the community—I am talking about Jordanian community obvious[ly]—I mean, I consider myself still something outside of it. And the reason that I am saying is that because of the discrimination incidents that we face, because of the law—something very difficult, very restricted—I mean as a refugee we can’t work. As someone from Africa, it’s also difficult, because even if you work, still you will be subject to discrimination. The same thing: walking in the street is not something comfortable for someone from Africa. I mean, it’s facing harassment. So, that’s how we live.

How did you find out about the JC:HEM diploma?

I was volunteering with JRS and teaching [at the school] in Ashrafiyeh, and that was the place that I knew [about the diploma that JRS offered through] JC:HEM. At that time there was [the first cohort of diploma students, who started in 2012], and I knew some. I wasn’t interactive; I didn’t have any information. And I came across [it] at the end of 2013. [I learned] that there was a diploma program that JRS, with partnership of JC:HEM, are offering. And then in 2014, April, I did the exam. I was one of 300 students, and I was one of the 25 students that were selected. And then we started in August 2014. So 2014, October, I started volunteering while I was [pursuing the diploma].

And how did you come across JRS?

JRS was looking for a Somali person who could speak English to help with the translation and coordinating of Somali affairs, I think. Anyhow, that was what I was told at the time. I got the information from a Somali woman who was a student at JRS. So I went to JRS, and they were doing interviews for English teachers, and I was selected to be English teacher because of my qualifications.

When you talk about your qualifications, do you mean your diploma, or had you had prior experience in teaching?

Yeah, I had some teaching experience before. I taught English in Yemen, with my English qualification.

How has your experience teaching at JRS been?

It was amazing, challenging! Well, I started teaching as trying to find something for living, but it became something very protective for me at the end. It was challenging because teaching students who don’t speak your mother tongue is not very easy. I mean teaching students of different cultures, different backgrounds, different faith backgrounds—it’s not something very easy. You have to think the examples that you’re going to give, the sensitive topics that can cause misunderstandings, you know? Also, the language is very important. My Arabic wasn’t very good before, to explain everything in front of many people. It wasn’t very good as it is right now. But it’s something that I really love and I enjoy. But it’s something that I started as a livelihood, you know.

So is that the biggest challenge in your teaching?

My biggest was to attract the students. Cultural barrier, you know. Because I remember, I was teaching English, and it was the first days of JRS, and when I started the class, I had 30 students. For two weeks, I had only nine students, I don’t know, seven students—the rest went back to another teacher. They said, "We are not understanding. We don’t understand this teacher." And it was also kind of [hard] speaking English all the time! And it was as if I [should] understand more the culture of teaching English in Arabic, you see? That’s my point.

So you said it was originally a source of livelihood, but today, maybe, what’s your greatest source of motivation in teaching at JRS?

What really motivates me teaching is, when I see a student that I am teaching, and I see that he is developing as a person—personal skills, I mean. For example, let me say I taught him for five months, and before five months he did not have the courage to speak English, but after five months, he is speaking English. So that was what made me love teaching more and more. And the other thing was the positive message that I was always receiving from my students. I mean, I didn’t like them to tell me, "You’re good, you’re good," while I am bad. But I was always trying to read from their eyes, to read from their body language.

What have you learned from your students?

There was an American teacher, professor, he was here with us, with the diploma program, and he always said, "Guys, I’m not only teaching you, I am learning from you!" Teaching is learning. It’s not only, "Oh, I am giving you." No, it’s receiving something. I learned many things from them. I mean, my Arabic wasn’t very good; it was very poor. I remember when someone was in the class and said, "Oh, it’s not this, it’s this!" I said, "Oh, thank you, guys. You teach me Arabic. I teach you English!" You know? I mean, yeah, I learned many things; I can’t count what I learned from them. What I learned from them is also to know who I am, what I value.

How do you negotiate or how have you experienced the differences amongst students, as a teacher and a student here?

The only thing that I can say is, we accepted our differences. You know? It’s not like, "Oh, you are from here; you are from here." No. [We learned] to respect, to focus [on] things that we find in common, rather than to focus things that we find in different. That inspired us to accept our differences.

And so does that happen gradually?

