Week 3: My International Contact's Views on Childhood Poverty

One of my international contacts whom is a professional in the early childhood educational field is named Petra. She is from Czech Republic, where she is an elementary school music teacher. Petra has been a teacher in Czech for about three years and loves combining her two passions in life, children and music. She tells me often of how much she enjoys her profession, especially because no two days are ever alike. I am excited to have "met" Petra because I find myself reminicing of my visit to her country in 2005 when I was studying abroad in Europe. Though, I was only in Prague for 5-6 days, and wished I had travelled outside of the major city, my interest in it's culture has not ceased!

Petra has never attempted to discuss her profession in English before, and therefore, both of us have become avid users of popular translation email settings and websites to understand our correspondance, but nevertheless, I can tell that she will be a great resource in sharing her point of view regarding issues and trends of our field and allowing me to gain global perspectives on these as well.

Concerning the issue of poverty, Petra has both first hand, and professional experience regarding education. Petra has shared with me her own challenging upbringing, growing up in a small village north of Prague, in a large, but poor family. She reports that she often felt that though she loved school, it was often a difficult and confusing place for her because she could rarely participate in many activities that "other kids" took for granted. Some of these included basic things like "before school breakfast or having a school uniform that fit." She told me about the first time she remembered watching live music in a window of a tavern in her town, and that was when she dreamed of learning to play an instraument. She told me that she saved and was told by her parents that they were saving their money, but it wasn't until secondary school that she could afford a used clarinet. It wouldnt be for two more years that she could afford monthly lessons. Food, clothing, and yearly health check-ups were more important.

Though our correspondance has been limited over the past three weeks, I can tell that Petra has been determined "not to be a statistic" throughout her childhood and her transition into adulthood. She re-affirms my belief that no matter where on the globe a child is, their education is their ticket out of poverty. I can relate to Petra's childhood of growing up in a situation where the finer things in life "just have to wait" and never loosing sight of dreams despite the hand we were dealt.




Petra shared with me that she hopes to instill these values and a sense of optimism to her students. She emphasizes that she observes and listens to her students and their families very closely, always willing to help when they need it. She admits that she often becomes frusterated that she cannot do more for them, and this is a trait that I relate to as well. We have spoken about how we both sometimes feel that we want to "save the world" and it is encouraging that though an ocean separates us, the world is a better place for us having our dedication in common!