Summer Camp in Zululand

The campers gather around the Tree of Life banner.

Near the end of the last school year, my principal received an application to nominate 10 learners to attend a five-day sleep-away summer camp. The goal of the camp was to give the kids in this rural area an experience that many “first-world” kids have each and every summer, as well as encourage the use of English. The camp was sponsored by The David Rattray Foundation (www.davidrattrayfoundation.org), a local NGO that does great work with many of the local schools. It turns out they were also looking for chaperones! And while I don’t necessarily think that they had me in mind, I signed up and they invited me to come to the third session from January 9^th to the 13^th.

MaryBeth (center) and her daughter surrounded
by the enthusiastic campers on the last day.

The camp itself, called Isihlahla Sempilo which means the Tree of Life, was great fun for the kids, in my opinion, anyway. It was held at a nearby lodge, with comfortable accommodations, delicious food, and a beautiful outdoor setting. The kids were housed in cabins of 6 or 8 and dined in a covered patio area. Every morning began with a short, outdoor exercise session, followed by a hearty breakfast. The rest of the day was filled with sessions focused on singing, dancing, and creative arts. The main presenters were two Americans named MaryBeth and Vernon who really knew their stuff and how to communicate and to teach English language learners. I also learned an amazing number of new songs, as well as a few dances. In the late afternoon and evenings, there was free time for swimming, playing soccer, watching movies, or just hanging out and meet new people. Everything was conducted in English, so even though nothing was “academic” in nature, the whole camp was essentially a huge language lesson. The last day of the camp was “performance day,” when a small number of guests and visitors were treated to a show starring the kids and featuring the songs the songs and dances they had spent the last few days perfecting.

Vernon (far right) with several of
the other teacher-chaperones.

For a variety of reasons, I am very thankful I had a chance to go. First, it gave me something to do, which was nice since I had been at site for over a week without anything really going on. Second, the camp was very well run and filled with fun ideas that I may try to incorporate into my classroom during the upcoming year. I also got to know a couple of the kids that attend my school as well as a few of the Zulu principals at nearby schools. And, most importantly, since I was at the last session of the camp, I was there when they were giving away all of the supplies! Huge score. I took home masking tape, dozens of top-quality Crayola markers, three feather boas, stencils, and nice cardstock. All of which I have plans for, including the feather boas, although those plans don’t necessarily include school. In any case, I felt great about going back to school today after arriving home from the camp yesterday and I have a good feeling about the year ahead.

South African Basics: Cell Phones and Airtime

My little Nokia phone served me well.

If memory serves, I bought my first cell phone in 1999. Since then, I have purchased a few phones along the way, but I have never owned a smart phone or any type of phone that does more than just make calls and send text messages. So it was a bit of a surprise to be told that many, if not most Peace Corps Volunteers have BlackBerries or a phone with some type of internet access. I was one of the few in my group that hesitated at first – I did not buy anything more than a cheap phone until I was at site for a month. But I caved eventually and found the money to buy a BlackBerry. For my location, it really is the most reliable way to have regular internet access, and for better or for worse, that is important to me. I like to be able to look up sports scores, check the weather, or just send an email to a friend when I think of it. I used to be able to do all those things on my computer, but when you live without electricity, that really isn’t the most efficient way of doing things. So, apparently joining the Peace Corps is what finally made me get a smart phone. Didn’t see that coming.

Airtime vouchers - an essential.

Besides having to get used to a new type of phone, I also had to get used to a new type of cell phone plan – or should I say, lack of a cell phone plan. Don’t get me wrong, plenty of South Africans have cell phones with monthly plans, but they also have something called credit, which I am sorely lacking in this country. Instead, I pay for everything with “airtime.” In essence, airtime is the same thing as having a prepaid cell phone, it just has a special name and you almost never get what you pay for – depending on how you buy you may get more or you may get less.

There are basically two ways to buy. First, if you have a South African bank account (which I do), you can connect your cell phone number to that bank account. Then, when you want more airtime to make calls, send messages, or buy data to use the internet, you dial a few numbers and the money is taken directly from your bank account and added to your phone. When you buy this way, there are often rewards or points that you earn, and eventually, these points can be used to buy more airtime, so you end up getting more for your money. The second most common way to buy airtime is to buy a little slip of paper (called a voucher) for a pre-determined amount, and then you type the code from the voucher into the phone and the money is credited to your number. You can buy these vouchers virtually anywhere: and I mean anywhere. No matter how big or small the shop, they will sell airtime vouchers. As you walk down the main street in town, you will see small shacks or tables with one person sitting at it selling nothing but airtime vouchers. When you are waiting in a minibus taxi to go to another town or just back to your village, it is nearly guaranteed that someone will come up to the window and ask if you want to buy airtime in the form of a voucher. The small shop in my village, as well as my host family, re-sells airtime vouchers that they first buy in town. But none of this airtime is sold for the actual value of the voucher. In all of these cases, it costs more. My host family, for example, sells airtime vouchers out of their home. You can buy R5 of airtime for R6.50 or R12 of airtime for R13.50. So in the end, the people that have the least money available to them (so little money, in fact, that they don’t have need for a bank account) overpay the most. Not an uncommon phenomena, but a shame nonetheless. Here’s to hoping that one day everyone will be able to find ways to get more airtime for their money.