Open House

Today was Open House at Mandela Barloworld High School. I think the reason I have so much love for this particular school is because it gives me so much general hope for rural schools. After all, here is a school that raises funds and materials from outside organizations and succeeds in doing so. In addition, it has an overwhelmingly dedicated staff who really are invested in its progress and development, and what a difference it makes- you can see how bright and interested the students are in learning. The school’s vibe is simply comforting and inviting, and even though it still lacks much, it does what it can with what it has. For example, it may lack water but the school doesn’t allow that to prevent growing a garden- it simply grows a smaller one.

Perhaps what turns me on to the school is the open and welcoming conversations I find myself having with Ms. Modika- the principal- a woman I pegged as much younger than her reality due to the vibrant electricity she radiates. She becomes alive when talking about subjects that animate her. Unlike so many people I meet in the rural areas, she really seems to have inexhaustible energy that make even me, the now ultimate cynic, believe that her mission and dedication to the school will, in fact, revive the entire community.

So many of the subjects I often feel I have to tread carefully around with the majority of South Africans I encounter- I feel open and at ease to bring up with Ms. Modika. She openly discusses the problem of AIDS, and people’s unwillingness to accept the reality of the disease- that seemingly every third person is infected and how, even at funerals, there is no admittance to the cause of death. She cited an example- a former teacher whose daughter lead what she referred to as a "very fast life" and as a result contracted HIV, yet the father was unwilling to accept this. She talked about how he visited a multiplicity of witch doctors who siphoned away his money, and when he finally brought his daughter to the clinic, and she was officially diagnosed with HIV; he still would not accept it.

She is also much more prone towards empathy than everyone else I encounter, one of the first things she brought up during the day was how well I was coping- referring to her own 6 week stint in the U.S. as a part of training in her past- saying at one point she broke down into tears in her room because she was so homesick and desperately missed the sight of familiarity of things. It may have been the first time someone openly acknowledged that it was in fact okay for me to be unhappy at times and not love and accept everything around me in the village.
I also found myself in an intense discussion with her about teenage pregnancy in the village- due to no alternative activities, and young girls wishing desperately for a boyfriend to take care of them and buy them things. One of her dreams for the school was to transform it into a community center that would alleviate part of this problem.

We also discussed images that Africans have of Americans and vice versa. I complained how everyone thought I was rich and spent my free time partying with Michael Jackson. She said she had been shocked by reactions she had received when in America- elementary school children had asked her if she slept in trees and how she avoided lion attacks.

Though visiting the school was refreshing, my conversations with Ms. Modika were what I found as the most valuable part of my day from an educational view point. Of course, from a tourist standpoint I enjoyed our lunch with took place at the largest Baobab tree on the planet- 46.8meters in circumference and 6000 years old. Apparently, it has been featured on both "Ripley’s Believe it or not" and the cover of the "Wallstreet Journal." Also at the young age of 1000 years the inside begins to hollow naturally and in the inside a bar had been established- very quaint and amusing overall.

Westernization

Khutso's and Baby playing with hose




"You can take my breath away…"
There are a group of children, very sadly emulating carolers, singing down the street completely out of tune and off beat. It seems, more than anything else, they are attempting to accomplish boisterousness- goal: not accuracy but instead loudness. I find it humorous that though some of these children think you can drive to South Africa from America and don’t understand North and South America are, in fact, separate locales- and though they can’t understand simple English questions- they are capable of directing a choral rendition of Enrique Iglesias….

China and South Africa- not quite a world apart

I was just reading an article in June’s "National Geographic"- it was an interview of a fomer Peace Corp volunteer, Peter Hessler, who was in China during his service and remained after to become a writer. The article focuses on "what it means for millions of young people to uproot themselves from their rural villages in the hope of fulfilling their dreams in China’s booming cities."

Though China is a continent away, certain aspects of its development seemingly mirror the situation here in South Africa. I often find few people of my own age group residing in the village: "I think it’s both the lack of opportunity in the countryside and abundance of opportunity along these coastal areas," only here the coastal areas are equivalent to Jo’Burg and Pretoria.

As a result, the successes and failures of this younger generation are mirrored into the village- "sometimes prestige is gained through how many kids you have who are out working and how much money they’re sending." You can see this in a rush for the villagers to use the money to improve their situation and show off to the rest of the community: brick houses with ornate brick decorative details to display the fact they can afford such trivial gestures, tiled roofs, fancy entertainment centers, nice cars. People talk about the families with money- perhaps show them more respect- giving them higher spots of affluence among the village hierarchy.

It is also a matter of purchasing things as rapidly as possible: "it’s the age of wastefulness and profligacy and using resources quickly," You can see this in the litter that consumes the village in the desire to buy ridiculously expensive clothing as a status indicator- but still it’s hard to be critical. "These people didn’t have much for generations. I can understand that desire to improve your life, to live a more comfortable life."

So while we look at countries developing- China, South Africa, Mexico, Eastern Europe- we see this as prosperous and beneficial but we’re also seeing a rush to accumulate all that was missing in the past- a move that places great strain on the world and its resources. With the world’s superpowers already guilty of over consumption and developing countries beginning to fall easily into this pattern, we have to wonder what the repercussions of a more and more demanding society will be on the world. It could be our fatal Catch-22.

Biblionef

Today we had a tea ceremony and Biblionef and the National Lottery donated two steel trunks of books- one to Letseku and one to Matshwi- of Sepedi books. I’m so excited to go through them next week and begin teaching the teachers to use them. It was also nice to be thanked by Michelle, the woman in charge, for the work I’ve done. I know I’m supposed to be selfless about the whole thing but it is nice to feel appreciated when so often I just feel like I’m nagging teachers.

Coffee Bay

Coffee Bay

East London

East London

East London

Pictures from vacation in East London...highlighs include horseback riding in a game park (saw impala, springbok, ostriches, and wildebeasts), Heidi learning to surf, and being lazy at the backpackers and on the beach

Deputy Principal

This week marked the beginning of the third term of the school year. It also marked the beginning of our new deputy principal starting at the school who is a white woman. I have found myself, through her first few days, experiencing de ja vu of my first days at site: being overwhelmed, wanting to be constantly busy but feeling at a loss for what to do, unsure of everyone’s expectations of me, feeling trepidation at the possibility of unknowingly stepping on other people’s toes, and trying desperately to find a rhythm to the day.
I have to give her credit, she is very nice and seems very dedicated to helping the school towards improvement. It will be interesting to watch her and the schools progression.

Grahamstown

Pictures from vacation in Grahamstown at the National Art Festival. As you can see we were trying to be "artsy"