Our last few days...and off to Cape Town with Sarah!

On Tuesday we met up with almost all of the friends we have made here for dinner. We wen Newtown again expecting to go to Ko’ Spotong. I was excited to show Sarah the place where so much of my fun was had. It was closed. We went next door to a restaurant called Sophia Town. (The story of the Sophia Town township to come soon). We met up with Tholo, Gugu, Nakagana, Carla, and Tshipo. Thubi and Kix were there too. It was wonderful seeing everyone for the last time (this trip). We all talked about everyone coming to stay in the States with us. I hope it happens, but we’ll see. Thubi gave a great toast saying that we gave him a better view of Americans, which was nice to hear. It was a sad night because all of the people we met were genuinely amazing people who want progress for SA and are working themselves to make that happen. It was sad to leave them, but it’s exciting to think about them coming to visit.

Last night Mapuleng invited all of us over for dinner at her house. There were 8 of us packed into her tiny cute house with Mandela on the wall. She made us a great traditional SA meal with a lot of veggies for Pam and Sarah and great meat for the rest. Chicken, beef, pap, amazing flavors and dishes. I wish I could cook like this. It was wonderful to sit so closely with such an amazing family. I feel very connected with her and her 2 boys Buki and Kamo. I really hope they come for a visit next summer to SD. It would be a pleasure having them in my home as they have let us in theirs on several occasions.

The past 7 weeks have been one of the most amazing times of my life. I have met amazing human beings with a passion for progress of a country. Something our country is lacking. This country is full of young people who want to move forward form the Apartheid mindset and create a country of equality. The young people are the renegades and will make progress happen. Education is the way. I am filled with mixed emotions about leaving LEAP 3 today. I am sad to leave the amazing people I have met and hope they continue to have the passion that I have seen in them. I hope the teachers continue to be passionate and open to new styles of education and teaching. I hope collaboration continues between HTH and LEAP. I think between the two, we can change the world. This experience has been fascinating, rewarding, and energizing. I am excited to bring what I have learned into my classroom and hopefully continue to talk to the students in some shape of form. I thank the staff at LEAP for teaching me to become a better teachers and I hope I have been able to do the same.

Our Last weekend....

Our last weekend….

Sarah finally came!!! Sara Kix and I went to the airport to pick up Sarah Barnes. It was so amazing seeing her for the first time in about 2 months. Our eyes met and I was so happy to see here. We hugged for a while…I think Kix might have felt a bit awkward…oh well.

After the airport, we came back to our flat for about an hour to get ready for the prom. It was nice to have a date. No corsage though…what was I thinking!!! It was a blast. John was able to get black out drunk…maybe he thought it was a wedding. It sort of felt that way at times. There were a lot of speeches and talks. The food was great and finally the dancing was fun. That’s when it felt like a prom. Sarah and I know how to cut a rug!

The next day we took it easy. We woke up late, I took Sarah on a tour of the beautiful campus and just caught up. It was nice to hear about here Brazil stories and I’m really excited to see her pictures and just spend time with her here in South Africa. It was nice introducing her to my new South African life that I have grown to love with all my heart.

We went into Melville for dinner that night and met up with John’s cousin who was there for the evening. She is from Paris and was studying marine ecology in SA, but heading back to Paris the next day. It was great to be sitting at a table with Americans, Parisians, and South African. I felt honored to be there. We then hopped around the bar scene and drank some great beers. I was in the drunken state where I was craving sweets. I snuck out of the bar and walked down to Illy (and amazing Italian coffee company) and bout about R 200 worth of baked goods. I brought it all back to the bars and we ate like kings and queens. We finally got home at about 2 am or so.

On Sunday we woke up early and went to an African Market…which was in a mall…so I didn’t really get the “Authentic South African goods” they kept advertising on the walls. It was the same crap at every other booth….not a great place. We then went down to Newtown and met up with Sara Kix, Thubi, Gugu, and Nakana. It was great to reconnect with them and plan a dinner with all our new friends. We ended up making a plan fro Tuesday night and we were stoked!

