Egyptian teacher looks to help reverse misconceptions about Muslim culture
08/13/10
As a young man, Wael Salah Elkhateeb pummeled opponents with his fists as a boxer for the Egyptian national team. Today, as a 37-year-old participant in the Teachers of Critical Languages Program (TCLP), he has a new opponent: people harboring ugly stereotypes born of ignorance.
And that’s just his fellow Egyptians.
“Some say that Americans are not helpful, that they don’t look at you and they don’t help you,” said Elkhateeb, who arrived in Missoula last weekend and is busy setting up shop at Hellgate High School, where he will teach in the fall. “But this doesn’t happen at all. When I’m walking on the street or in the supermarket or on a train, people are very friendly. They give me a hand. They are helpful.”
Published in the Missoulian Online.
Read the article.
