We come to South Africa not only in the hope of improving the lives of
others, but to be changed ourselves. Our work through Calabash Tours and their
international partner, People and Places: Responsible Tourism, is all about
respecting the values and strengths of the communities that volunteers work
with. With that overarching principle, we are taught lessons by the people we
work with and those we meet every single day.
Randi and Steve Adleberg, our friends and colleagues these two weeks, joined in the lessons. Here’s how Randi put it:
Randi and Steve Adleberg, our friends and colleagues these two weeks, joined in the lessons. Here’s how Randi put it:
“When we went to Port Elizabeth last weekend I wanted to stock up
on TP, pencils, pens, crayons, poster paper, etc. Eileen pointed out, ‘So
you buy toilet paper for the school; it will last a week. Then what?’ Our
goal here is to make sustainable changes in education, not to provide
consumables. The students and staff are used to working with the supplies they
have. And the learning occurs--even without all the school supplies we, in
The States, find so necessary.
“Do I wish the learners had supplies? Do I wish I could xerox
and distribute practice work instead of writing it on the board over and over
again? Of course I do. Would it speed things up? Undoubtedly. Does
it make a difference in what they learn? I don't think so.
“Here are all the things they DO have. Ace taught a lesson on
electricity yesterday. He started with a web centered around the words,
electrical power. He asked the students to list all the things they could
think of that use electricity. ‘Fridge!’ ‘Stove!’ ‘Lights!’ ‘TV!’ ‘Cell phone!’
‘Computer!’ they all shouted. And the families do have most of these
things (although few have computers, and cell phones still need ‘minutes’ to be
purchased to make them work).
"But more importantly, I think, they have free time! They have
two recesses at school, and time to run around, and play, and just be
kids. Several of the kids are on sports teams: soccer and rugby mostly. I
have at least one student who takes karate. (He has his yellow belt.) And
I have noticed older kids who run on the dry afternoons. But they do
not seem crazed with extra-curricular activities. Everything is at a
more comfortable pace. And people do not let lack of the best sports
equipment stop them from being excellent athletes.
“I've learned many things from my two weeks at the A.V. Bukani
School, not the least of which is that quality of life is not dependent upon
how quickly we achieve our goals, or on how many material goods we possess, but
on taking the time to savor what we do have.”
The lesson hit home on Thursday again, when the school community gave
Randi and Steve one of their grand farewell parties. As the teachers were
preparing for it, Randi said, "They don’t need to do this. We have such
little time with them and there is so much pressure on them already."
Randi and Steve made a huge contribution in their time here. What
draws us back here year after year is the belief that the strategies and knowledge (and caring)
shared with the teachers make a profound difference in the school community.
We see that reflected in the teachers and students this year. Seven years after our first visit, teachers at A.V. Bukani immediately trust people of another race and another country in mutual respect, are engaged in strategies shared in their classrooms, and request and attend after school professional development. And, we see it in the READING and now the WRITING (!!) of the older students.
We see that reflected in the teachers and students this year. Seven years after our first visit, teachers at A.V. Bukani immediately trust people of another race and another country in mutual respect, are engaged in strategies shared in their classrooms, and request and attend after school professional development. And, we see it in the READING and now the WRITING (!!) of the older students.
The volunteers with Principal Thambo and Ace Lamani. Eileen & Larry honor the community by wearing the traditional dress made for them by the mothers in 2008. |
Steve came with a willingness to share and to learn from his
co-teacher, Ben Tenato, the upper grades math teacher and head of the math
department in the school. "Thank you for the honor of being part of your school community," Steve said at their farewell.
Ben noted his deep appreciation for Steve’s openness and support: “He did not come to judge me. We taught together and we were like a team that had been together a long time,” Ben said. “Every time he demonstrated a lesson, it became clear to me what I was missing, what I needed to do to improve.”
Ben noted his deep appreciation for Steve’s openness and support: “He did not come to judge me. We taught together and we were like a team that had been together a long time,” Ben said. “Every time he demonstrated a lesson, it became clear to me what I was missing, what I needed to do to improve.”
Steve in the classroom |
Randi’s last lesson for her students was on letter writing. She wrote
this letter on the board.
The students in each class wrote letters back to be mailed to her.
Some could not wait and handed her letters as she was leaving. They were all in tears (Randi, too). Here are
snippets:
“Thank you, about everything
you have done for me, teaching me that education is important.
