Molweni!
Sorry it has been so long since I've posted. I've been really busy lately. We're in the final stretch right now, about a month until everybody leaves :(. We have reflections to write, a research report, our Capstone project, and finals, on top of service. But at the same time we're trying to spend as much time together as possible. It's a sentimental time and we don't like talking about the end, but it's just about here. This weekend is our reflection weekend. We don't know where we are going yet, it's a surprise, but we have been promised camping and animals :)
A couple of weeks ago we went to Stellenbosch for a research conference. A bunch of my housemates presented their research, we were so proud! We also went to a "party" in Stellenbosch. It was a lot of alternative Afrikaaners and a very eccentric rapper performing. It was quite the experience. The next day we went on a wine tasting. It was a beautiful day and the wine was delicious! So much fun!
Besides that, I've been busy at service with my creative writing after school program and my class that I have every day. I wish that I could stay here longer to make more of a difference, but I'm trying to appreciate every moment that I have with my kids.
Mom visited last week for a few days. She went to Manenberg, took my house out to dinner, shopped on Long Street, went on a Cape Peninsula tour, and even went to the club Hemisphere with us! It was so nice having her here! Now she's in Zambia for the next week or so for work.
In case you haven't heard, I will probably be staying in South Africa for a couple of weeks after the program ends and then visiting Francesco in Italy.
Right now I have to go do more work, but I will try to write soon!
Love and miss you all!
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Monday, September 28, 2009
A little taste of home...
Last weekend was our home stay weekend. From Friday until Sunday, we stayed with families in Langa township. Alice and I lived with a Mama and a boy who rents a room from her. It was interesting living in her house. The hardest part was a bit of a language barrier and eating food that we weren't used to (such as stomach and mealie meal and sour milk). However, it was also really fun going to a local bar Friday night and get an in depth tour of Langa on Saturday. The people we met there were amazing and very welcoming. We hope to be friends with them for a while!
The day that we got home, my brother Steve and his friends Ashley and Ryan came to visit for a week. They did a lot of fun stuff, most of which I got to join in on! Monday and Tuesday they met the kids at Manenberg who absolutely loved them. The teacher wasn't at school on Tuesday so we got the class to ourselves. Girls from NDP donated books to give to the kids, so we spent time reading with them. We had a lot of fun singing, dancing, reading and just having a relaxing day with them.
This was definitely one of the best days I've had at Manenberg in a while. I was really revitalized by seeing them recieve the books and also just joking around with them. The kids were so excited to get all of the new books. The books are the best quality books I've seen in the school. They were all eager to even just flip through the pages. One boy who I work with everyday came up to the table to exchange the book he had just looked through. When he saw a book about auto racing, he opened each page and stared at it for a while in amazement. He kept saying "Wow! Oh, wow!" After I told him he could take the racing book to his seat, he kissed the book he had just put down. Thank you so much to Steve, Ashley, Ryan, NDP, and everybody else who helped donate to the school! The kids and I appreciate it so much.
Tuesday we also had the opportunity to participate in a march demanding a library and librarian in every school. It was organized by Equal Education, the organization that one of my housemates, Pat, does service in. It was really powerful seeing 2,000+ schoolchildren so interested in their education. They recognized the injustice around them and demanded better conditions. Very few schools in the townships have libraries. Those that do most likely do not have a librarian and probably still contain old books that pushed apartheid messages. The march made the front of the New York Times world section. Check out the link above for the article.
Thursday and Friday, Steve, Ashley, Ryan, Eva, Grady, and I went on a safari about 2 hours outside of Cape Town. We had a lot of time to relax by the pool and fill up on their delicious buffets. We went on late afternoon and early morning safaris. We were probably only a couple of meters from lions. Check out my facebook for pictures! It was incredible!
Friday my housemates and I threw a braai at our house. We invited all of our friends from Cape Town and our home stay friends and families from Langa. There were so many people there, it was a great time!
