Home Again

Firstly my apologies for the lack of posts on the blog while I was away. It was very difficult to find internet access.

I suspect the Ark Teachers and Monitors (teacher aides) will always be in my thoughts. The time with them was amazing. I'm hoping some of them will get internet access so we can stay in touch. They were so appreciative of all we did together. We learnt much from them - their acceptance of life as it is for them, their celebration of their faith. I asked some how they could believe in a Loving God, when life was so tough. They told me they are able to live due to their faith and belief in his love for them and their hopes and dreams for their future is with God. That is a bit hard for me to get my head around.

Clinton invited us to share our final meal with his family in his home on Mitchell's Plain. His neighbour had cooked us a lovely curry. They had gone to a great deal of effort (he told us he had been planning the evening for a year!) His neighbours all popped in to meet the 'white people. ' His mother-in-law spoke to us of how she admired the RATA teachers. She said she knows full well we are all educated and wealthy, and yet observed that we interacted and spoke with her and her family with respect and treated them as our equals. She said for her this was very unique and very special to her. I was saddened that this should be so unusual for her.

This reflected the comments made to me by 16 year old Nicky. Returning to his class after interval I said hello to him, and used his name. He asked me how I knew his name. I replied I knew it because he had told me it earlier in the morning. He then checked this out by asking me to tell him the names of others in the class, which fortunately I was able do. He then told me no one had ever remembered his name, ever. He walks 1.5 hours to school from the nearby Township of Mfuleni. Using his name gave me a great open door - all day the class was talking with me, asking me questions, wanting their photos taken etc. They are intelligent kids, with a thirst for knowledge, but also with a great understanding that others in this world do not live as they do.

These kids all need to be sponsored by someone to attend university. They have no chance of going unless someone pays their fees and accommodation. They already know this and verbalise they are stuck in poverty until someone rescues them. Not one student asked me to sponsor them.... There are no scholarships to apply for - they simply live in hope, that as has happened to some of their classmates, someone, somewhere will offer to sponsor them. I am left wondering how to best help these delightful, intelligent, articulate young people.

Thanks to everyone for their financial support that was all spent on buying resources - Christine and I ended up spending 9000 Rand on books (we bought over 200 books). As we had found a real shortage of books we decided to try google and discovered the "Biblionef" in Pinelands. Clinton left us at the Biblionef for the day on Monday. This place, situated in the Dutch Centre for Cape Town, was an amazing find as it has picture books in the 11 official languages of SA. We managed to get Biblionef to print us labels for each book saying "Donated by the families in New Zealand - RATA 2009" The Ark School was thrilled with your books. Thank you.

Dinner with the NZ Consul

What an amazing mix of people we met at dinner last night. Tim Barnett (who is a friend of one of the RATA teachers, Cheryl Doig) invited us to dinner at his place at Hout Bay. It felt strange to be back in Western Culture again, but wonderful to eat fresh vegetables, rather than the continual carbohydrate we are provided with. We looked longingly at his bathroom, but even a subtle hint for a shower, was not picked up on. (Christine and I had been so excited this week when we picked up our laundry from a laundromat and enjoyed a clean bath towel. It's amazing how clean clothes are now a real treat!)

Tim had invited Michael Lapsley (who turned out to be born in my home town of Hastings) to dinner. He is the honoary NZ consul here in Cape Town. He had been proactive in the anti apartheid movement prior to 1994, and was sent a letter bomb (by white South Africians opposed to his stance) which blew off both his hands, and cost him the sight of one eye, and his hearing in one ear. We had visited Robben Island the same day and had a tour, taken by a black ex political prisoner on the island. Interestingly, while white prisoners were not kept on Robben Island, this amazing black man said it was the white prisoners who suffered the most, as they were not supported by their own white community.

Other guests included gay black men, and other marginalised people in Africa. Such an interesting mix of people.

We saw the cell of Nelson Mandella on his 91st birthday. It was so strange to stand where he had stood etc. 27 years of prison...

Christine and I have started spending the money we have been donated to buy picture books. We have tried to explain how important it is to provide literature in the first language a child speaks, but this has not been accepted by the leader of the homeless shelter, so we need to work with the beliefs of those with the power and buy books in English. This is a much harder task than in NZ as few book stores in Cape town sell good picture books. However, yesterday we got lucky and spent 2000 rand on 33 books - we have another 6000 Rand or more to spend. Most books cost $6 and $20 so we are going to leave many books in the library.

It is great to have a weekend off to normalise to some degree. Back into the poverty tomorrow..

The thing that really sticks in my mind, is that the female teachers and teacher aides all sleep in one room, with all their children in their single bed. How on earth do they sleep, with wiggling crying children beside them and then come to school by 7.30am ready to teach?? I know I couldn't do it. And these amazing intelligent, articulate women consider themselves blessed not to be sleeping on the streets... from where many of them have come.

Table Mountain

After school on Thursday we went up the cable car to the top of Table Mountain. It was a beautiful sunny day, with no wind. It was great on the senses to get away from the constant poverty all around me. The conditions here are just so bad. Millions of people living in squaller.

It is great to be Friday and know we have the weekend off to recharge, before getting into the classrooms on Monday. The students return next week, so we will be observing the teachers, rather than running workshops.

The teachers are inspiring. They want to learn all they can. Given they have had no formal training, they are a delight to work with.

The teachers I'm here with are a great team (6 of us). We are having lots of fun, but also working really hard.

