It is the eve of one of the most anticipated days of the year, Christmas. People ask me all the time, "aren't you going to miss celebrating Christmas?". I think if I were in England or another part of the world that "gets into the Christmas spirit" in the way that I have grown up with I think it would be really hard since it will be familiar.
Before my travel restrictions were lifted I asked my host family what they were doing for the holidays. She said that maybe they'll get together and have dinner but that's it. While still in that area there was barely any indication that Christmas was approaching. Nobody at school was asking me if there were holiday plans, the classrooms weren't decorated, none of the houses in my village had an army of ridiculous lawn ornaments. The only place that seemed to recognize it was the Christmas season was ShopRite, a U.S. grocery store chain; in the true American spirit, they started playing Christmas music right after Halloween.
I've been traveling since mid-December and despite the occasional Christmas song in the supermarket I haven't even notice that Christmas has been approaching. Another major factor in the not realizing it's Christmas is where I've been traveling. So far I've attended a Swazi celebration of the beginning of the harvest, been adventure caving, relaxed by my tent watching monkeys swing from tree to tree, and faced off with a Rhino in a Toyota Yaris; not your typical Christmasy activities; the 90+ degree weather in the day, the nasty sunburn, and rainy nights don't help either.
Don't get me wrong, I will miss spending time with my family, all the food, and all other parts of the season but I won't be bored. I'll be spending this year hanging out with other volunteers at BIB's, a backpacker in St. Lucia so at least I'll be in good company.
Merry Christmas to all!
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Friday, December 12, 2008
Vacation Time!!!!!
As of today the 3-month cultural integration period (lovingly referred to as "lockdown") is over and travel restrictions have been lifted. Along with three other volunteers I will be hopping on a BAZ bus to go to Swaziland for a week. I will spend Christmas in Hluhluwe (north of St. Lucia) and New Year's in Durban with a backpacker full of other volunteers.
We have planned the housing and a game reserve visit at some point but that is about it so I don't know what to tell you to expect. I will not be posting until I return which will be after the New Year (January 2ndish) but I should have a lot of interesting new things to write about.
Have a safe and happy holiday season!!!
We have planned the housing and a game reserve visit at some point but that is about it so I don't know what to tell you to expect. I will not be posting until I return which will be after the New Year (January 2ndish) but I should have a lot of interesting new things to write about.
Have a safe and happy holiday season!!!
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Me? A Counselor?
As part of my assigning educators to classrooms initiative, the HOD and I would like to create an additional classroom for use by the Intermediate Phase students(4-6). The plan was to move the second grade R class into the same building as the first grade R class. Since the grade R class is small it would be able to fit in the smaller room. I presented the idea to my principal and she said no because she had separated them since they couldn't stand each other. Since they are all adults I figured there was probably something far deeper than that involved so I decided to investigate.
Yesterday I explained to both of the grade R educators that I wanted to move them into the same building in adjoining rooms. They agreed pending the installation of an outside door to the other classroom. I was ecstatic and told the principal and she said she would make the announcement today.
I wanted to confirm with the educators today that they were on board with the plan. I went to talk to one of the educators in her classroom and she said "no". So I asked her why and she said I could go ask the principal and she would tell me the reasons. Since I knew if I had a conversation with the principal about someone else's opinions they would be skewed because she would take all the points that supported her own opinion and only present those to me. So I explained that to the educator and then she told me, "No, I don't trust you because you're white and all white people live easy, problem-free, relaxing lives so they don't understand us. You're always happy and enjoying life." I explained to her that I do harbor some problems I just don't expose them to everyone, all people have problems even if you can't see them. I also explained that I am a mediator here to help the school as a whole and that I wouldn't share her problems with anyone. After a long awkward silence she decided to open up to me.
We started talking and the reason she gave me for not wanting to have the educator in the room next to her was because the other class was isiNdebele-speaking and hers was Northern Sotho-speaking and she didn't want them getting confused. I offered the point that all of the Intermediate Phase educators have rooms that are next to each other and she countered with the belief that since they were older they could cope with the distraction. I knew this wasn't the real issue so I continued to probe.
I asked her what the conflict between her and the other educator was that the principal had told me about. She said it was because having the other educator was causing her stress and anxiety. Since leaving a perfectly good room vacant that could be put to better use didn't seem like the best solution and that probably wasn't the true cause of her problems I continued. She was constantly coughing and clearing her throat and I found out she was snorting snuff (a powdered tobacco) to make her feel more relaxed and ease that pain; also not a good solution. She told me she's been seeing psychologists and taking pills for the past few years and when she's in their office is the only time she feels really comfortable and relaxed. I was starting to really doubt that having the educator in room next to her was the source of her anxiety.
I asked her what the rest of her life not related to work was like. She gave me a very detailed depressing account of her life which can be summed up as praying about her problems when she gets home, praying with church friends about other people's problems, and talking about her problems with her mother at her mother's house. I very quickly realized that all three activities entailed thinking depressing thoughts and were stress contributors. I asked her what she does for fun or relaxation and if she exercised. The only exercise she does is the short walk to work and home and that her relaxation is the praying. She has no other relaxation activities.
Since she believes in God, I explained to her that God doesn't want her to only pray to him but also to enjoy the Earth that he has provided to her. I suggested that she find something that she likes to do such as gardening and relax. She said she has a vegetable garden and likes gardening but never really thought about how much she likes it. After a little more discussion there was a consensus that her problem was the lack of something relaxing and enjoyable so she would try incorporating gardening as a relaxation method into her life. We also agreed that installing a door to the outside so that the other educator would be able to get into the other room without walking through her room would solve the major problem presented by the move.
I talked to the principal today afterwards and told her the good news. She informed me that the idea had been brought up at the faculty meeting and both spoke out adamantly against it; I was shocked! I thought yesterday there was a general understanding and agreement to the proposal. So the faculty said if the grade R educators didn't agree then it wouldn't happen; I don't disagree with their position. The educator who I talked to today was the one who spoke out against it first then the second educator, who told me she would be fine with the transition if a door to the outside was installed, also spoke out against it. I think the reason the second spoke out against it was because it seems that very few people are willing to disagree with the status quo so she just fell in line. I explained to the principal the conversation that I had with the first educator (leaving out the personal details of course)and said I would talk to the two educators to clarify what will happen and then re-present the idea to the faculty tomorrow afternoon.
I may be naive in thinking that I have discovered the educator's problem; I might have just scratched the surface to a slew of other problems she has. Either way, today was an extremely good day because I built a trusting relationship with another one of the educators. Now, regardless of the outcome of the room situation, it will be much easier to work with this educator because I have gained her trust. Lesson learned: qualifications get you the job, trust allows you to get the job done.
Yesterday I explained to both of the grade R educators that I wanted to move them into the same building in adjoining rooms. They agreed pending the installation of an outside door to the other classroom. I was ecstatic and told the principal and she said she would make the announcement today.
I wanted to confirm with the educators today that they were on board with the plan. I went to talk to one of the educators in her classroom and she said "no". So I asked her why and she said I could go ask the principal and she would tell me the reasons. Since I knew if I had a conversation with the principal about someone else's opinions they would be skewed because she would take all the points that supported her own opinion and only present those to me. So I explained that to the educator and then she told me, "No, I don't trust you because you're white and all white people live easy, problem-free, relaxing lives so they don't understand us. You're always happy and enjoying life." I explained to her that I do harbor some problems I just don't expose them to everyone, all people have problems even if you can't see them. I also explained that I am a mediator here to help the school as a whole and that I wouldn't share her problems with anyone. After a long awkward silence she decided to open up to me.
We started talking and the reason she gave me for not wanting to have the educator in the room next to her was because the other class was isiNdebele-speaking and hers was Northern Sotho-speaking and she didn't want them getting confused. I offered the point that all of the Intermediate Phase educators have rooms that are next to each other and she countered with the belief that since they were older they could cope with the distraction. I knew this wasn't the real issue so I continued to probe.
I asked her what the conflict between her and the other educator was that the principal had told me about. She said it was because having the other educator was causing her stress and anxiety. Since leaving a perfectly good room vacant that could be put to better use didn't seem like the best solution and that probably wasn't the true cause of her problems I continued. She was constantly coughing and clearing her throat and I found out she was snorting snuff (a powdered tobacco) to make her feel more relaxed and ease that pain; also not a good solution. She told me she's been seeing psychologists and taking pills for the past few years and when she's in their office is the only time she feels really comfortable and relaxed. I was starting to really doubt that having the educator in room next to her was the source of her anxiety.
I asked her what the rest of her life not related to work was like. She gave me a very detailed depressing account of her life which can be summed up as praying about her problems when she gets home, praying with church friends about other people's problems, and talking about her problems with her mother at her mother's house. I very quickly realized that all three activities entailed thinking depressing thoughts and were stress contributors. I asked her what she does for fun or relaxation and if she exercised. The only exercise she does is the short walk to work and home and that her relaxation is the praying. She has no other relaxation activities.
Since she believes in God, I explained to her that God doesn't want her to only pray to him but also to enjoy the Earth that he has provided to her. I suggested that she find something that she likes to do such as gardening and relax. She said she has a vegetable garden and likes gardening but never really thought about how much she likes it. After a little more discussion there was a consensus that her problem was the lack of something relaxing and enjoyable so she would try incorporating gardening as a relaxation method into her life. We also agreed that installing a door to the outside so that the other educator would be able to get into the other room without walking through her room would solve the major problem presented by the move.
I talked to the principal today afterwards and told her the good news. She informed me that the idea had been brought up at the faculty meeting and both spoke out adamantly against it; I was shocked! I thought yesterday there was a general understanding and agreement to the proposal. So the faculty said if the grade R educators didn't agree then it wouldn't happen; I don't disagree with their position. The educator who I talked to today was the one who spoke out against it first then the second educator, who told me she would be fine with the transition if a door to the outside was installed, also spoke out against it. I think the reason the second spoke out against it was because it seems that very few people are willing to disagree with the status quo so she just fell in line. I explained to the principal the conversation that I had with the first educator (leaving out the personal details of course)and said I would talk to the two educators to clarify what will happen and then re-present the idea to the faculty tomorrow afternoon.
I may be naive in thinking that I have discovered the educator's problem; I might have just scratched the surface to a slew of other problems she has. Either way, today was an extremely good day because I built a trusting relationship with another one of the educators. Now, regardless of the outcome of the room situation, it will be much easier to work with this educator because I have gained her trust. Lesson learned: qualifications get you the job, trust allows you to get the job done.