Then Sarah and I went to Thubi and Sara Kix to Thubi’s township of Kagiso (a.k.a. KG…in Zulu meaning Peace) We went out to dinner and had an authentic township dinner of chicken, pap and dumplings. I love the stuff, but I’m not sure Sarah was into it. I guess I’ve just gotten used to it. We stayed in a nice B and B while we were there. It’s a nicer township than the ones I’ve been in the summer. In the morning we were going back to Pilanesburg with Sara and Thubi. At 6am, we were off….wait…not really…we were locked in! It took us a half an hour of wandering the building to find a way out. They have to lock everything up so we are safe inside and no creepers come in. Anyways, at about 6:30 am, we found a window and climbed out. Sara Kix and Thubi weer waiting for us and we were off to Pilanesburg again.

Pinalesburg was great,,,,we saw a lot again. We saw a dead elephant where many lions were apparently eating…we didn’t see the lions. We saw many giraffes and zebras too. Sarah enjoyed herself but was really looking forward to seeing elephants. We did, but not till our way out. We had about 5 minutes of them and it was amazing. The adults created a circle around the babies and went to sleep. It was beautiful. We go home really late and were passed out in about 5 minutes. It was a long day!

We are in our last few days and it's hard to say goodbye. The kids have become so special to me and I will not be able to leave easily. I will continue this soon. I actually leave today but have more to write about from this past week...it may be an oral telling if I don't get back to writing today. It's a hectic day. The kids have something special planned for us, not too sure what though...

Sarah and I are off to Cape Town for a week while John and Pam and heading back to the States. I will try to blog when I get to Cape Town. See you all soon!

Hurting....

Monday Aug 2^nd was a rough day. After a long and on the go weekend, I was a lazy bum. I was able to observe several teachers and offer feedback and do some planning with them, but that’s about it. Sarah gets here on Friday and I am super excited to see her. It’s been about 7 weeks since we’ve seen each other. She left for Brazil a week before I lefts for South Africa. As soon as we pick her up we have to go straight to the grade 12 prom…yay? I rather just go home and catch up.

We have a busy weekend planned as it is our last weekend…more to come on that later.

And we're back...

I's been about a week or so since I have been able to post, so here is a quick synopsys of the past wee or so....

This has been one hell of a weekend (this is the weekend of July 29-Aug 1). A whirlwind and I am exhausted. Early bed time tonight because the Teach With Africa founders will be here tomorrow and I need to make sure they know they didn’t waste $2000 to send me here.

Thursday: Went out with John, Pam, Buki, and Kamo (2 friends we’ve made here...Mapuleng's sons). Buki plays this intense indoor soccer. The field is about half as wide as a normal field and the same length. The walls are really tight netting and it was Buki’s championship game. They lost but beers were had afterwards and it was a good late night. In bed at about 1am.

Friday-I was introduced to real authentic South African hip hop. I saw Tumi and the Volume and a few artists named AKA and Zubz. Tumi is very well known here and he was great! Google: Tumi and the Volume and also Zubz. They were amazing, fun and simply great music. It was a late night again.

Saturday-Left for Pilanesburg. A great game reserve loved by locals. We saw some only 3 of the big 5 (Rhino, Leopard, and Elephant)…look at the pictures and enjoy.

Sunday night-We got home at 6 and were out and ready to back out by 7. We went to Soweto (South Western Township), a positively growing township 45 minutes out of Jo’burg. There is a great clothing store there called Thesis where on the 1^st Sunday of the month they throw a huge party just outside of their store to celebrate the local music scene and bring in business. There was a local rapper named Deep Soweto who was doing his thing and I asked a guy next to me what language he was singing in. He told me it was Zulu and asked if I understood anything. I told him NO, but that the flow and sound were great. About 10 minutes later he asked me if I knew what he was rapping about again. Of course I had no idea. His response, ”killing white people and apartheid.” Yet, I was still in the middle of the crowd bobbing my head and having a great time!

Cape Town Baby!

Cape Town was amazing and I am excited to be there in about 10 days again for 10 days. The lady and I will be gallivanting through Cape Town and painting the town red…tripping the light fandango…etc…I’m stokes to be back there. I had an amazing experience seeing the other LEAP schools, which was my focus of this trip, and am excited to be there for fun.