Many of the teachers are the age of my own girls and their lives are so different. Often they have three children. The teachers with children all live in the one room, and their children must also sleep in their bed. At age seven, the boys are separated from their mothers to live in one dormitory. I see no toys, no books - nothing for the kids to do.

The school is poorly resourced. We have found no instructional reading books for the children to read. Rote learning predominates, but the needs of the children are not met. I've been well received, spending my time on differentiating the curriculum, positive behaviour management, training of teacher aides, and introducing a simple IEP type system. Sixteen year old sit exams, that I would struggle to pass, and of course score zero, as they are only beginning to read and write in English

The children in the Ark School speak many languages (there are 11 official languages in SA). Many are Xhosa- this makes learing English very difficult, especially for untrained young teachers.

I'm loving my time here - it is such a good experience.

Sorry for the few posts, but internet access is very limited.

Cape Town

Finally we are back in Cape Town based in our accomodation where we'll be until we leave. It's OK. Reminds me of Newtown in Wellington - it's just a bit seedier with homeless people standing around in the doorways to the shops. (Not that they can enter, as the shops are all gated, and we need to be let into the shop by the shop assistant and then locked back inside).

It's pouring with rain and my new waterproof shoes, bought for such weather, have not lived up to expectation.

We've had several days with the Ark School Teachers. Everything is all so new to me. The level of poverty is just overwhelming. It is better in the Ark Refuge for the homeless than in the surrounding Townships of squatters living in shacks.

I'm making friends with a young Zulu mother of two girls, Nolundi. She begins teaching our equivalent of Year 9 &10 next week. She has had no teacher training at all, but as a resident of the Ark shelter, has been assigned this teaching position. Naturally I'm finding lots of help her with.

Our two days of PD with the teachers at Betty's Bay beach was interesting. Most unexpectedly the teachers did not like the food we provided (first class food in my opinion) and they complained they wanted fizzy and chips... We sp;otted them down at the shops after we left them buying up lots of carbohydrate... Most teachers had not seen a beach and so it was their first time seeing the outstanding African Penguin colony.

We are building relationships with the teachers and teacher aides (they're called monitors here and teach two subjects each).

This morning we had breakfast with an African freelance reporter. Also very interesting... as she told us the SA teachers in white Cape Town do NOT like what we are doing. However, most South Africans we have met on the Cape Flats are very encouraging of what RATA is trying to do i.e to raise the standard of teaching for untrained teachers and thereby giving the kids an opportunity to matriculate from school - their ticket to employment and a better life.

On Saturday evening we are meeting Tim Barnett and the NZ consul, Fr. Michael Lapsley.

The RATA Ghana team arrived safely this morning. They have had some very hard times. It is great to be altogether as a team again. They will be with us for two days and help us deliver the Conference. They've witnessed much physical abuse of children in the three schools they've been in, and have clearly stated that unless that changes, RATA cannot partner with them.

First visit to The Ark School

Yesterday, Tuesday, our team of five had our first visit to The Ark School. This was after driving in Khayelitsha, the squatter camp area where 2.5 million of people live in shacks with no power, a water tap shared by many and a few communal port-a-loo toilets.

There are so many unemployed. I read a sign on a middle aged man standing in the middle of an intersection - "A job or a donation would be much appreciated. Thank you very much". He is just one of millions. Others are selling what they can - poverty looks you in the face all the time.

It seems so unbelievable to me that so many people can have so little so close the city of Cape Town. It is very overwhelming and the contrast between those who have, and those who have so little makes it hard to write logically and sensibly when I'm processing all this. It's the sheer vastness of the problem that I hadn't anticipated. The shacks go on for miles upon miles. I've never seen anything like this in Washington DC or London.

The Ark School itself is not what I had expected either. The photos made it look better than what it is in reality. It is barren and depressing - I can see there is much work to be done here. We've met some of the teachers. If I had felt underskilled and unsure if I had anything to offer, those feelings have now left me. We all have much to offer. The senior phase classrooms are simply an old desk and chair - nothing more. I intend concentrating my time on supporting the senior phase subject teachers (students are aged 14-16) and the monitors.

Our driver Clinton is a very special man. He was waiting at Cape Town airport for us. I felt a soft hand on my shoulder, and a voice saying welcome to Africa. Clinton lives on Mitchell's Plain. We visited his wife, Jacky, and two cute boys, Cee-Jay (8) and Jayden (6) in their home. Clinton and his boys have come out to Betty's Bay with us - it's one hour from Cape Town going west from the airport along the south coast of Africa. Our B&B is run by Anlie who is providing us with great food and hospitality. If you ever come to Cape Town come to her guesthouse, Aandkoor, and she will spoil you.

Tomorrow the Ark Teachers join us here for two nights, as Anlie is partnering with us and providing the Ark Teachers and monitors with accomodation and food.

The long flights over were great. I was not sick at all. Christine and I got to sit by each other, and had a spare seat beside us - so we were able to spread out over the three seats. Wonderful. Thanks to all those who prayed for my health on the flight. Your prayers were answered.

Baby Clothes for Squatter Camp

We will be visiting a squatter camp while we are in Cape Town. The RATA teachers went there last year and gave out hand knitted hats for the children and other items of new clothing that were much loved by the children. If you have any new clothing for babies or toddlers you would like me to take, I will make room in my luggage for it.

Update on Stolen Passports

New passports have been issued from Wellington to replace those stolen. The stolen ones have not been found - no one has tried to use them, and they have now been cancelled. The new passports are now on their way to Canberra to get new Visas for Ghana - this needs to happen quickly in order for everyone to leave on time.