Monday, December 1, 2008
Replacement Light Bulbs
Eskom is the electric company run by the government responsible for providing power to South Africa. They have started a new initiative to reduce energy costs and encourage energy conservation. They have started delivering free energy-saving light bulbs to every home. In a country overrun with corruption, the fact that a large corporation is taking steps to reduce energy consumption is encouraging. The way that electricity is sold has required them to use old-school tactics to make it successful.
In the U.S., the electric company keeps track of the amount of electricity you use via a meter and then sends you a monthly bill that you pay for via check or debit/credit card.
They hook your house up to electricity and maintain the power lines but they do not send you a bill at the end of the month. They use a debit system that will shut off your power automatically when your account reaches 0.
Each house has its own card that looks like a flimsy cardboard card that you would use on the subway and has the meter number that belongs to a house on it. You bring your used card to an electricity shop and give it, along with the amount of money worth of electricity you want to purchase in cash to the employee. The employee then inserts the card and the amount of electricity you purchased into a machine. The machine then prints out a new card that has your meter number and the amount of electricity on it. At your house, you insert your card into your meter and it recharges your meter with the amount on the card then punches a hole in it so that it is no longer valid.
This system works well for three reasons. First, the electric company does not have to worry about mailing bills at the end of the month which cuts back on costs. Since it is a debit system, you can only use electricity that you have already paid for so the only people who you need to answer to when there is no electricity are the people who use the house. And finally, a checking account or credit card is not required.
The problem with this system is that since there are no monthly bills being sent out, they don't have a regular medium to send propaganda and advertising through. Advertising is further complicated by the high illiteracy rate and people not owning TVs or radios. As a result, Eskom has to resort to old school techniques; they have people drive cars with loud speakers attached to them announcing any important information. As the use of modern technology becomes more widespread in rural areas, as it did in the U.S., we'll find out if this type of advertising becomes obsolete.
In the U.S., the electric company keeps track of the amount of electricity you use via a meter and then sends you a monthly bill that you pay for via check or debit/credit card.
They hook your house up to electricity and maintain the power lines but they do not send you a bill at the end of the month. They use a debit system that will shut off your power automatically when your account reaches 0.
Each house has its own card that looks like a flimsy cardboard card that you would use on the subway and has the meter number that belongs to a house on it. You bring your used card to an electricity shop and give it, along with the amount of money worth of electricity you want to purchase in cash to the employee. The employee then inserts the card and the amount of electricity you purchased into a machine. The machine then prints out a new card that has your meter number and the amount of electricity on it. At your house, you insert your card into your meter and it recharges your meter with the amount on the card then punches a hole in it so that it is no longer valid.
This system works well for three reasons. First, the electric company does not have to worry about mailing bills at the end of the month which cuts back on costs. Since it is a debit system, you can only use electricity that you have already paid for so the only people who you need to answer to when there is no electricity are the people who use the house. And finally, a checking account or credit card is not required.
The problem with this system is that since there are no monthly bills being sent out, they don't have a regular medium to send propaganda and advertising through. Advertising is further complicated by the high illiteracy rate and people not owning TVs or radios. As a result, Eskom has to resort to old school techniques; they have people drive cars with loud speakers attached to them announcing any important information. As the use of modern technology becomes more widespread in rural areas, as it did in the U.S., we'll find out if this type of advertising becomes obsolete.
Photos: Slaughtering of a Cow
I was hesitant to put up an album that documented the slaughtering of the cow in honor of Jonas Mnguni's death. I have decided to post it since it was part of my experience and a few people have requested it:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2134921&l=f2339&id=10505223
Due to the graphic nature of these photos, viewer discretion is advised.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2134921&l=f2339&id=10505223
Due to the graphic nature of these photos, viewer discretion is advised.
Photos: My House
It is no longer shrouded in mystery; this album contains pictures of my house and the property it sits on:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2133651&l=bc4ba&id=10505223
My living quarters are modest but it is not even close to the stereotypical living condition of some of the volunteers who don't have electricity or water.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2133651&l=bc4ba&id=10505223
My living quarters are modest but it is not even close to the stereotypical living condition of some of the volunteers who don't have electricity or water.
Photos: Mnyamana Primary School Before the Renovation
As I've already posted about, my key school, Mnyamana Primary is in extremely bad condition. These are pictures taken on 10/20 that present the current conditions in my school:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2133560&l=8618f&id=10505223
I will take more of the school during and after renovation as the project progresses.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2133560&l=8618f&id=10505223
I will take more of the school during and after renovation as the project progresses.
Photos:I Google Earthed My House
I had some time to kill one day and people were asking where I live so I used Google Earth to take pictures of my village.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2131727&l=362ce&id=10505223
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2131727&l=362ce&id=10505223
Photos: Pre-Service Training
The photos contained in this album are from Pre-Service Training. Pictures include: my homestay family and house, visit to the traditional healer, hanging out pictures, various events, and other miscellaneous pictures.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2126838&l=9e2dd&id=10505223
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2126838&l=9e2dd&id=10505223
Photos Can Now Be Viewed Online
Since it has been brought to my attention that many of you do not have Facebook accounts and since that is where I post all of my pictures, many of you do not get to view them. From now on, whenever I post pictures I will post the external link to the album so that they can be viewed without a Facebook account.
Hope you enjoy them!
Hope you enjoy them!
Saturday, November 22, 2008
6th Grade Graduation
When I attended Victor Central Schools, most parents assumed that their kids were going to graduate; with a graduation rate of 86%, why wouldn't you? Well, in case you haven't realized yet, Victor's schools are far superior to the ones I am currently working in. Only 77% of South Africa as a whole complete the 6th grade and 58% of the students entering 12th grade in my province actually graduate.
In 6th and 3rd grade the students have to take national exams and they ended on Thursday so assuming they pass there's nothing left to do this year. December 6th is the official end of the school year but there hasn't been all that much productive going on since about November 6th. Since graduating 6th grade and moving on to 7th grade is likely to be the last time a child will graduate it is a much bigger deal here. They have a graduation/award ceremony at the school and then a school-sponsored brai for the graduates.
Yesterday my school canceled classes in order to allow all of the educators and principal to go to the brai event. I guess it is sort of understandable since they are usually so understaffed but this is still something that shouldn't be happening; apparently the education of the R-5 doesn't matter.
When we graduated 6th grade, the teachers said, "it was nice having you this year, good luck in Junior High, and enjoy your summer". Maybe my family had a beginning of summer barbecue at my house to celebrate the beginning of vacation, but nothing else. I'm not disappointed, it just wasn't that big of a deal for me.
Transport to and from school events usually was provided by a big, boxy, yellow bus; not in South Africa. Since all students are within walking distance of the schools there is not need for regular transportation so they rented some khumvies. Khumvies are shared taxis that run on specific routes and drop you of near your destination--I have to walk about a half mile from where I get off the khumvi to where I live--they are usually overcrowded and people are getting on and off along the way. Khumvies are 15-passenger vans that are usually rusty and look/sound like they're about to fall apart. These khumvies were extremely nice both inside and out.
One of the educators told me to pick a khumvi and get in since we would be leaving soon. So I got in the nicest looking one. I soon found out that the reason they asked me to get in a khumvi is because they didn't want to! I climbed into the passenger side seat and the 13 children were in the back screaming, shouting and whistling at this really high pitched tone that was piercing my eardrums so I decided to see what was playing on the stereo. There were more speakers than seats in the vehicle so when I turned it up it was blasting clubbing music. The khumvi erupted into a dance party that caused it to bounce up and down; this continued all the way until we got to the grocery store then we opened the doors and the party moved to the parking lot.
The students went in and got bought a ton of sugary drinks and snacks and then we were on our way again. After about 10 minutes of relative calm--the music was still shaking my body to the core--while they ate, they began dancing again; I felt like I was in a low rider with hydraulics bouncing me up and down.
After waiting at the gates of the recreation center for a half hour we finally got through the gates at about 10 am.and then the students rushed to the pool for about 5 hours of swimming before the brai was ready. The male teachers went over to the brai pit to start the fire for cooking the meat; less than three minutes into the process the senior teacher had already popped open a beer and began drinking. Other volunteers told us about this in our training but I thought to myself, "no, my educators wouldn't do this"; I obviously overestimated them. They finished cooking the meat by 11:30 so flies had a full 2.5 hours to crawl all over it before the food was to be served. At about 12:30 they called the students over and fed them bologna sandwiches to fill them up before serving the meat at 2:00.
I was showing one female educator who is about my age what an American $5 bill looked like and then she chose to pocket the money. Then some of the other educators started ragging on me and saying "oh you're married now because you gave her labola (a gift, usually money or cattle , to the father of the bride from the groom's family)". Even my principal chimed in with, "oh you do make a cute couple". I voiced my concern to the Head of Department with the behavior of the entire faculty including her and she gave me the usual lip service and she said "no, this shouldn't be happening, it's inappropriate" then resumed laughing at the whole situation. This type of behavior was extremely unprofessional, especially coming from a principal. If this were in the U.S. there would have been considered harassment and probably have resulted in a law suit in which several people lost their jobs; however, this isn't America. Since the situation wasn't dissolving I just said told the educator that I wasn't going to renovate her classroom as part of my project. My money was quickly returned.
At about 5pm they started gathering the children up so that we could board the khumvies. The educators had bagged up some suckers, chips, and fruit as another present for the students. They were eating these while drinking cold drink (soda/pop) from styrofoam cups; I watched as one by one they dropped wrapper after wrapper, cup after cup and bag after bag on the ground. I am not terrible shocked but the fact that they do it so casually is sickening. I walked around and told them to pick it up and surprisingly they complied even when I told them to pick up garbage that didn't belong to them. I addressed the issue too late so I had to pick up the remainder of the trash up after the kids had gotten on the khumvies just so I could clear my conscience.
The senior educator who had started drinking early was hammered at this point and he was the one that drove. I told him that I think he shouldn't drive because he was obviously unfit. Culturally it might not have been my place to tell him such a thing but I said the same thing to a guy who had an opened bottle between his legs at 10 am when he gave me a ride to the bus stop. The next time I saw the guy he was waiting for the bus stop because he and his car were arrested because he was caught driving drunk.
I climbed back into the khumvi to the same loud music with a little less bouncing because the students had gotten a little tired from the day. We were cruising along and I thought we were going to get home without interruption. The driver got a call, we didn't take pictures, so we pulled into the same grocery store parking lot and the kids again poured out and started dancing again. Since students rarely get a chance to have someone to take their picture--they call it "shooting" so when I walk around with my camera they are always yelling "shoot me! shoot me!"--this was very important. So important that all 53 of them had to have their picture taken alone, alone with a special pose, and then with a friend. After another 45 minutes and a group picture we boarded the khumvies again.
