Seniors Anthony Fahim and Gus Kriegshauser have always had a passion for walking with the excluded, and their Senior Project is no exception. An Egyptian himself, Fahim originally wanted to do his Senior Project in Egypt in order to understand his parents’ situation when he was younger. Kriegshauser noticed that the Jesuit Refugee Service in the Middle East was fairly underfunded, due to the large number of non-Christian refugees. 

However, when the pair’s contact at the planned site in Egypt, Magdi Nazmi, was transferred to Jordan, Fahim and Krieghauser were given an offer. They could either find a different service project, or they could switch from doing their projects in Egypt to Amman, Jordan.

 “There’s a saying in the Orthodox Church, ‘God willing,’ and in this situation God was not willing for me to go to Egypt and willed for me to be here in Jordan,” said Fahim. “God gave me a chance to be free and have opportunity in America, so I thought I would come (to Jordan) and teach English so that these people can get that chance for themselves, and if not for themselves, at least for their children.”

Accompanying the two for a week was Arabic teacher Mohamed Amira, who made sure the two got settled in and everything went smoothly with the contact. 

Nazmi himself was the vice principal of a school in Cairo before being transferred to Amman. In addition to designing activities and implementing them, Nazmi also plans trips to see landmarks and monuments of the city to keep moods high. The weekend that Amira was there they visited Gerasa, the ruins of an ancient Greco-Roman settlement.

The two seniors are involved in helping the Sisters of Mother Teresa, who care for the elderly. They spend their Mondays and Tuesdays helping the Sisters, and their work includes making beds, air-drying laundry, cleaning bedrooms, and other miscellaneous tasks for around four hours per day. They also assist in feeding the elderly.

However, their main responsibility is to teach English at the Jesuit Refugee Service Center. Many refugees in Jordan are not permitted to work among other restrictions, so many want to move to a country where they can work, live healthy lives, and enjoy a wider selection of rights. 

“Most of the refugees are just waiting in line to move to a country that is wanting to receive them,” said Amira. “The center thought that if they were equipped with communication skills in English, their lives would be easier when they move on.”

Fahim’s team hosts four groups for English learners: beginner, elementary, intermediate, and advanced. They teach simpler things such as sentence structure to the beginner refugees, but in more advanced classes they often have open discussions about various topics such as culture, freedom, or social issues. 

“To me, this project is more about making personal connections with the refugees I interact with than the actual work itself,” said Kriegshauser. “The English teacher here told me that while the refugees are here to learn English, the real reason they are here is to find people to talk to. Tony and I being here gives them an escape from the hardships in the life of a refugee.” 

Fahim has found that many refugees are afraid to make mistakes in front of him as he is fluent in English, a situation which requires compassion and patience. In this process, Fahim has gained a new perspective of the lives of refugees. 

In addition to the students, Fahim and Kriegshauser are also helping the classroom teacher, a Sudanese refugee, develop his teaching style and create new lesson plans.

“(It) really opens your eyes to how hard the lives of people are outside of America,” said Fahim, “These refugees are living some days (with) no food and no shelter. Yet, when they come to class every day they are some of the happiest and kindest people I’ve ever met.”