homework club

Part of my weekly schedule at the community centre includes a homework club for primary school children.  In an area where many parents are learning English themselves, its necessary to have native speakers assist the kids with their work.  Tonight, I helped several little girls with their spelling and math.  After Fatima completed her schoolwork, she started drawing and kept hiding what she was working on.  At the end of the night, she gave me two drawings of the two of us, one of which is below.

The part that made me smile was the letter she included with the second drawing.  In marker, she wrote: "I like you because you helpt me with my work.  You ar my favrert.  I like you.  Amerycer is nise because my dad went there and he told me that it is nice.  That is your contry.  You were born ther.  I like you."

Clearly we need to keep working on spelling.  But it warmed my heart.

The second funny moment happened when the mums were coming to pick the children up from homework club.  Fatima and Muhammad were both looking to see if their mums had come through the door.  Fatima turned to Muhammad, who was closer to the door, and asked, "Was that my mum who just came?" Muhammad responded by saying, "I dunno. I don't know what your mum looks like."  Without missing a beat, he asked, "What color is her hijab [headscarf]?"

I chuckled, but it was just a good reminder to me that different cultures have different ways of recognizing familiarity.  In a society where a woman's hair is to be covered, of course a little boy wouldn't ask, "What color is your mum's hair?"  It made me consider my perception.  To me, a headscarf is an addition, more of an accessory.  But to this little boy, it was part of the identity of his friend's mum.  Perhaps the next evening, I'll be able to ask her how she views wearing the headscarf.  I'll try to remember to let you know :)