I am not sure if it is genetic, learned, or contagious, but it seems that all rural South Africans like to dance. It was rush hour on the way back so we got stuck at a 4-way stop and slowly crawled to the intersection. The whole way people stopped what they were doing, whether it was selling fruit, carrying groceries, or just walking home they came out in the street and started dancing. It was kind of crazy how much of an impact music has on them.
Finally we arrived back at the school, half deaf with my whole body aching from the constant vibration caused by the music. All the kids were standing around talking and dancing again and they had thrown their trash everywhere. The khumvi drivers also threw all of the trash out the door that the students left on there; although it was littering, it made sense since they made a mess of his khumvi so he returned the favor by making a mess of their yard. I had a bunch of the students clean most of it up but then they stopped listening to me. One of the other educators who I think they all feared shouted at them and they promptly cleaned the rest of it up.
On the walk home I saw a boy with his pants down just peeing on the school yard. I asked the boy "Would you pee in your front yard? How would you like it if someone else came to your house and peed in your yard?". He had an ashamed look on his face and I walked away. I had a similar conversation with a girl who finished eating something and dropped the wrappers on the ground.
Mentally defeated, physically sore, and with an ear ache I walked home. I sat down frustrated by what seems to be a lack of knowledge of basic appropriate conduct on the parts of both the students and educators. Changing something that appears to me as a problem that others don't see as a problem is going to be challenging. If they don't see it as a problem then why would they want to change it?
In 6th and 3rd grade the students have to take national exams and they ended on Thursday so assuming they pass there's nothing left to do this year. December 6th is the official end of the school year but there hasn't been all that much productive going on since about November 6th. Since graduating 6th grade and moving on to 7th grade is likely to be the last time a child will graduate it is a much bigger deal here. They have a graduation/award ceremony at the school and then a school-sponsored brai for the graduates.
Yesterday my school canceled classes in order to allow all of the educators and principal to go to the brai event. I guess it is sort of understandable since they are usually so understaffed but this is still something that shouldn't be happening; apparently the education of the R-5 doesn't matter.
When we graduated 6th grade, the teachers said, "it was nice having you this year, good luck in Junior High, and enjoy your summer". Maybe my family had a beginning of summer barbecue at my house to celebrate the beginning of vacation, but nothing else. I'm not disappointed, it just wasn't that big of a deal for me.
Transport to and from school events usually was provided by a big, boxy, yellow bus; not in South Africa. Since all students are within walking distance of the schools there is not need for regular transportation so they rented some khumvies. Khumvies are shared taxis that run on specific routes and drop you of near your destination--I have to walk about a half mile from where I get off the khumvi to where I live--they are usually overcrowded and people are getting on and off along the way. Khumvies are 15-passenger vans that are usually rusty and look/sound like they're about to fall apart. These khumvies were extremely nice both inside and out.
One of the educators told me to pick a khumvi and get in since we would be leaving soon. So I got in the nicest looking one. I soon found out that the reason they asked me to get in a khumvi is because they didn't want to! I climbed into the passenger side seat and the 13 children were in the back screaming, shouting and whistling at this really high pitched tone that was piercing my eardrums so I decided to see what was playing on the stereo. There were more speakers than seats in the vehicle so when I turned it up it was blasting clubbing music. The khumvi erupted into a dance party that caused it to bounce up and down; this continued all the way until we got to the grocery store then we opened the doors and the party moved to the parking lot.
The students went in and got bought a ton of sugary drinks and snacks and then we were on our way again. After about 10 minutes of relative calm--the music was still shaking my body to the core--while they ate, they began dancing again; I felt like I was in a low rider with hydraulics bouncing me up and down.
After waiting at the gates of the recreation center for a half hour we finally got through the gates at about 10 am.and then the students rushed to the pool for about 5 hours of swimming before the brai was ready. The male teachers went over to the brai pit to start the fire for cooking the meat; less than three minutes into the process the senior teacher had already popped open a beer and began drinking. Other volunteers told us about this in our training but I thought to myself, "no, my educators wouldn't do this"; I obviously overestimated them. They finished cooking the meat by 11:30 so flies had a full 2.5 hours to crawl all over it before the food was to be served. At about 12:30 they called the students over and fed them bologna sandwiches to fill them up before serving the meat at 2:00.
I was showing one female educator who is about my age what an American $5 bill looked like and then she chose to pocket the money. Then some of the other educators started ragging on me and saying "oh you're married now because you gave her labola (a gift, usually money or cattle , to the father of the bride from the groom's family)". Even my principal chimed in with, "oh you do make a cute couple". I voiced my concern to the Head of Department with the behavior of the entire faculty including her and she gave me the usual lip service and she said "no, this shouldn't be happening, it's inappropriate" then resumed laughing at the whole situation. This type of behavior was extremely unprofessional, especially coming from a principal. If this were in the U.S. there would have been considered harassment and probably have resulted in a law suit in which several people lost their jobs; however, this isn't America. Since the situation wasn't dissolving I just said told the educator that I wasn't going to renovate her classroom as part of my project. My money was quickly returned.
At about 5pm they started gathering the children up so that we could board the khumvies. The educators had bagged up some suckers, chips, and fruit as another present for the students. They were eating these while drinking cold drink (soda/pop) from styrofoam cups; I watched as one by one they dropped wrapper after wrapper, cup after cup and bag after bag on the ground. I am not terrible shocked but the fact that they do it so casually is sickening. I walked around and told them to pick it up and surprisingly they complied even when I told them to pick up garbage that didn't belong to them. I addressed the issue too late so I had to pick up the remainder of the trash up after the kids had gotten on the khumvies just so I could clear my conscience.
The senior educator who had started drinking early was hammered at this point and he was the one that drove. I told him that I think he shouldn't drive because he was obviously unfit. Culturally it might not have been my place to tell him such a thing but I said the same thing to a guy who had an opened bottle between his legs at 10 am when he gave me a ride to the bus stop. The next time I saw the guy he was waiting for the bus stop because he and his car were arrested because he was caught driving drunk.
I climbed back into the khumvi to the same loud music with a little less bouncing because the students had gotten a little tired from the day. We were cruising along and I thought we were going to get home without interruption. The driver got a call, we didn't take pictures, so we pulled into the same grocery store parking lot and the kids again poured out and started dancing again. Since students rarely get a chance to have someone to take their picture--they call it "shooting" so when I walk around with my camera they are always yelling "shoot me! shoot me!"--this was very important. So important that all 53 of them had to have their picture taken alone, alone with a special pose, and then with a friend. After another 45 minutes and a group picture we boarded the khumvies again.
I am not sure if it is genetic, learned, or contagious, but it seems that all rural South Africans like to dance. It was rush hour on the way back so we got stuck at a 4-way stop and slowly crawled to the intersection. The whole way people stopped what they were doing, whether it was selling fruit, carrying groceries, or just walking home they came out in the street and started dancing. It was kind of crazy how much of an impact music has on them.
Finally we arrived back at the school, half deaf with my whole body aching from the constant vibration caused by the music. All the kids were standing around talking and dancing again and they had thrown their trash everywhere. The khumvi drivers also threw all of the trash out the door that the students left on there; although it was littering, it made sense since they made a mess of his khumvi so he returned the favor by making a mess of their yard. I had a bunch of the students clean most of it up but then they stopped listening to me. One of the other educators who I think they all feared shouted at them and they promptly cleaned the rest of it up.
On the walk home I saw a boy with his pants down just peeing on the school yard. I asked the boy "Would you pee in your front yard? How would you like it if someone else came to your house and peed in your yard?". He had an ashamed look on his face and I walked away. I had a similar conversation with a girl who finished eating something and dropped the wrappers on the ground.
Mentally defeated, physically sore, and with an ear ache I walked home. I sat down frustrated by what seems to be a lack of knowledge of basic appropriate conduct on the parts of both the students and educators. Changing something that appears to me as a problem that others don't see as a problem is going to be challenging. If they don't see it as a problem then why would they want to change it?
Sunday, November 16, 2008
No Plans?!
My principal and I met with the planning board the Thursday before last to see about the future of the building that was in terrible condition that needs to be renovated in order to assign the educators to the classrooms. I found out that despite the condition of the building it was not scheduled to be worked on until 2012ish (They are still working on projects that are dated for 2005). They informed me that they do not have any drawings for the school since it was built during Apartheid by the Ndebele Government; this is understandable. Usually they would hire a consulting firm to come in and do the drawings but there is no funding for it and it would be best to do it myself; what?! They suggested that we set up a meeting with them and the Circuit Manager who is in charge of all of the schools in my area. We immediately went over to the circuit office to schedule a meeting and the manager wasn't in so we left a note with the administrative assistant to have him call us.
Since nobody in the Department of Education seems to like to follow up with anything, I asked my principal to call and follow up with him if she hadn't heard from him by Monday afternoon. I asked her about it on Monday to see if anything was set up; not surprisingly she hadn't followed up with him. She called and the result of the conversation was that we should call a week from Tuesday to set up an appointment since exams would be over by then. I voiced my concern with her-in private and calmly-about the absurdity of that request. She seemed like she was intent on heeding to the request so I resigned myself to the fact that it wasn't going to happen like I wished/thought it should.
I spent the rest of Monday through Wednesday following up with the principals about the parks project I'm working on. Not surprisingly, they hadn't gotten anything done either. By Wednesday night the idea that I had to wait until Tuesday to even SCHEDULE a meeting had me at my wits end. I decided that I doubted the circuit manager was completely unavailable so I decided to call him myself the next morning.
At 8:00 am on Thursday I called the circuit manager on his cell phone and he said he was tied up most of the day with exams but he would meet with me at 4:30. I knew he would have time to talk to me and I have a feeling that the principal never talked to him directly. Lesson learned: if you don't give someone the message yourself then it probably won't get to them and if it does, the message will be misinterpreted. I was extremely relieved because I felt like I could claim I accomplished something last week.
I went over to my school and took pictures of the horrible state of the buildings so I could show them to the circuit manager. I talked to each of the educators to collect any additional concerns to further my case. Since my principal wasn't there I couldn't communicate this to her to prevent her from feeling like I went behind her back again.
After 6.5 hours of painstaking waiting I finally went over for the meeting. Since we share the same last name (My South African name is Jabulani Skosana) I walked into his office and greeted him with "Skosana!" to which he replied the same way. After some small talk we started talking about what I wanted. I described the condition of my school while showing the pictures I took to him on my camera; as I had hoped, his jaw dropped!
Unfortunately, his wife called because she locked the steering wheel by turning it before putting the keys into the ignition. After 20 minutes of back and forth calls and then spending 10 minutes locating someone who he could send to help her we resumed our conversation.