We drove around with the LEAP bus drive named Dickey and a LEAP graduate, Andisani, to give us a tour of Langa. This is the township that LEAP 1 serves. LEAP 2 serves a different, yet similar township. Langa reminded me a lot of Alexandra in a sense. It was a township that housed very poor individuals and families, yet there was a side that served doctors and lawyers as well. It was an interesting dichotomy to see. Langa was built in the beginning of Apartheid. Across the street is a very wealth neighborhood call Pinelands. The Pinelands has concrete walls and barbed wire fencing around it. Langa has only 2 entrance ways into it, both very far away for Pinelands. This was done on purpose during Apartheid to clearly separate what and black neighborhoods.

You see this all over South Africa. Johannesburg has it as well…clear walls and roads built to specifically separate by race. It’s sad to see really. We are in 2010 and many whites still see themselves as more powerful, and others powerless. It is truly sad.

While in Langa, Dickey was talking to us about all the Zimbabweans in SA. They are having a hard time here due to a lot of xenophobia. In 2008, there were xenophobia attacks against Zimbabweans. One man was lit on fire alive at a bus stop. There are talks of other attacks soon. The interesting thing is that these xenophobic attacks are not geared towards all foreigners, but mainly people from Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe refugees tend to work for a cheaper wage so they are having better success at getting more jobs than black South Africans. Does this sound familiar? Hi Arizona! How are you? Very similar feelings are in the air in the US towards refugees from Mexico. No bust stop burnings yet, but we aren’t too far off.

Another interesting fact I learned is that there is a clear difference between blacks and coloreds. Well, there are the whites who are white. There are the blacks who typically are from Africa, and then there are the coloreds. If you are not white or black, you are colored. Indians, Asians, etc. I also learned that there are a lot of colored townships out there and white townships are starting to pop up too.

Continuing on our tour of Langa, we stopped off to have some delicious township food called Smiley. In Alex it’s called Scope. Basically it the discarded head of a goat or sheep. It is quite interesting to see and ever more interesting to eat. It’s a bit of a process to prepare so good thing I didn’t have to, I was able to watch.

Step 1: Shave of all the hair

Step 2: Use a red hot iron and burn off the rest of the hair

Step 3: Stick a hook through the nostrils and dip it in boiling water to cook the meat and brains.

Step 4: Pull it out and using an ax, chop the skull in half.

Step 5: Toss it in a pile of coals to smoke for a while.

Step 6: Season and rip the meat off the face and eat.

Now, I stayed away from the brains and the eyes, but the cheek meat was delicious and the tongue was great too. John ate some of the ear and said it was tasty until he hit the crunch ear canal…is anyone hungry yet?

After eating Smiley, we headed back to school for some observing and teaching. I was able to jump into a 1th grade class and teach some Present and Future annuities. I then taught a bit (John did mainly, I was just there to help) in a 10^th grade about slope of a line…good times. I finally sat in on an LO class. If you read an earlier blog of mine I talked about the loving and nurturing nature of the LO here created by Trevor and Tabia. It’s a bit different in the other LEAP schools. It’s more “In your face” conversations and calling people out. Students are almost forced to talk. Several teachers (not LO teachers) said that they heard students saying that they simply make up things to say to that they don’t get in trouble when they get called on. Is this the best way to create a safe and comforting space? I like the way things work here at LEAP 3.

After our day there we went back to the lodge to nap and rest up before we went out to experience downtown Cape Town.

Going out in Cape Town is a great experience. First, I know nothing of the town so an adventure waits around every corner. Second, it’s very different than what I have done in Jo’burg. Cape Town is very divided…still. Yes, there is some mixing of colors when you go out (not like in Jo’burg where there is a lot of racial mixing), but neighborhoods are black, whites, or colored. We went out and hung out with a lot of white people. Not that there is anything wrong with white people, but here there is a stigma that you carry on your shoulders being white, so I like to surround myself with the black South Africans who are nicer and more welcoming anyway. All in all, I have fun anywhere I go and with whom ever I am with, so I had a blast on Long Street

The next day we went downtown again by train and headed to the Green Square Market where there are booths set up to buy “authentic handmade South African products.” This is not true at all. Most of the things each vendor claims to have is made by them, by hand, yet the next vendor has the exact same product with the exact same carving and prints. I learned later that most of the things come from Kenya, Zimbabwe, or Botswana and are not authentic at all. Yet still I find myself compelled to buy nick nacks everywhere I go. Bargaining makes it more fun and challenging too.