“I don’t know how to thank
you. But thank you, Randi. It was nice having you around. I wish that God could
bless you.”
“Thank you, for [teaching]
some things that we are going to never forget in our lives.”
“I have no words to say,
but I want you to always remember that you will always be at our hearts. Thank
you Randi. You were like a mother to us.”
“I want you to know that you are one of the
people I admire and inspire me to do well and be great at work.”
“You were a very supportive
teacher. You taught me to not laugh at another person.”
Where else do you make a life-changing impact like that in two weeks?
Two More Weeks for the Kuglers
We have two more weeks to go and we appreciate the extra time we have
this year, grateful we decided to stay a month instead of our typical three
weeks.
Larry is in the midst of working with the teachers in Grades 2, 3 and
4 on Guided Reading. What Randi has seen and reported about the reading and
writing skills and excitement in grades 6 and 7 has inspired Larry in his
work.
Since the last time we were here
in 2012, when grade 4 was the highest grade, we can now see the possibilities
and the fruition of the work that Larry, Sara, and Cecily began in 2008. Since
these grade 6 and 7 learners have had three additional years of opportunities
to talk, read, and write in English since our last visit, their potential has
been unleashed and many of them converse easily and effectively in English.
It is important to note that English is not spoken anywhere in their
community, other than by the teachers during English class. This is not an
immersion into a language all around them. It is swimming upstream to learn an
essential and required skill if they are to continue in higher education and in
commerce in the broader South African society. It is the reason we all created
a library of quality books in English for this township.
The lesson for Larry this year: While progress may be slow, progress
is indeed taking place!
This progress has fueled Larry’s commitment to provide small-group
guided reading to the teachers’ array of teaching techniques. The previously introduced
techniques of think-pair-share, read aloud, and the use of big books have been
integrated into the fiber of instruction, more effectively in some classes than
in others, but noticeably in most classes that teach English. The goal is now
to develop a small group approach that can be used to meet the more specific
needs of individual learners. Larry will continue to model the approach and
then transfer responsibility to the teachers with whom he works to help them
develop this skill.
They can then share this approach with other teachers in the
school. Slowly but surely they have done
this with the other techniques and we know they can do the same with guided
reading. With two more weeks in the school during our current visit, we are
encouraged by the progress Nombulelo (grade 2), and Melene and Coke (grade 3)
have made and optimistic about the future
Things Do Work Out
Eileen continues her work to connect with the families in the township
and in the broader community. Her big lesson (which she learns over and over
again!): patience. Used to being able to see the big picture and strategize the
little steps needed to get there, Eileen finds that sometimes the little steps
don’t work here. Or sometimes you don’t know they are working. Or sometimes the
big picture is really years, not days away. But in the end, things do start to
work, at just the pace they were supposed to. Patience. Patience and faith.
Getting parents together is a challenge this time of year. The main
employment in the township is in the orange groves, and this is the height of
picking season. Parents are working long shifts throughout the day and evening,
picking and packing the fruit. The frequent rain, unusual this time of year,
has made it even more difficult because the fruit can’t be picked when it is
wet. So when the weather is sunny, the shifts are long and may carry into the
weekend.
Despite this challenge, Eileen held a successful parent meeting this
week, with twelve mothers and grandmothers there helping plan four more
meetings over the next two weeks. They were all women Eileen had worked with
over the years and they were very eager to reconnect. She worked with them on helping create a love of books with their children, and they indeed enjoyed having books in their hands.
Eileen is going to share
simple ways families can support their children’s learning at home. In
addition, one of the leaders of the township is helping organize a knitting
program as part of the meetings, to knit scarves and hats in the school colors
for the students who don’t have them. Several of the women will cook dinners
for all the participants, so even workers from the grove can get off the busses
and come right to school.
Eileen also gets the fun opportunity to read and sing in English with the youngest learners. Boy, do they love "Brown Bear"! They already know a few rhymes and songs in English as the school is working to introduce English as early as possible.
One other lesson Eileen learned was from one of the teacher leaders at
the school, a caring teacher committed to making the school a place where all
children can get the education they need. When Eileen told her how much she respect
the hard work Mrs. Sam puts in every day to make the place better, the teacher said, “If
everything is perfect, you never learn. You must make progress every day.”
So perfection is not the goal… learning is. True words of wisdom.
Eileen and Larry