Good Bye South Africa, Hello North Carolina

Fourteen very weary travelers returned to North Carolina Monday morning.  We were tired but very excited to back in Carolina.  It has been a wonderful experience, but of course, there is no place like home. 

 It is hard to put in to words how much I have learned and grown both personally and professionally since I left a month ago.  We talk about being a global school, community, state and country, but this opportunity has put things into perspective.  We are all people who want the best for our lives, families, and communities.   When we connect with others, we expand our learning of what it means to be part of the bigger picture. To me, it is a combination of things such as culture, history, politics, and environment (to name a few), that shape our lives, beliefs and make us who we are. In traveling to South Africa, I have created connections that in turn, have given me better appreciation of the world.  Before I went, I had my own preconceived beliefs and expectations of South Africa. What I found out is that my cultural norms are not necessary theirs.  I was constantly looking for similarities, but in order for me to learn and expand my knowledge, I needed to appreciate the differences instead!

Besides the personal changes, this trip has given me a deeper understanding of my role as an educator. I hope this difference in perspective will help me have a better understanding my students and their families. It has made me more open minded and able to appreciate the diversity in our world. I plan on modeling this to my students in order for them to learn that differences are to be appreciate and learned from, not judged and feared. 

Cape Town

Friday morning we arrived in Cape Town.  After spending the last 3 ½ weeks in Port Elizabeth, what a difference.  The city is bustling! There are a lot of buildings, cars and pedestrians.  Compared to PE, it is like being in New York City.  After settling in our guest house, we went to a lecture by Nigel Worden.  Worden is the Professor of History and head of the Historical Studies department at the University of Cape Town.  He was the author of the book we read previously, The Making of Modern South Africa.  His enthusiasm was infectious.  You could see by the way he talked his love for the history and heritage of Cape Town.  It was a great opportunity for us to hear from someone so knowledgeable about the past and present day city.  It made me excited for our time here and determined to make the most in getting to know the city.

Book Club

As part of our preparation for our South African travel, we were assigned several books to read.  They included Kaffir Boy by
Mark Mathabane, Cry, the Beloved Country by Alan Paton and The Making of Modern South Africa by Nigel Worden.  Both the books and the following discussions were a great introduction to the culture and history of South Africa. In the novels, Kaffir Boy and Cry, the Beloved Country there were reoccurring themes of custom, family, conflict, inequality, and hope.  I felt, although these books were written in 1986 and 1948, they could still occur today.   The shacks that Mathabane writes about, still exist.   Trash continues to be a problem. The fight to rise from poverty and despair are seen every day.  Similarly, from Paton’s novel, young people still lose their way.  They try to get an education and then have to drop out.  They might finish their education, but not find work.

 The book, Making of the Modern South Africa, helps to tie these two books together.  It gives context by explaining the history from precolonial, colonial, postcolonial, pre-apartheid and post-apartheid time periods.  It explained what was going on both economically and politically. Ultimately, all three books deal with one group of people’s quest to maintain power by laws and social structure. And although, some things have changed, others remain the same.

Global Education

North Carolina believes in a global education in order to prepare students to be work and world ready. I believe they are leading the way with language immersion classes, teacher exchanges, and Confucius Chinese classrooms. They believe that a global education is imperative in the 21^st Century with the increasing international society and economy. 

I feel fortunate to be part of this type of school model by teaching at an International school.  We have teachers from many different countries. They bring a unique perspective not only their classrooms, but everyone around them.   The teachers try to incorporate a global component in their teaching.  We take part in workshops, committees, read and research in order to educate ourselves on bringing a global viewpoint to our classrooms.  

What I have learned, by taking part of this journey, is that it is not always enough to read about it.  By experiencing it, I feel better prepared to give my students firsthand knowledge, both the good and the bad, of what it is like in South Africa.  I can teach from my experiences, my pictures, videos, and artifacts instead of reciting someone else’s words.  Each of the other teachers with me here, bring a diverse viewpoint and will certainly bring a different perspective back. It has made us examine and reflect on our teaching. That is what truly makes this project an innovative and worthwhile endeavor.