We went to Simon’s Town too. This is home of the penguins who created their homes among the people who inhabited the area first. Yes, people were there first, and then the penguins took over. It was great to see them so close. We were able to see a mating ritual too of the male walking circles around the female. Another make came to challenge him and they got into it a bit. It was really neat to see that.

The next day we climbed Table Mountain. It’s beautiful up there. There is an 8 hour hike up the mountain or there is a gondola ride up as well. We opted for the gondola ride up to save time (and laziness). You can really see the entire cape from the top. You can see the point where the Indian and Atlantic meet. A very powerful thought (for me at least.) The area is enormous. We hiked around for about 5 hours and were able to hit all edges of the table top. What is amazing to me is being able to see the racial separation of neighborhoods. You can see the definite divide between the poorer townships and the next door middle class white neighborhoods. There are very very few racially mixed neighborhoods.

Other than the train, I have learned (and maybe I’m late with this), but befriend a taxi driver and solely use them during the stay. Since most taxis are not metered here, you can really bargain for your ride. Booking the same driver day to day they are sure to hook you up with a good deal every time.

We finally packed up and were off to the airport. I packed my LEAP cell phone in my bag and for some stupid reason checked it…why? I don’t know….nonetheless, when I got my bag back, it was unzipped and no cell phone. I reported it to the police and the airline and they basically laughed at me for being a dummy and putting the cell phone in my backpack. A learning experience to say the least.

Home to sleep!

Some thoughts...

So, all in all things are pretty much the same since the last post. Durban was amazing and work is going amazing too. I heard a few interesting things today and thought I'd share:

1. "It's much easier to live a life of significance here than most other places." I heard someone say this today and it struck me. I'd like to know what my lovely readers think about this. Can you either post to this page or email me at mshully@yahoo.com? I'd like to hear what you think about this quote.

2. I had an interesting interaction with a 11th grade math student today. She said, "What is math like in the US?" I didn't understand her question at first. I thought she meant if I teach math differently than the teachers hear. Nope, she actually meant is math different, like, does 1+1 = 5 in the USA. It's interesting to hear kids talk about math and they still do not realize that math is universal. 1+1 will equal 2 in every corner of this planet. Quite fascinating if you think about it.

Anyways, that's all I have for now.

Lalani Khale,
Marc

“I once said I am in Africa. The truth is, Africa is in me.”

“I once said I am in Africa. The truth is, Africa is in me.”

I read this quote the other day in the comic section of a newspaper and it just stuck with me. I’m not sure the feeling but in a way, I feel that I am a part of Africa and Africa Is a part of me. When I tell people I am from Israel, they call me an African. I take pride in that. It seems the people here have such pride and respect of their continent, not a we are better than you pride either. They never want to speak ill of Africa, but also are aware of the progress that must happen as well. South Africans really know the meaning of progress. Mandela’s birthday was yesterday and everyone was calm, happy and harmonious (or maybe that’s because we were in Durban…more on that later).

Nevertheless, I just have this constant feeling that a part of me will always be here, that a part of will always belong here and will always have a home here. I have never had feeling of connectedness with a country like this before. If you know me, you know about my pride for Israel, it’s just different here. I’m not sure if I can explain it yet or ever, but I will eventually try. Maybe after I go back and reread all that I have written on my blog I will be able to put it all into a concise sentence.

It’s been about a week since I have written. This is because last week was as hectic as ever! It was the first official day of work with all the kids, not the holiday program where John and I built the garden with the kids. It was interesting since I am looked at some mathematical genius. The funny thing is I am not. I thing what makes me a good teacher in mathematics is that I can break down concepts to mathematical roots and theory, but I also leave a lot of room for exploration. It is very different here. Text books are as important as the bible here. It is so textbook driven that they attempt to cover the book from page 1 to the last page by the end of the year. It is literally, “open your books to page 50, lets do questions 1-10 together, and you do the rest. Tomorrow we will work on the next chapter.” I mean really! How can you call this education? There is no math left in math anymore. It is just, step after step after step. Math is supposed to be beautiful and artistic, not stale and metallic.