Yeah. Because to know human being—just give time to know him. That’s the point. You know? I mean, okay, when I see [JRS Country Director] Matthew [Stevens] for example, I may think, "Oh, okay, all Canadians are like this." But people are different. I mean, when I know someone I may say, "Oh, you are not how I thought you [would be]." You know because human beings prejudge the people, you see? So the first days it’s always difficult. It’s always like, "Oh, who’s this? Is he a good person? If I talk to him, how is it going to be?" or whatever.

I remember how the first days when I worked with JRS it was totally different, challenging, but to be honest with help of my colleagues who were different culture, different background—you know, they were not Somali [or] from Africa—they helped me. I remember, they give me some advices, and I took their advices. And I reached a level where I meet with some people, I don’t know them but they know me; they just heard my name, and I remember one of my students told me, "Oh, I thought you were an Iraqi teacher because I heard your name, and I didn’t think you were from Somalia." Yeah, she was a Syrian student and said, "I thought you were an Iraqi teacher." Because mostly my students were from Iraq and from Syria, you know. And the center was very familiar at the beginning [to] Iraqi students.

We talked about motivations in your teaching. What are your greatest motivations in your studies here?

To earn money! Okay, to be honest, that’s not true; I’m just saying it. You have to trust money is important, but it’s not like money [is] everything. Whenever I speak, I start with money.

Okay, for me, I loved education from early childhood. I mean, I couldn’t get the opportunity to attend good school or whatever, good formal education. So I didn’t have that at that time. My family wasn’t high class, wasn’t very poor, but was a family of just earning for the livelihood. So I couldn’t get a financial support to go [to] whatever school I wanted, whatever education. I have had always the motivation to be educated, at least to earn diploma. Even the diploma [in] English that I earned, and even this one, I was studying and I was working. So it wasn’t all like, "Oh, going to school!" and whatever. No, it was a bit—so what motivates me is, if I’m educated, I can help myself. I can help with my family, and I can help the rest. Helping people is not only giving money, you see?

What does pursuing the diploma in liberal studies mean to you?

Liberal studies is—to be honest, it’s different from other courses. It’s a multi-perspective course. It’s not only talking about business, or it’s not only talking about, let me say, education, or talking about—no. It’s talking about the core values of the society. It’s about developing the personality of each person. Because it’s about philosophy, education, things that [are] going on around us, politics, religion, interpersonal communication, writing. So it’s a full course of education. Yeah, so I would say it’s something motivates us to be involved in community services.

How do you find the online learning experience?

Amazing! Amazing but challenging. It’s very interesting and something very good for me. Because for me, I don’t think from my age, from this age, I will have a time just to study and to leave the job. So it’s something that I can manage myself. It’s something that will enable me to continue my education and at the same time have time to work, to do my livelihood, you know? So it’s amazing. Yeah, it’s an opportunity to manage your life and be in education at the same time.

And so are there challenges involved in the fact that it’s all online?

It would be amazing if it is face-to-face. Because once we are talking face to face, our connection will be longer and longer. So imagine, if I study a course with a student in 2014 and he’s living in Kenya now, or let me say he’s living in Malawi, if I met him face-to-face, we would be connected to each other. If I want to know anything from Malawi, I ask him. But [through online learning] it’s like, "Oh, we finished this course. May God give you rest, bye-bye! Let’s see another course." And we don’t have contact, so it’s like just dealing with computers, yeah.

And so how would you characterize the relationship with the professors?

Just through emails. We don’t know each other. But it would be fine if at least we take our contacts from each other and [kept] the contact—I mean, maybe if I became famous and a good politician or whatever, I will meet with them. But we don’t know how long it will take us to meet. But sometimes, some professors visited here in Jordan. Well, very few number, like, with partnership with JC:HEM they visited. But, I mean, it was a professor for [the first cohort of students who started in 2012 and graduated in 2015]. But there is no social interaction, absolutely not.

So do you interact with the students at other JC:HEM centers?

There is interaction, but the interaction is just education—the discussion post, talking about the material. But we don’t have other interaction than the studies. Just the studies, focus on the studies, the topic that we are going to discuss about, only that.

What would you do to improve the JC:HEM experience?