I showed him the document that explained why educators should be assigned to their own classrooms and the schedule that I had arranged that would allow it to work and he was impressed. Then he showed me a document that confirmed my school would not be serviced anytime soon and informed me that there weren't any drawings of any of the schools properties or buildings in the office. This left me greatly disappointed and not very surprised. The more that I think of it, the more I suspect that some people just aren't doing their job.
I do have an old to-scale drawing that I'm going to use as a reference for the property size and am going to do the rest from scratch. Hopefully the Planning Office will let me use their computers to draw the buildings in AutoCAD. Even better, I am going to see if they'll buy me a copy of the program that I can use on my computer and give them any drawings I do related to the project.
In the meantime, I have begun doing surveying of Mnyamana's property and buildings with the intention of creating the drawings myself and finding private funding for the renovation. Fortunately the buildings are very basic so my degree in architectural engineering and minimal experience with building construction have provided me with enough expertise to do it. I am actually very excited that this is going to be more challenging because I will get to use more of what I learned and it will give me an opportunity to teach the learners about doing construction projects before moving on to the much larger parks project.
Since nobody in the Department of Education seems to like to follow up with anything, I asked my principal to call and follow up with him if she hadn't heard from him by Monday afternoon. I asked her about it on Monday to see if anything was set up; not surprisingly she hadn't followed up with him. She called and the result of the conversation was that we should call a week from Tuesday to set up an appointment since exams would be over by then. I voiced my concern with her-in private and calmly-about the absurdity of that request. She seemed like she was intent on heeding to the request so I resigned myself to the fact that it wasn't going to happen like I wished/thought it should.
I spent the rest of Monday through Wednesday following up with the principals about the parks project I'm working on. Not surprisingly, they hadn't gotten anything done either. By Wednesday night the idea that I had to wait until Tuesday to even SCHEDULE a meeting had me at my wits end. I decided that I doubted the circuit manager was completely unavailable so I decided to call him myself the next morning.
At 8:00 am on Thursday I called the circuit manager on his cell phone and he said he was tied up most of the day with exams but he would meet with me at 4:30. I knew he would have time to talk to me and I have a feeling that the principal never talked to him directly. Lesson learned: if you don't give someone the message yourself then it probably won't get to them and if it does, the message will be misinterpreted. I was extremely relieved because I felt like I could claim I accomplished something last week.
I went over to my school and took pictures of the horrible state of the buildings so I could show them to the circuit manager. I talked to each of the educators to collect any additional concerns to further my case. Since my principal wasn't there I couldn't communicate this to her to prevent her from feeling like I went behind her back again.
After 6.5 hours of painstaking waiting I finally went over for the meeting. Since we share the same last name (My South African name is Jabulani Skosana) I walked into his office and greeted him with "Skosana!" to which he replied the same way. After some small talk we started talking about what I wanted. I described the condition of my school while showing the pictures I took to him on my camera; as I had hoped, his jaw dropped!
Unfortunately, his wife called because she locked the steering wheel by turning it before putting the keys into the ignition. After 20 minutes of back and forth calls and then spending 10 minutes locating someone who he could send to help her we resumed our conversation.
I showed him the document that explained why educators should be assigned to their own classrooms and the schedule that I had arranged that would allow it to work and he was impressed. Then he showed me a document that confirmed my school would not be serviced anytime soon and informed me that there weren't any drawings of any of the schools properties or buildings in the office. This left me greatly disappointed and not very surprised. The more that I think of it, the more I suspect that some people just aren't doing their job.
I do have an old to-scale drawing that I'm going to use as a reference for the property size and am going to do the rest from scratch. Hopefully the Planning Office will let me use their computers to draw the buildings in AutoCAD. Even better, I am going to see if they'll buy me a copy of the program that I can use on my computer and give them any drawings I do related to the project.
In the meantime, I have begun doing surveying of Mnyamana's property and buildings with the intention of creating the drawings myself and finding private funding for the renovation. Fortunately the buildings are very basic so my degree in architectural engineering and minimal experience with building construction have provided me with enough expertise to do it. I am actually very excited that this is going to be more challenging because I will get to use more of what I learned and it will give me an opportunity to teach the learners about doing construction projects before moving on to the much larger parks project.
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
The U.S. Elections
This election season I gained a sense of how detached from the rest of the world some parts of Africa are. I have been able to vote in only 2 presidential elections in my life and I was in developing countries during both.
During the 2004 elections I was studying abroad at Middle East Technical University in Ankara, Turkey. Everywhere I went I found stickers that said "Gelme Bush" (don't come Bush). They didn't particularly like him then and they didn't want him to come to the NATO Summit that was held there in June of that year. Everywhere I went, as soon as someone pegged me as American, the first thing they said was "Bush or Kerry?".
During this election season I found myself abroad again only in a different country on a different continent. Unless I was in a government office or at a school I would rarely hear anyone ask me who I was voting for. The piece of news that was being broadcast on every major news outlet worldwide and the people seemed totally oblivious or indifferent on the subject. At first this seemed odd but the more I thought about it it makes perfect sense.
Most people here don't have anything above local programming, not everyone watches the news, and very very few people read the newspaper; so how would they even find out about what is going on? They don't get the news, their friends don't get the news; if they don't talk to anyone else, where are they going to get this information? The biggest concern in most households is, whether or not they are going to be able to feed their family this week. Why would they think about whether or not the person elected in a foreign country has a sound economic plan or foreign policy?
The difference is a lack of information about events outside the immediate area. In 2004 I was in a highly resourced university full of highly-educated professors and students with aspirations to become doctors, engineers, and educators. This year I am in a poorly resourced rural village where an overwhelming portion of the adult population did not graduate from high school and kids are more concerned with what happened on "Generations" than they are in how world events impact their lives.
Today I found out that Barack Obama was officially the president-elect at 11:30 EST (6:30 am South Africa time) via a CNN Breaking News e-mail. Thanks to the internet I knew at about the same time as the rest of America. A large portion of South Africa lacks access to the internet which I access through my cell phone. However, many people here have phones with internet access which they appear to use mostly for downloading music, videos, and ring tones; How many of them were using it to find out the results of the most significant election of this century? I would wager not too many.
I was asked if I was happy at the results of the election today only by my parents, principal, a Department of Education executive, and a few teachers. But really, other than whether or not I am happy with the outcome of the election, how many people in my village really care who won?
During the 2004 elections I was studying abroad at Middle East Technical University in Ankara, Turkey. Everywhere I went I found stickers that said "Gelme Bush" (don't come Bush). They didn't particularly like him then and they didn't want him to come to the NATO Summit that was held there in June of that year. Everywhere I went, as soon as someone pegged me as American, the first thing they said was "Bush or Kerry?".
During this election season I found myself abroad again only in a different country on a different continent. Unless I was in a government office or at a school I would rarely hear anyone ask me who I was voting for. The piece of news that was being broadcast on every major news outlet worldwide and the people seemed totally oblivious or indifferent on the subject. At first this seemed odd but the more I thought about it it makes perfect sense.
Most people here don't have anything above local programming, not everyone watches the news, and very very few people read the newspaper; so how would they even find out about what is going on? They don't get the news, their friends don't get the news; if they don't talk to anyone else, where are they going to get this information? The biggest concern in most households is, whether or not they are going to be able to feed their family this week. Why would they think about whether or not the person elected in a foreign country has a sound economic plan or foreign policy?
The difference is a lack of information about events outside the immediate area. In 2004 I was in a highly resourced university full of highly-educated professors and students with aspirations to become doctors, engineers, and educators. This year I am in a poorly resourced rural village where an overwhelming portion of the adult population did not graduate from high school and kids are more concerned with what happened on "Generations" than they are in how world events impact their lives.
Today I found out that Barack Obama was officially the president-elect at 11:30 EST (6:30 am South Africa time) via a CNN Breaking News e-mail. Thanks to the internet I knew at about the same time as the rest of America. A large portion of South Africa lacks access to the internet which I access through my cell phone. However, many people here have phones with internet access which they appear to use mostly for downloading music, videos, and ring tones; How many of them were using it to find out the results of the most significant election of this century? I would wager not too many.
I was asked if I was happy at the results of the election today only by my parents, principal, a Department of Education executive, and a few teachers. But really, other than whether or not I am happy with the outcome of the election, how many people in my village really care who won?
Thursday, October 30, 2008
My Second Project
I have started my second project which is to construct a park/playground/sports field on every campus of the 6 schools (2 high school, 4 primary). I have experienced nothing but success on this project and haven't been presented with any real challenges.
I spoke with the Chief and he said he will grant me permission to use the land (because it is tribal land I need his permission) if I get letters of support from the principals of each school. They have given me verbal support but they need to have their School Governing Body (SGB) approve the measure before writing a letter. They will also provide me with a list of what they want on their campus (i.e., types of sports fields, park structures, what size playground) so designing will be much easier. Since I want to expose the children to as many new sports as possible I am going to encourage them to diversify so they don't all have a soccer field; one principal has expressed interest in a cricket field.
Since I would like my projects that are being done for the community to be done by the community I have recruited 11 students to help me. The team is mixed-gender (6 boys, 5 girls) drawing 4 from one school and 7 from the other to give them the experience of working on this type of team because it is what they are going to encounter in the workplace. Having a design team works four-fold: I will gain experience leading a team on a project; the students will learn how to do a project and work on multiple other important life skills; the work load will be spread out; and the community will see it as some of their own stepping up and improving their community instead of an outsider coming in and giving them something.
I met with the 4-person team on Tuesday and the 7-person team today. During the first meeting, I introduced myself and then I gave them a presentation on how to run a project; this was very important since none of them had ever done a project before. I did a much better job with the second presentation (practice makes perfect) because I involved an activity requiring the students, plus two faculty, to follow the procedure I was explaining to them and apply it to a garbage clean-up project. They seemed to enjoy it a lot and I think it made the whole thing a lot clearer. Then I introduced them to the design process and how that works and how it ties into the project that we are doing. We finished the session by applying the design process to planning what will be constructed at their school. As they were leaving I thanked them for coming out to the meeting and joining the design team. One of the students said, "No, we should be the ones thanking you. You came all the way here and you are helping us improve ourselves and our community". That was the nicest thing I've heard someone say to me since I've been here. It was a refreshing change to people asking me for money.
I am going to bring them together for the first time tomorrow so we can figure out the strategy we are going to use to complete this project. I am going to suggest half of them do the designing and planning of three schools and the other half do the other three. I can see some flaws with this strategy (i.e. having to design the structures twice), so I am hoping that they will think about it and come up with a better suggestion. Most students here don't question their teachers but I have faith in these ones that they will.
I know that this project will succeed because there is so much support and desire for it to happen. I am sure that we are going to encounter some challenges along the way but we shall prevail. Hopefully on top of having pride in contributing to their community the students will have learned a lot which can only benefit them at university and in life. Maybe I will have created an army of 11 community service-oriented leaders who can help me with other projects and take the reins on their own initiatives.
