Good Bye my Friends

     The last day at Emafini Primary was a beautiful celebration of township teaching through songs and words that made me feel loved and appreciated.  The teacher dressed in traditional African attire sang, performed and spoke in a presentation like no other.  I will miss these educators and I am proud to call them my friends.  Did I get home sick? Yes, I missed my family, my bed, my shower, my washing machine, my car, my privacy, but I gained so much insight and learned more than I ever thought possible.  I promise to be more patient with the international teachers at our school because it is hard to be immersed in a foreign country even when the people speak English.  The accents are hard to understand.  The money is difficult to convert.  The customs are strange and the food is delicious, but not like mom would make.  As this adventure comes to a close, I look forward to sharing what I have seen and learned with my students and coworkers.  I would also like to thank the people who funded our trip and Donyell Roseboro for writing the grant for us.

Hamba kakuhle! (Go well)

Team leader for fourth grade and Kathy Fox - UNCW professor 

Level 3 teacher and Ms. Boschert

Celebration!

Student performers with recorders from Mrs. Ludwig 

Donyell Roseboro-Grant writer and miracle worker

The level 4 team

Level 1 teacher with Mrs. Ketchum and Mrs. Stilles

Bayworld-An Interesting Place to Learn

http://www.bayworld.co.za/

Bayworld opened in 1856 and it is the third oldest museum in South Africa. The aquarium included African penguins, seals, and sea turtles.  The reptile area included crocodiles, turtles and snakes.  The museum also displayed many unique Xhosa artifacts. While we were at Bayworld there were three schools touring the exhibits. Bayworld was one of my favorite places in Port Elizabeth. It was a museum and aquarium all rolled into one special place.  The best thing about Bayworld was they are committed to education and work hard to get classes from the townships into their facility.  They had great animal exhibits and interesting historical displays.  I am making plans to have my students at Carolina Forest International make artwork by reusing clean trash items.  We will then sell the items to help fund some of the projects I was introduced to in South Africa.  Bayworld is on the top of my list to support!

There She Blows- Maybe Not

If I had seen a whale this is what it would have looked like

Whale watching would be a lot more fun if we had actually seen a whale, but we did not.  We did see a playful seal throwing around his food, which happened to be a dead squid, over 300 bottle nosed dolphins, African penguins and birds.  The trip over to St. Croix Island in the Algoa Bay was calm at first and then became very choppy with water spraying everywhere.  Unbelievably I did not get seasick.  St. Croix Island is the home of many African penguins.  In fact, 43% of the African penguin population live on this island.  The tour company that took us out to "whale watch" was called Raggy Charters and they participate in many conservation endeavors. They are actively working to rid the beaches of pollution, especially plastics.  They also plant trees to help the environment and conduct penguin research to advocate for the penguins.  Because of the research of the owner of Raggy Charters Lloyd Edwards and his wife the Algoa Bay area will be made a wildlife reserve to protect the penguins. While we did not see whales and at one point I thought for sure I was going to fall out of the boat it was an enjoyable adventure.

African penguins

Lloyd and his helpers

Dolphins

More dolphins

Northern Lights

A special school for disabled children left a mark on my heart forever.  These poor children were a delight to talk to and hear as they sang.  One sweetheart will not talk, but she sings her hear out.  A high school boy got so excited and nervous to talk to American that he could barely contain himself. The facility was old and the "textbooks" were the same workbooks that they use at Emafini, but the spirit of the children  is bright and contagious.

The thought of inclusion has been discussed, but everyone that we ask talks about how it will take a long time and no one sees it as a priority.  Student testing for learning disability seems to be getting some attention, but the needs are great and the resources are few.

One of the students at Northern Lights had just started in the first grade and this was her first time in school because her parents did not know that they could send her to school.  She was eight years old and a fast learner.  In grade R, which is like Kindergarten there was one student, but he did not have a teacher so he hangs out in the library all day.  He was looking at a puzzle when we were there.

Separate, but not Equal - Part 2

We also visited Kama Primary School on the same morning as we visited Grey Junior.  The disparity between the two schools demonstrated the contrast between the two cultures that cohabit this country. Grey had fancy, posh and modern facilities and Kama was barely functioning with overcrowded classrooms and extreme poverty in every direction that you looked. The boys bathrooms were PVC pipes in the ground.  The water fountains were big plastic tubes. There were 68 students in the fourth grade classes.  Teachers controlled their students with a whipping stick.  The grounds were littered and covered with mud.  It was a sad contrast to Grey and CFIE.

Lunch ladies

Water bucket

Student would buy snacks from the ladies facing the wall in the background.