I was sad to see my visitors go, but my mom will be here for a few days in just 2 weeks!
We're all getting a little anxious because we can feel the end of the semester coming. It's hard to imagine going back to life at home. The bonds we've made with each other, our service sites, and this city are strong. But there's so much to do until then. Manenberg has spring break this week so I hope to use this time to get together my research and capstone projects.
Hope you all are doing well!
The day that we got home, my brother Steve and his friends Ashley and Ryan came to visit for a week. They did a lot of fun stuff, most of which I got to join in on! Monday and Tuesday they met the kids at Manenberg who absolutely loved them. The teacher wasn't at school on Tuesday so we got the class to ourselves. Girls from NDP donated books to give to the kids, so we spent time reading with them. We had a lot of fun singing, dancing, reading and just having a relaxing day with them.
This was definitely one of the best days I've had at Manenberg in a while. I was really revitalized by seeing them recieve the books and also just joking around with them. The kids were so excited to get all of the new books. The books are the best quality books I've seen in the school. They were all eager to even just flip through the pages. One boy who I work with everyday came up to the table to exchange the book he had just looked through. When he saw a book about auto racing, he opened each page and stared at it for a while in amazement. He kept saying "Wow! Oh, wow!" After I told him he could take the racing book to his seat, he kissed the book he had just put down. Thank you so much to Steve, Ashley, Ryan, NDP, and everybody else who helped donate to the school! The kids and I appreciate it so much.
Tuesday we also had the opportunity to participate in a march demanding a library and librarian in every school. It was organized by Equal Education, the organization that one of my housemates, Pat, does service in. It was really powerful seeing 2,000+ schoolchildren so interested in their education. They recognized the injustice around them and demanded better conditions. Very few schools in the townships have libraries. Those that do most likely do not have a librarian and probably still contain old books that pushed apartheid messages. The march made the front of the New York Times world section. Check out the link above for the article.
Thursday and Friday, Steve, Ashley, Ryan, Eva, Grady, and I went on a safari about 2 hours outside of Cape Town. We had a lot of time to relax by the pool and fill up on their delicious buffets. We went on late afternoon and early morning safaris. We were probably only a couple of meters from lions. Check out my facebook for pictures! It was incredible!
Friday my housemates and I threw a braai at our house. We invited all of our friends from Cape Town and our home stay friends and families from Langa. There were so many people there, it was a great time!
I was sad to see my visitors go, but my mom will be here for a few days in just 2 weeks!
We're all getting a little anxious because we can feel the end of the semester coming. It's hard to imagine going back to life at home. The bonds we've made with each other, our service sites, and this city are strong. But there's so much to do until then. Manenberg has spring break this week so I hope to use this time to get together my research and capstone projects.
Hope you all are doing well!
Friday, September 11, 2009
Spring Break on the Garden Route
Hey! This has been one of the best weeks of my life. My housemates (plus a couple of their friends from home) and I drove through the Garden Route, along the southern coast of South Africa. We had a lot of adventures, so here's a break down of what we did:
Day 1:
Cango Caves- a huge cave, we did the "adventure tour," in which we had to crawl through tiny spaces, go up ladders, and slide down a foot high opening
Ostrich Farm- the fields along the Garden Route are filled with ostriches, we had the chance to learn all about ostriches and get close to the birds by receiving hugs and kisses from them, feeding them, standing on their eggs, and riding them!!!
The rest of the day we spent driving to our hostel. However, this day was also the first Vanderbilt football game. Eva (my housemate who also goes to Vandy) and I were a little bummed that we were missing tailgating and the game, so we stopped on the side of the road at sunset, blared some Taylor Swift, drank a beer, and had our own mini-tailgate. Go Dores!
Day 2:
Canopy Zipline tour- high up in the trees of a lush forest, we did 10 ziplines from tree to tree, by the end of the day we were expert zipliners!
