Burn Baby Burn

I have always been one to enjoy a good bonfire or campfire or fire in the fireplace. I guess I like fire. It has come in handy here on more than a few occasions. Turns out that Zulus also like fire. They use it for disposing of trash, cooking in large pots for village functions, and what I learned most recently, spring cleaning of the yard.

The brush in front of Ncepheni Mountain
during its yearly controlled burn.

As we near the end of winter, the brush across the village and surrounding terrain is very brown and VERY dry. Apparently, this spells trouble. Most Zulus are quite worried that everything is going to go up in flames at any minute; so to prevent this disaster, they just burn it themselves. For a greater portion of the last month, I have seen these controlled burns in the distance. One evening, there was a large area on the backside of a nearby mountain being burned and it lit up the mountain in an eerie silhouette. I figured it was only a matter of time before we would take our turn and burn everything around our yard.

My host sister Niki makes sure that the small flames
are put out when the area is done with the burn.

I’m not really sure how it was decided what day we would light the grass ablaze, but late one afternoon this past week I saw some neighbors, surrounded by a fairly large group of kids from the village, lighting a match and waving on the flames. The next thing I knew, I heard a “crackle, crackle” and I realized my family was outside doing the same. The grass inside the fence is actually not to be touched; it is just all the grass that is in between yards and properties, mostly along dirt roads and paths. I also learned that it is better to complete this task at dusk or at night because it is easier to see the flames and less likely they will get out of control. The adults walked around with small buckets of water, sprinkling the grass and fence posts to create something of a boundary to contain the fire. Most of the kids held large, leafy branches to swat the flames down or out when they had burned the appropriate area. The smoke and ash that got caught in the wind was pretty intense at times, and I definitely found myself a little too close to the action once or twice. The whole process was somewhat amazing. Although, in the back of my mind I wondered how many times things didn’t go quite as planned. Luckily, that was not the case this time around. Whether or not there is any real reason to do this, I really can’t say. The Zulus believe it is absolutely necessary, so there’s no stopping them. I can’t say this for sure, but I don’t necessarily think the process is good for the soil if it is done year after year after year. But again, that is irrelevant. What is most important is that if someone carelessly flicks a lit cigarette butt on the ground now, there is a much smaller chance that the whole village will burn down. Which according to my host sister is the justification for all this burning. Very interesting…

After School Clubs

After reading a few of these blog posts, you may or may not have notices that things here have a tendency to move slowly. To say that no one is ever in a rush to get anything done would be an understatement. My arrival was not suddenly going to change that, either. So, although it seems really pathetic, after two and a half terms, I am proud to announce that I now have two after school clubs up and running and meeting on a regular basis. Truthfully, I think this is nothing short of a miracle.

Grade 6 doing keyboarding work in the Computer Lab.

The Computer Club meets on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays from 2:15 – 3:00pm.  Monday is only for grade 6, Tuesday is only for grade 5, and Wednesday is only for grade 7. Ten kids can come at a time because that is how many computers can be turned on at once. There is something wrong with the wiring or a circuit somewhere so if you turn on more than ten computers the electricity in the whole school shuts off. Unfortunate, I know, but no matter; ten is better than zero, and if I waited until all eighteen could be used at once, this paragraph would never be written.

Grade 5 watching videos on Encarta for Kids.

The club starts off with a little lesson in which I show them a new “skill,” like opening and saving a Word document or moving something to the trash. After they have fiddled around with that for a few minutes, I make them open a program called Rapid Typing (which I got from the Peace Corps) and complete one of the exercises. I’m not trying to turn them into typists, I’m just trying to familiarize them with where the letters are on the keyboard, because seriously, it can take five minutes to type their own name. Once they have finished the exercise, they are free to use the computer however they would like. Most of them watch the short video clips or play the little games that can be found in Encarta for Kids. Occasionally one of them will try to play Solitaire or Pinball or a geography game. Since the computers don’t have access to the internet, this is about as good as it gets; but for kids that can barely maneuver a mouse correctly, it’s a great place to start.

