Wednesday, July 08, 2009

So I have just finished my first week in South Africa…and what a week it was!  When I arrived last Wednesday, I was very excited to finally join the TMD group at Makaphutu.  As soon as I arrived, I quickly realized that I was definitely a long way from home.  Just looking out the window on the drive from the airport was fascinating…so many new sights to see…some of them a little hard to take in.  We went to work right away that afternoon at Kwantenbeni High School.  I’m very excited about our project there that involves improving their science classroom facilities…in the end, they’ll have newly painted walls, a new tile floor, new sinks with new plumbing, new posters for the walls, and a new projector too!  As a science teacher, I know the importance of the school’s infrastructure in being able to conduct the labs and hands-on activities that are so important in the field of science.  There’s a lot of work to accomplish for that classroom, but we’re hoping to complete that project in the next few days.

The day after I arrived, we headed out for an adventurous time at a massive wild game park.  This has to be one of the top experiences that I have ever had!  This place was AMAZING!  I felt like every scene I saw was like a painting.  The first day we were there, before we even checked in, we found ourselves surrounded by a herd of about 100 elephants, just quietly watching them in their home…fascinating!  Then came the giraffe, white rhino, cape buffalo, lions, hyenas, baboons, wild dog, warthog, impala, vultures, and many more!  One morning, Euan and I went out with a guide off the main road and deep into the African bush…what a rush!  At one point, we saw hyena on one side and a lion on the other…and yes, hyena really do laugh!  On the last day, we put our vehicle to the test with the 4x4 only trails, and at one point, Angela and I jumped out to chase wildebeest!   The entire game part experience was incredible…never to be forgotten!

And now we’re back at Makaphutu.  Although the game park was a ton of fun, over the last few days  I have been able to spend time with the kids here, which is the real reason I made this trip.  We have started tutoring for a few hours each day to try to address some the kids’ weak areas.  In the morning, I am working with one young man reviewing basic algebra skills...it’s easy to see his desire to learn and his potential to do so.  Even after just a couple of days, I can tell that he is picking up new concepts quickly, and when he gets something, he has a great big smile on his face.  I know that he is struggling in school, particularly in math, and I already wish I could be here full time during the school year to help him out.  All of the kids here are so thankful for the attention we give them, whether it’s during school hours, jumping on the trampoline, going for a walk, reading a book together, or watching a movie at night.  Although in some ways they have very little and there is a great need for more support, I have quickly learned that the kids at Makaphutu have much to give as well.

-Jenna

Saturday, July 11, 2009

Well the last few days have certainly been busy!  On Thursday, we had the opportunity to meet a local couple who have taken in several orphans from their community…imagine parents, twelve children, and two grandmothers living in a small two bedroom house.  And somehow they also manage to run a community daycare from their home for numerous other children and feed numerous elderly people twice a week…once again, doing so much with so little!  They have plans to expand in the future, and just spending a few hours with them shows how loving and loved each member of their family is. 

On Friday, we took the children from Makaphutu and the family above to the beach…what a field trip adventure that is!  I never knew a small bus could hold so many kids!  The weather was perfect and the kids loved playing in the water, having a picnic, and playing games.  By the end of the day, both kids and adults were exhausted…but watching the kids play and have fun was well worth it!

And then finally today, we started out early going to a nearby farmers/craft market.  I loved seeing all of the handmade jewelry and art.  We then went to Lily of the Valley children’s village where more than 100 children live.  The vast majority of the children at Lily are HIV positive.  As soon as you walk in, the kids run to you wanting to play.  One little boy came up to me, arms up in the air, wanting to be picked up.  I didn’t let him down again until we had to leave.  Even though we were there for a few minutes, it’s hard to walk away from these kids.  I had to keep reminding myself that they were well taken care of at Lily…unfortunately many other children are in much worse condition.

Then this afternoon was a complete change of pace.  One of our older kids at Makaphutu has been involved in a dance group lately, and we had the opportunity to attend his group’s dance performance this afternoon.  Three hours of music and dance…everything from zulu dancing, hip hop, lyrical, and spiritual songs…three hours of nonstop energy and the kids loved dancing along!

Next week should be full of working on our projects at Kwantebeni and Makaphutu and more time bonding with our kids of course…stay tuned! 

-Jenna

Monday, July 13, 2009

So today was another work day up at Kwantebeni on the new science room…of course, it started with a long trip to Build-It, the hardware store that Euan has been working with on this project.  And of course, as all projects usually go, just as soon as we thought we had all of the supplies and made it back to the high school, we realized that the plumbing plans had to change and back to the store Euan went…but that’s just a part of doing renovation projects like this.  I spent the majority of the day working on painting the door and window frames.  Ok, so anyone that knows me knows that I am somewhat of a perfectionist…which just had to be thrown out the window on this task.  Nothing was exactly straight…the window sills, walls, window frames, and even the brush edge were all a little crooked.  I decided that the motto for the day was that my paint job might not be perfect, but I was determined to do the best I could in order to make the room better than before.  I am confident that the students and teachers will appreciate the much improved learning environment.