Elephant Sanctuary- here we got to meet 3 of 6 awesome elephants, we "held hands" with them, fed them, and learned about them by looking in their mouths and touching their skin, eyelashes, tail and tusks
That night, at our hostel (The Wild Spirit Lodge- highly recommended!), there was an African drum circle. Lit only by campfire, people drummed/ danced/ threw fire all night long without uttering a word
Day 3:
Bungee Jumping- So, I never intended to go bungee jumping, but a couple of the people in our group really wanted to. We went to Bloukrans Bridge, which is the site of the highest bridge bungee jump in the world- 216 meters (about 708 ft). You jump from the arch underneath the bridge and to get there you can take a zipline or walk over a grated foot bridge. The valley is beautiful, filled with trees, a river, and sight of the ocean. Brianna and I did a tandum zipline to the bridge (so that we could cheer on the 2 people who said they would jump). We felt like we were flying! It was so beautiful.
Once we got the bridge, we saw our friends jump. It was so scary at first, but as they came up they were on cloud 9- they couldn't get over how great it was and encouraged everybody to do it. Slowly, one by one, each of my friends signed up. I have a pretty bad fear of heights, and even seeing other people jump of the bridge scared me. But, I thought about the quote that is on each of the workers' shirts- "Fear is temporary, regret is forever." So I signed up (and cried and hyperventilated immediately after).
My friends were so encouraging and gave me the strength to walk to the edge. At that point all I could think was that I made a mistake, but I didn't have a choice at that point. They counted down 5-4-3-2-1 and all of the sudden I was free falling. It was the strangest feeling to be in a complete free fall for a whole 4 seconds (which seemed like a million). There was no tension in the rope at that point so I really felt like I was falling to the bottom. I hung there until the man came to get me. The view was beautiful and the only sound was from the river below. It would have been incredibly peaceful if I still wasn't freaking out. After this experience, I can surely say that I will never bungee jump again, but I am SO glad I did it!
After that, we went to three animal places in which we learned about and were right next to the animals:
Monkeyland
Bird sanctuary
Cheetah sanctuary
Day 4:
This was our day off so we went to visit a beach near our hostel. The beach was in between a lagoon and the Indian Ocean. It was the most beautiful beach I've been to, plus I got to put my feet in the Indian Ocean! We also hiked up a nearby cliff to look out over the beach and ocean. This hike is called "The Otter's Trail," and at the restaurant we went to afterwards we got shots called "Otter's Arseholes" and a certificate in honor of completing the hike.
Day 5:
Most of this day we spent driving to Cape L'Agulhas, the southern tip of Africa. We reached the point around sunset and had sundowners. I also touched both the Atlantic and Indian Oceans at the same time.
That night we had a late dinner at a shady saloon by our hostel (the only place open). There, we all sang kareoke to Time of My Life while the locals looked on at the rowdy Americans. Definitely a highlight of the trip.
Day 6:
Shark cage diving- We arrived at Shark Cage Diving at 7. We rode out to the spot on the Baracuda. I felt a little seasick but nothing too bad. It was quite a challenged putting on wet wetsuits, but it was all worth it once you got down in the cage. It was a 6 person cage hung over the side of the boat. You kneel on a railing so your head is out of the water. Whenever a shark goes by, you dip down into the cage. At times you can be a foot away from the sharks. In Maddie's case, the shark actually stuck his nose into the cage where she was- a little too close for comfort. All of the sharks were Great Whites (one of the most populated areas in the world). They are amazingly beautiful creatures that take your breath away when they swim near. We also visited shark alley, which is in between a very small island with thousands of birds and an island with hundreds of seals.
I can't wait to give you more details whenever I see you again!
Day 1:
Cango Caves- a huge cave, we did the "adventure tour," in which we had to crawl through tiny spaces, go up ladders, and slide down a foot high opening
Ostrich Farm- the fields along the Garden Route are filled with ostriches, we had the chance to learn all about ostriches and get close to the birds by receiving hugs and kisses from them, feeding them, standing on their eggs, and riding them!!!