My first few days I taught 10^th, 11^th and a little 12^th grade math. I observed the teachers for a bit and got the itch to teach. It was so fun. I have never worked with kids so hungry for an education. These kids are kids in the end, but they want to learn. They love coming to school. They know how important an education is to them specifically and they try to progress everyday in a personal way. This is not the motto of the school or anything, it’s just how these learners (what they call themselves, not students) are.

John brought up a good point the other day. On the student end of education, the kids are hungry for knowledge because they want to get away from the current life they have. Most kids are living in shacks with minimal running water and electricity but still scrounge up enough money for their uniforms and school fees. They understand that an education will get them to university and will open up many opportunities for them to get away and improve their current situation. Our kids differ because if our kid fails, their worst situation leads them to being taken care of by the government with food, clothes and shelter. I’m not saying our kids need to forgo education and become homeless and lean on our government, but understand the situation.

This now leads me to the teachers’ role. At the end of the day, teaching can be easy…if you are a shitty teacher. If you come in everyday, give kids enough busy work to kill the hour of class, they may learn something, but they are not being educated. If you come in everyday and are prepared to teach with humility, conviction, and passion, then the education begins. Push all content aside and love your kids, then education begins. Create an environment of thinkers, designers, and creators, and then education begins. Teachers here have a bigger responsibility to offer a good education, not a class to kill time till the end of the day. More responsibility rests of the shoulders of African teachers to attempt to create progression in their country. These kids are the key to a progressive nation and it all starts in our schools.

Enough of my ranting and now more about the week past. After a bit of teaching, I organically fell into a position of working with the 10^th and 11^th grade math teachers Heather and Tumelo. My role has become one where I am working one on two with the two teachers and helping them create projects. Tumelo, the new teacher (which you would know if you are reading this blog) is really open to a new style and is soaking up everything I am offering. Heather is really open too, but a bit more reluctant. Last week after classes we sat for about an hour a day to look at the curriculum and mapped out what they want to teach and when. I finally got them to scrap the scope and sequence and create their own. Financial math is the next topic they “need” to cover…interest, investments, loans, etc.

Through me asking them a lot of questions and te two of them engaging in a lot of dialogue, we developed the “Life after LEAP” project (LEAP is the name of the school). We will be researching careers and universities that will lead them to these careers. We will invest in stocks and look at interest and depreciation in Accounting class. We will look at cost of college and incorporate inflation rates. We will learn to apply for college and how to fill out job applications. We will begin writing college essays in English class too! We are also going to look at loans and understand interest rates. A lot of life skills were developed here and all created by the teachers. The funny thing is that I brought a project exactly like that doe by Dane Theone and Jennie Ganneson at HTM last year. I gave it to them and told them that they just created a well rounded, all inclusive project in 15 minutes and gave them a final product. They were shocked with their outcome and very proud at the same time. We are in the midst of refining the project before they pitch it to them next Monday.

Since then, Tumelo has come up with very creative and doable projects that we will begin to plan out this week. I am still working on Heathers reluctance…but it is really improving.

The kids have been absolutely amazing and they keep surprising me every day with their openness and honesty. At the community meeting last Friday kids would stand up in front of the entire school and confront other kids about issues that are bothering them. The school would have a hand at resolution. It’s simply amazing that the kids can stand up and speak that way.

Wednesday’s staff meeting was a waste of time. The science Heather dominated the meeting and kept commenting how terrible the 11^th grade class. She even said that she told the 11^th graders that they were bothering here and are not going to be successful. Her problem is that she wrote a biology book and they are using her book as the classroom text. She may be brilliant, but an educator she is not. When you tell kids that they suck, the will live to that expectation. If she would focus on the good they do, they will rise up to a higher expectation. She also does a great job of putting down other staff members by commenting on their teaching abilities. I am ready for her during the next staff meeting. Remember when I wrote about what Trevor had said? The problem that black staff members are not talking enough in meetings? I tallied who spoke up in the last meeting and 45 times did a white person speak and 12 times a black person spoke. I am bringing this up at the next meeting.