Happily working on a puzzle.

The Games and Puzzles Club meets on Thursdays (also from 2:15-3:00pm) or on Friday during school cleaning time from (12:00-1:00pm) but since we are in the library about 30 students can come to participate, and I always end up letting more in because they seem perfectly happy to sit on the floor. I have big plans for this club in the next couple of months – perhaps not the most realistic plans, but I’m going to give it a try. 

Word search time.

For now, I start things off by giving teams of three kids a word search and the first team that correctly completes it wins a small prize (compliments of my American family and friends). After that, I just let the kids play the games or work on the puzzles that we already have in the library (also generously donated by Americans.) I usually spend some time working with a small group of kids who want to try the Rubik’s Cube. I have one grade 6 boy that can solve the first layer, which I think is amazing. The rest of them just sort of fiddle around with it, but I’m pretending like it is making them think. My hope is that I can eventually have weeks where we make games (the previous volunteer left behind a pretty cool book published by PC Namibia with games that you can make using essentially trash commonly found in rural areas).  Then the kids can take these games home and play them with their families.

Snakes and Ladders is a school favourite.

I also want to have weeks where we work on “projects.” First up is to make an aquarium. This has been started, but as with everything here, isn’t moving as fast as I had hoped. Normal. The kids have colored and cut out pictures of sea life and next we are going to hang them in the frame of an old desk covered with blue paper so it looks like a fish tank. It’s hard to describe, but when it eventually gets done, I’ll post a picture. I also really want to have them make a paper mache solar system to hang from the ceiling of the library. This may be a bit ambitious, but if it happens, you will all be the first to know.

So, that’s my new after school routine. It’s funny because I’m still finished by 3pm, so it doesn’t really feel like I’m staying extra late, but the place is a ghost town when I’m done. Clearly a sign that it will absolutely not continue when I’m gone, but I’ve given up on that. If I only did things that I was sure would continue when I left, I’d do nothing but twiddle my thumbs all day. Not really my style.

This Old House: Zululand

Front view of the main family house.

The compound where I live is pretty typical of a rural South African family. The main family house has three rooms: kitchen, living room, and one bedroom. Like most houses that I know in America, there is the formal front door and then the back door that everyone really uses. There are two one-room houses behind the main family house: one serves as bedroom (mostly in the summer when it is warm enough), and the second as a second kitchen / storage room. It is used as a kitchen when mama is making traditional Zulu beer or helping someone in the village cook for a large function. On one side of the main family house is a one-room house dedicated to the ancestors. Anything for ceremonies is stored here (like traditional clothes and weapons), as well as heirlooms from deceased relatives. It isn’t supposed to be used for anything else, but if you have a big family and perhaps are short some space (because you are subletting to an American for several years), it’s difficult to keep it empty.

The back door where visitors come and go.

I know that my family, for example, also stores maize in the house after the harvesting season. On the other side of the main family house is a two-room house built for my half-brother Musa (son of the first wife of my deceased host father). It is his whether her moves back to the area or not, and it is where he stays when he occasionally comes to visit. If there were more sons, they would all have houses built for them as well, but since every other child born to my host father was a female, only one extra house needed to be built. Lastly there is my rondavel, which I have been assured, was empty before I and the previous volunteer moved in. In fact, my host sister told me that originally the family was asked if they would store several hundred, school textbooks while the secondary school underwent major renovations. Then, when the school was told that they would be hosting a volunteer for two-years, the principal asked if the space could house a person rather than some old, dusty books. Clearly it worked out well, but I have to laugh at the idea that one day you think some books are being delivered and the next thing you know an American shows up.

The back houses: on the left a bedroom, on the right a kitchen.

One of the uses of the outside kitchen is for brewing
traditional Zulu beer: umqombothi

The house of the ancestors.

My host brother Musa's house, should he ever choose to live there.

Home Sweet Home!

A new addition being added on to the main family house!