The rest of the day we spent driving to our hostel. However, this day was also the first Vanderbilt football game. Eva (my housemate who also goes to Vandy) and I were a little bummed that we were missing tailgating and the game, so we stopped on the side of the road at sunset, blared some Taylor Swift, drank a beer, and had our own mini-tailgate. Go Dores!
Day 2:
Canopy Zipline tour- high up in the trees of a lush forest, we did 10 ziplines from tree to tree, by the end of the day we were expert zipliners!
Elephant Sanctuary- here we got to meet 3 of 6 awesome elephants, we "held hands" with them, fed them, and learned about them by looking in their mouths and touching their skin, eyelashes, tail and tusks
That night, at our hostel (The Wild Spirit Lodge- highly recommended!), there was an African drum circle. Lit only by campfire, people drummed/ danced/ threw fire all night long without uttering a word
Day 3:
Bungee Jumping- So, I never intended to go bungee jumping, but a couple of the people in our group really wanted to. We went to Bloukrans Bridge, which is the site of the highest bridge bungee jump in the world- 216 meters (about 708 ft). You jump from the arch underneath the bridge and to get there you can take a zipline or walk over a grated foot bridge. The valley is beautiful, filled with trees, a river, and sight of the ocean. Brianna and I did a tandum zipline to the bridge (so that we could cheer on the 2 people who said they would jump). We felt like we were flying! It was so beautiful.
Once we got the bridge, we saw our friends jump. It was so scary at first, but as they came up they were on cloud 9- they couldn't get over how great it was and encouraged everybody to do it. Slowly, one by one, each of my friends signed up. I have a pretty bad fear of heights, and even seeing other people jump of the bridge scared me. But, I thought about the quote that is on each of the workers' shirts- "Fear is temporary, regret is forever." So I signed up (and cried and hyperventilated immediately after).
My friends were so encouraging and gave me the strength to walk to the edge. At that point all I could think was that I made a mistake, but I didn't have a choice at that point. They counted down 5-4-3-2-1 and all of the sudden I was free falling. It was the strangest feeling to be in a complete free fall for a whole 4 seconds (which seemed like a million). There was no tension in the rope at that point so I really felt like I was falling to the bottom. I hung there until the man came to get me. The view was beautiful and the only sound was from the river below. It would have been incredibly peaceful if I still wasn't freaking out. After this experience, I can surely say that I will never bungee jump again, but I am SO glad I did it!
After that, we went to three animal places in which we learned about and were right next to the animals:
Monkeyland
Bird sanctuary
Cheetah sanctuary
Day 4:
This was our day off so we went to visit a beach near our hostel. The beach was in between a lagoon and the Indian Ocean. It was the most beautiful beach I've been to, plus I got to put my feet in the Indian Ocean! We also hiked up a nearby cliff to look out over the beach and ocean. This hike is called "The Otter's Trail," and at the restaurant we went to afterwards we got shots called "Otter's Arseholes" and a certificate in honor of completing the hike.
Day 5:
Most of this day we spent driving to Cape L'Agulhas, the southern tip of Africa. We reached the point around sunset and had sundowners. I also touched both the Atlantic and Indian Oceans at the same time.
That night we had a late dinner at a shady saloon by our hostel (the only place open). There, we all sang kareoke to Time of My Life while the locals looked on at the rowdy Americans. Definitely a highlight of the trip.
Day 6:
Shark cage diving- We arrived at Shark Cage Diving at 7. We rode out to the spot on the Baracuda. I felt a little seasick but nothing too bad. It was quite a challenged putting on wet wetsuits, but it was all worth it once you got down in the cage. It was a 6 person cage hung over the side of the boat. You kneel on a railing so your head is out of the water. Whenever a shark goes by, you dip down into the cage. At times you can be a foot away from the sharks. In Maddie's case, the shark actually stuck his nose into the cage where she was- a little too close for comfort. All of the sharks were Great Whites (one of the most populated areas in the world). They are amazingly beautiful creatures that take your breath away when they swim near. We also visited shark alley, which is in between a very small island with thousands of birds and an island with hundreds of seals.
