[Assam] [Iepgraduates-list] Job in Southern Sudan

[umesh sharma]

You have to be a Christian to take up the job but news info is interesting.
   
  Umesh
  PS: From a Harvard senior
  
Ipusukilo> wrote: 
  From: "Ipusukilo" <
Date: Mon, 4 Jun 2007 08:25:35 +0300
CC: 
Subject: [Iepgraduates-list] (no subject)

      st1\:*{behavior:url(#default#ieooui) }                IEPers, hello.   
   
  I’m giving up my job - one of the best post-Harvard grassroots basic education jobs in Africa.   It’s in the Nuba Mountains in Sudan –a fascinating place and a great spot for Phd research or other education work even if you don’t want my particular job with Samaritan’s Purse.  A unique educational experiment is unfolding and no one is documenting it.   
   
  In short, it’s a remote, isolated education system in English surrounded by the Arabic world.    The Nuba Mountains have a famously rich culture (famous at least in anthropological circles).  The Darfur-like genocide that dragged on through the 90s and until about 2002 killed off all formal education and almost everything else for that matter, culture included.   With the ceasefire and peace agreement, the SPLA rebels started an English education system instead of Arabic.  It was a idealistic, possibly rash, possibly clever move.  But to create an tiny, autonomous educational ecosystem from scratch is complex at the best of times, which this was not – the SPLA doesn’t control one town, or even a bit of a road in Nuba –almost no one knew any English, few had any formal education and the only way to access the area was by plane. There is no higher education system to rely on, or feed into, etc.  Really, they had nothing in their favor but some goodwill from the NGO
 community.  
   
  They began in 2002.  We’ve been here since Oct 2003 and have helped to start and support 6 primary schools and a teacher training college.  We are also doing a bunch of in-service training for all the Nuban teachers currently working in the schools.  
  There have been a lot of unexpected benefits of having this bubble of English – it turns out there is huge demand for English speakers even on the government side, private schools, NGOs, the UN and even the government military for example are all trying to recruit English speakers.  So economic rewards for education are immediate and high – the marginalized are empowered, so to speak.  On the flip side teacher attrition is high, since teaching remains a voluntary profession.   And predictably the Khartoum government is frantically trying to shut down the English system .  So lots of interesting hiccups.  
   
  Anyhow, this educational endeavor could be a fascinating chapter or at least a footnote or case study in international education if anyone documents it.    I wish I could stick around, but with another kid on the way its time for us to go.
   
  It’s a good job – it has room for creatively expanding the program and you’ll get good experience doing everything from writing proposals to submitting the final report and you get to see tangible changes in the classroom and a nation rebuilding. 
   
  Also, it’s a surprisingly soft posting (all things considered).  Its somewhat safe.  We brought our 3-month old twins here 2 years ago and have survived fine.  You get somewhat favorable benefits and breaks.  And there is now internet access (at SKYPEable speeds – wireless through the whole compound).  Really what more could you ask for?
   
  Here’s the job posting:   http://www.samaritanspurse.org/EmploymentListings_Index.asp  (Program manager in JULUD)/.  
  Here’s the Samaritan’s Purse statement of faith (http://www.samaritanspurse.org/StatementOfFaith_Index.asp).  
   
  If you have questions or whatever you can contact me at at gmail.com.  
   
   
   
  ....................................................
  Jason Carpenter
  Samaritan's Purse Program Manager Julud
  Thuraya: +882-164333-8672
  c/o Samaritan's Purse 
  P.O. Box 76143 Yaya Towers 00508 Nairobi
   
   
   
   

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Umesh Sharma

Washington D.C. 

1-202-215-4328 [Cell]

Ed.M. - International Education Policy
Harvard Graduate School of Education,
Harvard University,
Class of 2005

http://www.uknow.gse.harvard.edu/index.html (Edu info)

http://hbswk.hbs.edu/ (Management Info)




www.gse.harvard.edu/iep  (where the above 2 are used )




http://jaipurschool.bihu.in/
       
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