There is no type of special education going on at all here. The thought by many of the administration is that since they passed the test to get into the school, they don’t have any special needs…ahhh how wrong…I will be bringing this up too.

Now for some fun stuff:

We flew to Durban this past weekend. Amazing! It is easily described by me as the san Diego on the Indian Ocean. There are probably more towns like this too, but this was simply beautiful. The water was warm, the people were friendly and the place was just magnificent. Our hotel was ON THE BEACH! We ate at some great restaurants and went out to a few fun bars. We also went to our first rugby match as well! It was a weekend of a lifetime. Pictures to come…I swear.

This week we are all sleeping at a staff member’s house…it’s called a home stay. I will be staying at Janette’s house. She is the founder of this school and I hear that here house is huge….so not so much of an authentic home stay…but we’ll see! I’ll upload some pictures tomorrow.

Marc

Thoughts:

Microsoft Office spell checks words spelled in SA. “Tire” is incorrect on Word here…it should be spelled “Tyre. “Flavor” should be “Flavour,” and “Color” should be “colour.” Interesting!

There is a big differencebetween White South Africans and Afrikkaners. I just know I am happy I do not look like an Afrikkaner...so I am told.

So many people are lovely here....why does this not happen in the States as much as it does here? or does at and I do not notice it as much.

KFC and McDonalds are new here...it's a hit...unfortunately.

Sodas are made with sugar cane, not corn syrup...delicious!

Windhock is apparently one of the purest beers in the works following some food ordinance from the 1500's....google it.

1st Day of School!!

Today was the first day of school! It was Ayoba (Zulu for “great!”). here are my thought sand ruminations of the day:

We met in the barn for introductions. It was freezing. Maybe about 35 degrees F. I gave my jacket to a kid with no jacket…it got colder. We were introduced by Thandanani, Partson, and Spoganoliso (3 of my favorites already). The name Thandanani means “love everyone.” We got raving applause…rock star style! Yelling, hollering, whistling, spotlights, and the song “Here I go again on my own,” started blaring when they called our names….none of that actually happened….just applause.

I am co-teaching in a 10^th grade math class with a Tumelo who is in his first year of teaching (I’ll also be stepping in for 11^th and 12^th grade math at times, but grade 10 is my focus for now). He came from a corporate background for two years then joined an organization called Teach South Africa. It is a program put together by the universities to get South Africans teaching South Africans. I think it’s an amazing program if run well. It will be interesting to see how open he is to new methods of teaching. He has been teaching since January (the beginning of their year.) He has been teaching very dry and traditionally (his words exactly) and is open to new methods of teaching. His big first step was to put them in groups. He put them into homogeneous ability level groups. Not the best method but it works sometimes. Yesterday he told me that he wanted to tell the kids why they are in each group and I really pushed back on that. If you tell a group of students they are the dumb group, they will perform it that way and not challenge themselves. Nevertheless, they all know each other fairly well and they’ll be able to tell this on their own. I held my breath this morning, but all he said was the positives of group work.

We pitched a simple project that I came up with several years ago about equations that reaches all ability levels and end up with beautiful art work on the walls (which is really lacking around the school). The kids seem pumped about the project and Tumelo seems excited about the project. I get to fully take over the class this week and model good teaching strategies (yup, I am indeed brushing off my shoulders right now). He will be popping in and out main instructor to teach new topics, but I will be modeling transfer of information, not simply telling of information which it seems that is what he is doing. If I can leave here turning one teacher into an amazing teacher I feel that my summer will have been well worth it. I am truly excited to work with someone hungry for new methods. I am also excited to learn from him too. He is brilliant in math (although he explained something wrong today), so maybe not brilliant, but Ayoba. He has a statistics background which will really help in a lot of things math related.

