One only has to look around oneself to find a myriad of stories about international schools that are doing great things to help out in their local communities. Recently at the Tri-Association conference in Santo Domingo, I sat next to some ladies that were preparing a presentation about GIN (Global Initiatives Network). The presenter gave us a run through of her presentation to make sure she met the time-constraints and to see if what she was saying made sense to an audience that had not written the presentation. However, one of the “take-aways” that stood out most to me was that the GIN group was encouraging schools to work in their own communities rather than spending tons of money to go abroad and serve in areas that were foreign to them. This has been one of my pet peeves in education, although I agree it is possible to do both. However, when I became a business owner and a service provider to schools in Latin America, I decided that this is something that would always be the cornerstone of my business.

As an international educator, I was always focused on helping in the community and I wanted to make sure to carry that philosophy into the business arena with me. Fortunately, I have had the opportunity to work in many places where assistance is needed; Venezuela, Malaysia, Sudan, Mexico and now Colombia. One of the first areas that came natural to me was to work with schools who wanted to do debate ad create a proper debating circuit as that was a big part of what I did as an educator in the USA.  As an educator, we started debate leagues in Venezuela, Sudan and Mexico as well as supporting the existing league in Malaysia.

From the beginning of my transition from teaching to owning a business we have continued with helping to build the Mexican English language debate circuit as well as continuing to coach the Mexican national team at the World Schools Debating Championships. Admittedly, I did this as much for selfish reasons, as I did to help students, if I am being honest. However, when I see the hundreds of students whose lives we have been able to touch with this activity and that our Civil Association (read: NGO) has hosted, for the first time ever in Latin America, the World University Debating Championships with 61 countries and over 1200 participants, I think maybe we have made an impact that goes just beyond ourselves and our immediate circle. This NGO is now being run by all former students of our Mexican Debate  League.

When I moved to Colombia recently, I wanted to repeat our efforts in Mexico, by bringing an English language debate circuit to Colombia, realizing that every country is different and my approach might need some fine tuning. It did indeed. Instead of this becoming an activity for the private schools, it seems to be shaping up much more focused around the local government schools, something that we struggle to do in Mexico. Due to this, I have decided to introduce the students to drama, speech and debate events that we call “Forensics” in the United States as I feel it will be a powerful catalyst for Colombian public school students to leap frog the current barriers in their education system, while the government hopefully brings significant changes in the coming years, and gives them the tools that they need to be true life-long learners. During the course of this new project, I have become the coach of the team at Pies Descalzos, the foundation school set up by the pop star Shakira in the barrio La Playa just outside of Barranquilla. The students at the school are eager to speak English with me and any volunteers that I bring to the school through my recruitment agency for Saturday lessons, as well to learn debate, public speaking and drama. I promise you that these students are just as bright as the private school students I have taught throughout my international school career. They only lack information that daily internet and social mobility bring to youngsters, but they will get there. I am sure of it. These are the lucky ones. Fortunately someone has chosen to take an interest in them. One thing that strikes me is that there will always be more people out there that need help than there are people who are available to help.

I am also pleased to find that we have found other ways besides just teaching to touch the lives of the students. Our company is a recruitment and placement agency for international schools in Latin America. Due to that, we are perfectly positioned to also help schools like Pies Descalzos with their recruitment of volunteer English teachers, something that they have struggled with in the past. In addition to it being the right thing to do, it is also a way for me to get to know my community better and to increase my network, two things that all businesses should do to be successful. However, recently we have also agreed to provide pro-bono recruitment for a wonderful project in Mexico City that has been around for a few years, called Christel House. Christel House is a school in Mexico that seeks to provide a top-quality education as well as food, shelter and healthcare for students in Mexico that have the academic capability to succeed at a high level but do not have the financial ability to attend a school like Christel House. The school goes on to support the students to find careers and attend university after graduation.

Fortunately for me and for my company, I learned the lesson early on that many preach but does not seem intuitive to a business operator; The more you give away, the more it comes back to you.  I have definitely found that to be true even if I wasn’t writing a self-indulging blog post about the many things that Webber’s Ed – Teacher Talent does in the communities that it serves. When we first built my previous company, we built it on the back of all the connections I had formed when creating the Mexican Debate League. That truly was a great gift from the community back to me and the people that we worked with for which I will be eternally grateful. 

So when we say as our motto, “We live here. We work here,” this is more than about just geography. This is about an attitude of giving a gift that keeps on giving; the giving of yourself and of your time. This is also about becoming part of the communities that you serve and getting to know people on a more personal level. This is about understanding what your community needs by listening to them, not as an outsider, but as another member of the community. It is about becoming more human. I am so grateful to these people who have let me help them. They have made me a better person. If my business also succeeds because of this, then that is just icing on the cake.

Happy holidays to everyone.  Tis truly the season for giving!