Greetings once again from South Africa,
It has been quite some time since I previously posted and a
lot has happened in the last month, so fasten your seat belts because here
comes living in South Africa 2.0! We are well established in the community,
have taken some great weekend trips, and have found our way through this new,
albeit temporary life in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN, the province that we are in). At this point, six and a half weeks
into our time in South Africa, I know my way around town, I can say some of the
kids’ names without triggering fits of laughter (but you can imagine that I still struggle with names such as Snenhlanhla and Mpumelelo….), I no longer have to start in Canadian dollars and
convert to Rand when seeing how much something costs, and I even get in the
correct side of the car if I am sitting in the front seat. All these little
wins add up to a successful beginning to life at the bottom tip of the African
continent.
Our time working at the school and in the Slangspruit
township is truly incredible. The kids have embraced our presence and look
forward to our cab bumping down the dusty road each morning at 7:20am. And of
course we love seeing their smiling faces as we get off the main road and into
their community. Other than the teachers, we are one of only a few cars that
arrive at the school each morning. Of the 1040 students, the majority of them
walk to school. Thus they don’t have traffic cops, speed zones, walk to school
campaigns, crossing guards and other initiatives that the suburban schools and
schools in Canada often have!
Lunch comes early at Slangspruit Public Primary School, as
this is likely the first, and sometimes only meal of the day for the students.
At 10:00am the bell rings and the bucket of food arrives to each classroom. As
one teacher pointed out, students that cannot afford to bring their lunch are
eagerly getting into line, where students that may have a lunch (perhaps a
simple sandwich and some sugary snack) peruse by to see what is on offer that
day. If it is something of interest, they will most definitely join the line up
to fill up for the rest of the day.
Hunger is a serious issue at the school. And so is access to
water when the tap is switched off unannounced. These resilient kids face
unimaginable challenges such as these and others – kidnappings, crime, HIV,
parentless households – every single day. But they are so eager to learn and
embrace their education and extra-curricular programs such as computer classes,
homework club, and a brand new school leadership council.
Each Monday to Wednesday we offer homework club where the
kids can bring their homework after school to get help finishing it. I lead the
grade four classes and absolutely love working with these kids. They are in
their first year of English instruction at school so language/understanding is a constant
battle. But somehow we manage with some kids translating and others coming up
to me to whisper what it is that they want to tell me, “Sir, today I have maths
homework and no English”. At the end of homework club, every learner receives
an apple. This may be the only piece of fruit the kids eat that day and it
often inspires them to come to learn after school. Plus they never know when it
could be a special snack day where cheese and crackers are served! It is truly
a win-win situation to attend homework club.
Computer classes are an absolute riot! The kids run to the
computer room with elbows high (similar to how a couple of my family members
play hockey!!) and feet moving quickly to assert their place in line for a
computer. Again, I thoroughly enjoy teaching the grade fours as I don’t believe
that any of them have ever used a computer before. On the first few days I
couldn’t say things like ‘click the start button’ as that didn’t make sense to
them. We began practicing using the mouse as a means of instructing the
computer to do what we want it to. It was a very eye-opening experience for me
on the first few days! My absolute favourite part of each computer class now is
when I give an instruction such as ‘double click the heart picture game on the
screen’ and one by one each of the kids quietly and excitedly proclaim success
by whispering ‘YES!’ under their breath for mastering the instruction. It is
the most beautiful sign of confidence and excitement displayed by the kids.
On Monday we began a new chapter at the school with the
first ever student council being unveiled. The leaders for each class proudly
arrived on time to our first day of training and engaged in brainstorming, job
description creation, and teambuilding for three further days this past week. For
more on this, ‘like’ Ukulapha Community Outreach Project on Facebook to receive
more frequent updates about what the kids are up to and to see photos of our
time in Slangspruit (https://www.facebook.com/Ukulapha/).
We are dreaming big this year and hoping to take the kids on an overnight to a
camp in town, field trips, and other new and educational opportunities. Stay
tuned, as you could be part of helping us do this in the weeks and months
ahead!
Beyond the school, life here is such an adventure. We wear
many hats including urban explorer, local transportation rookie, tacky tourist
(sadly we cannot get away from this with our accents, water bottles, and
sunscreen), and more! I have been fortunate to make it to Durban a few times
now, checking out the big city with its stunning beaches, questionable Indian
food joints, endless African markets, and cosmopolitan feel. We take the local
minibuses (kombis) down to Durban for a quarter of the price of the Greyhound. This
money saving method also includes friendly locals, often happy to chat about
politics, why we are in South Africa, or any other matters of the day. Kombis also come equipped with hair razing moments of passing people on the
shoulder of the highway in a traffic jam, reversing down the wrong lane of
traffic to pick up another fare, and endless ‘hooting’ (honking) to let folks
know that there’s a seat inside the kombi with their name on it!
Another previous adventure that we’ve had is a visit to a
township dog-training program where local kids bring their dogs to be checked
out by veterinarians and trained with dog handlers. Google ‘Funda Nenja’ to
learn more as this life-changing program is one of a kind in the area! I also
went hiking in Hilton a few weekends ago with a great group of hikers that I
will join again in the coming weeks. They all had fantastic advice as to where
we should explore in the coming days and weeks ahead!
Next week my Zulu lessons will continue with my awesome friend
and Zulu teacher Luyanda. I have acquired all sorts of helpful one-liners to
surprise the kids with from Luyanda and he has kindly shown me the city from a
local’s perspective as well. I will also be scoping out a tennis group on
Tuesdays to try and join the weekly ladder that a small group of guys have
going at a local club. We have a few weekend trips coming up soon as well.
Currently we are in what I would call the Waikiki (with way fewer crowds) of South Africa hanging out at the most
beautiful Airbnb spot right on the beach! Google Umhlanga Rocks and after
seeing pictures you may be inclined to send me a rude text as I can see that it
is 8 degrees and raining at home (sorry!). We are heading to a rugby match
tonight, my first one ever, as our generous hosts have season tickets. Papa, I will
be thinking of you as I take in my first rugger game.
I appreciate all of your comments and notes about my stories
here and I look forward to sharing with you again in a few weeks. It is truly a
privilege to be here and work with such a kind and welcoming community of
people. Wishing you all the best until my next post.
Cheers from down here,
Russell
Info about the photos:
1. This is our cottage in Pietermaritzburg
2. This is the group of us visiting the Funda Nenja dog program (from left: Bryan - Canadian intern with me, Angie - Canadian visitor from Duncan, BC and organic farmer teaching and setting up a vegetable garden at Slangspruit School, Brynn - Canadian intern with me, Carolyn - the founder of Ukulapha and our supervisor while here, a Funda Nenja volunteer, me with my sweet new bucket hat, another Funda Nenja volunteer, and finally the founder of Funda Nenja
3. This is one of the classrooms at Slangspruit School. We are in the middle of homework club and the kids are working diligently :)
4. The view from the backyard in Umhlanga
