Salani Kakuhle, South Africa!

Is it that time already? My time in South Africa has come to an end.  How do you say good bye to a place where you've invested time and love, and received memories that will last a lifetime?

I must thank UNCW for their SACHL Project/ Fulbright-Hayes scholarship. Without the partnership between UNCW and CFIE, this trip would not have been possible.  

CFIE and UNCW educators, and women from the Institute of the Blind

Now, I have an incredible insight into the culture of the South African people.  These experiences will allow me to share that culture with others; educators and students, family and friends, and anyone else who is willing to listen!

I'm excited to create and implement lesson plans for my students - the challenge to see if I can replicate the South African culture in my US classroom.  I've learned about a few of the tribes -mainly Zulu and Xhosa, to include their history, language, and culture.  Especially their culture!

A typical township neighborhood

Knowing the hardships many have endured, mostly due to the lasting effects of Apartheid.  I have seen the repercussions of that on today's South African learners and how they still live in townships dominated by poverty and a government that is slow to come to the aid of so many families. South Africa needs help, not just with monetary, physical items in peoples' homes, but with a higher level of education.  All the issues from updated school buildings, smaller classroom sizes, better educated teachers, modern technology, sanitary conditions, more books and school supplies. There is much to be done.  In the meantime, I applaud the teachers and principals for their strength, perseverance, spirit, and most importantly, their love for their learners.

South Africa is a beautiful place with beautiful people. But their struggle is real. If I ever return, I hope I can see improvements in the way children learn. As Nelson Mandela said "Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world."

Thank you South Africa, for opening my eyes and helping me see the world on a larger scale and to appreciate the similarities and the differences in people far from home.

Salani kakuhle!

Hugs, Songs, and an Awesome Farewell!

Who would have guessed "Bayworld" in Port Elizabeth would be such a fascinating place!

Xhosa beading on display at Bayworld

We started our day with a beautiful walk along the shore on Mandela Bay to Baywatch, not sure what to expect. It turns out it is an amazing education center/museum! It had classrooms to educate learners ages pre-school through 8th grade. There was a realistic dinosaur display, reptile house (I felt like I was in a Harry Potter movie), and history of Port Elizabeth.  There were incredible displays of beading by the Xhosa people. We had to leave far too soon!

We headed to Emafini for our final visit.  Due to the time, we were not able to teach today, but I had time to say goodbye to the beautiful teachers I worked with and give final hugs to those sweet kids.

These teachers are amazing singers!

The staff had a farewell program to honor our visit and to let us know how much they appreciated all that we did. Looking back, all the time we have given made such a difference to so many children.
We had a final Xhosa lesson with Ron, bless him for his patience with us! I learned more than I realized as I've been able to use words and phrases with the learners and other people around town.
We finished the day with a braai (BBQ) at the principal of Emafini's house.  Their family was so warm and friendly, lots of delicious food, and and best of all was being in a home and around a family again.  One of his daughters was excited we were there and kept us entertained! The other, older daughter had just purchased her traditional Xhosa clothing, so we could see how the "modern teens" wore their traditional clothes. Beading and color! That was the common thread from one generation to the next. It was a wonderful way to end an amazing, memorable time in Port Elizabeth.  

Saying goodbye at Emafini

Emafini, Grey Academy, Kapa, and Northern Lights! (Whew!)

Beginning the day with music and movement at Emafini

We have had a busy week going to a variety of schools!
Here's a recap of this week's adventures...
I love how teachers at Emafini bring music and movement into their classroom! I worked with two different first grade teachers, so it kept me on my toes learning the new routines and watching for the variety of teaching styles. One teacher, Ms. Popo, teaches in a "container" (a small, individual building) with 31 learners. Ms. Makati teaches in a regular classroom and has 40+ learners. Since her room is much larger, Ms. Makati is blessed to have enough room that she can have a reading corner.  I was able to do small reading groups with her students. Ms. Popo's classroom is so crowded she said the only way she can have a reading corner is to move the learners' desks outside so she has space. When she does read-alouds, children sit on chairs and desks to get as near to her as possible. But as most teachers know, you do what you gotta do with what you have!
Ms. Popo has her learners begin the day with lots of songs with movement.  She knows they are cold from their walk to school and wants to warm them up before beginning her lessons. Windows are open to keep germs at bay, so it is cold in there, but soon all their little bodies warm the place up. I was able to teach a math lesson involving fast mental addition and she now owns my set of flash cards.

Grey Junior Academy has a wonderful computer lab

Later in the week we were fortunate to visit three more schools. One was the prestigious, beautiful Grey Academy Boys' School.  It is state owned, but families pay 90% of their budget, knowing the school can offer more extra curricular activities and up to date facilities than most other schools. We were treated to a concert by their junior band, which was fabulous!



Afterwards we went to a township elementary school, Kama Primary.  The contrast between the two schools is simply astounding. I know we have schools of varying socio-economic levels in the US, but to see these back to back in the same day made a strong impression on me.