I spoke with the Chief and he said he will grant me permission to use the land (because it is tribal land I need his permission) if I get letters of support from the principals of each school. They have given me verbal support but they need to have their School Governing Body (SGB) approve the measure before writing a letter. They will also provide me with a list of what they want on their campus (i.e., types of sports fields, park structures, what size playground) so designing will be much easier. Since I want to expose the children to as many new sports as possible I am going to encourage them to diversify so they don't all have a soccer field; one principal has expressed interest in a cricket field.
Since I would like my projects that are being done for the community to be done by the community I have recruited 11 students to help me. The team is mixed-gender (6 boys, 5 girls) drawing 4 from one school and 7 from the other to give them the experience of working on this type of team because it is what they are going to encounter in the workplace. Having a design team works four-fold: I will gain experience leading a team on a project; the students will learn how to do a project and work on multiple other important life skills; the work load will be spread out; and the community will see it as some of their own stepping up and improving their community instead of an outsider coming in and giving them something.
I met with the 4-person team on Tuesday and the 7-person team today. During the first meeting, I introduced myself and then I gave them a presentation on how to run a project; this was very important since none of them had ever done a project before. I did a much better job with the second presentation (practice makes perfect) because I involved an activity requiring the students, plus two faculty, to follow the procedure I was explaining to them and apply it to a garbage clean-up project. They seemed to enjoy it a lot and I think it made the whole thing a lot clearer. Then I introduced them to the design process and how that works and how it ties into the project that we are doing. We finished the session by applying the design process to planning what will be constructed at their school. As they were leaving I thanked them for coming out to the meeting and joining the design team. One of the students said, "No, we should be the ones thanking you. You came all the way here and you are helping us improve ourselves and our community". That was the nicest thing I've heard someone say to me since I've been here. It was a refreshing change to people asking me for money.
I am going to bring them together for the first time tomorrow so we can figure out the strategy we are going to use to complete this project. I am going to suggest half of them do the designing and planning of three schools and the other half do the other three. I can see some flaws with this strategy (i.e. having to design the structures twice), so I am hoping that they will think about it and come up with a better suggestion. Most students here don't question their teachers but I have faith in these ones that they will.
I know that this project will succeed because there is so much support and desire for it to happen. I am sure that we are going to encounter some challenges along the way but we shall prevail. Hopefully on top of having pride in contributing to their community the students will have learned a lot which can only benefit them at university and in life. Maybe I will have created an army of 11 community service-oriented leaders who can help me with other projects and take the reins on their own initiatives.
Thursday, October 23, 2008
My First Project
My first project started at the beginning of last week. I was talking with the counterpart who I was co-teaching with about some of the problems he was having controlling his students. I told him that they are so unfocused and unwilling to do the work because they sit in the same class all day and only get a break during lunch. He was also complaining that there was no room in the faculty room since it is also shared with the Head of Department (HoD), the principal, and the clerk. I noticed that educators were always late and unprepared. They wouldn’t have the right materials or a “duster” and would have to wait for a student to go get one from the faculty room and office. I had always thought that the educators should remain in the same room and the students should move but now was the time to propose the idea since I had plenty of reasons why it would be a good idea.
I wrote a 5-page proposal last week Monday night and presented it to my counterpart and he took a whole day to read it and examine it. The next day he told me how much he liked it and that we should move forward with it. I asked the HoD how to approach it and she agreed with getting the support of all the educators before approaching the principal since the idea had been shot down before. I made copies with the last page having an “I agree with the contents of this document” section where the educators signed. I had all of the signatures by yesterday afternoon and was ready to go talk to the principal.
Yesterday she called me into the office and was disturbed. She felt that I kind of went behind her back in showing the entire faculty before even approaching her. I had planned on presenting it to her at a School Management Team (SMT) meeting; the SMT is composed of the HoD from Foundation Phase (R-3) and Intermediate Phase (4-6) and the principal. The Foundation Phase HoD said the idea had been shot down before so it would be good to get the signatures before presenting it to her. My father had always told me, “Don’t come to me with a problem unless you have a possible solution to work with”, so I figured a proposal with faculty support would make it even more convincing.
Well, she didn’t think so. She requested that I present it to the SMT, like I had already planned anyways. After about an hour discussion we all agreed that it was an excellent idea and are planning on trying the student movement in November before the end of the year and a 6-month trial run at the beginning of next year. I was kind of confused when she said we “can see which one works better”. I was thinking to myself, “You mean the proposed one that works in every school in which it is used? Or the dysfunctional one that is now in place?”. Hopefully the transition goes smoothly so that there is no doubt that this is going to work. I was very encouraged when my counterpart said to me with assertion, "It will work".
There are also two other parts I added to the proposal which will improve its functioning overall. The educators will be assigned to teach subjects that they are qualified to teach. This will mean the educator knows the material well and will do a better job of teaching it since they are more enthusiastic about the subject. This will be determined at a faculty meeting tomorrow after school and at very latest Monday afternoon.
The other change will be to switch from 9 half hour periods per day to 3 one hour and 1 hour and a half period so the students will only have at most 4 subjects of homework due a night and will only have to move 3 times a day. Also, a longer period allows for more teaching time. 10 minutes of settling down at the beginning of the period would mean every class would have 50 minutes of teaching. The other option is 40 minutes of teaching in 2 20-minute sessions which makes holding discussions after presenting notes difficult. After the subjects are assigned I will be working up a possible schedule that will be used during the November trial run. I believe there will also be many other projects that will arise from this change too.
Last night our office was broken into which is actually convenient. It showed that the office isn't as secure as everyone thought and gave me an opportunity to show the police commissioner that our school needs some serious renovation. Unfortunately, most people in South Africa watch a soap opera called "Generations" instead of CSI or Law and Order so they cleaned up the rooms before they could be examined thus contaminating the crime scene. Now, hopefully, the Department of Education will be more willing to deliver on the renovations that they promised. If not, the school will have to resort to taking them to court like all of the other area schools do. If only they would do their job then there wouldn't be so many problems.
I wrote a 5-page proposal last week Monday night and presented it to my counterpart and he took a whole day to read it and examine it. The next day he told me how much he liked it and that we should move forward with it. I asked the HoD how to approach it and she agreed with getting the support of all the educators before approaching the principal since the idea had been shot down before. I made copies with the last page having an “I agree with the contents of this document” section where the educators signed. I had all of the signatures by yesterday afternoon and was ready to go talk to the principal.
Yesterday she called me into the office and was disturbed. She felt that I kind of went behind her back in showing the entire faculty before even approaching her. I had planned on presenting it to her at a School Management Team (SMT) meeting; the SMT is composed of the HoD from Foundation Phase (R-3) and Intermediate Phase (4-6) and the principal. The Foundation Phase HoD said the idea had been shot down before so it would be good to get the signatures before presenting it to her. My father had always told me, “Don’t come to me with a problem unless you have a possible solution to work with”, so I figured a proposal with faculty support would make it even more convincing.
Well, she didn’t think so. She requested that I present it to the SMT, like I had already planned anyways. After about an hour discussion we all agreed that it was an excellent idea and are planning on trying the student movement in November before the end of the year and a 6-month trial run at the beginning of next year. I was kind of confused when she said we “can see which one works better”. I was thinking to myself, “You mean the proposed one that works in every school in which it is used? Or the dysfunctional one that is now in place?”. Hopefully the transition goes smoothly so that there is no doubt that this is going to work. I was very encouraged when my counterpart said to me with assertion, "It will work".
There are also two other parts I added to the proposal which will improve its functioning overall. The educators will be assigned to teach subjects that they are qualified to teach. This will mean the educator knows the material well and will do a better job of teaching it since they are more enthusiastic about the subject. This will be determined at a faculty meeting tomorrow after school and at very latest Monday afternoon.
The other change will be to switch from 9 half hour periods per day to 3 one hour and 1 hour and a half period so the students will only have at most 4 subjects of homework due a night and will only have to move 3 times a day. Also, a longer period allows for more teaching time. 10 minutes of settling down at the beginning of the period would mean every class would have 50 minutes of teaching. The other option is 40 minutes of teaching in 2 20-minute sessions which makes holding discussions after presenting notes difficult. After the subjects are assigned I will be working up a possible schedule that will be used during the November trial run. I believe there will also be many other projects that will arise from this change too.
Last night our office was broken into which is actually convenient. It showed that the office isn't as secure as everyone thought and gave me an opportunity to show the police commissioner that our school needs some serious renovation. Unfortunately, most people in South Africa watch a soap opera called "Generations" instead of CSI or Law and Order so they cleaned up the rooms before they could be examined thus contaminating the crime scene. Now, hopefully, the Department of Education will be more willing to deliver on the renovations that they promised. If not, the school will have to resort to taking them to court like all of the other area schools do. If only they would do their job then there wouldn't be so many problems.
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
My Village
No shock here but I am the only white person who lives in my village. I am becoming better known but I still get looks of awe, shock, and sometimes hostility. These are all turned into satisfaction after I explain who I am, where I’m from, and why I’m here all in isiNdebele.
When I walk down the street, children who don’t know me shout, “khuwa! Khuwa!” (means “white person” or “European”); I am not sure if they are intrigued or if they are alerting their parents of the danger I present to them. The children who know me from school or just from me introducing myself to them shout, “Jabu!” (shortened version of my name, “Jabulani”). This gives me a sense of satisfaction that kids know me and are happy to see me. However, this semi-celebrity status requires me to look every single child in the eyes and shout, “yebo!” (means “yes” and is the response to hello) or give them a thumbs up; doesn’t matter if there is one child 5 feet away or 20 children 500 feet away. The most disheartening thing is when a young child starts bawling because they are terrified at the site of me; I can understand why since they have probably never been approached by a white person before.
This daily experience makes me empathize with celebrities who live their entire lives like this. It is nice to be recognized and welcomed but greeting everyone becomes tiresome and more than doubles the amount of time it takes me to get from one place to another.
A huge part of South African culture is Ubuntu, meaning “people”, which places much more emphasis on people than on getting things done. As a result, things often take a lot longer to get done. This is why, no matter if I’m late, I am obligated to acknowledge everyone. Since it seems to make everyone’s day a little better I will continue to do it.
