A few years back I taught high school English / Journalism for two years. It was an inexplicable career choice that left many of my colleagues baffled.I had been on a bit of a career high, rising swiftly from Editorial Assistant to Assistant Editor / Associate Communications Director in my first post-university job.

Comms was my life and to leave to step into a high school classroom, having just turned down a university teaching position, somehow made perfect sense to me. It is a decision I cherish. However, like many choices of this nature, it did have it’s dark side: Lesson Plans that didn’t quite make the grade; moody students…or worse yet, moody parents; endless papers and essays; field trips; or just waking up in a cold sweat after dreaming I’d arrived in class unprepared to teach.

Opening a new office, with a group of new staff whose native tongue is not your own poses many of the same problems that a 1st year teacher faces:

• How to set-up your classroom / How to equip your office
• Preparing a Lesson Plan / Preparing a Work Plan
• Grading Papers / Reviewing Work Plans
• Managing complaints / Managing complaints (with grown-up consequences)
• Learning Curve / LEARNING CURVE!

I’ve hit my fair share of walls here in Afghanistan. The newness of the adventures begins to pale as you stare down at a plate of food awash with oil; shiver beneath the intermittent drizzle of the shower head; or are awoken at dawn..again, to the cries of a tone deaf mullah.  The honeymoon with new staff eventually ends and the real complaints and frustrations of working as a “team” begin to surface. Support you were expecting is not forthcoming – things you trust to others come crashing back on you like a sneaker wave hell-bent to drag you out to sea. Amidst all these realities are the moments when you learn something new. Today I was assaulted by three learning curves…

Curve I

My first “curve” was sitting through an excruciating meeting where I stepped up to defend my program only to find that my words not at all effective. Another, unrelated to my program, stepped in to save the day. Being in the backseat and trusting the other to save the day was a great moment. Though it’s something that you know, this was an in-your-face kind of reminder that finding allies is critical to surviving here, both figuratively and literally.

Curve II

The second “curve” was an outgrowth of the first meeting. A complaint had been raised regarding one of our programs, namely that the roadside ditch that was being dug was not being dug on a straight line. My reaction was to ask the authority that had leveled the complaint to give us any municipal regulations we might be missing, in order that our engineers might more closely conform to said regs.

Oddly this was an ah-ha moment for me! Upon reflection, and further conversations with my Coordinator, I found that my perspective was all wrong. We are digging the canals properly (depth, width etc.). In fact people in Afghanistan have been digging ditches to funnel water out of the way of their homes for longer than…history. The issue was that I’d asked a question to which their was already an answer… the District Leader. He works for the municipality, so if they have a problem with what he’s requesting they should call him on it.

Sweet, simple and to the point….which finally hit home for me. We have a strong system for vetting projects and for monitoring the work, beyond that, we have excellent coordination with District Leaders. I have to trust my team.

Curve III

The third “curve” was during a site visit to a school we’re repairing. I began asking questions about equipment etc. and my Coordinator duly translated for me. As we walked away he asked me to not ask so many questions next time – of course I pointed out that he did not have to translate them! 🙂 But his point remains, when I show up as the “expat” and begin adding to the project, it makes it look as though my staff don’t care about their own community.

What I love about this job is what I loved about teaching, I’m learning as much from my staff and this experience as they are learning from me!