CAIRO – At a hard time for Muslims in the US, Egyptian Muslim teacher Tamer Elsharkawy left his home country to Washington in a special mission of sharing his Arabic language and culture in American schools.
“I was nervous to teach in a place to students where it might be the first time in their entire lives to hear about Egypt, to hear about the Arab world,” Elsharkawy, 34, told The Washington Post.
“The city is so diverse, acceptance and tolerance is high here.”
Elsharkawy ventured from Egypt to the United States for the first time to work at Cooke, leaving his own students and classroom behind for the year.
The students at the District’s H.D. Cooke Elementary School, in Adams Morgan, are learning Arabic as part of a State Department-sponsored exchange program that places teachers from China and Egypt in classrooms throughout the United States to teach their native languages.
The program comes as these languages are expected to be increasingly important as America competes in the global economy, official say.
“We know the power of teaching world languages early and helping our students to learn and appreciate cultures around the world,” said Brian Pick, the school system’s chief of teaching and learning.
“Teachers like Tamer Elsharkawy are helping their students become global citizens and setting a foundation for a love of languages and culture early.”
Breaking down stereotypes, Elsharkawy showed his students a picture of himself dressed in a traditional Egyptian Jellabiya, a single piece of clothing that covers the whole body, which he wears to mosque and for occasions with friends and family.
“One day, these kids would see someone wearing a Jellabiya, and the first thing that would come to their mind is the stereotypes they see on TV,” Elsharkawy said.
“But no, it won’t go like this. Their minds will go to their teacher who they loved and respected who wore it.”
His efforts to bridge gaps were working in both sides, correcting the image of America at his students’ minds in Egypt.
Elsharkawy’s students in the United States and Egypt regularly video-chat — sharing their lives and talking about sports and they help teach each other with conversational Arabic and English.
“We are also working on the other end, to change the stereotypes of Americans,” Elsharkawy said.
“Away from politics, we have more similarities than differences.”