An undercurrent of greetings and chatter rippled through the group of twelve ladies before me. As they began to settle into the office with their new folders and notebooks, a few attempted to speak with me. Drawing on one semester of Arabic, I managed to say أنا لا أتكلم; a phrase meaning, “I don’t know how to speak Arabic.” One of the older women, sitting in the back of the class chuckled, “You, too, learn. You teach me English, I teach you.”

After speaking with Dr. Lomax and my cohort of fellows in the program this week, I see how my view of leadership can transform my interactions within this Civics course. Traditionally, I would believe that my duty as a teacher is to provide the most knowledge for these women. I am challenging myself to break from this notion and take this as an opportunity to develop my own Arabic skills and teach these ladies in a way that is culturally relevant to them. I have begun this process with the older woman who spoke up in the class. When she comes in to the office, we often converse, her in one sentence of English and I in Arabic. I have found that working in this way mutualistically encourages us to improve our skills.

In addition to reforming the Civics curriculum, I have also been working on story-building for Muslim Family Services of Ohio. I am focusing on our email messaging. It has been interesting learning how to craft these narratives while maintaining the privacy and respect of our clients. I have also created a few new graphics for the events that are having.

Graphic for the produce event we hold every Thursday.