All Smiles Today!

As I sit in bed, I am listening to a harmonica being played on my front porch.  It’s been a good week;  KHouse is more than happy.

At the beginning of the week, Tuesday, service did not go all that well.  I basically sat in a room grading papers for about 5 hours.  I taught one class where the students were mad at me for not knowing every single person’s name.  Needless to say, I arrived home and was not in the best mood.  I decided going to bed would be the best option.

Wednesday morning, I had two classes at UWC and then a meeting with my Ethics teacher.  She wanted to meet with all the students in the class that got an A on the previous test because the class average was 18/40.  We discussed many differences between American education and African education.  It was interesting to hear how she thought the UWC students were just not trying, when we noticed that they probably were trying harder than we were.   Here, all schools are given funding on how many students they pass.   Because of this, many teachers and professors alike have lowered their standards.  If people are not motivated, they do not pass.  If teachers make the classes easier, they can pass more people.  Therefore, the school will receive more funding. With this corrupt system, it seems as if no one is very motivated so most teachers just lower their standards.  Being an education major, this was a frustrating conversation to have.  This is why so many of my students have been passed through each grade due to their age. 

My Ethics teacher, the one who I had this conversation with, is new to UWC.  She is a professor at University of Cape Town, which was established as a ‘white’ university and still remains very white and privileged today.  After a few years at UCT, she wanted more of a challenge.  She knew UWC would be a challenge, but didn’t know it would be as different as it is. She said she will not lower her standards, but she has to get some way to motivate the students.  She does need to actually pass some students.  I’m so glad there are people like her because I feel as though I should be taking on the task, I just am not quite that qualified yet….

Thursday service went extremely well.  There were 3 UWC education students at Hlengisa to do their hours of observation.  One of them was focusing on English so at first, he was observing me.  Oh how the tables have turned!!  These students really did want practice teaching, though, because their professor would be by later to observe them.  So, after one class, we decided he could just teach the English classes I had for the day.  This was a wonderful break because it gave me time to explore the school.  I’ve always been so busy; I really don’t know how anything else works besides my classes. 

I began walking around and the one teacher-friend I have made called me into her classroom.  She teaches 8^th grade math and science.  I was able to spend most of the rest of my day in 8^th grade math classes!!! Though this may sound horrific to some of you, this is like a dream come true after 3 months of English.  She was extremely frustrated with the students not understanding so finally she just said “Andrea, can you explain it?”  I couldn’t help but smile as I had three girls around me at the chalk board trying to understand how to use the variables in a word problem.  After awhile, the whole class began to understand why “Tuhli’s” age plus his brother’s age (which was half of Tuhli’s age) equaled 36.

At lunch, I sat with all the teachers outside and ate fish and chips.  Though I still can’t understand more than about 7 words spoken around me, it was great to be included with the teachers.  I’ve noticed that the key to having a good day is just not caring if you show up to all your classes or go late to any.  This sounds horrible and I have refused to accept it up until this point….but, if I am constantly on time and trying to make all of my classes, usually there are other teachers in those classes anyway.  No one really runs on any sort of strict schedule.  There really is no structure to education.  Realizing I am just a 20 year old in a township school has done me some good.  I cannot change everything and just have to try my best to change the little things I can.

Friday morning came and the whole group was off to the District 6 museum.  District 6 is a district within Cape Town that was living completely harmonious lives.  There were Catholics, Muslims, and Jews who all lived happily together.  The children all played with everyone and most people respected all holidays of each religion.  The government absolutely hated this.  “Separate but equal” was their motto.  When the apartheid laws began, this gave them a reason to end the harmony. 

Not only was this museum interesting in itself, but knowing our tour guide so well made the tour that much better.  Pearnel (our driver) lived in District 6 until he was forcibly removed at 7 years old.  He remembers everything about the experience and piling into a truck with as much as his family could fit to be moved out to the townships. The township he was placed in was completely barren.  There were no roads, no infrastructure, no schools, etc.  The only thing in the area were dormitory complexes where each family was placed in one room.  Imagine your whole family living in your college dorm!!!  I can’t..  We really can’t even imagine the things that some people call reality.  Pearnel walked through the museum, showing us pictures of the barber he used to go to, and pointing out his family name on the wall.  He reminisced and included us in his thoughts.  There were some points we were laughing and some where eyes began tearing up.  Really, knowing our ‘tour guide’ so well made all the difference.

Though this week has been very full, the next ones begin to get busier.  We now have research papers due just about every week, along with exams and projects coming up.  It’s like real school or something!!!  Finals here make up most of your entire semester grade…. Therefore, we will be in full-school mode pretty soon.