In the last five to six weeks, the main family house has gotten a major upgrade! Another bedroom is being built onto the back of the house. Before I left for Namibia, mama had two men come to make the concrete blocks. Sand and concrete powder was delivered in big piles and then the men came with a mold to form the blocks. They were laid out in the garden to harden over the course of several weeks. The actual construction began while I was away on vacation and has continued slowly but surely since I returned. There doesn’t seem to be a regular construction schedule, the two guys just show up when they can, but this past week the roof went up and things seem to be closer to the finish than to the start, so that is a good sign. The inside walls still need to be plastered with something that makes them smooth, and the floor inside still needs to be laid.

A door to the new room was carved out in the kitchen.

I’m sure there are

other things as well, but I can only see the most obvious things that need to be done. All in all, it is good news for my host sisters, as it will mean the six of them no longer need to share one bedroom during the winter months when they are all home and it is too cold to sleep in the outside house. And it was exciting to see some home-remodeling, Zulu-style.

Women's Day Weekend

Yay for three-day weekends!

This past Friday was Women’s Day – a national public holiday here in South Africa that began in 1994 and celebrates the Women’s March of 1956 when somewhere between ten and twenty thousand women marched in Pretoria to protest the proposed “pass laws.” I’m not going to write much more about the historical aspects because I was neither there nor can I find a source reliable enough to quote on the details of the march. All I can say with certainty is that every year on the 9^th of August, learners and teachers don’t have to attend school.

So, since there was no school on Friday, it was the perfect time to take a quick trip to St. Lucia, a fairly low-key tourist town on the coast. It’s a bit tricky to make it there in one day using public transportation, so I decided to leave after school on Thursday and go just halfway. There are a few volunteers that live between here and there, so I was able to find a place to stay on Thursday night and finish the journey on Friday morning. And as a surprise added bonus, we even ended school early on Thursday. Supposedly there were schools in the area that thought Thursday was a day off as well (I don’t even know how that is possible) so our school administrators decided that we would start cleaning at 11am and close school at noon. You certainly weren’t going to hear any arguments from me; I’ve learned to accept that this is how things work. Now, I’m simply grateful for the positives rather than constantly pointing out that the less time the kids are in school, the less likely they are to do well on the National Assessments. The teachers don’t seem to believe there is a correlation there, so it’s useless to argue that point.

A popular fishing site in St Lucia over Women's Day Weekend.

Instead, I took advantage of the extra time to enjoy a break from village life. After spending Thursday night in Richard’s Bay, I met up with another volunteer in Mtubatuba on Friday morning, and we were in St. Lucia by early Friday afternoon. We didn’t have any plans other than to enjoy the outdoors and eat as many meals as we could. While we were not blessed with sun-filled days, it didn’t rain too terribly, and we were able to get out and about and see a few sites. On our trip down to the beach, we saw residents and visitors fishing in the ocean. As we walked along the river that leads to the Lake St. Lucia, we spotted a hippo coming onto the shore to dry off. And while winding our way through the nature trails, we were able to photograph a few of the unique and colorful birds that are native to the region. We enjoyed burgers, fish & chips, pizza, and curry while dining at an assortment of restaurants throughout the town, and back at the bed and breakfast, we even had a chance to watch some TV. Neither of us has electricity at our sites, so this was a truly exciting experience!

A happy hippo takes a look around.

One of the many colorful birds that can be all around St Lucia.

When Sunday morning came, I was sad to go, but really happy I had the chance to visit one of my favorite places in South Africa. Not sure when I’ll be back next, but it will certainly be before September 2014. Can’t wait.

Back at Square One

Last week was a frustrating one. I’ve heard from volunteers and PC staff alike that at about the one-year mark, you go through a slump. I wasn’t necessarily anticipating this, but it seems to have happened. Perhaps it is coincidence, or perhaps it is that I am having a harder time coping with setbacks because of the timing. Either way, this week was not easy, and in many ways, I feel like I’m back at square one.

