Service Learning Reflection (Question no. 1)

By April 12, in my previous NALC sessions, I had worked with a Mexican man, a Turkish man, and an African-American man. Never once did I expect that I would be tutoring a Buddhist monk. The most ironic part of this encounter was that just a few days prior I had visited a temple, Wat Lao Buddhapathip, with my world religion class.

SC had been in Nashville for only 3 months, originally from Cambodia, yet already wrote and read English very well. His biggest struggle was speaking and listening. In the first 5 minutes of our time together, I experienced great difficulty in trying to convey to him the rules and regulations of NALC, and even trying to carry on a conversation with him. But the more time that we spent learning new words and looking at pictures, the more that we both loosened up and learned to be patient with each other. Still, I felt a playful air of pressure; for the entire hour he referred to me as “teacher.”

What interested me most about this session had less to do with the session itself. As soon as I met SC, I began to mark differences in literacy experience. For one, he was wearing an orange robe, a trademark of Buddhist monks. Originally sewn as an inexpensive way to keep comfortable in going about monastic life, the robes came to be known as a symbol of one who has devoted his/her life to Buddha. I thought of my own faith, and how my clothing, when not adorned with writing, does not explicitly reveal my devotion to Jesus, nor my poverty.

We spent the last 15 minutes discussing the “sharing questions” at the end of our planned lesson. This conversation intrigued me because as SC described his life in Nashville, I found that his answers were dotted with obvious differences, but also surprising similarities to my literacy experience. He studies Monday through Friday, as I do, but he spends his time learning English and Buddha’s teaching, and I spend my time learning about religion and music. He prays throughout his day, as I do, but he prays to Buddha, and I pray to the God of the Bible. He likes to cook, as I do, but he cooks for his monastery, and I cook for myself. I felt us growing closer as he told me a little bit about his philosophy and what he enjoys. He talked to me about gardening, meditation, his abstinence from alcohol, and about music. I had to laugh when he told me that he goes grocery shopping at Wal-Mart.

I was really grateful for the time that I spent with SC. I never asked why he moved away from Cambodia, but it seemed to me that he was happy here in Nashville. I think what I learned from this session is that there are no two literacy experiences completely opposing each other. I think there is an element of “humanness” that we all share. SC has a long way to go in his speaking English, but as long he has his faith, he’ll be just fine.