I'm Munira, I'm a proud Mother, a dedicated learner, a passionate teacher, an advocate, a maker, a doer. I reside in a big, busy city, Calgary, on the prairies, home of year round winters and short, glimmering summers. In these recent years, in this nervous city, I've discovered a specific and unique love and joy in teaching young children. In my community there are droves of young children who are being left behind by the public education system, languishing in their own perceived failures and differences in households that do not understand and are uncomfortable with the culture and lifestyle they exist in. The children I teach come mostly from Central Asia, Afghanistan, and belong to families that have migrated to Canada in search of better jobs, better houses, safer streets and safer politics. Now it's a period of adjustment, now their children are being caught with one foot in their homeland, homeculture, and the other foot hesitantly planted in this country, where the language is not theirs, the food is not theirs and the mannerisms or cultural cues are certainly not theirs.
These children are the children I open my doors to daily, pro bono, I catch them young. My living room, with all the furniture given away to families needier than mine, is now their classroom. It's red and blue and full of the pattering of little feet and the hum of little voices. All industrious, all excited, all learning. This system will not break them, will not forget them. Through the program I teach, the Montessori methods I impart, they will be ready to negotiate the public schools that so often leave their kind behind, in dusty corners and too-full rooms. My students are 3 to 6, I teach 7 days a week, sometimes in the morning, sometimes in the afternoon, and my students learn to read, they learn to write, they learn grace and diligence and most importantly, they learn patience, they learn not to give up. This is an exciting thing to watch and facilitate.
All the school material as well as crafts and other learning tools are all paid for out of pocket and from any private donations I receive. My school is in the process of certification, licensing with the city and soon I will be able to take 6 children for 3 hours every morning and 6 children for 3 hours every afternoon. Soon I'll ask the government for subsidies for the ESL students I teach. The need is more than I can fill but I'm plugging away anyway, one act of love is worth its weight in gold. What if we all took the time to teach a needy child in our community or contribute to their education, in monetary or material means, what would the world look like? Get in touch with me if you can offer something, material, monetary support, words of support, anything, I'm open and I'm looking: mom4life@shaw.ca
-M.
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