Students at Kama Primary shaking hands to say hello

It truly shows that money can buy better education. The children at Kapa were delighted to see us! They were on break when we arrived, so we were able to go right out and say hello.  They ran through the field shouting "Americans!" and soon most of the learners were running to greet us and shake hands- again, many "Molo's!" were being said.  :)   As break time ended, we visited classrooms. Some had 67 children! Bless those teachers!  We had fun entering a classroom, introducing ourselves, and suddenly finding our selves singing "Head, shoulders, knees and toes" or the "Hokey Pokey" with them. They may not have supplies or money, but they were loving and cheerful!
The third school we visited this week was Northern Lights, a school for children with special needs. It was the most calm school, filled with loving teachers and students. Each grade has its own classroom, and there were rooms for speech and physical therapy.  We visited a few classrooms,then the learners went outside for break time. We were able to sing and talk with them until it was time for us to go. I spent time with first graders, and their favorite song was "If You're Happy and You Know It". It was such a warm, loving experience!

Students from Northern  Lights

What Have I Observed? Differences in Education

There are a million different teaching styles in this world, and and that holds true here in South Africa. One of the main reasons I am here is to interact with other teachers and see how they teach. Our team has been here for three weeks and that has given me quite a few opportunities to see how they do it here!
This week I divided up my time at Emafini between two first grade classrooms. To date, I have visited with one fourth grade classroom and four first grade classrooms.
So the big question is... what have I observed?
Where to begin?! First of all, there is no grade level Kindergarten, so learners in first grade are essentially Kindergartners. I had brought various lesson plans along, activities and books, and was not able to use most of them. Not just because the learning level was lower, but because of the language barrier. That is another large difference here. (Huge, in fact!)  Before coming here, we were told the children spoke in their native tongue. But that did not really hit me until I was in the classrooms listening to the teachers and students speak Xhosa. (It definitely gives me a new perspective on ESL learners.)

She said "Welcome Teacher Lara! Call me Popo."

Luckily for me, the teachers know English fairly well, and they have been teaching their learners some English throughout this school year. As I helped the teacher, I found myself being very quiet and pointing at children's papers to get my point across.
 Music and movement is used more often than the classrooms I have been in in the US. I think we tend to associate music and movement with younger children, more in the preschool classrooms.  As our students move up through the grades, the music and movement is not as common. In three of the classrooms I've been in, the teacher and students loved showing what they can sing! I would be treated to song after song, all in Xhosa. Sometimes they would also sing it in English - then they would quiet a bit and listen to me to sing to verify the words.
I was astounded at how many children are squeezed into a classroom!

There are 31 learners in this "container".

I used to grumble about 23 students. Here, a classroom half the size of mine holds 30+ learners. Desks are lined from wall to wall with just enough room to wiggle into a chair. Not all children have their own desk - many share desks.  They are more of a table since there is no storage space inside. Personal items stay in their backpacks and hang on the backs of their chairs. Most classrooms had no place for children to gather on a main carpet unless they moved desks out of the way and put down carpet squares (One class did this!)
Just as space is limited, so are supplies.  Teachers are given chalk, and students are given math, Xhosa, and English workbooks, plus a composition book. Teachers follow the lessons in these workbooks- there you have it, instant lesson plans; I found that to be a surprising difference.

She is lucky- she has a pencil sharpener.

Crayons are rarely used, pencils are like gold, and sharpeners are even more scarce.I was sad to see students with stubby, chewed on pencils. I finally came to realize it is part of teaching them responsibility and caring for what their family buys them. If a child has a pencil pouch it contains a small pencil sharpened on both ends and maybe a bit of eraser. If children do not have a pencil, they wait their turn to share a pencil. If the lead breaks, a few lucky children pull out a small sharpener and stand by the trash bin to sharpen it.  Compare that with what we see in our students' pencil boxes...
 For wall displays, there were numerous teaching posters on the wall, in both English and Xhosa, so even though the rooms are small, they are colorful! Another huge difference is that there is no internet (thieves have stolen the wiring so often it will not be replaced) and none of the classrooms had any form of a computer. That would definitely cramp my teaching style! But these teachers use what manipulatives they have and depend more on verbal explanation to get their ideas across.

These first graders are sweeping their classroom

Students here are expected to clean their campus.  It is common to see them washing windows and sweeping floors.  They also carry the hot lunches to the classrooms. Oh, and there is no heat. Just open a window and keep that fresh air flowing! (Yes, it is winter and it is cold.  Everyone just keeps their jackets on.) They are definitely saving money on their electric bill.

Young men are washing windows

This young man is delivering lunch to the first graders. They eat in their room.

Books were another big difference I noticed. I love literacy and tying books into the lessons I teach. My students have access to my classroom library and I expect them to have one or two books in their desks to read as they finish their work. Literacy here is on a different level. Teachers do read-alouds using the state mandated skill-based readers. Those readers are what make up the classroom library. (There is a library on campus, and when a parent volunteer is there, students can borrow a book.) If I had known how few books were available, I would have traded out the crayons and pencils I brought to share and only brought books!