Separate and not Equal

We visited some different schools beside Emafini.  Grey's Junior School (http://www.greyjunior.co.za/) was our first school visit.  It is a beautiful school for young boys that was found in 1856.  It has approximately 800 boys from second to seventh grade.  It is a state founded school, however the parents do pay additional fees for their sons to be enrolled in the school.  they do have some student who receive finical assistance.  The grounds were immaculate with cricket, soccer and rugby fields. The buildings were well kept with new modern additions.  The student body was mostly white with a small percentage of black boys.  It was a glorious school that made me feel sorry for the poor people who have to send their children to the poor schools of their neighborhoods.  South Africa has the same problem that we have been dealing with in America for years.  The nice neighborhoods have nice highly achieving schools.  I am fortunate to live in a county where all of the students go to a nice faculty with proper bathrooms and water.  Some of the schools in  the townships that we have visited have not been so lucky.

Fifth, sixth and seventh grade band

 

Identical backpacks all in a row!

First Grade

Main building 

Language - aka "I have no idea what you just said."

Wamkelekile means Welcome!

Molweni mane ne namanenkazi, (Hello ladies and gentlemen),

As a part of  the immersion into the Xosha culture we have been learning the Xosha language. It is a beautiful and unique language that sounds like a song with interesting clicks for certain sounds.  Our instructor's name is Ron Endley and he is a patient, knowledgeable man.  He learned Xosha as a child growing up on his father's farm.  The Xosha families would come to live and work on the farm and Ron befriended the Xosha children.

It is a difficult language to learn, but the most concerning part of the language experience for me has been the accents.  Even when the Xosha people are speaking English I have a hard time understanding what they are saying.  It makes me ashamed of myself because I have often looked at our international teachers with distain because they did not seem to be understanding what I was saying.  N
ow I completely understand how they must feel when they first arrive in America. Speaking English and understanding English are two very different concepts.

Below are some of the Xosha words I have learned.  The list is small because I am not a very good student when it comes to Xosha, but ndiyazama (I am trying).

Enkosi - thank you
Molo - Hi (singular)
Molweni - Hello (plural)
Go bonnie igama locko? - What is your name?
Andiyazi - I don't know
Ewe - yes
Hayi - no
Sala kakhle - Go in peace
Heke! - Well done!
Unjani - How are you?
Ndiphilile - I am fine.

Areas in South Africa where Xosha is used.

Comparisons

Belize - San Pedro Roman Catholic School

Projects by Belizean students

Belize - More projects

Belize - Classroom - Notice the decorations

Belize - More decorations

Classroom in South Africa

Grahamstown and the Forest Visit that almost killed me

Beef jerky

An olive tree in the garden started by a high school teacher.

School Bus

High school students who went with us to the forest

The man who asked explained the importance of the forest in Xosha.

Mrs. Ketchum becoming one with the forest.

What we did:  We traveled to Grahamstown, South Africa to visit Rhodes University where we listened to a lecture about biodiversity from Michelle Cocks.  We visited a local high school and observed as a level 12 class was taught on ecosystems.  I toured the garden that the university and the science teacher have been working together to create.  Finally we hiked straight down the mountain to commune with nature in the forest.  Going down was hard because I thought I might fall, but going up was excruciating because I thought I was going to need to be airlifted up out of there.  Nothing like a hike straight up the side of a mountain to let you know how out of shape you are.

What I know:  The Xosha people believe that they can communicate with their ancestors in the forest.  They also believe in healing properties of the plants from the forest.  They make sedge mats and grass brooms to use in rituals and ceremonies.  They use fungus for cosmetic reasons and to have dreams to communicate with the ancestors.

What I think:  The Xosha people history correlates to the Native America people's history in many ways.  The Xosha people are at risk of destroying their forest by over collecting from the resources there.  Just like America the traditional customs and beliefs  are not being handed down or practiced by the younger generations.

Throughout the Month - Emafini

The principal of Emafini and the UNCW professors

Grade sizes- fourth grade has 40 students per class

Mrs. Ellis

Lunch provided by the country and cooked by student mothers

Ms. Owens

Lunch Menu

Student made poster in the life skills class

Drinking water and cleaning water

My level four learner

My South African twin!

What I did:   I was assigned to the fourth grade reading, life skills, and math class.  I observed, enjoyed the choir performance, asked questions of the teachers, donated supplies, graded papers, helped with reteaching, observed a staff meeting, and taught lessons.
What I learned:  South African learners have good memories and an amazing talent for music and rhythm.  Each student has a classwork notebook that is checked by other people to evaluate the teacher.  These notebooks are extremely important and the students are expected to be responsible with them.
What I think:  Reading the picture story The Name Jar always goes great in my class, but here it was a struggle because of language barriers.  I ended up summarizing the story and showing the pictures. American teachers work too hard.  The South African students were sent home at 1:00 p.m. so that the staff meeting could be held at 1:00 p.m. Teachers have parent teacher conferences during the day either in the classroom or outside the classroom while the students are left unattended. Children everywhere love skittles!