What should I say? No, it’s okay, it’s absolutely okay. But what I would prefer, I mean to improve the education of JC:HEM—first of all, the diploma course is too long. It’s three years and diploma, which sometimes is like, "When am I going to finish? It’s tiring," whatever. We finish two years, and I don’t think...for example, if we take 20 students or 25 students, they’re refugees, they’re not going to stay here in Jordan, you know? So I would take that one into consideration and try either to reduce the time, or to take the students who are maybe willing to stay longer here. That’s one point.

The other point is, okay, mostly we really have here new staff coming, new staff going, new staff going. So maybe it would be better if every five years, if we had a fixed management, you know? So that we can deal with, really know [them]. Maybe that’s JC:HEM, but also the center is very small here. I think they need more teachers, maybe. And, to be honest, for such courses they should have specialists. For example, science, mathematics, they need teachers. I mean, we normally have two courses, science and mathematics, and those two courses we normally don’t have teachers, so it’s just a student help[ing] the student. Mostly, onsite tutors, they don’t have experience about teaching science. They just finished [a degree in liberal] arts or something that’s relevant to that.

How do you hope to use what you’ve learned, or what you are learning?

Okay, for me, in JC:HEM, hopefully, I will take social work [as my third year specialization]. And I am very interested in social development, especially the education sector. And the point is I now currently use what I have learned in JC:HEM.

I mean, since I started JC:HEM, I became more influential in my community. I don’t mean just Somali community, but I mean JC:HEM students or center. I also became more influential in my Somali community, with help and advices, providing the little things that I can, advocating for them, sometimes being part of food distribution or heaters distribution—something like that, you know? Helping them with the translation, for example, if they want to write a paper to the UNHCR. If they want, for example, sometimes I do home-based learning, where I teach English. Because as a community, Somali community, we have language barrier. We don’t speak Arabic as a first language; we just study, and if we don’t study that means we don’t speak Arabic. So I think it’s helping me very, very well what I have learned at JC:HEM.

What does "social justice" mean to you?

For me, social justice is not getting opportunities, but it is providing opportunities for everyone so that those who are interested to benefit their time, maybe they can take advantage of it. If I am provided but I don’t get [it] because of me, I don’t need to blame others, saying it’s unjust or whatever. So it’s a kind of giving everyone a chance. That’s what I would describe.

And do you think that social justice plays a role here at JCHEM?

When it comes to the giving everyone opportunity, there is the capacity here. I mean, it depends on the opportunity that they have, it depends on what they can do and what they can’t do—it’s not only the desire. For example, if they have 25 seats for students and there are 300 [applicants], they can’t take all these 300. I think they are giving everyone an opportunity to get informal education. But [also there] is something relevant or related to legal system of, or laws, in Jordan. When it comes to hiring someone, I don’t think [JRS] can hire someone from a refugee background. It could be from the JC:HEM policy, I don’t know, it could be from—it could be from Jordanian policy, obvious. I mean, as refugees we are not allowed to work. So it could be that. But they’re doing their best to give everyone his opportunity.

Are there any core values that you think are emphasized either by the curriculum or the center itself?

Here, at this center, we are all same. I mean no differences at all. It’s up to you whoever you are, it’s up to you whatever you believe—wherever you are from, religion, country, whatever. So I think that’s something that’s uniting us and what’s making us to come every day here. And the other point is, us, as refugees, we are not welcomed at everywhere. I mean, it’s not a problem of the Jordanian or whatever, no, because even themselves they don’t attract each other, they don’t. But we don’t usually meet in another places. So somehow, it’s a place that we gather, we meet with. You see? Yeah, so I think the core values is being together, sharing our lives, sharing our experiences, learning from one another. I mean, what we are learning, it’s not only learning from JC:HEM, but I am also learning from the other students who is from Iraq, the other students who is from Syria, who is from Sudan, you know?

Is there anything else you would like to add that we haven’t discussed?

No. Just a suggestion! As much as they [your audience] can provide education for refugees, that would be wonderful. If they can. This might become a voice that will reach the world. So let me take this opportunity to speak for children, those who are voiceless. Education is the tool that we can struggle for social justice issues. Those who are not in school and can't have access to their right of education will end up in miserable situations. They could be gangs, or militias of fighting groups, because their future is not guaranteed, and they live under the war. This would have a negative impact on their communities first and then to the world. So education saves their lives to end up in the hands of gangs or militias. I would encourage to every institution, organization, or any private community to advocate for these children to get their rights and at least provide informal education.