Since I have plenty of free time in the afternoon and on weekends I take that time to walk around and talk to people. I say hello to everyone who bothers to make eye contact with me. If the person recognizes me or wants to talk to me I’ll sit down with them for a while. These conversations have resulted in meeting some interesting people who I think will prove to be valuable resources in the near future. I talked to a group of 4 old men who were sitting on some wooden benches surrounded by a fence made from corrugated tin roofing material. One spoke only Sotho and another was so drunk from utjwala (I advise against this), the traditional South African beer, that he kept falling off the bench; I was unable to communicate with either. One of the men belonged to my host father’s church and all 4 were landscapers. On top of finding out more about my village, I convinced one of the men to talk to his supplier to see about getting trees donated for a park project. Talking to everyone has also resulted in meeting a well-respected police trainee, the director of an orphaned child organization, and two men who coach a boys’ soccer team and might help me start a league or a boy’s club.
It makes me wonder, how different would life in America be like if we would just take a little more time to stop and get to know our neighbors?
Thursday, October 16, 2008
My Home
My room was supposed to be ready, fully furnished with a bed, wardrobe, table, and two chairs when I arrived at my site on September 12th. For the first 3 weeks I was staying in a room with a wardrobe I couldn’t use and a bed that was loaned to me by my principal. The branch of the Department of Education that was responsible for delivering them told me on 5 different days that my furniture would be coming so I stayed home those days and the furniture never came. They never called me to tell me it wasn’t coming that day so I wasted that time waiting that could have been put to much better use. They finally delivered the furniture 2 weeks ago while I wasn’t here. I returned home and they had only delivered a bed and a broken wardrobe. I called them about the missing chairs and table and they said they “forgot” to order them and they “were working on it”. I also mentioned that the wardrobe leg was broken. I realized they would never come to fix the broken leg so on Saturday I flipped the wardrobe over and fixed it myself. I went to pick up my wardrobe key on Monday to ask them about the table and chairs they were supposed to provide for me. They told me, “oh, yeah, the schools are supposed to provide those to you. So since the school is part of the Department of Education, by extension, the Department of Education is providing you with a table and two chairs”. Then they called my supervisor at my village and the table and chairs were delivered to me the next day.
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Swearing-In Ceremony
After 8 weeks of training I finally got to swear-in and now I am officially a volunteer with the U.S. Peace Corps!!! It was a bittersweet farewell. I was leaving my first home in South Africa to start afresh in another place. It actually kind of felt like graduating from high school and then going to a junior college only it happened faster. I graduated, there was a short celebration, then I was swept off to where I was going to spend the next two years of my life only an hour and a half away from home.
U.S. Ambassador Bost attended the ceremony and gave an excellent congratulatory speech/warning lecture and then had to leave promptly due to a crisis with a U.S. citizen in-country. He said how honorable it was to "give up" two years of our lives to volunteer and how much more valuable that is than money. Then he reminded us that we represented the United States of America and that we are all U.S. ambassadors; he followed that up by pointing out that he is the big ambassador and we are just tiny ambassadors. He stressed many times throughout the speech that we are here serving our country so our country will protect us if something goes wrong. The main point he was driving home was "DON'T MESS UP!". Then he left.
The rest of the ceremony was filled with speeches by the volunteers in the languages they learned, traditional song and dance, and then a feast of traditional food. I took a few pictures with my beloved Ndebele group and then said goodbye to my trainers and then my supervisor whisked me away to my site.
U.S. Ambassador Bost attended the ceremony and gave an excellent congratulatory speech/warning lecture and then had to leave promptly due to a crisis with a U.S. citizen in-country. He said how honorable it was to "give up" two years of our lives to volunteer and how much more valuable that is than money. Then he reminded us that we represented the United States of America and that we are all U.S. ambassadors; he followed that up by pointing out that he is the big ambassador and we are just tiny ambassadors. He stressed many times throughout the speech that we are here serving our country so our country will protect us if something goes wrong. The main point he was driving home was "DON'T MESS UP!". Then he left.
The rest of the ceremony was filled with speeches by the volunteers in the languages they learned, traditional song and dance, and then a feast of traditional food. I took a few pictures with my beloved Ndebele group and then said goodbye to my trainers and then my supervisor whisked me away to my site.
On the Death of Jonas Mnguni
I stayed at Jonas Mnguni's house for the first 8 weeks of my stay in South Africa. He was born in 1935 on a rural farm in South Africa. He helped raise 3 children while growing vegetables and livestock. I was born in 1983 in the U.S. and I traveled thousands of miles from my home to help improve a South African village and its schools. We were from two totally different times and worlds.
He spent most of his days while I was there sitting in the tin shack behind the house where they maintained a fire so that they would always have hot water. I would return from my classes at the end of the day and find him sitting in the corner of the smoke-filled shack and greet him by removing my hat and saying "Lotjhani". In their culture, you show respect for a man by removing your hat when entering his home. It really didn't seem like much to me but my host sister said her father told her that he really appreciated it because he could tell I understand his culture and respect him.
To spend time with him I would enter the shack and find him sitting in a chair, barely moving with his eyes glazed over from the smoke. I would sit on one of the homemade straw mats, not out of respect but because my eyes would dry out and start burning. I would try to use some of my new vocab by saying "Ninjani?", "Ngilambile" ("How are you?", "I'm hungry"). Although it was menial, if he wasn't impressed he was at least amused.
One night I decided to grill chicken on that fire in the shack for the family. He sat there the whole time not saying much, just watching. We (98 year-old grandma, mother, father, sister, two brothers) were sitting around the fire and I wanted to try to flex my isiNdebele skills so I said "Ngibawa Ngifuna Fakwa" because the I needed a dish cloth to remove a pot from the fire. The first time I said it, no one responded. I said it two more times to no response. So I asked "can I have a dishcloth please?". "Fakwa" when said with my American accent sounded like "Phaka" (pronounced "Paga") which means "Everybody, please put in" (confusing thing to say to a bunch of people sitting around a fire). My sister Betty, who speaks the best English of them all pointed out that I meant to say "faduku" meaning "dish cloth" and explained what I was trying to say in isiNdebele. I have never seen my father or any of them laugh that hard for that long over my linguistic blunder. I couldn't tell if I was crying from the laughter, the smoke, or the onions I just cut. It was one of those odd moments where I realized how unique this situation was and how lucky I am to be here.
At the beginning I noticed how his health seemed to be declining and he seemed to be getting sicker. I asked Betty if he was okay and she would just reply with "he has the flu". "Has the flu" is code for being having any illness ranging from a cold to being about to die. He would go to the clinic and get a "vaccination" and then be chipper and moving around well but then he'd get sick again soon after. Due to his continuous decline in health, I was not surprised when I got the news that he died neither was I particularly saddened.
On the day before the funeral they slaughtered a bull to be eaten at the gathering following the burial the next day. They explained that when an Ndebele man dies they kill a bull and a cow when a woman dies. They cornered it in a small pen and then wrapped a rope around its head then tightly around a post until the bull could barely move. The experienced elder took a small knife and thrust it into the back of its head right below the base of the skull severing the spine. The bull fell to its knees as they slit it's throat. It laid on the ground thrashing and struggling to breathe and it made me wonder if that is what it is like to die slowly of a sickness. Just sitting around waiting for your body to give in. As they slaughtered it using a variety of knives and axes I had a quick thought of how uncivilized it seemed. Then I quickly realized that the only difference between having a steak dinner in honor of someone's death and this is that they do the dirty work. The way that the men from the village came together to slaughter the cow was an amazing display of tradition.
The funeral was the next day and began with a lot of chanting, singing, and readings from the bible at the house. We proceeded to the graveyard for the burial and then there was more chanting, singing, reading, and family and important people saying a few words about him. Since I am not a blood relative and just moved to the community I was shocked when they asked me to say a few words. I spoke about how different we were and how grateful I was that he let me live at his house for a while and hoped that he would be looked after in the after-life. Those few words were more significant than I realized since the master of ceremonies approached me later and told me he was trying his hardest not to cry.
After all words were said and songs were sung they lowered the body into the grave, my host mom, a slew of other people, and I dropped the ceremonious handful of dirt into the grave. I was shocked to see that instead of everyone leaving right then all of the able-bodied men in the community used shovels and filled the grave in with the dirt and then piled rocks on top; it made it seem much more like the community had lost a family member, not just my host family. Then we silently left the graveyard and walked back to the house and cleansed our hands on the way into the front gate to cleanse ourselves from the ceremony. I did not cry at the ceremony or at the reception that followed. I was looking forward to leaving since we were attending a farewell function at the college that I was missing the beginning.
I arrived shortly before they began the celebration. We sang the South African and American National Anthems and then the volunteers stood up front for a singing of "Shosholoza", which is the story of South Africans coming together to support their team in sporting events. A strange thing happened during the song. The whole week I had returned from site I would tell people who offered their condolences that I was fine since I wasn't shocked that he had died. In the middle of the song I started to get teary-eyed and had to sit down. I cried a little after that which I found odd since I never cry at funerals and I didn't think I had bonded with him as much. I'm not sure if I had grown closer to him than I expected or if I had a better understanding of death as an adult.
Certificates of appreciation were being passed out and everybody was happy and enjoying the moment. When my family was announced I solemnly stood up and said that my family was unable to attend since they were at my father's funeral and then sat down. One of the language trainers asked everyone to stand up and we bowed our heads and we honored Jonas with a moment of silence. I appreciated that gesture and I think it was the last bit of closure that I needed.
May he rest in peace.
He spent most of his days while I was there sitting in the tin shack behind the house where they maintained a fire so that they would always have hot water. I would return from my classes at the end of the day and find him sitting in the corner of the smoke-filled shack and greet him by removing my hat and saying "Lotjhani". In their culture, you show respect for a man by removing your hat when entering his home. It really didn't seem like much to me but my host sister said her father told her that he really appreciated it because he could tell I understand his culture and respect him.
To spend time with him I would enter the shack and find him sitting in a chair, barely moving with his eyes glazed over from the smoke. I would sit on one of the homemade straw mats, not out of respect but because my eyes would dry out and start burning. I would try to use some of my new vocab by saying "Ninjani?", "Ngilambile" ("How are you?", "I'm hungry"). Although it was menial, if he wasn't impressed he was at least amused.
One night I decided to grill chicken on that fire in the shack for the family. He sat there the whole time not saying much, just watching. We (98 year-old grandma, mother, father, sister, two brothers) were sitting around the fire and I wanted to try to flex my isiNdebele skills so I said "Ngibawa Ngifuna Fakwa" because the I needed a dish cloth to remove a pot from the fire. The first time I said it, no one responded. I said it two more times to no response. So I asked "can I have a dishcloth please?". "Fakwa" when said with my American accent sounded like "Phaka" (pronounced "Paga") which means "Everybody, please put in" (confusing thing to say to a bunch of people sitting around a fire). My sister Betty, who speaks the best English of them all pointed out that I meant to say "faduku" meaning "dish cloth" and explained what I was trying to say in isiNdebele. I have never seen my father or any of them laugh that hard for that long over my linguistic blunder. I couldn't tell if I was crying from the laughter, the smoke, or the onions I just cut. It was one of those odd moments where I realized how unique this situation was and how lucky I am to be here.
