Twins Teach in Moldova
by Pamela Dillon
WHEN JENNIFER AND KATHLEEN Sooy were growing up in Centerville,
Ohio, they spent many hours discussing politics around the
dinner table. There was much to debate: foreign affairs, the
Vietnam War and Watergate. They’ve shared everything, but
most of all their interest in law and politics. That interest
ultimately led to political science positions at Sinclair
Community College in Dayton.
Last year the sisters were chosen by the Civic Education
Project to teach criminal procedure in Moldova, a small country
in southeastern Europe bordered by Romania and Ukraine.
They were well qualified for the five-month assignment. Besides
teaching for the past eight years, they are independent political
consultants. They majored in European History at Randolph-Macon
Woman’s College in Lynchburg, Virginia, and received their
master’s in education at Wright State University in Dayton.
While attending the University of Dayton Law School, they
interned at the Library of Congress and had a six-year stint
on Capitol Hill.
The Sooys took a sabbatical from Sinclair last year and began
teaching at Moldova State University Law School in February,
2000. It is located in Chisinau, the capital city, with a
total population of 700,000. They each taught two, two-hour
classes every week, with the ultimate goal of impacting educational
and political reform.
“They still have a system that runs on statutory law, or
code. We have a mixture of statutory and case law. Hopefully,
they can use the legal principles we taught them to effect
change in their own legal code,” Jennifer says.
When they arrived, they felt lucky to have government housing
with electricity. But warmth was a luxury in Chisinau. Even
with government housing, all indoor heat is turned off the
first of March. They did get a microwave (uncommon there)
which they used to heat up their meals. They could have used
something to heat up their classroom as well. None of the
public buildings was heated, including the law school.
“Our room was probably around 35 degrees during the winter
months, maybe colder. Students wore their coats because it
was so damp and chilly,” Kathleen says.
To conserve energy, all public buildings had little light,
and some hallways at the university had no light at all. In
addition, the restrooms had no soap, paper towels or toilet
paper. There was no cafeteria. Textbooks were scarce and there
was no university library. And although they had a technology
lab with 15 computers, there were no printers.
“In spite of the shortage of resources and a heavy six-class
course load, our students were cheerful, eager with questions
after class and helpful to us and other students,” Kathleen
says.
They both felt that Moldovan law students needed courses
in legal ethics and legal research and writing. The lawyers
and judges were not trained regarding ethical behavior in
and out of the courtroom. Bribing professors for grades was
widespread. Due to the scarcity of legal resources, plagiarism
was quite common and many materials were copied extensively
without credit to the author.
“We worked on a project to establish a legal reference center
at the law school where students, faculty and practicing lawyers
could gain access to American legal resources,” Kathleen says.
The sisters have since shipped about 70 law books to the
institution, donated by textbook publishers and by the University
of Dayton.
There were 10,000 students attending the University of Moldova.
Of the 6,000 law students, only 25 spoke English well enough
to attend their classes. There were only five law professors
who spoke English fluently.
But in spite of the lack of resources, ethical chaos and
the language barrier, they thrived as teachers in that country.
“A number of our students told us how much they enjoyed the
class. We knew we were doing a good job when they came to
class, asked excellent questions and completed their assignments.
What more could we ask for?” Kathleen says.
CEP is a nonprofit organization affiliated with Yale University
that invites faculty from the Americas and Western Europe
to teach in Central and Eastern Europe and Russia. They promote
civic educational reform, develop new curriculums and act
as an academic peace corps. Today there are 130 CEP fellows
in 75 universities in 19 countries, and more than 30,000 student
participants.
Contact Thomas Wood, Director for Faculty Recruitment and
University Relations, for more information: phone (203) 781-0263,
fax (203) 781-0265, or e-mail cep@cep.yale.edu.
Do you currently teach abroad? Have you taught abroad
in the past? Do you have an idea for a great news piece for
our “innocents abroad” column? Send queries to editor@adjunctadvocate.com.