I can't wait to give you more details whenever I see you again!
Friday, September 4, 2009
Happy Spring!
Happy Spring/ September everybody!
Last Saturday I went to a local bar to watch the Arsenal vs. Manchester United soccer match. It was really fun hanging out with our friends, although the game got intense at parts.
On Sunday, we celebrated Ronel's birthday a day early by going to Mzoli's again.
This week was quite stressful because I had two tests and a research proposal due. All of this in addition to our service work was really overwhelming.
Also, yesterday I started my after school creative writing program at Manenberg. For now, it's only open to third and fourth grade (3 actual classes). 45 kids ended up coming. It was a little chaotic considering I was the only one running the program! But the kids seemed really engaged and excited to be there. I also discussed the program with all of the teachers at the school the other. The other grades are also interested in participating. Since I can't handle so many kids on my own, I'm currently trying to organize for college student volunteers to come help out. Hopefully this will work out so that we can reach as many kids as possible. The program is meant to address the literacy problem at the school and, from what I've heard from teachers, is really needed. I'm really excited to get it off the ground! I'll keep you updated!
Last night we went to the ballet (Giselle). It was really beautiful and made me miss dancing so much!
As of right now, we're on SPRING BREAK!!!! After a hectic week, we're all SO excited to have a week off. We leave tomorrow for our trip to the Garden Route. But more about that later.
Until then, lots of love from Africa!
Last Saturday I went to a local bar to watch the Arsenal vs. Manchester United soccer match. It was really fun hanging out with our friends, although the game got intense at parts.
On Sunday, we celebrated Ronel's birthday a day early by going to Mzoli's again.
This week was quite stressful because I had two tests and a research proposal due. All of this in addition to our service work was really overwhelming.
Also, yesterday I started my after school creative writing program at Manenberg. For now, it's only open to third and fourth grade (3 actual classes). 45 kids ended up coming. It was a little chaotic considering I was the only one running the program! But the kids seemed really engaged and excited to be there. I also discussed the program with all of the teachers at the school the other. The other grades are also interested in participating. Since I can't handle so many kids on my own, I'm currently trying to organize for college student volunteers to come help out. Hopefully this will work out so that we can reach as many kids as possible. The program is meant to address the literacy problem at the school and, from what I've heard from teachers, is really needed. I'm really excited to get it off the ground! I'll keep you updated!
Last night we went to the ballet (Giselle). It was really beautiful and made me miss dancing so much!
As of right now, we're on SPRING BREAK!!!! After a hectic week, we're all SO excited to have a week off. We leave tomorrow for our trip to the Garden Route. But more about that later.
Until then, lots of love from Africa!
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Updates, updates, updates
Hey all!
I've been really busy with service and classes lately. Spring break starts in one week, but I have 2 tests and my research proposal due before then! Service has been going well. My kids are really great. It can be frustrating at times because they are only at a 1st grade reading level and they have so much potential, but they don't have the resources they need. Starting this week and the week after break I will start an after school creative writing program. Kids from grade 3 and 4 will participate (hopefully). I'm also going to do the program with kids from the grade 3 Afrikaans class (every grade has an English and Afrikaans section). I can only work with 8 of them, because they are the only ones who can write in English, but I look forward to being able to reach out to more of the school. Hopefully this program can turn into my capstone if it is successful, but we'll see! (These are pictures of me with my two classes and the class rules they made up)
On Wednesday we were invited to sit in on a meeting with Parliament and President Zuma. We got to witness Zuma answer questions about a lot of different topics. It was really interesting to see. The security was a lot more relaxed than Obama's security in the US. The interactions between Zuma/ the ANC and opposition parties were tense. The ANC tended to boo and cheer a lot. I was surprised by the relaxation of the proceedings and, in my opinion, the rudeness of the ANC to opposition. Zuma talked like most politicians (talking a lot but not necessarily answering questions).