Games Children Play

Of course, being a Physical Education teacher, I am always interested in what children are playing.  During their lunch/recess time, no matter which school we are visiting, I circulate the school yard watching.  In a previous blog, I noted that all over they play soccer.  From Emafini, Love Life Center to Grey and Northern Lights with an official ball or one made from trash.  Sometimes there are goals and at some just a couple of rocks.

 Another favorite game of the students is spinning tops.  Spinning tops have been around for a long time including in Colonial America.  There is a string around the top and when you throw the top down, you pull the string to make it turn.  I have also seen long jump roping.  At Grey and Kama schools, I was excited to see 4 square courts.  At Kamma, instead of a playground ball, they used a tennis ball.  Also, they used not only their hands to hit the ball, but theirs heads too!  While teaching some 7^th grade students Chinese Jump Rope at Emafini, they demonstrated a rope game for me.  They put a third student in the rope and did jumps through 3 sides of the rope. I got some of it on video, but I will be investigating this when I go back this week.  I would love to bring the new variation of jumping back to the United States. 

Another game I have seen at Emafini is net ball.  A fifth grade teachers and her students is going to demonstrate for me.  I know this is similar to basketball with one of the biggest differences is that you don’t dribble the ball.  I can’t wait to watch.

“Let Your Light Shine”

Today we had the privilege of visiting a school called Northern Lights.  This is a school for students with either mental or physical disabilities.  Their mission is posted on the wall and it is “to produce quality and equitable education service to all educable physically and specific learning disabled learners”.  The school serves learners grade R (kindergarten) thru high school.  The classrooms are bright and colorful.  They have a large field where students play tag and soccer during their recess.  As at all the schools we have visited, the people are gracious and the students are excited. According to the people we talked with although these particular students are being served, there are many more who are not. While there is a policy (The Disability Rights Treaty) in place, students are still being left behind or not able to attend a school.  There is a waiting list, lack of funding and inadequate training for teachers to help these students.  Northern Lights seems to be a model school with passionate teachers, but the students are still separated from their non disabled peers.  Some travel hours every day in order to attend instead of being able to go to the closest school.  Despite this, you can see on their faces, they love being in school and learning. In a second grade classroom, they sang their school song which was inspiring to all who listened – “I am a special child and I will let my light shine”.

Disparity in schools

The area where we stay is just off the beach.  I know a lot of people in Jacksonville have traveled to Myrtle Beach.  The Summerstand area is a lot like there.  There are many guest house and hotels.  We are able to walk to shops and restaurants.  There is a bowling alley and theater nearby.  The walk to the grocery store, the Pick and Pay is a little bit further, but it goes thru a beautiful neighborhood. The houses and gardens are very nice behind the iron gates and concrete walls.  There is a school directly across from us.  It too is walled off.  They have a large modern building, a playground, and multiple athletic fields.
In contrast, Emafini where we are working, is a township school. A township is a separate location where Black Africans, Colored, or Indians were moved to during apartheid area. They are on the outside of the cities. The houses are a mixture of shacks and government houses. The infrastructure is poor in the township. The school does not have many resources. There are holes in the floor and cracks in the windows.  Class sizes are large. Students who attend do not have to pay fees like at an independent or private schools.  They are all given a free lunch. They come from houses that do not all have electricity or toilet facilities.  Poverty plays a definite part in these learner’s lives. There is a definite disparity between these township schools and the schools that cater to the upper and middle class.  The administrators, teachers, parents and local community have all talked about the inequalities in education.  They are all stakeholders in this problem.  I have mentioned in a previous blog that the youth is the future of a nation.  I hope for the students in Emafini that this change in educational policy comes soon.

isiXhosa Lessons with Ron

As part of our SACHL (South Africa Culture, History and Literacy) project, we are taking language lessons. Our instructor is Ron Endley, a lecturer and isiXhosa teacher at Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University. The class is called Survival isiXhosa.