Emafini's library with a volunteer librarian

Friday Attitude Check

Today started with cold torrential rains and wind as we ate breakfast.

It is hard to be motivated to leave home in that kind of weather - especially on a Friday! But amidst grumbles  about the rain, we loaded into our van and away we went.  The rain had stopped by the time we got to Emafini, and that was a blessing!

Such happy smiles really warm my heart!

I went to work with a different 1st grade teacher today, Ms.Vivi, and the excitement of being in a new classroom with a new group of learners made the morning fly by. I was able to teach math and English literacy to these first grade cuties.
After a morning of proud smiles, songs, and hugs, learners and teachers headed home, ready for the weekend! Our group of teachers left much happier than when we arrived.
Kids will do that to you, no matter where you are in this big, wide world!





To finish off our day's adventures, we went with Emafini's principal, Mr. McKay, to Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University's satellite campus at Missionvale. They were proudly opening the new Education building.  Principals, education students, and teachers from around the community (and the world!) were asked to provide input to increasing community involvement at the university. It was refreshing to hear people also talk about how to improve schools.  Just to be given a chance to speak your opinion is empowering. Again, that spirit of ubuntu resonates!

NMMU's Missionvale's new education building

Grahamstown: "Inkcubeko Nenaldo"

Dr. Michelle Cocks, Rhodes U.

We today was a busy day! (I think all my days are this way!!)

We left Port Elizabeth at 7:00am for the picturesque, two hour journey to Grahamstown.
 We arrived at the beautiful campus of Rhodes University where we met with one of the authors of "Voices of the Forest" at the Anthropology Department. How cool is that! (We studied that book as we prepared for our adventure to South Africa.) Dr. Michelle Cocks gave us a presentation on Bio-cultural Diversity, and we learned about how the Xhosa culture relies on the forest to maintain their cultural and religious beliefs.  But with Apartheid, the Xhosa people were placed in townships, far away from the forest.  This has taken a toll on how they are able to uphold their cultural beliefs.



Next, we traveled to Nombulelo Secondary School.  We sat in on a 10th grade class' lecture on South African biomes, delivered by Mr.Mluleki Nkosi.

Did you know South Africa has nine different biomes? And six of them are near Grahamstown! Some of them I heard of before, but some were new to me.  I learn something new every day!









We went with Mr.Nkosi to Dassie Krantz Forest.  We traveled to the top of an enormous hill overlooking Grahamstown. Students from Nombulelo joined us, too. Vegetation was sparse, there were rocks all over, and it was crazy windy... we couldn't figure out where the forest was!

Heading down into the forest

Then we ducked down into the brush Brer Rabbit style and found ourselves out of the wind and delving down the hillside into a quiet, peaceful forest! There were moss covered boulders, vines, and many trees and bushes I have never seen before.

Mr.Nkosi continued teaching us about bio-cultural diversity, pulling the day together with "inkcubeko nenaldo"; being in the cultural environment.  The Xhosa believe this is how they must stay in touch with their ancestors, and the learners and teachers closed our eyes and simply focused on the sounds in the woods. It was incredibly peaceful and surreal.

Quietly appreciating nature/getting in touch with our ancestors

When we hiked back to the top and emerged into the wind, it was back to reality.
Our driver took us to an out of the way farmer's market (those are the best!!) to do a little shopping.  He swore by the meat pies, so I bought a lamb and mint one for supper. I've never had lamb before, and it was pretty good!
Tomorrow - back to work at Emafini. The learners await!

Overlooking Grahamstown

Working with Firsties in Africa!

I'm working with firsties again!
I met a wonderful first grade teacher, Nonuthado Mazantsi at Emafini yesterday.

I worked with her in her first grade class yesterday and today.  (She is one of six first grade teachers.) It was great to be with the little ones again.  :)  Here, students are called learners, and there isn't a grade level for kindergarten, so first grade is the beginning of school for kids. The majority of learning is done in Xhosa, so I only understand what is being said when the teacher translates for me.  But I get the general idea, and it is interesting to see her teaching style. First graders are the furthest from the office and are in what they call "containers". They are just individual, tiny buildings. They have electricity for lights, but the school, like most places here, do not have heat/AC. I've noticed that teaching supplies are sparse, but students work together to share what they have.

That's quite a word!

Lessons take longer than usual since learners are sharing pencils, and crayons are not a part of the day's routine like I am used to. On the flip side, because of the lack of supplies children learn patience and know to help others.

Pete the Cat lesson

I got to to do today's second language (English) lesson! I brought my favorite book, Pete the Cat, and did a read aloud/activity with them. The kids loved drawing/coloring their own Pete and choosing his shoe color.  Fun times with literacy!

She drew a great Pete the Cat - with red shoes!

Our  Carolina Forest PE teacher, Judy, stopped in and we took the children outside to do Chinese jump rope.  They loved it! We send them home soon after that, and I received a happy  chorus of "See you tomorrow Teacher!"