WhyImReallyHere

Hello again everyone,

Look how speedy I’m being with these entries! As I promised at the conclusion of my last blog, I’m going to talk a little bit about my service learning sites, finally. Service learning is a huge part of why I’m here, and I spend the duration of my Mondays and Thursdays at them. I have been attending Thembani Primary School for three weeks now, and my work with the female empowerment programme, Ilizwi, has just started.
I arrive at Thembani at 7:45 for the daily staff briefings, and school starts at 8:00. For the extent of the school day (which ends at 13:45 for the younger kids), I assist a second grade teacher with her class of 40+ “learners.” (I find it interesting that the male/female ratio is so unbalanced: only about 13 girls.) As I expected, my time at Thembani has been challenging, but I have already learned a great deal and am continuing to soak everything in like an eager, totally-in-over-her-head sponge.

The teacher, Ms. Jekwa, typically divides the day into three parts: math, Xhosa spelling/speaking, and Xhosa writing. Naturally, I don't know the Xhosa language, which is the first language of everyone in Langa township. (The teachers speak English, though.) Thus, it's no surprise that I am most helpful during the math portion of the day. Usually, I work for part of the math time with a group of ten students who understand some English. They tend to be the smarter children, so I work with them on more accelerated concepts than the majority of the class. For the other part of the math time, I walk around the class, helping students individually with basic addition and subtraction. With the language barrier, I've found that using beans as counters works better than anything else.

Still, it's incredibly difficult at times. There have been several instances in which I've realized a student completely doesn’t understand a broad concept, such as subtraction. As you can imagine, I find it difficult to explain the notion of "susa"...when all I know is the word "susa." Furthermore, with 40 seven- and eight-year-olds, one teacher, and one only semi-usual assistant, you can imagine how many kids get left behind in the learning process. (And it doesn't help that they're constantly running around, climbing on things, crawling under things, and punching/hitting each other...) It's difficult to be helping a child with an addition math problem, to realize that she/he doesn't understand, and to have six other children tapping you on the shoulder, petting your hair, and climbing on you while they wait their turn for attention. It's also difficult to realize that some students simply aren't grasping a concept, knowing that it would take more time to reach a point of understanding, to know that there simply isn't enough time, and that I am not able to help due to my lack of Xhosa knowledge. (I wanted to take Xhosa at UWC, but there was no way to make it work with my schedule.)

During the Xhosa portions of the lesson, I tend to feel pretty useless. Because I can't help directly, I usually end up doing mundane tasks, like sharpening kids' pencils because they aren't allowed to use the classroom sharpener, for fear that they'll break it...or going around the room and cutting/gluing worksheets into their workbooks. Even though these are mundane tasks, they are things that need to be done, and given the huge volume of students, I realize I am a big help.

The 2nd grade curriculum does not focus on English language acquisition because they’re still working on their Xhosa basics, such as spelling and pronunciation. However, after class, there tend to be a couple of girls who stay late and try to converse with me in English. It's really wonderful for me because I get to learn about their lives in Langa (even though I often hear upsetting things), and I get to help them a bit with their English in the process.

The two images that I have here are actually ones I found online. (I have yet to bring my camera along, but I will at some point.) However, I wouldn’t put up pictures for you if they didn’t reflect my experience, so really, I could’ve easily taken ones similar. The first is a glimpse of the kids on a Friday morning during their weekly assembly in the school yard. The first time I went to Thembani to meet the teachers and principal, it was a Friday morning, so this was my very first taste of Thembani. During their assembly, the kids sing, clap, and pray in unison. Also, you’ll notice that they’re not wearing uniforms in this picture. This is because Fridays are casual days, so they can wear whatever they want.



The second picture gives you a taste of their adorable periwinkle/navy uniforms. It was taken during the mid-morning breakfast delivery (my favorite part of the morning because 2/3 of the kids leave the room for ten minutes…a much needed break for us.) Because several children don’t get adequate nutrition at home, the school provides them with an optional morning meal that usually consists of some sort of oatmeal/porridge.



After I finish at Thembani around 14:00 (after the English-speaking girls run off), I have about an hour break, and then I walk over to meet with the Ilizwi girls. Ilizwi means "voice" in Xhosa, and it's a program that was started last year by a girl who did this Marquette program. I work with another young woman named Thuli who has been involved since last year and helped start the group with Liz. The aim of the group is to focus on four realms of empowerment with teenage girls: art, motivation, careers, and sexual health.

We have only met twice officially, and so far, we have just been getting to know each other. Most of the girls already know Thuli, so it's easy for them to slip into Xhosa, and they know that I don't understand…so that has been a bit of a challenge. However, Thuli doesn't respond to them unless they speak English, so I think it’ll get better. I can tell that communication will be a challenge, but I think that they will start to open up to me in English once they become more comfortable and trusting.

At the moment, Thuli and I have a lot of ideas for what we want to do with the girls (pen pals in the US, scrapbooks/journals, dancing in some form, time capsules, talk about historical influential women, just to name a few), but we need to hone in on what they would like to do, as well as from what they would benefit most. Another issue is funding, so we’re planning to do some fund-raising throughout the semester, such as the idea of Thuli and I hosting dinners at Kimberley House and having everyone in the house and other Obz friends come and donate. Once things get up and running, I'll share more about the specific programmes that Thuli and are implementing.

Peace, love, and mangos,
Sarah Ann Olivia