MY CLASSROOM COLOMBIA

Y
urany Monsalve boards a seven-seat turbo-propelled airplane to
commute between two teaching sites in Chocó, a coastal province
in Colombia. From Monday to Thursday, she teaches English to
teenagers in a beachfront classroom in Nuquí—then flies over the jungle
to Quibdó, on the Atrato River, to teach university students in the Martin
Luther King, Jr. Fellowship Program on weekends.

Photo by Yamile García

Yurany Monsalve prepares for her weekly commute over the jungle of Chocó, Colombia.

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 “Life was leading me to teaching; you cannot escape destiny.”

Ms. Monsalve is from Medellín, Colombia, program at the University of Antioquia in

where she began studying English in high Medellín. If successful, she would be the first
school.Yet it was not until she graduated that in her family to attend university, something
she became passionate about it. She cannot put she had long dreamt about. She was rejected
her finger on a specific event that changed her twice, but the third time proved a charm. She
perception; however, she thinks that having the described the day she received her acceptance
freedom to study what she wanted and the fact as “one of the happiest days of my life.”
that part of her family emigrated to the United
States had something to do with it. In addition to her diligent study habits, she
attributes her acceptance to the foundation of
Her mother encouraged her to go to secretarial the nonprofit Diafora, which she created with
school so that she could get a good job. What friends from high school and which lasted 15
interested Ms. Monsalve most during this years. Diafora’s mission was to provide cultural
course of study, however, was the English- activities in the Las Estancias neighborhood,
language component, and shorthand fell by the where Ms. Monsalve grew up, and give the
wayside. She excelled in English and received residents alternative perspectives on life.
the highest grades in her class due to avid self- Diafora designed workshops and seminars
study. “I remember going to the library and for both adults and children in art, literature,
asking for basic readers in English,” she says. “I reflection, and memory. Ms. Monsalve led
read classics like Frankenstein, Dracula, and Pride reading groups, an experience that gave her a
and Prejudice. I would memorize verbs and have taste of teaching with a social purpose.
my sister quiz me. And I listened to music and
wrote down the lyrics.” Although she was now fulfilling her dream
of studying English at university and leading
Bolstered by the success of advanced English workshops, she still didn’t see herself as a
study, Ms. Monsalve applied for one of 30 teacher. “Life was leading me to teaching; you
spots in the Foreign Language and Translation cannot escape destiny. But if you asked me

Photo by Dania Valdés

Ms. Monsalve in front of her Access students in Nuquí, Chocó, presenting a story

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 “I want to listen to you. Everyone is important in this class,
and you have beautiful things to say.”

back then, I would never say that I wanted to such as the English Access Microscholarship
be an English teacher,” she recalls. Program and American Spaces, while also
serving the community as a language and
During the summer of 2008, Ms. Monsalve cultural center. “Working at the Colombo was
went abroad for the first time, with the something big for me because it is the top
International Camp Counselor Program, language institution in Medellín,” she says.
to work at a summer camp in a suburb of
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She not only In January 2017, CCAM’s Academic
gained proficiency in English, but her view of Department announced that it was recruiting
American culture changed dramatically due to adventurous teachers for a new program in
the generosity and kindness of her host family Amazonas. Ms. Monsalve was chosen to spend
and others she met there. She remembers that a month teaching indigenous girls in the English
“this experience was not only about learning for Girls program deep in the rain forest in
English. It also allowed me to see the multiple Leticia. This program provides leadership skills
stories that make up the United States.” It and workshops in women’s empowerment,
was such an impactful experience that she with English as the medium for learning.
returned the following summer.
Since this was a completely new program, the
After Diafora came to an end, she was girls struggled with English, so classes there
hired three years ago by Centro Colombo went at a slow pace. A teacher friend who was
Americano Medellín (CCAM) as a part-time one of the first to work with the girls told Ms.
English teacher. CCAM is a binational center Monsalve, “They have to learn English, but,
that carries out many U.S. Embassy initiatives, more importantly, they need to be heard.”

Photo by Juan Carlos Moreno

Martin Luther King, Jr. Fellows present work on learning strategies as part of their
final project in Quibdó, Chocó.

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 “You see small changes, but important changes.
It’s like the revolution of small things.”