The teachers have become the students!   What a nervous bunch of learners we become when we enter his classroom.  We sink down in our seats hoping that he does not call on us. Ron is very kind as we stumble over the clicks and pronunciations.  I have to admit, it is hard learning a new language.  I’m impressed by my colleagues.  They are much better than they think.  We work collaboratively, whispering words when someone is uncertain.  He has taught us over 60 words. I have tried to practice my new vocabulary on my students.  They giggle and shake their heads at me.  They are supportive in our learning too, but sometimes they have no idea what I am trying to say.

Today, we asked Ron to get down to the “nitty gritty”!  We had him translate for us some words to be used in the classroom. Listen – Mamelani.  Do you understand? – Uyaqonda? Sit down – Hlaleni phantsi. Open your book – Vulani iincwadi.  Where is your pencil? – Onayo ipensile?  I know many of us will be practicing these phrases at school tomorrow. And I want to apologize to Ron for any mistakes I have made in my blog!  Ndiyafika apha. Ndiyafunda.

We Are The Future of Our Nation

Today, we went to Solomon Mahlangu High School.  Here, we watched a group of students practice a presentation for the Youth Citizen Action Programme.  The purpose to this program is to “engage the youth in discussion about the challenges they face and empower them to solve the challenges”.  There are 6 steps.  The first step is recruiting the team.  The team was composed of 10th graders. The second step is assigning roles and responsibilities. The group must have a leader, financial manager, marketing manager, operations manager, income generation manager and administration manager.  The third step is for the students to list and research topics.  These are areas of concern for their local community or school.  The students, we observed narrowed their list to absenteeism, poverty in education, and shortage of textbooks. The students decided their focus was going to be “Poverty and Education.  Once they identified this problem, the fourth step included describing the problem. They used student interviews, school based statistics, and read online articles. They researched different causes of poverty such as social issues, unemployment, loss of a parent, etc.  Their student interviews brought up points such as students not doing well academically on empty stomachs.  Poor students felt humiliated when having to wear uniforms with holes and that did not fit properly.  This resulted in the learners not achieving their full potential, acting out, and dropping out of school.  Steps 5 and 6 were the action part of the program. They initiated a breakfast launch, formed community partnerships, started a community service club and held fundraisers.  They made home visits bringing food and clothing to students in need. The final part of the project was a professional portfolio and oral presentation.

These young adults were just amazing.  They were so articulate, confident, passionate and incredibly humble.  This is a theme I am seeing with a lot of the people, especially the youth, in S. Africa.  It is referred to as “active citizenship” They are very motivated to bringing a change to their community and are not waiting for someone else to make a difference.  They do it themselves.  It is easy to say something.  Following through and being a positive and active member of your community at such a young age is how changes are made.
Whether it is at this school or the Love life Center, it is not just their words being heard, their actions are speaking loud and clear!

Making a difference in the life of a child

On Friday morning, I was unable to doing Physical Education with the learners, due to the rain.  I first observed a 5th grade geography lesson by Coleen Owens.  I loved being able to show the students where Jacksonville, North Carolina was on the map compared to Port Elizabeth, South Africa.  Next, I traveled to a math class where Charlotte Johnson was teaching fractions.  I like being in different classrooms and observing different lessons.  I don’t often get that chance back in the States.  In the math class, I worked one on one with a student who was having difficulties with the lesson on adding fractions.  We worked in a corner with a small white board.  I spent most of the class going other each problem one at a time, hoping I was making a difference.  The classes at Emafini are crowded.  In these two fifth grade classes there are 45 students.  I have been in other classes that have 50.  Mr. McKay, the principal told me that they do not send students away.  He has had to ask parents to supply a desk and chair in order for them to have someplace to sit.  Besides the physical space issue, there is no way for one teacher to give individual help in a class that large.  Students are falling behind with not a chance of catching back up.  Despite these issues, the teachers are doing their best and the students are happy to be there.  In South Africa, there is a big value placed on education. This experience today had an impact of me. It has made me want to do more.  It has also validated my choice to be a teacher.  Teachers love to teach, of course, but they also love to learn!  This country, the school, the people and my colleagues sharing this experience, have taught me a lot.  And if it takes doing it one student at a time, then that’s what I will do.