At the beginning I noticed how his health seemed to be declining and he seemed to be getting sicker. I asked Betty if he was okay and she would just reply with "he has the flu". "Has the flu" is code for being having any illness ranging from a cold to being about to die. He would go to the clinic and get a "vaccination" and then be chipper and moving around well but then he'd get sick again soon after. Due to his continuous decline in health, I was not surprised when I got the news that he died neither was I particularly saddened.
On the day before the funeral they slaughtered a bull to be eaten at the gathering following the burial the next day. They explained that when an Ndebele man dies they kill a bull and a cow when a woman dies. They cornered it in a small pen and then wrapped a rope around its head then tightly around a post until the bull could barely move. The experienced elder took a small knife and thrust it into the back of its head right below the base of the skull severing the spine. The bull fell to its knees as they slit it's throat. It laid on the ground thrashing and struggling to breathe and it made me wonder if that is what it is like to die slowly of a sickness. Just sitting around waiting for your body to give in. As they slaughtered it using a variety of knives and axes I had a quick thought of how uncivilized it seemed. Then I quickly realized that the only difference between having a steak dinner in honor of someone's death and this is that they do the dirty work. The way that the men from the village came together to slaughter the cow was an amazing display of tradition.
The funeral was the next day and began with a lot of chanting, singing, and readings from the bible at the house. We proceeded to the graveyard for the burial and then there was more chanting, singing, reading, and family and important people saying a few words about him. Since I am not a blood relative and just moved to the community I was shocked when they asked me to say a few words. I spoke about how different we were and how grateful I was that he let me live at his house for a while and hoped that he would be looked after in the after-life. Those few words were more significant than I realized since the master of ceremonies approached me later and told me he was trying his hardest not to cry.
After all words were said and songs were sung they lowered the body into the grave, my host mom, a slew of other people, and I dropped the ceremonious handful of dirt into the grave. I was shocked to see that instead of everyone leaving right then all of the able-bodied men in the community used shovels and filled the grave in with the dirt and then piled rocks on top; it made it seem much more like the community had lost a family member, not just my host family. Then we silently left the graveyard and walked back to the house and cleansed our hands on the way into the front gate to cleanse ourselves from the ceremony. I did not cry at the ceremony or at the reception that followed. I was looking forward to leaving since we were attending a farewell function at the college that I was missing the beginning.
I arrived shortly before they began the celebration. We sang the South African and American National Anthems and then the volunteers stood up front for a singing of "Shosholoza", which is the story of South Africans coming together to support their team in sporting events. A strange thing happened during the song. The whole week I had returned from site I would tell people who offered their condolences that I was fine since I wasn't shocked that he had died. In the middle of the song I started to get teary-eyed and had to sit down. I cried a little after that which I found odd since I never cry at funerals and I didn't think I had bonded with him as much. I'm not sure if I had grown closer to him than I expected or if I had a better understanding of death as an adult.
Certificates of appreciation were being passed out and everybody was happy and enjoying the moment. When my family was announced I solemnly stood up and said that my family was unable to attend since they were at my father's funeral and then sat down. One of the language trainers asked everyone to stand up and we bowed our heads and we honored Jonas with a moment of silence. I appreciated that gesture and I think it was the last bit of closure that I needed.
May he rest in peace.
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Returned for Site Visit, on to Swearing-in
I just got back from my site visit and I am extremely excited to get back there after swearing-in next week. My new family consists of a mother and father, both in their early 50s and a 24 year-old brother. They are all businesspeople and excited to be hosting me for the next two years. I will move back in with them and begin my 3-month “Cultural Integration” period at my permanent site immediately after swearing-in.
I will be splitting my time between two primary schools and one teacher’s college in the Mpumalanga province. I can see my first school from my yard and am a 5-minute walk from my other school.
My first school has kids in the grades R-6 (R is the same as kindergarten) and has very few resources. The classrooms are falling apart, the administration is crammed into one room, and lunch is prepared in a tin shack. They have plans to start a community garden to provide food for the school and are waiting for the Department of Education to build an Administration Building. The principal said the most important thing to her was starting a community library. The obstacles to overcome are going to be getting books and making sure that there is a literate population who will use and appreciate the resources provided by it.
My second school is also R-6 but it is much richer in resources. By February 2009 they will have a brand new library, computer lab, kitchen, and flush toilets. The big projects the principal of this school would like me to do are training the teachers in using computers, incorporating them into their classes, and organizing their new library. I attended a workshop on map reading put on by the Mpumalanga Department of Education with some faculty from this school. The material was at about a 4th grade level but quite a few of the teachers were having difficulty with it. I ended up co-teaching the workshop since the instructor was having difficulty explaining a certain concept. The workshop leader and attendees requested that I return for part II and III of the workshop to help.
The fourth part of my assignment will be working on community development. My supervisor has noted that major problems include: alcohol abuse, illiteracy, unemployment, and a lack of afterschool/out-of-school programming for youth. After surveying the village I have a few ideas to address these problems.
Since arriving in South Africa I have not found a place other than a game reserve that was not covered with trash. People drop garbage on the ground immediately when they are done using it no matter where they are. When neighborhoods are kept clean, people take more pride in their community and crime tends to decrease. Working with the Municipal Department I hope to create a culture of garbage collection and treatment that the community will embrace. On top of cleaning up the village, jobs will be created addressing the unemployment problem.
There is a large tract of land that is littered with trash and is criss-crossed with footpaths that is surrounded by houses. Many children and young adults are playing in their individual yards but avoid this area. I would like to find community members who are interested in turning this into a public park. By cleaning up this space, the village will be provided with a place to hold community events and activities and children will have somewhere to play together.
I know there are people at my village who a desire to change the community but I have not been able to locate them yet. My neighbor is a teacher who teaches in the community but attends church in another village. He gave me a list of great ideas that he has never shared with anyone so they have just remained ideas. He has the connections and potential to make great things happen but hasn’t taken the initiative to make them happen. I think the underlying problem is that they don’t know how to turn ideas into initiatives that get results.
During my visit I was given a lot of glares by the black community since they probably assumed I was an Afrikaaner. As soon as I said “Lotjhani…”(hello…) their suspicious looks turned to smiles since they were happy that I was learning their language. I found it interesting because that is opposite of my experience in America where a lot of Americans expect people to speak English well and get frustrated when they don’t.
Sadly, while I was away at my site visit I found out that my training home stay father had died. Immediately when I returned I was moved to a new home stay where I will stay for the remainder of my training.
On Friday I have my language evaluation, Saturday is the funeral for my father, and then swearing-in is next Friday. This has been a very stressful emotionally draining set of weeks. I will be settled-in in two weeks time and look forward to providing you more information on my progress.
I will be splitting my time between two primary schools and one teacher’s college in the Mpumalanga province. I can see my first school from my yard and am a 5-minute walk from my other school.
My first school has kids in the grades R-6 (R is the same as kindergarten) and has very few resources. The classrooms are falling apart, the administration is crammed into one room, and lunch is prepared in a tin shack. They have plans to start a community garden to provide food for the school and are waiting for the Department of Education to build an Administration Building. The principal said the most important thing to her was starting a community library. The obstacles to overcome are going to be getting books and making sure that there is a literate population who will use and appreciate the resources provided by it.
My second school is also R-6 but it is much richer in resources. By February 2009 they will have a brand new library, computer lab, kitchen, and flush toilets. The big projects the principal of this school would like me to do are training the teachers in using computers, incorporating them into their classes, and organizing their new library. I attended a workshop on map reading put on by the Mpumalanga Department of Education with some faculty from this school. The material was at about a 4th grade level but quite a few of the teachers were having difficulty with it. I ended up co-teaching the workshop since the instructor was having difficulty explaining a certain concept. The workshop leader and attendees requested that I return for part II and III of the workshop to help.
The fourth part of my assignment will be working on community development. My supervisor has noted that major problems include: alcohol abuse, illiteracy, unemployment, and a lack of afterschool/out-of-school programming for youth. After surveying the village I have a few ideas to address these problems.
Since arriving in South Africa I have not found a place other than a game reserve that was not covered with trash. People drop garbage on the ground immediately when they are done using it no matter where they are. When neighborhoods are kept clean, people take more pride in their community and crime tends to decrease. Working with the Municipal Department I hope to create a culture of garbage collection and treatment that the community will embrace. On top of cleaning up the village, jobs will be created addressing the unemployment problem.
There is a large tract of land that is littered with trash and is criss-crossed with footpaths that is surrounded by houses. Many children and young adults are playing in their individual yards but avoid this area. I would like to find community members who are interested in turning this into a public park. By cleaning up this space, the village will be provided with a place to hold community events and activities and children will have somewhere to play together.
I know there are people at my village who a desire to change the community but I have not been able to locate them yet. My neighbor is a teacher who teaches in the community but attends church in another village. He gave me a list of great ideas that he has never shared with anyone so they have just remained ideas. He has the connections and potential to make great things happen but hasn’t taken the initiative to make them happen. I think the underlying problem is that they don’t know how to turn ideas into initiatives that get results.
During my visit I was given a lot of glares by the black community since they probably assumed I was an Afrikaaner. As soon as I said “Lotjhani…”(hello…) their suspicious looks turned to smiles since they were happy that I was learning their language. I found it interesting because that is opposite of my experience in America where a lot of Americans expect people to speak English well and get frustrated when they don’t.
Sadly, while I was away at my site visit I found out that my training home stay father had died. Immediately when I returned I was moved to a new home stay where I will stay for the remainder of my training.
On Friday I have my language evaluation, Saturday is the funeral for my father, and then swearing-in is next Friday. This has been a very stressful emotionally draining set of weeks. I will be settled-in in two weeks time and look forward to providing you more information on my progress.
Saturday, August 9, 2008
One Month into Pre-service Training
I am about one month into my training and am having an amazing experience. Everyday I tell myself how lucky I am to be able to do this since so few other people will ever get a chance.
I moved into my training homestay about 3 weeks ago and have had to do some adjusting. I share the house with a 40 year-old sister, 29 year-old brother, mom and dad in their 70s and a 98 year-old grandmother. Since day one they have treated me as if I were one of their own.
It is interesting to see how their relationship with each other is. For the most part, they seem to be more traditional in the way they grow and live. The father is the patriarch, the women do most of the house chores and several generations of the family live under the same roof. Women live with their family until they get married and then they move in with their husbands family and the oldest male takes control of the family and house when the father dies. Women seem to live longer which probably has to do with the men leading riskier lifestyles. In America we don't always live near/with each other, don't maintain traditional gender roles, and don't always take responsibility to take care of our parents in the traditional way of moving them into our houses. Neither one is right or wrong, they're just different.
