Teaching Through Personal and Global Struggles

I was teaching in Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, aspiring to complete a new design program, and going through our first full iteration of the Personal Project. We received enough interest to take athletes to Mozambique for a soccer competition, and I couldn’t be more determined and focused. International teachers know that year three holds a special place. It is the first time you can sit down and see a full picture. For me in Kinshasa this came to a grinding halt in March 2020. 

When Kinshasa shut down the government gave a few days notice that the airport was going to close. My partner and I had to decide: should we stay or should we go? We took an embassy evacuation flight. We prepared for online learning and quarantine until we could go back home, or back to our parents' houses. Then this growth I had noticed wouldn’t go away, turns out it was cancer. Not the 30th birthday present I was looking for. 

I was living in the moment, focusing on what needed to be done. The checklist for teaching with COVID and preparing for surgery and treatment was a long one. Luckily, I was surrounded by some of the best people in the world. During all of this, I was writing online lessons, creating documents for my students, and helping with personal projects. My administration was supportive and offered for me to take this time off, but keeping busy was one of the things keeping me going. My staff were also supportive, sending messages and checking in with me frequently. They were my second family. 

Once I was healed from surgery, I went back to Colorado to be with family, as I got the next news. Chemo, or no chemo? Well, turns out with aggressive cancers you need chemo to prevent remission. So, I prepared for intensive treatments. Through this time, I was still teaching, luckily many teachers were not doing asynchronous zoom sessions due to the dispersal of our student population. I wore silly hats to distract from the hair loss during my screencast sessions, it worked. 

We were spending the summer with family and waiting for that call that would let us know if the airport opened, would we be able to go home? A feeling many of us international teachers shared, and some of us never got to hear, “yes, it is time to go home.” Fortunately, we were able to head back mid-August. The only problem was that I had to have five more years of monitoring, and this was not an easy task from Congo. Also, with the unforeseeable instability COVID had caused worldwide I had to make the decision again. Should we stay or should we go? I had to leave, I knew if things got bad there was a chance I would have to get evacuated to South Africa or Belgium, and then if something went wrong I would be there alone. Even though things looked good, I didn’t want to risk it. It was time to prepare for my leave. 

We spent the year in a haze, things were not the same, some teachers didn’t return without notice, some had to leave partway through the year. We had to change schedules and accommodate for the students in class and online. It was year four, but it felt like year one. I reflected on that year three and how everything seemed so exciting, hopeful, I was finding my stride, only to be tripped by personal and non-avoidable hurdles. I enjoyed the last year with people who I considered family in a place that was my home. Even though I am happy in a new position in Korea it will be something I always think about, with amazing memories.

Make sure to thank the people you are with now, who make your day brighter, who pick you up when you fall, as we are a lucky community. It is important we take time to be grateful and thankful. Thank you to all the people who supported me and continue to support me. Take today to thank someone around who makes your days brighter. As international teachers we know they might have to move on soon.