architecture, planning, peopleA Way of Life
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Midyat school and teachers’ accommodation I was involved in building a primary school in the Kuyucak village of Midyat in the south east of Turkey. The buildings and equipment were fundraisd and built by the Çagdas Yasam charity. The building is very basic and has little room for “architecture”. I was asked by the project coordinator to produce drawings to persuade people to make donations, particularly for the construction of additional teachers accommodation under the 4 classrooms, due to the slope of the site. The idea was that teachers could live there without paying rent, and become part of the life of the village. The villagers would provide them with yoghurt and eggs. While the teachers would look after the school building, provide adult literacy classes after school, and become figureheads or representatives of ‘civilisation’. Rather than ignorantly preaching the benefits of this work, I will list the current problems. Problems that architecture can’t fix The teachers are two young women, fresh out of university, serving their compulsory assignment in a random and remote part of the ‘wild east’. They do not want to live in the accommodation. They would rather pay rent and live in Midyat, the closest town. The teachers say they are afraid of “terrorists” and animals in the night as the exposed plot allocated for the school is just that little bit outside the village. There are as many difficulties in travelling to the village every day from Midyat. Terrorists are more likely to attack a vehicle on the road, and there is the poor condition of the roads in winter, and risk of break downs. However the real issue keeping them away turns out to be fear of assault or rape by villagers. They say ‘the school is just far enough that if you shout no one will hear you”. They have barely been in to the village and do not feel part of the community. These are not spoilt middle-class urbanites, they are driven to do good, but the difference in cultures is huge and the self sacrifice being asked of them is too much. A lack of electricity in the village leaves the girls wondering what they would do in the evenings. They cannot be like the residents of the village gather and talk in candle light, go to sleep early. Midyat itself is hardly a place of nightlife and culture for young women either. Their primary entertainment is going to the supermarket, but at least they have TV and internet. Problems of technology Electricity reaches the village for only an hour a day, at an unspecified time of day. Even though the school is well equipped through the donations, boasting a computer and a printer, they are not much use with limited electricity. Even more short-sighted is the National Education Board’s efforts at modernisation and efficiency to communicate with schools and teachers using the internet. Even the army has difficulty getting satellite phones to work in this area. The computer, intended for the management of the school, is kept under a doily as a decorative piece of furniture. These issues could be overcome with enough money, or avoided by using appropriate technology. Problems of culture The children start school with an educational disadvantage because all education is in Turkish, whereas most of the children speak Kurdish at home. (This area has a mix of Turkish, Arabic, Kurdish, and Syriac languages, although this village is predominantly Kurdish) Teaching reading and writing at primary school is like teaching a foreign language. The children's education suffers in other subjects too because the teachers do not know Kurdish. The teachers’ authority is diminished by their lack of Kurdish, along with their unwillingness to hit the children as parents expect. Poor attendance is another barrier, as children are taken out of class to muck in with the family during harvest, or to shepherd the sheep when parents have to go in to town. Why aren’t teachers appropriately assigned, men who come from the area, understand the people, and speak the language? The situation highlights the blanket imposition of modern, urban, and state assumptions and values on to the specific rural realities with little consideration of their compatibility. Problems of local politics The district education officer has come to see the fact that this school was built with donations as a glaring example of his inadequacy. Perhaps he bears a grudge in the way the opening ceremony didn’t let the government take any credit, and undermined him, or perhaps because the school happens to be the best equipped in the area. In the district education officer's eyes the school is something to be sabotaged at every opportunity. The teachers are caught between the government who pay their wages, and the charity who supply equipment, in a battle to take credit. For example, when the district government decides to take some of the desks to another school which doesn't have any, the charity organisations insist “we paid for those desks and they belong to our school. Find your own”. Neither side wants to back down. The provision of a school outside of the government system sets up jealousies, and demonstrates inequalities. Perhaps the unusual territoriality from what should be a benevolent organisation is due to the belief that the government is corrupt, although it appears to stem from a smug and self righteous liberal middle class. though it appears to stem from a smug and self righteous liberal middle class. |
image:
 what: demonstrative design when: Summer 2006 where: Kuyucak, Midyat, Turkey with: Ferhat Senatalar, Çagdas Yasam |
