Success!

The Franklin Center's first English Book Club meeting was a success! We discussed the first half of "Flowers for Algernon"by Daniel Keyes.

This book discussion was part of the SPARK (Supporting Positive Action through Reading and Knowledge) program in which the integrated Movie and Book Clubs discuss a different social issue every month. This month was Mental Disability. Two weeks ago we watched Forrest Gump and yesterday we discussed the first half of the assigned book.

The discussion was great. People actually read the book and were really engaged in the conversation. We discussed everything from the author's writing style to the larger implications and themes of the work. One of the controversial topics we touched upon was whether it was ethical to surgically alter your body and if so, to what extent? The book club also discussed society's negative attitude towards mentally disabled persons and how it could be changed with proper education.

I'm so proud that the SPARK Program I created isn't only surviving, but thriving! These young people's ravenous hunger for knowledge is truly inspiring. I've written up a year-long curriculum for the program and found someone to replace me after I leave - so this project isn't just a one time deal, it's actually sustainable! woohooo!!!

Here's a link to the video I made about the SPARK Program in case I forgot to post it:
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Avlo1w9I83g

Keeping you updated

So work is still consuming my life and I haven't had a chance to really explore Tunisia yet because of it. Luckily last week AIESEC had a conference in Sousse so I was able to see somewhere other than Sfax. Hopefully the work situation gets better. I worked 30 hours overtime last month so I should be able to take a week of paid leave to really explore Tunisia (إن شاء الل).

In other news, tomorrow is the first day of Ramadan - the month of fasting. I'll be sure to keep you posted.

Walking to work

I walk to work almost everyday here. I like the exercise, I  get to experience more of "real Tunisia" and it saves money! (about 2 tunisian dinar each way, which is about $1.20 each way) It's about a 20 to 25 minute walk. Here's a video of my daily trek to work.

Warning: this video is really shaky, so if you get motion sickness, you may wanna pass on this video.

You may have noticed from the video that Sfax has a lot of Rotaries/roundabouts (I walk through 3 in this video alone). I was told that the Sfax city planners in the past chose to set the city up this way because rotaries are more reliable than stoplights -because of the electricity. 

My job

It's been a while since I posted in this blog, mainly because I've been so preoccupied with work. I haven't done anything interesting in the last week, so I'll just post about work.

I'm an english teacher at Schooling Plus, http://schooling-plus.com/?page_id=5&lang=fr, on the weekends and during the week I work as the Co-coordinator of the Franklin Center, the largest english library in Sfax.

The past week I've been working on creating the SPARK program (Supporting Positive Action through Reading and Knowledge). The mission of the SPARK program is for its participants to have a greater understanding of social injustices and to serve as a source of inspiration for positive change. Every month, the book club and movie club will focus on one social issue. This month is mental disability, so we will be reading "Flowers for Algernon" by Daniel Keyes and watching "Forrest Gump" and "I am Sam".

Here's a video I made to kick off the SPARK program: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Avlo1w9I83g&feature=player_embedded

Here are just a few of the people that I work with: 

The AIESEC apartment (take 2)

In case the video from my last post doesn't open or play properly, try this link: http://youtu.be/ucaUkYnoiqg

My apartment in Tunisia

That time we ate a camel.

Here's a few pictures of our camel feast:

The Dinner Table

My Plate

Shiyu (China/US)

Pierre (France)