Afterwards we attended a book launch by Manuel Castelles. If you have never heard of him, google him. He is one of the most influential men of our time. He spoke a lot about American politics and the role of technology in the modern world. I had the pleasure of meeting him after his talk. It was so neat to meet such an important and wise person!
Yesterday we visited a clinic in one of the townships and discussed HIV with a doctor. I learned a lot of shocking things. Something that really struck me: They have about 40 school girls come into the clinic on a regular basis, some as young as 11, to get shots to prevent pregnancy. Very few of them, if any, use condoms, even though it is very likely that their boyfriends have multiple partners. It is surprising to hear stories like this in light of the rampant spreading of HIV in the country.
We also attended a meeting of the Mozambiquan society in which we watched 2 documentaries about the xenophia attacks in South Africa last year. I had never heard about these attacks while in America. However, the attacks were widespread and extremely violent. The first documentary was about a man who was burned alive (warning: this is disturbing). The second documentary was in a Mozambiquan language with subtitles in Portuguese. So, we had it translated by members of the club. The discussion afterwards was very provoking because some of the people were here last year and experienced the fear of being a foreigner at the time. We Americans compared the situation to undocumented immigrants from Mexico.
Also, last weekend we hiked up Lion's Head (a mountain next to Table Mountain). The view at the top was unreal.
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Molo!
Molweni! (Hello all in Xhosa)
I want to update you, but I'm going to start from today and go back in time. Please forgive me.
I realize that my last blog post may have seemed a little stressed, but no need to worry, it's all starting to work out. I talked to my teacher last week and I now have my own group of 12 students or so that I will work on reading with. I had 6 students today for the first time. Unfortunately, there wasn't a room for us to use, so we read in the back of the classroom, which was really distracting. I assessed their reading abilities and I'm really excited to work with them everyday. I also look forward to working with the other group of 6 tomorrow (there wasn't enough time today).
Sunday was a nice warm day so I went to the beach (Camps Bay) with 2 girls (Bre and Emily) from my house and some of our African friends. I put my feet in the other side of the Atlantic and couldn't help but think "somewhere, many many miles away, there is dirty beach with a boardwalk and Thrasher's fries and Fischer's popcorn." We also played soccer and i almost got a goal.
Friday night we had a potluck dinner at our house. I made mom's rice krispies, they were a hit! Friday during the day we went to Bo-Kaap, which is a Muslim area in Cape Town. We got to go into a mosque and learn about the religion. This area is also known for it's brightly colored houses, which were very beautiful. The highlight of the tour was a lunch that a woman made for us in her house. We had samoosas (pockets of chicken and vegetables- my favorite! my teacher brought me some at schoo the other day), currey, chicken, and kooksisters (little donuts), among a lot of other food.
Last weekend we had a 4 day weekend because it was Women's Day! On Thursday we went out for Mexican food. Friday we went shopping on Long Street (the main street in Cape Town) and then we had a braii (a South African barbecue) at our house. Everybody we knew in Cape Town came and we ate, drank, talked, and watched movies until 5 am! Saturday we went to Cybar (a local university bar) and watched the SA vs. Australia rugby game. I tried to learn the game. We also had Springboks shots. Springboks is the SA rugby team, and the shots include peppermint liquor and Amarula. Delicious!
Sunday was the highlight of the weekend. We went to Mzoli's meat restaurant in the Langa township. This is a very popular place for people to go on Sundays. We ate meat and pap with our hands and stayed there from 11 AM until sundown. There were hundreds of people there, hanging out in the street, and dancing. It was amazing and so much fun!
I'm also getting ready for our homestay weekend next weekend, spring break in just 3 weeks, and Steve's visit in a month! I'm having so much fun, but I also miss everybody a lot, so be sure to send me updates on your life. Love you all!