On the first day I moved into my house there were 4 kids that were awaiting my arrival. They were extremely interested in talking to me; I think it was because I was the first American/white person they had interacted with up close. Either way I am enjoying the exchanges I've been having with them. Everyone seems to love playing cards and at first I was shocked at how no one knew about them. Then I realized that playing cards are a European tradition and I shouldn't be surprised that they were never integrated into their culture.
They have been sharing a lot of their culture with me and I have been sharing a lot of the things I do in the U.S. and food I eat with them. It seems that they have a much more clearly defined culture. They believe that you shouldn't cut your hair at night nor go outside. They were shocked when I freely walked from my house to a fellow trainees house when it was dark; I have not pinpointed why yet but have just accepted it. I am trying to figure out what defines American culture and my culture but have not quite figured it out yet.
This past week I was teaching at a local high school with four other volunteers and we all discovered that the effects of Bantu education are blaringly obvious. The teachers tell the students the information and don't encourage participation so the students aren't learning just memorizing and the teachers aren't really teaching. A lot of the teachers are teaching because it is a job, not because they have a passion for teaching. They often aren't qualified for their jobs since they haven't had formal training and are not knowledgeable in their subject areas. A lot of them don't even plan their lessons and just read from the textbook and wing it. Teachers often leave their classes unattended and sit the lounge or don't even show up. As a result other people have to cover their classes for them. I taught a class about earthquakes and volcanoes on a whim from a textbook because a teacher felt that she had other more important things to do. I was given the opportunity to plan and teach two lessons on car loans and savings accounts to a 12th grade class. I incorporated group work and related it to real life situations to help them understand the importance of what I was teaching them. It was like pulling teeth to get the students to participate because they were never asked to do that. After two days they finally started to open up and get involved in the lesson which shows promise for the future.
I don't mean to paint an ugly picture but the education system needs a lot of work and I am honored to be a part of the process of change. I see a lot of potential in the people and am grateful that I get to share my knowledge of America and the world with them. Not surprisingly, they think America is a bed of roses and everyone is rich. They are shocked to find out that most of the divides and problems they are experiencing we also are experiencing in America. They aren't informed of the true America just like how the media and other people paint a picture of only poverty and war in Africa. I am looking forward to sharing everything I find out with you as I learn more.
My permanent assignment is going to be in the Mpumalanga Province and I am classified as a secondary math teacher. In two weeks I find out my permanent site. and in five weeks I will begin my 3 month survey of the site before I start doing some work.
I am learning IsIndebele as my language which I will be using when I move to my permanent site in September. Until next time, hope everyone is doing well. I'll try and keep you updated.
I moved into my training homestay about 3 weeks ago and have had to do some adjusting. I share the house with a 40 year-old sister, 29 year-old brother, mom and dad in their 70s and a 98 year-old grandmother. Since day one they have treated me as if I were one of their own.
It is interesting to see how their relationship with each other is. For the most part, they seem to be more traditional in the way they grow and live. The father is the patriarch, the women do most of the house chores and several generations of the family live under the same roof. Women live with their family until they get married and then they move in with their husbands family and the oldest male takes control of the family and house when the father dies. Women seem to live longer which probably has to do with the men leading riskier lifestyles. In America we don't always live near/with each other, don't maintain traditional gender roles, and don't always take responsibility to take care of our parents in the traditional way of moving them into our houses. Neither one is right or wrong, they're just different.
On the first day I moved into my house there were 4 kids that were awaiting my arrival. They were extremely interested in talking to me; I think it was because I was the first American/white person they had interacted with up close. Either way I am enjoying the exchanges I've been having with them. Everyone seems to love playing cards and at first I was shocked at how no one knew about them. Then I realized that playing cards are a European tradition and I shouldn't be surprised that they were never integrated into their culture.
They have been sharing a lot of their culture with me and I have been sharing a lot of the things I do in the U.S. and food I eat with them. It seems that they have a much more clearly defined culture. They believe that you shouldn't cut your hair at night nor go outside. They were shocked when I freely walked from my house to a fellow trainees house when it was dark; I have not pinpointed why yet but have just accepted it. I am trying to figure out what defines American culture and my culture but have not quite figured it out yet.
This past week I was teaching at a local high school with four other volunteers and we all discovered that the effects of Bantu education are blaringly obvious. The teachers tell the students the information and don't encourage participation so the students aren't learning just memorizing and the teachers aren't really teaching. A lot of the teachers are teaching because it is a job, not because they have a passion for teaching. They often aren't qualified for their jobs since they haven't had formal training and are not knowledgeable in their subject areas. A lot of them don't even plan their lessons and just read from the textbook and wing it. Teachers often leave their classes unattended and sit the lounge or don't even show up. As a result other people have to cover their classes for them. I taught a class about earthquakes and volcanoes on a whim from a textbook because a teacher felt that she had other more important things to do. I was given the opportunity to plan and teach two lessons on car loans and savings accounts to a 12th grade class. I incorporated group work and related it to real life situations to help them understand the importance of what I was teaching them. It was like pulling teeth to get the students to participate because they were never asked to do that. After two days they finally started to open up and get involved in the lesson which shows promise for the future.
I don't mean to paint an ugly picture but the education system needs a lot of work and I am honored to be a part of the process of change. I see a lot of potential in the people and am grateful that I get to share my knowledge of America and the world with them. Not surprisingly, they think America is a bed of roses and everyone is rich. They are shocked to find out that most of the divides and problems they are experiencing we also are experiencing in America. They aren't informed of the true America just like how the media and other people paint a picture of only poverty and war in Africa. I am looking forward to sharing everything I find out with you as I learn more.
My permanent assignment is going to be in the Mpumalanga Province and I am classified as a secondary math teacher. In two weeks I find out my permanent site. and in five weeks I will begin my 3 month survey of the site before I start doing some work.
I am learning IsIndebele as my language which I will be using when I move to my permanent site in September. Until next time, hope everyone is doing well. I'll try and keep you updated.
Monday, July 14, 2008
First Post/Last Post until the end of Pre-Departure Orientation Training (PDOT)
Today is July 14th and is the official end of my PDOT. I have already received all of the shots completed the training that I need to board the plane for South Africa.
When I found out that I had to go through PDOT I was a little stressed out since I had already gone through the grueling process of applying, interviewing, obtaining all of my clearances, and accepting the invitation; this was one more obstacle to overcome before reaching South Africa to become a Peace Corps Volunteer (PCV).
I was surprised when I found orientation extremely helpful. I learned what the Peace Corps (PC) was really about which confirmed my original beliefs. We also spent a large amount of time getting to know ourselves and our fellow Peace Corps Trainees (PCT). We discussed how the PC compared to other volunteer or National Government Organizations (NGOs). Through this discussion I confirmed that I was best qualified for the PC and it was the best fit for me. We did several activities that seemed silly at the time but in retrospect were very helpful in exploring our pre-conceived notions and how close they were to actual truth.
One of the most fun activities we did was at the end of the training which was called "Staging Capstone". In this activity we were told to select a group that we felt we related to the best: dancing, acting, artists, storytellering, music/poetry, and writing. Each group was given a slip of paper that told us what part of our training we had to represent through our form of expression; I chose music/poetry. Our group was required to define what we thought was the best way to integrate/gain acceptance with/from a community. Our presentation groups consisted of five PCT choosing a different beat to create through clapping, humming or some other form of soundmaking. The other groups seemed to appreciate our work. After seeing all of th.e PCT groups make their presentations I was in awe by their creativity .
At 6:30 this morning I will be checking out of my hotel and leaving for a government position we must have all of our passports. I look forward to the great new things that I will be or at least feel qualified for.
I feel somewhat prepared (due to the ambiguity of the provided by the customer we don't know exactly to expect. All I know is that we will be removed from American culture to break us of all of the things that we feel are necessities.
By 5:40 I shall have boarded the plane and be on my way to my new destination! During this time I hope to learn a ton of information about the cultural norms and begining my integration into South African communities. Sinc the PC is trying to break us of our addiction to communication comforts that have become a major part of American culture, we are not allowed to use cell phones in the hotel or at any time during PDT to talk to them. The only letters I have ever written have been college related. It will be approximately 3 months before I reach my site and can continue adding to this blog.
I look forward to setting foot in South Africa on Tuesday and am excited to share my experiences as soon as I get a chance!
When I found out that I had to go through PDOT I was a little stressed out since I had already gone through the grueling process of applying, interviewing, obtaining all of my clearances, and accepting the invitation; this was one more obstacle to overcome before reaching South Africa to become a Peace Corps Volunteer (PCV).
I was surprised when I found orientation extremely helpful. I learned what the Peace Corps (PC) was really about which confirmed my original beliefs. We also spent a large amount of time getting to know ourselves and our fellow Peace Corps Trainees (PCT). We discussed how the PC compared to other volunteer or National Government Organizations (NGOs). Through this discussion I confirmed that I was best qualified for the PC and it was the best fit for me. We did several activities that seemed silly at the time but in retrospect were very helpful in exploring our pre-conceived notions and how close they were to actual truth.
One of the most fun activities we did was at the end of the training which was called "Staging Capstone". In this activity we were told to select a group that we felt we related to the best: dancing, acting, artists, storytellering, music/poetry, and writing. Each group was given a slip of paper that told us what part of our training we had to represent through our form of expression; I chose music/poetry. Our group was required to define what we thought was the best way to integrate/gain acceptance with/from a community. Our presentation groups consisted of five PCT choosing a different beat to create through clapping, humming or some other form of soundmaking. The other groups seemed to appreciate our work. After seeing all of th.e PCT groups make their presentations I was in awe by their creativity .
At 6:30 this morning I will be checking out of my hotel and leaving for a government position we must have all of our passports. I look forward to the great new things that I will be or at least feel qualified for.
I feel somewhat prepared (due to the ambiguity of the provided by the customer we don't know exactly to expect. All I know is that we will be removed from American culture to break us of all of the things that we feel are necessities.
By 5:40 I shall have boarded the plane and be on my way to my new destination! During this time I hope to learn a ton of information about the cultural norms and begining my integration into South African communities. Sinc the PC is trying to break us of our addiction to communication comforts that have become a major part of American culture, we are not allowed to use cell phones in the hotel or at any time during PDT to talk to them. The only letters I have ever written have been college related. It will be approximately 3 months before I reach my site and can continue adding to this blog.
I look forward to setting foot in South Africa on Tuesday and am excited to share my experiences as soon as I get a chance!
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