Penguins Rock!

On a rainy Saturday afternoon, we traveled to Samrec or the South Africa Marine Rehabilitation Centre.  It reminded me of the Karen Beasley Sea Turtle Rescue and Rehabilitation Center in Topsail and Possumwood Acres, a wildlife rehabilitation center in Hubert. Their missions are to help injured wildlife and educate the public.  Samrec is specifically trying to help the endangered African penguin. As I spend time in South Africa, I continue to make connections to home.  Over fishing or hunting, loss of habitat, and pollution are not local problems that only effect NC and the United States but worldwide issues. It was ironic that at the NC Maritime museum in Beaufort, I viewed a display about turtles entangled in trash. I then saw a similar exhibit with sea animals that died from the same problem here.  I hope we can learn, share and work together to help solve this universal problem.

"Anything else you're interested in is not going to happen if you can't breathe the air and drink the water. Don't sit this one out. Do something. You are by accident of fate alive at an absolutely critical moment in the history of our planet."
Carl Sagan

Doing What I Like Best

It was my most personally rewarding day since I arrived in S. Africa – I got to teach at Emafini.  After 2 days of observing other classrooms, I was given the opportunity to work with the students teaching Chinese jump rope. There are some things that are universal and one is that children love to move and play. I had already seen the children both here and at Lovelife Center jumping rope. Their eyes lit up as they discovered a new way of jumping.  I worked with 3 sixth grade classes teaching the routines – Americans and Chinese.  They impressed me with their quick learning.  In the afternoon, I did the “Hokey Pokey” and then introduced the Chinese jump rope to 2 first grade classes.  I believe that playing games and sports is a way for people especially children to make cultural connections. Differences don’t matter when children are playing.  The smiles on their faces and the laughter was music to my ears.

Go Springboks

As I have been traveling around the Port Elizabeth area, I have been looking to see what kind of games and sports are being played. Every time I’ve seen a sport being played on TV, it has been rugby.  I spent some time talking to a lady at a local sports store and she confirmed that rugby is one of the most popular sports in S. Africa.  The South African team is the Springboks which is a type of antelope. Their colors are green and gold. They have been very successful in international play.  I have definitely seen more rugby stores so far than any other type of sport.  The most interesting fact I learned was that play is not stopped and keeps going even if the ball hits the ground or a player is tackled. The ball carrier has to release the ball when tackled and roll out of the way so that other players on their feet can try to get it. That is not what I am used to when watching our Carolina Panthers!
       

                                                                           Rules of Rugby                                                                    

As I was taking a walk along the beach front Sunday, I watched a family playing cricket.  Cricket is another popular sport in South Africa.  The national team is the Proteas, which is a flowering plant.  I purchased some crickets sets to bring back to Jacksonville.  I’m eager to learn how to play so I can teach my students.  I would love to be able to compare the similarities and difference between this and one of our favorite national pastimes – baseball. However,  I do want to point out in closing, at the schools and the youth center, all the children are playing one of our favorite sports – soccer!

PE stands for Port Elizabeth

It was another beautiful day in P.E.  I'm having a hard time wrapping my mind around the fact that that does not stand for physical education but for Port Elizabeth!  I am loving the cool mornings and warm afternoons. The town has so many similarities to our area in North Carolina.  It is along the beautiful coast and has the friendliest people.

 Today we went to the Lovelife Centre. This is a youth center that supports the surrounding community by providing a variety of programs including education, job training, health and fitness.  What I find so inspiring about this place is that the youth are given the leadership roles.  They are truly role models for not only the other young people, but the adults and us (the visitors).  It was very impressive the difference they are making in their communities.  I am excited that we will be able to spend some more time there.
I also saw some great jump roping and Nguni stick-fighting.  Although I didn't try the jump roping, I was lucky enough to take a turn stick-fighting.

Show of Hands

What an adventure!  We hit the ground running on our first morning here in S. Africa.  We went to Htlemeza Primary school and took part in the "The Great Show of Hands" program. We helped to paint and landscape the school.  What a great way to make a difference in schools and the lives of the students.