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Manenburg Primary
Goeie naand! ("good evening" in Afrikaans)
A lot has happened since I last wrote. I have started my service work at Manenburg Primary School (kindergarten-7th grade). I am working in a 3rd grade classroom. There are about 40 kids in the class (for one teacher), but they are really great kids. I spent about 30 minutes observing them one day, and when I returned for a few minutes a few days later, they attacked me with hugs. I couldn't physically leave the room because there were so many children immersing me in a hug! It was such a great feeling! They had trouble concentrating and behaving the first day that I was there, but hopefully this will get better. I could talk about the school for hours, but for now, I am going to copy a reflection piece about the service that I had to write for my Afrikaans class. It's a little long, but it should give you a pretty good idea on my thoughts so far. I am really confused and overwhelmed, but I'm also absolutely in love with the kids and school.
I started my service work at Manenburg Primary School last week. I spent the first couple of days going to most of the classrooms in the school so that I could choose which class I would like to work in. Many things that I saw overwhelmed me. All of the classes had large amount of students. The third grade class that I chose to work with has about 40 students for one teacher. The classroom is small compared to the amount of people in there. I have never seen such a large class and I wondered how the teacher could possibly keep control. I saw the teacher grab a student by the sweatshirt when he was misbehaving. I was shocked to witness this because in America teachers cannot even touch a student.
I also doubt, with the large class size, that any of the students get the individual attention that they need and deserve. When I asked my teacher what kind of help I could offer her class, she asked that I read one-on-one with the students. She told me that most of the students cannot read and, to demonstrate her point, asked that I read with a little girl. The girl could read at about a first or second grade level. She could not read basic words like “the” and “be.” However, she could read the words “Rainbow Machine,” which was the title of the book. This led me to believe that she had memorized most of the words that she did know, rather than actually reading them. Having just worked in an American third grade classroom last semester, I was surprised to see that the girl had a much lower reading ability than my American students.
I learned that a CIEE Service-Learning student worked in the same classroom last semester. She had read individually with the students, as well as played games with them during their free time. The children spoke very fondly of her and she donated most of the books in the classroom. While it was nice to hear how much the children loved this student, I felt like her work there was not as sustainable as something I would like to do. I hope to make a lasting impact at the school. While reading with the students may help a few individuals for a few months, I want to contribute something that will help the school even after I am gone. However, after spending the week in the third grade classroom, I realize that perhaps the most help I can offer is circulating the room to offer individual attention to any struggling students. I feel helpless about the situation. I keep thinking that the only thing that would really help the school is thirty more teachers and new facilities. Of course, I can’t offer that kind of help. I hope that with more time at the school I will be able to think of the best way that I can help.
The Afrikaans that I am learning will be very helpful during my time at Manenburg. All of the students and the teacher speak Afrikaans. About half of the conversation and instruction that occurs in the class is in Afrikaans. The teacher assigns them reading in English and Afrikaans. A few times, while practicing spelling with the students, they have spelled in Afrikaans. I also noticed that many of them call me “Auntie,” which I learned in class is an Afrikaans term of respect. I was playing a clapping game with a group of children and they sang the song in Afrikaans. When I asked what they were singing, they said “Oh, I’m sorry, we’ll sing it in English.” I then said, “No, can you teach it to me in Afrikaans?” They then got very excited that I was singing in Afrikaans, even though I’m sure I mispronounced a lot of the words. I think any time that I speak or understand Afrikaans with the children will help to bridge a gap between us. They appreciate my effort to speak their language. I think it also helps me be more relatable to the students. Since I am foreign and white, they tend to treat me with a lot of admiration, almost as if I am royalty. This makes me feel very uncomfortable. The children are always saying “I like your eyes” or “I wish I had hair like you.” I do not want them to think that I am any better than them. I think this hurts their self-esteem and only furthers the divide between us. Hopefully, by the end of the semester, they will think of us as equals. I think that learning Afrikaans in class and from the children will help them to understand that I admire many of their qualities as well.
