Kids

I told Lakhdar that I had a very demanding audience (!) that wanted to see what life was like for kids here in Algeria, and he promptly brought me to an elementary school in one of the newer neighborhoods near his house. We entered the school walls through a big, blue sheet metal gate and found ourselves in a big dirt courtyard. To the left was a small building obviously housing toilets, straight ahead was a long building fronted by an arcade that housed the classrooms, and to the right was a small building housing the offices, with additional buildings I couldn’t identify beyond. Everything was surrounded by the wall, but I noticed later that the classrooms had windows out the back protected by metal grates. Groups of kids were hanging out in the arcade, laughing and chatting.

Kids selling American Hero cigarettes

We entered the principal’s office, and shook hands with a black man wearing a white turban, a reddish robe and glasses. I thought he introduced himself as a friend of M. Fitzgerald (that couldn't be right!), but he did not speak Dutch (oy vey!), English, Spanish or French, and so Lakhdar translated between French and Arabic. I stated that I had come from the United States, that I had an eleven year old daughter who was interested in knowing more about how kids live in Algeria, and that I would appreciate permission to visit a classroom and perhaps take some pictures. It came as no surprise to me at all that this would require permission from the highest levels, and that it would be impossible to do so today. Lakhdar and I agreed upon leaving that this meant it wouldn’t happen ever, so he took me to meet a friend of his who taught school but was playing hookie…I mean was out sick…to get the story.

Kids after school

We meandered on foot, stopping at Lakhdar’s office (not much work until Algiers approves this year’s budget), walking through a project, chatting with friends he met along the way, meeting Tayeb Benzouada finally out on the street near the center of town. He invited us into his home, and as always we removed our shoes before stepping onto a big rug in a concrete room with an open door and no windows. We adjusted ourselves on the mattresses and pillows lining the edges of the room, a metal cup with water arrived, then an omelet and bread and tea. We sat around the omelet and took pieces using bread as a fork. A very old man in a blue robe and white turban shuffled in with a cane and lay down. He seemed to mutter a bit to himself, and we chatted about school.

Kids after school

The school system is organized like it is in the US, with 6 elementary school grades (primaire), 2 middle school grades (moyenne), and 4 high school grades (lycee). There is a movement afoot to add grade 6 to middle school. Kids learn Arabic from the very start, a bit of a project since half arrive speaking only Tamachek. In the third grade they begin to study French, and some students go on to study English in high school. Besides the emphasis on language, the subjects he rattled off were exactly the same as in the US, except for learning to read the Quran. The only stunner was class size: typically around 48. I actually burst out laughing trying to imagine the talents a teacher would have to bring to an assignment like that. Tayeb shrugged.

Kids after school

The school day starts at 745am, runs to 1130am, restarts at 215pm and ends at 530pm. Everyone walks home for lunch. There is a 15 minute recess in both the morning and the afternoon. Tayeb said this: “We put a lot of emphasis on teaching kids respect for personal boundaries (he used the word “frontiere”), and on teaching tolerance. Christian, Muslim: in the end we are all just the same and these kids need to understand that. The rest is simply teaching the basics, just as we’ve always done”.

Kids headed to school

There is a parent organization that tries to make sure things like broken windows get fixed, but due to the poverty of the families it is generally a symbolic effort.

Tamanrasset, Algeria