"Language is the Only Homeland"

This is one of my favorite quotes by Czeslaw Milosz, a Polish poet.  I was reminded of this reading Sabreen's response to culture.  Even though I worked and lived in an Eritrean refugee camp for two years, I still don't know what it is like to be ripped from my home and displaced permanently. I grew up without a home, we moved more than 25 times before I finished high school. I was in the middle of my my senior year when my father showed up late one night with a truck and we moved a thousand miles away.  I was devastated, as I had just gotten used to being in one place for a bit, made my first friends, then had to leave.  I stayed with my family in that new place for one month, then hitch-hiked back across the country to finish high school with my friends. I left after high school to go to college, but for me, that small town I was in for only two years was my homeland.  I have carried it around with me all over the world since then, and even though I don't go back very often, I know that I can. That makes all the difference! This past fall, that little school inducted me into its Hall of Honor for my humanitarian work, and I couldn't be prouder.  That place had embraced me, and it is mine forever.
I can't imagine what it is like for many of you and your students. I just can't.  I have been to Palestine - Jerusalem, Bethlehem, and Hebron, almost taking it for granted then.  I know how important Arabic is to our students, as it is the language of their homeland and of our faith. I always thought English was a second homeland though, an opportunity for students to escape many of the things that oppressed them. An opportunity to study, to travel a path only an education can take them, especially an international one.  The kids in the refugee camp taught me this, they used to come to my tent every night for extra lessons knowing that their English skills might be the only ticket out of their terrible environment. English is also a language that connects the world, and thus connects our students to the world.  If we do our jobs right, and they work hard to learn, then their English skills will improve the chances for them to meet many of their dreams many times over.
There is one more very powerful reason to learn English, and it is reflected in the words of Neslon Mandela, "If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart" Native English speakers don't learn other languages usually, and we don't know how to speak to the hearts of the rest of the world as a consequence - I truly believe this causes half of our problems.  When our students learn English, they are learning to speak to the hearts of half the world, including the people that one day might be able to assist them or to collaborate with them.  It is a very powerful thing, to speak to hearts.
I feel this when I try pathetically to speak Arabic to you all.  I get a lot of smiles, and a few gently rolled eyes. The other day the six-year old daughter of a friend from Madaba who lives nearby told me, "You know, your English is ok, but your Arabic is horrible."  That made me laugh. I love it when native Arabic speakers are patient with me because I know they appreciate my effort.  Ahmad has even sent me some Internet Arabic resources! 
Finally, I can tell you more about speaking to hearts today, I have received a great deal of support from many of you in the past two days in English, and I can tell you how much it has impacted my heart, thank you.