I also ordered two rugs for my library!!  They should be here in about 6-10 days.  The kids seemed excited and the teacher who has smaller kids in the library once a week seemed absolutely ecstatic.  THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart to everyone who was able to send money.   I really do have the BEST support system and I can’t wait to get back to it!!!

Lots of love from South Africa!!

Visitors and Library News

I get so caught up in life, I don’t realize how long its been since I’ve last blogged.  My mom and aunt have come and gone.  I have been on a retreat in the Eastern Cape and back.  I’ve had tests and papers, and given tests…no papers!

The week mom and Aunt Nancy were here was like living in an African paradise.  I was so incredibly blessed to stay with them every night for the week.   We stayed a block away from my house in a bed and breakfast where we all got our own rooms.  We explored Cape Town and Obs, hiked Table Mountain, went on a brewery tour, to Kirstenbosch, Old Biscuit Mill (a market in town), Hout Bay, Aquila Safari, Cape of Good Hope, Cape Point, and my service site.  The weather was absolutely amazing the entire trip, minus the day we went on safari which was rainy and cold.  It must have been quite the scene to see us three, after being left behind, basically getting our own personal game drive, cuddled in blankets and ponchos…. We were lookin good!!  Nonetheless, we had an awesome time every day.  It was rare to come across a moment when we weren’t laughing.

When they left, I was so rudely interrupted by reality.  Surprise!!  Ethics test the next day!!  After spending the entire day at Hlengisa, where the students definitely missed the visitors and were not up for learning, I was on my way to UWC for a night exam. 

Friday morning, we were out of the house by 6am and on our way to St. George’s Cathedral where Archbishop Desmond Tutu said mass for us.  We were in attendance with only one more group of students and the Templeton crew.  He had won the Templeton prize of R15 million the day before.  After snapping a few pictures, and then attending our Marquette classes for the week, we were off to a retreat at Volmoed retreat center which was about 2 hours away in Eastern Cape.  There we had a lot of free time to explore the town, but also met with John deGruchy about his book “Reconciliation: Restoring Justice.”  We discussed Christianity and reconciliation in South Africa and in the USA related to the world.

The most interesting thing we discussed was being a “global citizen” instead of an “American citizen” or “South African citizen” or even “IL citizen.”  Many of the things John described made me think of what Judy Mayotte (the MU program founder) described to us.  John focused on “Christian humanism” which he described as being a Christian and seeing everyone as a human.  This means there is no race, no nationality, and ultimately no differences.  Though we all have very different life experiences, we are all ultimately just humans.  Judy told us a similar story.  When she snuck across the Berlin Wall during the war, one of the guards told her to come with him.  After a long discussion over a beer in a random back room, he finally said to her, “why are you not afraid of me?”  Her response was, “you are a human, just like me.”  This is an extremely refreshing way of looking at the world.  I truly believe this is at the center of what we are learning during our stay in South Africa.

When we arrived home Sunday, it was time for reality again.  School, teach, school, teach, school…

This week, I have felt more “a part” of the Hlengisa community than ever.  There have been observers from UWC and the Department of Education coming and going.  Each of these visitors has been introduced to me.  I am grading all my 8^th, 9^th, and 5^th graders’ work, teaching every lesson, beginning to catch on to what I am missing the days I am not at Hlengisa, and what they really need more help with.  Wednesday night, after my MU paper was finished, I had a bit of time to make some grammar worksheets for Thursday.  The difficult part of teaching here is the different levels within one classroom.  Through there is the same issue in many classrooms at home, the students here can range (and do range) from about 14-22 in one classroom.  So, even making a short story on a worksheet was hard because of the broad age difference.

My reading club is doing extremely well.  They are all reading fluently—with a stumble here or there.  Mom and Aunt Nancy brought hundreds of “Allie the Angel” books that Mrs. Calmeyn still had.  (THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!)  On Tuesday, I handed out the books at the end of reading club because the students couldn’t wait for Thursday to start them.  I made them promise to bring them back for the lesson Thursday.  We spent all of reading club reading those books and discussing rhyming words on Thursday.  Thanks to Mrs. Calmeyn and Mom and Aunt Nancy’s 24 hour plane ride, the reading club had a mini Christmas in April.  The rest of the books will be distributed to various schools.  One girl in my house has already been using them with her 6^th grade class at Mkhanyiseli. 

I have grown closer and closer to these students each day, especially 5^th and 6^th grade.  But, its still hard being in such a different environment for so long.  I truly am missing the American education system, as a student and teacher.

THANK YOU to everyone who was able to send some money.  I found two rugs—one of the world map and one alphabet rug.  I will be ordering them this week for the library.  The kids will LOVE being able to sit and read in a more comfortable environment than just the wooden chairs and “container” floor.