Recently, many of our social media feeds have been (ironically) flooded with posts about returning to “analog” hobbies and ways of doing things—a “resurgence of the granny hobbies.” People are turning down the volume on screen-based interactions in favor of the click of knitting needles and the smell of chocolate chip cookies wafting from the oven just before a friend arrives for coffee. But this trend points to something so much bigger than what we do with our spare time! It’s a collective cry for connection to our world and to each other, and it calls to mind a principle that has been central to our work for over four decades: valuing presence.
The very human longing for real, embodied presence and connection is our heartbeat at ELIC. We have the joy of growing together with those we teach in a boots-on-the-ground, face-to-face way in beautiful cultures all over the world. But we believe the importance of presence in our work goes far beyond just the joy it brings us and our overseas communities for the following reasons:
Distance Divides
If you’ve ever worked from home for any length of time, you’ve seen this happen. Without the true presence of your team, it takes a lot of intention to collaborate on projects, or to find true connection points.
Or consider a long-distance relationship. You can stay connected, and even grow closer, but not without a great deal of extra effort to get as close to sharing real presence as possible. Left to itself, distance leaves us feeling divided.
So when it comes to cross-cultural education, where culture, language, and the vulnerability of learning a new skill add even more barriers on top of distance, the odds are stacked against us without in-person presence.
A Zoom call is a modern-day miracle, but even that doesn’t afford the time or shared context to naturally encourage deep conversation and real, interpersonal connections. It can be done, but it takes an extra measure of intention and investment from both sides.
There are some places where we can’t go in person, at least not yet. In those cases, our online program has found creative ways to build presence online, through e-pen pal programs and group chats alongside Zoom classes. We are so thankful for the tools to help connect with students in this way, and we hope to meet them in person one day.
Presence Heals
An encouraging smile across the classroom as a student wrestles for the right word; a hug from a local friend who has welcomed a teacher into their home; the gift of time spent across the table with steam swirling up from hot cups of coffee or tea, just listening to one another. These are healing experiences.
Presence can heal cultural rifts, at least within communities where people get to know one another as individuals, beyond the stereotypes or political disagreements of their passport countries.
A teacher in a part of the Middle East that has seen enormous conflict and controversy recently wrote home about his joy in finding that the people he has met are not defined by the struggles of their homeland, and they consistently show a love and hospitality that are widening his understanding. Meanwhile, his presence proves that there are those who care for them from vast cultural and physical distances.
Laos is the most-bombed country per capita in the world, including attacks by the US during the Vietnam War. The people there have come through so much, and they’ve learned an amazing resilience.
And yet, despite our countries’ pasts, American ELIC teachers are often invited to visit their students’ family homes for holidays and school breaks. Because of their real-life relationships, foreign teachers and their students know that they can be friends. Their presence and care for one another in that setting are more powerful than many years of violence.
In the words of one of our local university partners in China, “Politics is politics; we are friends.”
People Are Worth It
There would be no reason to do what we do with the emphasis on presence if the value of every human life we encounter were not central to our purpose. Our students deserve access to the globalized world, where their unique perspectives can have a voice, and they discover opportunities beyond what their local context can offer. English education opens a doorway for them. For our teachers, it is worth the cost of moving to a completely different country and culture, learning a new language, and building a new life overseas to help empower students to improve their own lives and the lives of their families.
And the value of presence goes both ways. We have been humbled time and again by the way our friends, students, colleagues, and partners have chosen to be present with us and invite us into their worlds.
It is our honor to participate in this work; to meet so many remarkable people and grow in our understanding of so many beautiful cultures. And with every new year and every new location, one thing remains the same; our students are worth every bit of the challenge and the wonder of living in cross-cultural community as we discover both what makes us unique and what unites us.