Monday’s frustration was a result of a visit from the DOE District Office. The week before, I attended a meeting with our district representative where I was told that the Provincial Office is sponsoring a “pilot project” where they monitor, evaluate, and possibly award schools that have established and use a school library. This district representative told us that we would be given “support” in the coming weeks to enhance and build on what we have started. The first of these “supportive” visits came on Monday.

The three representatives from the district arrived just past 11am, which would have been the perfect time for them to see the library in action, as grade 6 has library class from 11am-12pm on Mondays. But instead, class was canceled and the students never left their classroom because the representatives said they wanted to see the library “undisturbed.” This really should have been my first clue.

After a few minutes of the standard greetings, one of the representatives asked to see our Accession Register while another started to look through the books on the shelves. In a matter a seconds, we were told that our numbering and labeling system did not match the official system and the books would need to be “reprocessed.” When I pointed out that their official labeling system would not allow for us to distinguish between duplicate copies of a book (because all the copies would have the same spine label and we would not know which one was missing should one go missing), one of the representatives responded simply by stating that we should not be allowing books to be checked-out since we did not have a full-time librarian to properly run the library. When I asked how our school should go about applying for a full-time librarian, if that was the case, the same representative responded by saying “there are no postings available.” I laughed out loud. Just to make sure I understood correctly, I said, “So the DOE expects schools to have functioning libraries, BUT they can only be functioning if there is a full-time librarian, BUT we cannot have a full-time librarian because the DOE has no posts available.” The response, “That is correct.” Way to be supportive! Instead of saying “great work” for figuring out how to overcome the obstacles of no resources or help, they basically came to say “you’re doing it wrong.” They cared only about appearances and nothing of the true work that was being done by the teachers and learners. One of the men that came from what I was told was the “resource center” looked through every book on every shelf without saying a word. He never said what he was looking for or why this was such an important task. None of the three visitors asked how the library was used. They never asked how frequently learners came or what programs were established to promote reading. Their concerns were with the book labels and recordkeeping. And in that regard, we were told we needed to go back and “reprocess” things. Back at square one.

So that’s how the week got started. The other teachers did not take it as hard as I did. Possibly because they are so used to the way the DOE functions, that they recognized this as par for the course. Or possibly because none of them has put as much work into the library as I have. I don’t really know. But neither I, or any other teacher at the school, has any intention of starting this task any time soon, so it is hard to say how it will work out in the end. But it was not really the news I was expecting to hear.

Friday was when I got my next “start over” notice.

The first two weeks of the term, I was teaching fractions in grade 5. It was new material as far as I could tell, and it was not going great, but they were progressing steadily. I didn’t want to immediately give a test on only fractions, so I decided to do a brief review of all the whole number concepts that we had studied in terms 1 and 2 and then give a formal assessment that covered all that material. As an added bonus, it also happens to be what the curriculum says. I expected them to be rusty and need reminding, but nothing could have prepared me for how little they seemed to remember. And then it dawned on me – we had a THREE-WEEK vacation between terms 2 and 3. I think a three-week school holiday would spell disaster in my American classroom. Here in a rural school, it is nothing short of catastrophic. It’s as if terms 1 and 2 never even happened. It really felt like starting a new school year with these concepts. Virtually nothing seemed to have moved from their short-term to long-term memory. There were two or three learners who had relatively few problems, but I think that it was review for them when we did it earlier in the year as well. The information had already transferred to their long-term memory. For the rest, we needed to practice as much now as we did several months back, and unfortunately, there was little time for that. I reviewed the big things (addition with carrying, subtraction with borrowing, and rounding) as much as I could and gave the test on Friday. Not exactly the results I was hoping for. In the week we spent reviewing the whole number concepts, many of them forgot the few new fraction concepts, and it became apparent that most of the whole number concepts were still shaky for quite a few. I finished marking the papers and then put them aside. Back at square one.

I’ll think of a plan for re-teaching and reviewing soon, but the rest of the weekend I needed to spend time reminding myself that it is not a waste of my time to be here. Gains are small and often unnoticeable or immeasurable. But they are there. And I’ll get back to square two soon enough.