Into week three of the trip! It is amazing me how fast the trip is going. I have been in the classroom now for about a week. I have been teaching every day so far and it has been very eye opening. My host mom and I have lots of discussions during the class day about differences in the schools in America and the resources that we have. These schools do not even have text books. There is nothing but a few notebooks for the students that they must share and a teacher edition that gives no activities or worksheets or anything to assess the lesson. Teachers are to create everything themselves. They have over 40 students in a classroom, NO prep period, teachers are all the coaches for the sports after school, there is very little time for the teachers to prep for their classes until after or before school and even then the resources they have are scarce. The students in my class are very generous in sharing pens, pencils and erasers. Many of the students are extremely behind because they have just been passed along. I am in a fourth grade classroom and many of the students cannot even multiply 43x3, it is very sad to see but all I can do is help them. My teacher works very hard using the curriculum that she has and every year or every other year they change it on the teachers so they must start over. It is a waste of money and little resources because everything is being changed. An upcoming change for this next school year that will actually be a huge benefit to the schools of SA is they are getting rid of OBE (outcome based education.) OBE only works in schools that have the resources of text books, overheads, computers, etc. In middle class or lower class schools the limited resources do not allow the teachers to teach to their full potential especially with class sizes, so the schools are not seeing the results that they should and the gap between the wealthy and poor schools keeps growing. I hope that changes can come to the schools by getting rid of the OBE system and poorer schools can start growing to the top. Class and race is a big part of schooling and many parents do not pay their school fees, either because they cannot afford the payment (R 650 a year = 92 dollars a year) that is where people in this country are at. Going into length with this topic with Addy (my host mom) she said that race is a big part of this problem. Colored people (which is a politically CORRECT term in SA) are not paying the schools fees but black people (another politically CORRECT term in SA) are paying the school fees because they have always been at the bottom of the pole during Apartheid (which ended ONLY 15 years ago) education is the number one priority of parents for their children so they can be managers, doctors, lawyers, etc. It is very interesting. In most of the places that I have been in SA black people are always in the kitchen serving or cleaning, VERY RARELY are there black people as owners of shops or working directly with customers, many of us on this trip have noticed this and spoken about it. It is so sad to me how race is such an important factor for people. I do not think that I will ever understand why it matters what color your skin is in society. In my eyes, WHO CARES people are people. Being on this trip I have realized even more that people are responsible for all the hatred and violence in this world. People are brought up to HATE others because of their race or where they are from and the people who suffer the most from this are the CHILDREN. Just because you are white does not mean that you are better than others or just because you are black does not mean that you are only allowed to work at certain jobs. I hope that others can go through the same experience that I am on this trip because they will never again hate or have negative feelings for another human being based off their skin color or other physical characteristic.
Many people stop me while I am out to talk to an ‘American’ today at the grocery store a woman had so many questions for me and many of them were about Barack Obama. He is a very big political figure here and many South African’s have very high respect for him. I am actually giving a lesson on Obama tomorrow (July 20, 2010) in my classroom. I think that it is very interesting that he is so big here and I would like to learn more about him myself. Yesterday was Mendala day because it was Nelson Mendala’s birthday, the first president of SA. He is a very good man who has done so much for this country and it is nice to see so many people supporting him. I would like to give A HUGE THANK YOU to everyone who gave me school supplies and other items to bring with me to SA. I cannot begin to tell you the smiles on the student’s faces and thank-you that I have received for bringing the school supplies to them. Literally something as simple as ONE pencil and a stapler causes grave happiness for these students. It makes me realize that I think I would like to teach in a more rural area instead of an urban area. My reason is that the children in urban areas do not appreciate what they are given or they take many things for granted but those in rural areas appreciate every little thing and have a more positive outlook on life and ethic because they realize that life is not just handed to you, you have to work for what you have and receive. I had a discussion today with my friend Mallory about taking so many things for granted and I have been in instances where I see that I take things for granted before but for some reason this trip has solidified the fact that I need to realize what I do have and do what I can with what I have to help others. There is nothing wrong with doing things for yourself when you work hard for what you have but it feels even better to give and help others. I just went through all my clothes and shoes that I brought here to determine what I am going to leave for those who are homeless and without clothes, I am leaving much more than I expected but my heart cannot just walk away from this trip with so many things that are worthless to me. I just went to the store and bought them with money in my account, didn’t think twice about it. People here for one pair of shoes are so grateful and appreciative it melts your heart.
Today has been a reflection day for me (July 19, 2010) and I have thought a lot about myself and others. I went into this trip knowing that it was going to change me and I was going to learn a lot but I never thought I would feel so much for these people, my students and this country. The turning point of my emotion toward this country was the first week I was here. We were driving home back to our bed and breakfast it was about 1130-12am. We were at a stop light, many people in the car were sleeping but I had my ipod on and was looking out the window. I see a little boy, he could not have been older than 8 or 9, sitting on the curb with a little bag, old worn clothes a hat and a blanket around him. I was literally speech-less, I woke others in the car and asked if we could help him but we were not able to. I could not stop thinking about that child, where he went that night, what he ate or did the next day. I still think about him and it breaks my heart in half to know that he is still out there possibly alone and hungry. I hope and pray that child is in a warm place right now. Each day I get different letters from my students telling me that they love me and I am beautiful and this and that, it is a positive side to the hard things that I see on this trip. Children are so easy to make smile and when you know that you have made a child’s day, they have taken time to write a letter and color a picture or give you their food from their lunch to show how much they love you and are grateful for you, NOTHING can compare to that feeling. I am so grateful that I am able to get an education degree and continue touching children’s lives as a teacher.
Cheers.
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