Hello, my name is Bethlehem Belachew and I am a rising senior international student at Furman University, from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. I am currently a double major in  Political Science and French with minors in Middle East and Islamic Studies and Poverty Studies. As I have been looking for an internship that tied in all, or most, of my areas of study, was overjoyed to learn about America’s Unofficial Ambassadors’ program in Ifrane, Morocco.  

I must admit that I was not as enthusiastic as I should have been the days following the finalization of the internship. I assumed it was due to school work and responsibilities that piled at the end of the semester, I learned afterward that it was for a completely different reason. As a foreigner in the US, I occasionally found myself correcting people’s prejudiced and often stereotypical view of Ethiopia, and sometimes Africa; hence I couldn’t get myself to imagine a country I knew so little about. One could easily wonder into orientalist territory in thinking of arid climate, perhaps the veiled women, or maybe snake charmers; rather, I have been intentional in my preparation and conscious of the need that awaited me. It also became a good opportunity for me to read and study the history and geo-politics of Morocco, and the North African region in general. In addition, have become quite interested in the Arabic language. As a speaker of another Semitic language, I find Arabic moderately difficult and extremely rich, it further motivated me to read up on the Moroccan dialect and Berber that is spoken in Morocco. I am hopeful that it will all help me bridge certain linguistic gaps with my students. Who knows, they might even be encouraged by the fact that I am in the same process of learning a different language as they are.

From a previous experience of teaching students in an impoverished community, I feel confident in saying I know what things to strive for, although this time, the cultural and linguistic context differs. Two years ago, I was teaching English to seventh graders who barely knew the basics, I was personally challenged by their, rather frequent, question “why do we need to learn English?”  After much thought, I realized that it was wrong of me to have thought mastering English would drastically change their lives. I accepted and respected their goal to help their parents, at home or in the market. I also took it as my duty to help them think of things they normally wouldn’t be exposed to, things beyond themselves and their families. In the same manner, I do not expect my students to master the tenses and conjugate each verb by the end of the program, although that would be nice, I hope they will see why such a service is provided and how it may help them in the long run.