Finally I stepped into a Life Orientation (L.O.) class. This is almost a therapy session for the kids 4 days a week. I think it is what our advisory is supposed to be like but is not. It started by a breathing session led by a student then on to discussions and confrontations. Kids were pretty open and honest about thoughts and feelings and confronting them. May kids shared fun and exciting things they experienced over break like church camp, visiting family in other townships, etc. One girl came out and said she had a miserable time during break. Her mother ran away and she was left alone with the dad and brother. She was stuck cooking and cleaning for them during her entire vacation. She kept commenting on how lonely she was. A boy sitting next to her hugged her and tried to comfort her by telling her, “we are here for you all the time.” It was a beautiful moment. I don’t know why I cannot foster an advisory like this. Thabia and Trevor, the L.O. teachers said I will be able to interview them about this class and what is the magic they have that I want. I will definitely be attending these LO classes daily, not only to get to know the kids better, but for a therapy session for me. More to come here too.

1st Staff Meeting

July 12. Staff Day

Yesterday was our first day meeting with staff members. It was interesting to say the least. I am still trying to reflect on it all and I do not think writing this will be the end to the reflections. It was an interesting dynamic between the educators in the room. Some dominating and some very passive, some veterans, some in their 1^st year of teaching. It was….interesting…to say the least.

A quote that John brought up in the meeting which he completely stole for Confucius said: “Tell me and I forget, Show me and I remember, Involve me and I understand.” We were all reflecting as a staff at how amazing the holiday program was that Sara put together. About half of the school staff was there to observe bits and pieces and about one eighth of the staff was there and fully involved. All the staff members there or there for a bit kept commenting on how amazed they were at the work the kids produced in a 4 day period. They loved that the kids worked with their hands and created, constructed, wrote and performed a variety of things….kind of like how we feel about our kids at school. Many teachers even said (surprisingly too) that they “wanted to incorporate something like this in their classes this term.” I loved that the teachers were open to this…but honestly, it’s all talk now.

Anyways, John jumped in with this quote to tie it together saying that when he is planning his lessons that he always things of this quote, dresses up in Native American garb, and does a ceremonial dance to create a good lesson…ok not all that, just thinking of the quite. It makes him focus on how his lesson is involving the kids in the learning process as much as possible. Honestly, it’s been great working with John and Pam because I am learning so much from them. I hope the staff took to heart what John was trying to do because it was great advice.

The teachers seem passionate about their job. They seem to LOVE the students, which is the most important teacher can do before the teaching actually happens. They also seem like to want to progress their teaching styles and become better educators. There is an air of improvement that needs to be made, not only in LEAP, but in South African education in general. The main issue is that teachers are afraid of the Matriculation Exam. It is so comprehensive and so demanding on the students and teachers that I can see why they feel this way. The 2 weeks before the month long vacation, the kids took tests for each class for about 7 hours a day for two weeks. That’s a portion of the yearly exam they have to take. It’s entirely too much, but the kids see the importance (of the importance they are told of) and they study harder than I have ever seen for them. The kids are also scared of the tests. This is something that we are still trying to figure out, and working on how to implement project based learning and making them successful on these exams. More to come on this….

We will be celebrating 67 Minutes for Mandela on the 16th (it's really on Sunday the 18th) …a portion from his website (www.mandeladay.com) :

"Mr Mandela has spent 67 years making the world a better place. We're asking you for 67 minutes." Nelson Mandela turns 91 on 18 July, and the call has gone out for people everywhere to celebrate his birthday – and the global launch of Mandela Day – by acting on the idea that each person has the power to change the world.

The call by the Nelson Mandela Foundation and its sister organizations for the creation of an official global Mandela Day, to be celebrated annually on 18 July, Mandela's birthday, is gaining momentum.

The celebration of Mandela Day aims to serve as a global call to action for people to "recognize their individual power to make an imprint and help change the world around them for the better", the Nelson Mandela Foundation said at the launch of the campaign in April.

"Nelson Mandela has been making an imprint on the world for 67 years, beginning in 1942 when he first started to campaign for the human rights of every South African. His life has been an inspiration to the world."

Now, the Mandela Day campaign is calling on people around the world to commit 67 minutes of their time "to make an imprint and help change the world around them."

