For UFT Reps, Iraq Trip Builds Bonds, Opens Eyes; Met With Baghdad Colleagues
By DAVID SIMS
Three United Federation of Teachers representatives traveled to Iraqi Kurdistan this summer to meet with representatives of the Baghdad Teachers Union and the Kurdistan Teachers Union, who work in deteriorating buildings and face the threat of bomb blasts on their way to school.

AN EDUCATION ABROAD: United Federation of Teachers officials Ellie Engler (first row, left) Lila Ezra (second from right), and Sterling Roberson (back row, left) joined with Eric Duncan of the American Federation of Teachers (back, right) in journeying to Iraq this summer to share experiences with Baghdad teachers for whom every day presents peril.

In what Ellie Engler, director of staff at the UFT, called "an astounding experience," she and her two colleagues participated in two-day workshops discussing school safety issues as well as other concerns that teachers face in both the United States and Iraq. They heard about how Iraqi parents come running to the school to rescue their children at the first sign of trouble, and saw first-hand the extreme differences between the chaos endured by Baghdad's teachers and the relative order for Kurdistan's, who work in the "safe zone."

Encountered False Hopes

Sterling Roberson, director of the school safety and environmental health department at the UFT, and Lila Ezra, the coordinator of counseling services, were the other representatives who flew to Erbil, the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan. The trip was funded by a grant from the American Federation of Teachers designed to establish relationships with teachers in Iraq.

"We spent two days hosting a workshop for the Baghdad teachers union, who were flown from Baghdad to Erbil to meet with us," using an interpreter to bridge the language gap, Ms. Engler said. The UFT officials found that one of the biggest issues was overcoming the expectations of the Baghdad teachers, who were in need of real support.

"They were emotionally charged about the situation that they have in Iraq with their school buildings, with the learning environment, and with the dangers," said Ms. Engler. "They were hoping that as reps from the Teachers union we were going there to bring them something more than a workshop. They were looking for buildings and furniture, and it took a while for us to break through that kind of expectation."

'An Unbelievable Experience'

The intervention of Ms. Ezra, who is a social worker, helped to calm the situation, said Ms. Engler. "We were eventually able to find a commonality to talk about. But it took us close to a full day to break through the barrier. They were very happy that they were there ... for the three of us, it was ... such an unbelievable experience to meet these people."

School safety was the specific focus of the workshop, Ms. Engler explained. "Safety plans, emergency contacts, how do you know how to contact the parents. One of the things that they said is, if there's an incident that occurs near the school, all of the parents run to the school and want to get the kids out."

One difference Ms. Engler noted was that "it appeared that they have informal corporal punishment there, that teachers walk with a stick." Nonetheless, she emphasized the bond the two groups felt as educators, saying, "All they care about is their kids, and wanting to teach them."

Mr. Roberson agreed, saying he was astonished at the common ground the UFT representatives shared with the Baghdad teachers. "It's amazing when you really think about it ... when they start talking about crumbling buildings, the lack of parental involvement, you sit back and you say wow, these are the same issues we discuss in New York, thousands of miles away," he said. "For us, that was an eye-opening experience."

'Safety Fears Alike But Greater'

Ms. Engler noted the extreme differences in the danger these teachers faced, however. "They talked about walking to school and their bombings ... while we couldn't [match them] ... there are similar security issues, but to a different degree," she said. "We dined with them, we met with them, we had an interpreter, they're very anxious for us to come back."

While all three are eager to return, they said that they would want to visit Baghdad and see the teachers' environment first-hand. "While Erbil is considered a safe zone, I think that their expectations for us to come back would be to go to Baghdad. That was important to them ... we would feel obliged [to go]," said Ms. Engler.

She said that the Baghdad teachers "were just pained. They couldn't take buses from Baghdad because it was too dangerous. So here they are planted into this semi-safe city with these three Americans ... it was very challenging."

The differences between the Baghdad teachers and the Kurdish teachers, despite the fact that both groups live in a war-torn country considered one of the most dangerous in the world, were quite vast, she added. "To the Baghdad teachers, they were in heaven. For us, we were in a war zone," Ms. Engler said.

Union Differences

"We met with the Kurdistan Teachers Union, which is much more of an established union. The Baghdad Teachers Union appeared to us to be an informal structure. It wasn't clear what the hierarchy was, if there were membership dues; those were questions we were not able to ask," she said.

While the Baghdad structure was difficult to define, the Kurdistan Union "had a union hall, a president, over a hundred thousand members, delegates, over a million kids," she said. "It almost felt like Erbil was a different country altogether."

Nonetheless, the American Teachers still felt the impact of being so far from home, in such a dangerous location. "Coming from the U.S., it's a completely different feel," said Mr. Roberson. Ms. Engler added, "Erbil, which is the safe zone, so to speak, isn't quite built up. There were three security checkpoints going into the hotel. Everyone in our lives, including our bosses and families, thought we were crazy for going ... for us, it was sort of a mission."

Mr. Roberson also drew powerful conclusions from the experience. "Teachers are expected to do what they do, and that is to teach children, even in the most adverse conditions," he said. "The expectation and responsibility still falls on the teacher. Whether the kids eat in the morning, whether they're homeless, whether their parents were killed, teachers are still held accountable ... I don't even want to say you double your efforts because you're already at 100 percent. But you have that sense of urgency, you continue to do what you do with that urgency."

While the three are eager to return, keeping in touch since the visit has been difficult, with e-mail hard to receive in the country and regular mail even more problematic. "They would ask us, my brother lives in Connecticut, can you help him mail us a computer?" said Ms. Engler. Soon, with the help of an AFT representative, they should be able to "safely send them things and also interact with them," she added.

"We were proud to represent the UFT," concluded Ms. Engler. "To show that we were willing to take what was considered a dangerous trip ... to offer them support, to show them our union is strong ... it was a very diplomatic trip."