A lot has happened since I last wrote. I have started my service work at Manenburg Primary School (kindergarten-7th grade). I am working in a 3rd grade classroom. There are about 40 kids in the class (for one teacher), but they are really great kids. I spent about 30 minutes observing them one day, and when I returned for a few minutes a few days later, they attacked me with hugs. I couldn't physically leave the room because there were so many children immersing me in a hug! It was such a great feeling! They had trouble concentrating and behaving the first day that I was there, but hopefully this will get better. I could talk about the school for hours, but for now, I am going to copy a reflection piece about the service that I had to write for my Afrikaans class. It's a little long, but it should give you a pretty good idea on my thoughts so far. I am really confused and overwhelmed, but I'm also absolutely in love with the kids and school.
I started my service work at Manenburg Primary School last week. I spent the first couple of days going to most of the classrooms in the school so that I could choose which class I would like to work in. Many things that I saw overwhelmed me. All of the classes had large amount of students. The third grade class that I chose to work with has about 40 students for one teacher. The classroom is small compared to the amount of people in there. I have never seen such a large class and I wondered how the teacher could possibly keep control. I saw the teacher grab a student by the sweatshirt when he was misbehaving. I was shocked to witness this because in America teachers cannot even touch a student.
I also doubt, with the large class size, that any of the students get the individual attention that they need and deserve. When I asked my teacher what kind of help I could offer her class, she asked that I read one-on-one with the students. She told me that most of the students cannot read and, to demonstrate her point, asked that I read with a little girl. The girl could read at about a first or second grade level. She could not read basic words like “the” and “be.” However, she could read the words “Rainbow Machine,” which was the title of the book. This led me to believe that she had memorized most of the words that she did know, rather than actually reading them. Having just worked in an American third grade classroom last semester, I was surprised to see that the girl had a much lower reading ability than my American students.
I learned that a CIEE Service-Learning student worked in the same classroom last semester. She had read individually with the students, as well as played games with them during their free time. The children spoke very fondly of her and she donated most of the books in the classroom. While it was nice to hear how much the children loved this student, I felt like her work there was not as sustainable as something I would like to do. I hope to make a lasting impact at the school. While reading with the students may help a few individuals for a few months, I want to contribute something that will help the school even after I am gone. However, after spending the week in the third grade classroom, I realize that perhaps the most help I can offer is circulating the room to offer individual attention to any struggling students. I feel helpless about the situation. I keep thinking that the only thing that would really help the school is thirty more teachers and new facilities. Of course, I can’t offer that kind of help. I hope that with more time at the school I will be able to think of the best way that I can help.
The Afrikaans that I am learning will be very helpful during my time at Manenburg. All of the students and the teacher speak Afrikaans. About half of the conversation and instruction that occurs in the class is in Afrikaans. The teacher assigns them reading in English and Afrikaans. A few times, while practicing spelling with the students, they have spelled in Afrikaans. I also noticed that many of them call me “Auntie,” which I learned in class is an Afrikaans term of respect. I was playing a clapping game with a group of children and they sang the song in Afrikaans. When I asked what they were singing, they said “Oh, I’m sorry, we’ll sing it in English.” I then said, “No, can you teach it to me in Afrikaans?” They then got very excited that I was singing in Afrikaans, even though I’m sure I mispronounced a lot of the words. I think any time that I speak or understand Afrikaans with the children will help to bridge a gap between us. They appreciate my effort to speak their language. I think it also helps me be more relatable to the students. Since I am foreign and white, they tend to treat me with a lot of admiration, almost as if I am royalty. This makes me feel very uncomfortable. The children are always saying “I like your eyes” or “I wish I had hair like you.” I do not want them to think that I am any better than them. I think this hurts their self-esteem and only furthers the divide between us. Hopefully, by the end of the semester, they will think of us as equals. I think that learning Afrikaans in class and from the children will help them to understand that I admire many of their qualities as well.
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