Finally, Trevor, the Life Orientation (amazing class I’ll tell you about later) teacher spoke up and commented on his observations during staff meetings. He noticed that the black staff were not talking in meeting and the white staff were dominating the meetings. He is not sure why but he said that maybe the blacks feel inferior or the whites feel dominant. This was a fascinating topic to bring up because Sara commented on this before. When Trevor said this, no one really spoke up except Mapuleng (the black principal) who said, “This is a good topic to discuss, we will get back to it later.” Hmmm…am I missing something or is it something that should have been addressed more in-depth then rather than breaking for lunch?

Working for the Weekend...

July 10 and 11

Saturday, June 10

We went to Melville on Friday afternoon to watch Tubie play percussion next to a DJ at a lounge. The restaurant was really good. It was a lounge type atmosphere and just really chill. After dinner we went to The Loft again to watch the Uruguay v. Germany game. I’m starting to really like that place because it is in a really great neighborhood, the atmosphere is great and the people are so friendly and welcoming. Good times in Melville yet again.

Sunday, June 11

We went to another mall and that had a skate park so that John could do some skating. I was tempted to go in but chickened out a bit. I think next time we go I’m going to give it a try. Who said starting to skateboard in a pool at 32 is a bad idea…I don’t think it is!

Later that night we were planning to head down town since my World Cup ticket hook up fell though, which I am really bummed about, but I still had a great time watching the game. We started at a hipster type bar called Ko’ Spotong which translates in Zulu to “The place to hang out.” It’s the second time we were there and it’s a great little spot. The food is interesting and the people there are wonderful and full of love for South Africa and its underground art and music movement. For dinner I at a sandwich called a Dagwood…specifically a Steak Dagwood.

Ingredients:

2 slices of bread
Lettuce
Cheese
1 Fried egg
1 Cut of Steak
1 Thick slice of Salami
Side of chips (fries)

Let’s just say it was the greatest sandwich I have ever eaten in my entire life….ok…going too far but pretty good.

After eating a talking to other bar goers we headed off to the fan park about 100 yards away to watch the closing ceremonies of the world cup. A fan park is a large area set up with enormous monitors and a stage so local fans who did not attend the game can be at a fun event to watch the game. It’s free to get in so it was packet. There are tents in there that sell food and drinks and little knick knacks. The closing ceremonies were great and when they ended there was still about an hour until the game. There were a few bands that came out which was great. Some local rappers rapped in Zulu, a reggae band form the Netherlands, and a local band that sounded like Dave Matthews Band…although not Dave Matthews and.

The energy at the fan park was something I’ve never experienced. People were cheering and dancing and having a great time. Before last night I was kind of obsessed with the Vuvuzelas, now I never want to see one again…although I have one to bring back. They are loud and annoying but awesome at the same time. A majority of the people in the park were cheering for The Netherlands. Not me…I was for Spain. Not sure why…secretly maybe because what was done during Apartheid by the Dutch…which got me thinking why so many Black South African were cheering for them…something I’m learning. I understand that Mandela preached forgiveness, but I’d be holding some sort of animosity…with that said….Go Spain! Yes…I do know that Spain has done some terrible things in its history too, but not down here.

Anyways, one of the most fascinating moments that stood out to me was when Nelson Mandela was shown on the big screen. The entire crowd went into an uproar of cheering and jumping. It was beautiful seeing everyone hugging jumping and dancing for Mandela. He is really seen as an idol here…which he should be. He has done so much for this world and South Africa.

The game was great…you probably saw it…Spain 1, Netherlands 0. Awesome! We headed back to Ko’ Spotong for the last 30 minutes of the game. Everyone there was cheering for Spain so it was fun to not be the only one cheering for Spain. Again….lots of hugging and dancing went on once Spain scored and won the game. It’s a great place. So much love emanated and radiated from each person that I have met.

Gugu, Ngakana, and Tholo were out too. These were 3 of the several artists who we worked with during the Holiday workshops for the kids last week. Gugu and Ngakana are about 25 and play in a band together. Tholo is about 27 and is a photojournalist who is publishing a photography book soon. These are amazing guys and it has been a pleasure knowing them. It was fun to see them outside of school.

It was about midnight and we were off to go home because the next day was our first staff day with all the teachers…I was a bit nervous but excited to meet the new staff I had not met yet.