Playground

So finally, after about 33 weeks, my grant has been posted for the request for money to build a playground at one of my schools. The following is the information for the project:

If you're interested in donating go to: https://www.peacecorps.gov/resources/donors/contribute/projdetail.cfm?projdesc=674-032&

Playground
LocationSOUTH AFRICA
Volunteer Coordinator(s)C. Burkholder of CA
Funds Needed$957.00
Original Request$957.00
Project Number674-032
Community Contribution$220.00 (19%)

Letseku Primary School is located in Rasewana (population 921) in the Limpopo Province of South Africa. Currently it caters to 520 children ranging from preschool aged to grade 7. One of the biggest problems the school faces is lack of classrooms which means that the preschool takes place in a wooden shack and the kindergarten class occurs in a small brick building. The children’s chairs all touch each other and the students have no desks. There is no room for these small children to move, play, or discover in their inadequate classrooms. Thus the students do not receive a beneficial education as they are often restless from lack of movement.

The Department of Education has promised that in the next few years the school will receive new classrooms yet they will never give a firm date and thus the children continue to suffer. The school has decided that one solution that would help alleviate this problem would be the construction of a playground. Given a playground the children will be able to practice and develop their gross motor skills as well as have a place to exert excess energy. In addition, it would help prevent children from fighting one and another as they would now have a place to entertain themselves during break and before and after school.

One final concern regarding the need for the playground is the potential for disaster without one. Letseku Primary School is located next to a dam that the children, who can not swim, often play by for lack of better options. In addition, it is located next to a tavern where many children play video games during break, an activity which should not be encouraged at school. Thus, a playground would provide wholesome activities for children who otherwise have no acceptable entertainment.

In preparation for this project the school has been involved in some fundraising events and has raised 140 rand towards the goal. One of the teachers has found tires to be donated for use in construction and there has been a call to parents to assist with labor on the project. Letseku Primary School now requests Partner Assistance to construct the playground.

Theft

This week I had 400 rand stolen from me (the equivalent of a bit more than 50 dollars) and half of what I had left to cover me this month. I did not realize for several days as I had not checked my wallet. I had left it untended in my bag in the school office which is when I'm guessing it was taken. It was a blow because I have always felt so comfortable in my village and at schools, and I hate that it makes me hesitant and resentful. Not something that adds to my experience....

The Quest

As my service begins to come to a close I am trying, in a variety of ways, to prepare for my departure. Hence, I stated my quest to replace myself with another volunteer. Recently I st down with my principals for a discussion regarding whether or not they were interested in having someone continue the work I've been doing. They enthusiastically agreed which gave me a positive feeling that I must be doing something right.

My own reasons for having someone else come in may be more selfish. In the scheme of things, I don't want the work I have done here to quietly slip away. I want constancy and follow-up, and for lack of a better description, someone here to continue beating positive education practices into my teachers' heads. In addition, my schools have good management and a handful of people who do really care. In that sense, it puts them leagues further in terms of development than many other rural schools. This makes me hopeful for them, and I want this to continue; something I think another volunteer could assist in perpetuating. Plus, I've had a good experience with my schools, and I want someone else to be able to have that experience also.

On this note, I talked to Peace Corps about the steps I would have to take in order to get someone else place out here. Unfortunately, I was informed that Peace Corps is not currently placing volunteers in this province until a year from now with the exception a few married couples. In regards to these couples, one would be working in education and one with a non-governmental organization. The verdict: if I want a volunteer I need to find a viable NGO for their spouse to work at.

Hence, we return to my quest. I brought this up to the principal of one of my schools. She was a bit baffled as she, like most of my teachers, doesn't live in the village thus wasn't aware of any organizations out here. Together we did some homework and through conversations with locals found out that there was an NGO and 10km away. Thus, we set out to find out what they were all about.

The drive there produced some doubts for me. I live in a very populated village next to a paved road, but go about 5km "that side" the road turns to dirt and housing begins to spread out. After turning down a dirt road, getting lost 3 times, and maneuvering down several treacherous ravines, we ended up smack dab in the middle of nowhere which also happened to be the location of the NGO in question. There happened to be no one there so we asked some men who were busy tending to their chickens if they had any information.

We ended up with a phone number and called a man who was partially responsible for this enterprise. Michael told us to drive out to the road a gain, he was currently at the church.

I quickly found myself in a Catholic Church, an anomaly in the village where the majority of the inhabitants ascribe to the Zion Christian Church. I have to admit that I felt comforted in this church where I immediately was able to identify everything and recognize the practices unlike many of my experiences in the village.

Turns out that the NGO stems from the Catholic Church. As I talked to the man in charge, Michael, an older man missing most of his front teeth which was evident from his frequent open mouthed grins, and read their mission statement, I began to regain the idea that perhaps this NGO could work for a volunteer. Their main premise was working with HIV/AIDS and TB thus they did home-based care for people living with these illnesses as well as providing care for children left as orphans as a result.

We talked, I gathered information, and additionally arranged a meeting for next week with the project manager who lives in a nearby town. I left the experience inspired by their mission and holding a tinge of regret that this hadn't been my experience here. All in all I hope everything pans out and both this organization as well as my schools will receive future assistance.

Dedication

Recently I finished reading Dian Fossey's novel, Gorillas in the Mist. The whole book got me thinking about what it means to really generate change in the world, and I've come to the conclusion that it takes a level of dedication and passion towards a specific cause that most humans simply don't possess.

It seems that people who have caused the most metamorphosis have in fact given their lives to the ideals to which they prescribe. It is this passion which I find so fantastic. For example, Fossey spent 13 years in the jungles of Rwanda dedicated to tracking, observing, and increasing the ability of the gorillas there to exist. She lived without luxuries, alone, and tagged with a nickname that translated means "the woman who has no man." She constantly ran into obstacles: poachers, bureaucracy, etc; yet she still stayed emphatic toward her research and cause. In the end, she was murdered due to this dedication.

Her story also reminded me of another man I admire, Dr. Paul Farmer. Farmer is a man who has dedicated his life to providing medical care to impoverished people. In the Pulitzer prize winning book Mountains Beyond Mountains, the author, Tracy Kidder, describes all the years and effort Farmer has put in improving care in Haiti. In a time when so much of foreign aid fails, Farmer has succeeded through his immense passion to his cause. He is now working on replicating part of his programs here in Africa.

Perhaps what I find so incredible about these two individuals, and disheartening in myself, is the personal power they exude. I know I'm not a person who could dedicate my entirety to my village here. While I sit count the days until I can return to hot showers and the other comforts of America, these two actually game up all of themselves and as a result succeeded in making a difference.

Perhaps my real fear for developing nations is that the programs that actually make a huge difference, more often than not, cannot be replicated because the people who run them cannot be replicated. There are too few in the world willing to be a Fossey or a Farmer. My question is: What is it that can give a person that much heart, and what can I personally do to obtain it?

Happy

Yesterday, as I lay in my room reading, I was greeted with childish shouts: "Makobo, Makobooooooooo," emitted from my open door. After an allotted time period in which I attempted to ignore the calls I gave in and investigated my fan club.

Outside was Mothopi and two of her friends waiting for me to appear for their entertainment purposes. The three of them, being typical preschoolers began exploring me: the texture of my hair, my nose piercing, my painted toe nails. As they pointed at my bright pink toes I decided to join them in their festivities and grabbed a bottle of purple nail polish from my room. I then proceeded to paint thirty dirt encrusted nails the shade of an iris while three sets of tiny teeth grinned and giggled at the physical change taking place before their eyes.

It is amazing the simple things which can make us all happy.