Hello, dear blog readers. It's already halfway through the year and I haven't posted a single blog with any news, other than the fact that it's hot in Cairo. Which, to be honest, is hardly news. So I think it's time to catch you all up with what's going on over here in the furnace.
Well, the big news is that after two and a half years at the British Council, I am moving to another job in two weeks. I have loved working at the BC, especially the people, who are one of the best teams I have ever worked with. But sometimes an opportunity comes up that is impossible to turn down. If I believe anything in life, it's in the power of education to transform individuals and societies. I'm sorry to say that in the past, there hasn't been enough investment in the Egyptian education system, which is part of the reason there are so many international schools. The Egyptian government, however, are addressing this and applied for a loan from the World Bank.
It was approved. $500m dollars!!! What does all this have to do with me? Well, I am starting a new job with
Imagine Education, who developed
Teachers First, which is "an innovative programme that transforms the lives of students by changing the professional behaviour of teachers". It's part of what the World Bank loan will be used for. I will be Operations Director, Egypt. I can't begin to convey how excited I am about the opportunity to be involved in this project. I will be really sad to leave the BC, but this is so in line with my values and beliefs that I have to take the leap.
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| Collage (happy childhood memory) |
Apart from that, it's been mostly work. The May/June exam session was...rather challenging to say the least. Still, it was my last exam session. Thankfully. Outside work I'm starting my Arabic lessons again, hopefully I'll keep it up this time. I'm still going to my writers' group and I've also started an art therapy class which is meant to be really good for stress. I must say I really enjoyed it, and I do a good line in giant mutant flowers, as you'll see from the oil pastel picture. I've also got involved in an NGO called EVAC, who run a Trap, Neuter, Release programme for local free running animals (street dogs and cats in other words). I believe strongly that this is one of the few things that is genuinely making a sustainable difference to the welfare of the street animals in Cairo. You'll likely hear more about this as I get further involved.
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| Oil pastels |
We have a friend living with us at the moment. One of the many strings to her bow is that she's a coach. She said we should have a session to discuss all our projects and activities, to try and get some momentum. My problem is that I have so many ideas that I don't know what to focus on, involving travel, animals, volunteering work, being greener, being healthier... so our Creative Think Tank was perfect. Aside from my new job, obviously, I've picked a couple of things. We'll see how it goes. Too many interests, too little time. On top of all that we've got five cats in the house.
So that's about it for the time being. I'll check in again after I start my new job and let you all know how it's going.