This advice struck a chord with Ms. Monsalve. Ms. Monsalve had been told that the high
She realized that she had to do something school students in Nuquí could be loud
different. She wanted to share her passions for and were not motivated to learn. After her
English and women’s literature with the girls. experience with the soft-spoken girls in
Therefore, she compiled a booklet of short Leticia, she wasn’t sure how she was going
comics about the lives of inspiring women such to deal with this new situation. So she told
as Frida Kahlo, Sylvia Plath, Malala Yousafzai, herself, “No matter what, literature is going to
and Anne Frank, which she read to the girls. be my lifesaver.” Reading to the students aloud
One girl was so inspired by the story of Anne proved to work. “Although they like to speak
Frank that she went to the local library and and often disrupt the class,” Ms. Monsalve
checked out The Diary of Anne Frank in Spanish reports, “they listen carefully when I read.
to read on her own. Ms. Monsalve also asked They pay attention when they are motivated.
friends to send short videos speaking about If you want to learn something, it has to make
their lives as women leaders. you feel alive or connected to the activity.”
Daily, she reads to them the colorful picture
A further challenge was hearing some of the books of Eric Carle and Anthony Browne.
girls’ voices. In Leticia, girls born in indigenous
communities tend to speak very softly. “I She also tried other strategies. During one of
remember one girl who never spoke,” says her classes, she asked the students to write
Ms. Monsalve. “I told her, ‘I want to listen to letters to the MLK Fellows she taught on
you. Everyone is important in this class, and the weekends. On a normal day, most of the
you have beautiful things to say.’ In the very teenagers did not stay for the entire class. On
next class, the girl started to speak. The others this particular day, though, they stayed 30
mentioned that they had never heard her voice.” minutes after the class, motivated to write
to older college students from the capital
Although Medellín, a big city, had afforded city. Another strategy was introducing music.
her many opportunities, the small city of “People in general love music,” she says,
Leticia allowed her to make an impact. Ms. “but the students here love music 100 times
Monsalve says that the girls were appreciative more!” She put on music in English while they
of everything she brought and that they value were working, and they would spontaneously
teachers a great deal: “In a place like this, you dance and sing along, especially to “Happy” by
see small changes, but important changes. It’s Pharrell Williams.
like the revolution of small things. The girls
feel valued and listened to.” For their first project, Ms. Monsalve took her
students to the beach, where they prepared
CCAM’s Academic Department was so an exhibition about the places, animals, food,
pleased with Ms. Monsalve’s work that they and things to do in Nuquí. The students
offered her another opportunity, this time in displayed and presented their posters for a
the isolated province of Chocó. She jumped at public gallery walk under the shelter on Playa
the chance. Now she would divide her week Africana. Among the exhibition’s visitors were
between the Access program in Nuquí and the the school’s principal, a representative of the
MLK Fellowship Program in Quibdó, both Ministry of Education, police officers, and
programs providing English and leadership others from the school and local community.
training to youth in low-income areas who are This was one of the first times her students
indigenous or Afro-descendant. had a chance to use English for a real purpose.

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And this is just from Monday to Thursday. On is the path to achieving their dreams, and
Friday evenings and Saturday mornings, English can help them along that path,
Ms. Monsalve works with the college-aged teaching them values and social skills.”
MLK Fellows. She feels that the MLK program
is an exemplary social project and that she Ms. Monsalve would like to get a master’s
learns a lot from the students. She explains, degree in cultural diversity, literature, or
“They are very young and active, and they really women’s studies. Whatever the future holds,
value their city. They feel empowered and like she says, “I would like to continue to work
working with social projects within their own on social projects with women and reading.
communities.” For example, for Christmas … Having the opportunity to study is a
2017, they collected gifts to deliver to children responsibility because you should share what
in an impoverished place, where one of the you have learned with others. I am very
students grew up. Ms. Monsalve explains, grateful for my family because I am who I am
“Students feel proud of being part of this because of them and have had such wonderful
program. They value every single activity. They experiences. It’s a double process: I can give
are committed to their classes, and they want something of what I have, but it’s more about
to learn to move forward. It’s just fantastic.” what I receive. I feel alive when I work with
social projects.”
No sooner did Ms. Monsalve complete
her two months in Chocó when the Access
coordinator asked her to return for another This article was written by Wendy Coulson,
two months. It isn’t easy living and working a 2017–2018 English Language Fellow in Medellín,
in Nuquí due to the lack of materials, clean Colombia. She trained teachers in Teaching Young
water, and dependable Internet connectivity. Learners and Special Learning Needs and worked
“Why did I go back?” Ms. Monsalve ponders. with students in the MLK, CHOP (College Horizons
“I see learning English as an opportunity to Outreach Program), English for Girls, and Access
help students open their minds to different programs at Centro Colombo Americano Medellín,
people, countries, and cultures. Education the binational center where she met Yurany.

Photo by Andrea Moreno

Part of the public gallery walk presented by Ms. Monsalve’s students in Nuquí, Chocó

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