I had a lot of time to think while I tackled the painting, and I started to think that my motto for the painting really applies to all of our volunteer work here.  I know that we may not be able to make the science facility perfect, but we can definitely make it much better.  I know that getting to know the kids at Makaphutu and playing with them a little every day will not make their situation perfect, but the extra hugs and attention we give them surely makes them just a little bit better.  Seeing how widespread severe poverty is here can be overwhelming…town after town, hillside after hillside is filled with what most at home would consider substandard housing…some places in my mind are completely unlivable.  And it’s easy to think that it’s simply impossible to solve the situation…but each one of us can do something to make the situation just a little better.  May not be perfect, but lots of little somethings can start to add up to make a real impact.  I appreciate all of you at home who helped raise funds for these projects.  I hope that in the short few weeks that I have left that I’m able to do as much work as possible just to make anything here just a little bit better after I leave.

-Jenna

Saturday, July 18, 2009

Here’s a summary of this week…painting, painting, painting…and more painting!  That’s been my focus on the science room at Kwantebeni…walls, doors, and windows…and they are looking great!  I should finish on Sunday morning, and Euan should be able to finish the plumbing then too, so hopefully all will be ready to go when school starts again on Monday!  Marisa, the biology teacher I’ll be working with, already loves all that we have done…actually I believe she said that she really couldn’t put into words how she feels about our renovations.  I could tell when she came up to see our progress this week that our work has really boosted her spirits.  It’s nice to revive a teacher who’s doing such great work with kids who really need quality people invested in their education. 

While I was up painting one day, one of the security guards at the school came in to see our progress, and we struck up a conversation about his children who had matriculated from Kwantebeni.  He was telling me about how his father always stressed to him the importance of education and how he has tried to do the same with his children, so that each generation becomes more highly educated and prepared for whatever future career they choose.  His oldest daughter has graduated university with a degree in chemical engineering and his younger daughter is at university studying medicine…I was impressed!   I know that on his salary sending multiple children to university is a major sacrifice. Talking with him felt like talking to one of my student’s parents at home.  Parents all around the world really do want the very best for their children…want them to be better off than they were…and are willing to make the sacrifices necessary to accomplish what they can for their children.  While we were talking, he thanked me many times for the work that Euan and I had been doing over the past few days.  He told me that he will especially remind the girls at Kwantebeni that if I can help renovate a classroom for them, then they can accomplish whatever they want for themselves and their own community.  I came away from our conversation with a big smile.

On Friday, we took all of the Makaphutu kids to Phezulu, a local crocodile farm that also has Zulu dancing and a snake exhibit.  The kids really seemed to enjoy this outing…their favorite part was seeing the crocs and petting a snake!  Just being able to take the kids out on a group outing to see new things is a fun adventure.  But my favorite part was staying afterwards for a Fear Factor lunch…yep, eating crocodile while in a crocodile pit!  And one of the older kids joined us…although he sat on the very corner of his sit and ate quite quickly!  I loved seeing him face his fears…great fun!  

More of our Makaphutu kids came back today from their holiday family visits, so I finally got to meet several kids that have been gone since I have been here.  I’m looking forward to getting to know all of them as much as possible in my last couple of weeks here…the time sure is going by fast!  I’m already wishing I could stay longer, even though I am missing home.  With school starting Monday, I am also excited to get into the classrooms here to see where we can help the most. 

-Jenna

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Well I just finished a long – but wonderful – day!  This was my 2^nd day to work up at Kwantebeni, and I am already loving the experience.  I am working closely with the life science teacher, Mariza, and she’s one busy lady!  Seriously – I thought I was busy at school, but this woman teaches life science to two different grade levels, teaches natural science to two different grade levels, mentors several student teachers (they have seven at the school right now), and handles many other random problems that seem to pop up all the time.  I am trying to help out in any way that I can from working on finishing touches to our science lab to working with the student teachers on their lesson plans for when they are evaluated tomorrow.  For one of the student teachers, we took one of my microscope labs, and I showed them how they can easily and quickly edit my file to adapt the material to their needs.  In a matter of a few minutes, her lesson was ready to go!  Actually, I am really excited for tomorrow…kidney dissection in the morning and introductory microscope lab in the afternoon…and the first time for any class of students to use our new science lab!  My hope is that they are excited by learning science with the hands-on activities that they will be able to do more easily with their improved facilities. Mariza has already selected two 11^th grade students as lab assistants to help with setting up and putting away lab materials…these girls are very excited about these new responsibilities!  It’s awesome to have the opportunity to be involved in this project.

For the past two afternoons, Mariza and I have found time to sit down and share materials with each other.  Yesterday, one of the first things we did was set up her new projector to her laptop.  I showed her how I use my projector in my classroom to show different visuals/illustrations/videos when teaching.  She was speechless…literally.  And I had so much fun being able to share ideas with a teacher who is so appreciative and obviously works incredibly hard to bring the very best to her students.  I shared tons of files for lecture notes, labs, games, etc with her, and she shared some of her favorite resources too.  Each of us at the end will be walking away with new and better materials for us to utilize with our students.  Today I showed her some of the additional supplies that I brought with me for her, and we talked about a few different labs that I want to do with her while I’m here…once again, she was so incredibly excited!  She has asked me to lead a teacher training session in order to share some of my ideas with other teachers in the area (in what she calls her “cluster”), so I am hoping that she is able to set that up quickly…what a great opportunity that will be to meet and share ideas with so many teachers!

And when I get home from Kwantebeni, my day is far from over.  We all are helping students with their homework in the evenings, trying to make sure they are ready for their next day of school.  Most nights, I spend some quiet one-on-one time with one girl reading.  She slowly and carefully reads aloud to me, and we practice repeating many of the words together to help with pronunciation.  Even though reading seems to be a little difficult for her, she has told me a few times that our reading time is her favorite part of her day…awesome.

-Jenna