Returning in August to Support Literacy!

YES!!!  Eileen and Larry are going back to A.V. Bukani Primary School mid-August– mid-September. For the first time, we will be going for an entire month. We always leave after three weeks wishing we could stay longer. So we just did it!

GREAT NEWS: Eileen was awarded the Art Berg Grant from the National Speakers Association. This $4000 grant is awarded to one technology-related project a year at a charitable organization in which an Association member is involved as an active volunteer. We are very honored our project earned the grant this year.

This grant will help increase access to the library. Although the library has become a source of great pride in this township of 15,000-20,000, availability of the books has been limited by an organizational system with no technology. This grant will be used to purchase a computer dedicated to the library and library software. Equally important, there will be funds for training and continuing IT maintenance. With these improvements, we hope the library can soon be available to the entire community.

More Resources to Support Beginning Readers

The South African Education Department recently implemented new standards and it is exciting to see the practices that are imbedded in the standards are just the things we have been working on with the teachers at Bukani – including read-alouds, use of “big books” for shared reading, and most important, guided reading, which is what Larry will be working on with the teachers when we return this year. Since the teachers have been working on these practices for several years, they have a great foundation on which to build.

Of course, so much is dependent upon resources. Who would believe that after delivering 23,000 donated books to create a library for the school, there would be the need for more! Well, there is. While the books we brought are wonderful (THANK YOU!), there is a great need for many very early reading books. That’s because the students at Bukani are learning to read in a new language and the books that are needed are very short (as few as 8 pages long). As you can imagine, once they get the hang of it, the students can zip through an 8-page book quite quickly. Hence, the need for many, many books at increasingly difficult levels for the students to read. 

You, the supporters of this project, have been so generous over the past few years. The funds have been used to create and support the library, a computer teacher for the students, and so much more. We’ve spent it all at the school.  If you feel in your hearts to make a donation now, these donations will support the purchase of these specialized very early readers -  Directions are on"How to Donate" tab.

 Larry has already ordered over 600 books from Pioneer Valley Books at a cost of nearly $3,000, including a discount from Pioneer Valley, to help the teachers with beginning reading. The recommendation for this purchase came from our daughter Sara, a literacy teacher who has come with us on two of our volunteer trips and uses these books in her work. In addition, Eileen found an on line 50% off sale for more early readers that has Larry’s mouth watering. (BTW –A donation is a great way to mark a birthday, anniversary or other celebration. We are happy to send a personal note in recognition of a special day and we are grateful to have been a part of some very special commemorations.)  

Whether you support us with a donation or with your words of encouragement, know that we appreciate it! 

The Adlebergs are Joining Us!!

One more bit of good news: Educators Randi and Steve Adleberg will join us at A.V. Bukani for two weeks this year. We are thrilled to share their skills, knowledge and enthusiasm. Both had long careers in Fairfax County Public Schools, Steve as an elementary school teacher and principal; and Randi as a middle and high school language arts teacher. We know the teachers and students at Bukani will benefit from their expertise (and we will enjoy the company of these good friends).

Eileen and Larry

We're heading back to South Africa soon!

We're heading back to our beloved school in South Africa in late August! Although we haven't been back recently (Larry's -successful!- back surgery last September forced us to cancel our plans last year), we have stayed in touch with the principal and our volunteer contact. Through your generous donations, together we've funded a library aide who has helped keep the library organized and functioning. We're planning to go back this year with more books at an easy level and we'll be providing targeted professional development.  Much more to tell you in the near future….

Keeping Progress in Mind

It’s the end of our second week here – two-thirds of our visit is over. This is the point we always say that next year we’ll come for six weeks or maybe two months. But we get home, and we only seem to be able to carve out three weeks from our lives. But then again, maybe next year…

It’s always gratifying to be reminded of the lessons we learn from the incredible people here.  Mrs. Nyati, a grandmother who always teaches us about perseverance and hard work, doesn’t disappoint.  This year, her English skills are impressive. Eileen asked her if she was taking English classes.  “No, I don’t take classes,” she said. “So how did you learn?” Eileen asked. “Well, I like to read the paper, and I watch television shows in English.” Mrs. Nyati repeated her request for an English-Xhosa dictionary, something we finally found on the weekend. When Eileen gave it to her on Monday, Mrs. Nyati is speechless, leafing through the pages as if they were written with gold leaf. “Now I will be a professional,” she says. Over the following days, she has reported that she reads it every night. “It is such a wonderful book,” she says.

In many ways, this has been our most productive trip. There have been no major interruptions, such as teacher strikes or public holidays.  We are working with the teachers all day, every day.

And yet, for every thing we do, we see 10 more we’d like to do. Larry has been working with the teachers in Grades 2, 3 and 4 on techniques for improving comprehension by helping students retell the stories they are reading. He’d like to show all the teachers other techniques, such as how to use the students’ work to create spelling lessons and how to extend the comprehension techniques, but he needs to focus on reinforcing the important technique he’s teaching. Some of the teachers are very eager to learn everything they possibly can, so Larry has been teaching them some of the other techniques. At the final professional development session, he will ask some of the teachers to share their particular strengths, of which there are many, with the charge that they share it with their colleagues. We look forward to reports during the year about how this collaborative approach is going.  We do think the faculty is ready for this.

GRADE 1 curriculum 

Eileen has been going into the Grade 1 and Grade R (K) classrooms and doing read-alouds and singing, sometimes with the older students as well. The children love “Are You My Mother?” by P.D. Eastman, about a baby bird who hatches while his mother is away getting food and he goes out to find his  mother. One of the Grade 1 teachers showed Eileen that part of their curriculum involves matching baby animals to their mothers, so the book is relevant on many levels. 

The teachers of early grades are eager to be included in the professional development, so this year, Larry provided workshops on reading Big Books. We’d love to find good Big Books in Xhosa for the younger readers and more in English for Grade 1 where they are now beginning to teach English.

"Toot! Toot!"

We found a book with the words for “She’ll be Coming Around the Mountain When She Comes,” a song Larry sang with hand motions with the teachers and older students when we were here last.  The younger students love it as much as the older students, and greet us in the street with “Toot! Toot!”, the opening hand motion. We’re getting a kick out of the fact that an entire school on the tip of Africa loves singing an old American folksong – as much as we love hearing them sing songs in Xhosa during the morning opening . Interculturalism at work.

During the lunch break, the teachers began singing some of the songs Larry taught with his guitar two years ago – “He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands,” “There’s a Hole in the Bottom of the Sea.” There hasn’t been much time for singing with the guitar this year because of our other work, but clearly the teachers (and students) miss it.

Keeping Progress in Mind

We try very hard to keep our blinders on, so we focus on the needs of this school in this community without thinking of all the other needs around us. Even with that, sometimes we are overwhelmed by the incredible needs and the obstacles the students face -- particularly as they are about to take exams that will be compared to students from schools that are well financed with parents’ money and who are taking the exams in their mother tongue.

The school system is built to be unequal. Each school requires parents to pay fees, set by the parents in that school. In poor communities like ours, these fees are waived, so poor schools must subsist on the barebones budget provided by the district education office. In our township, if you’ve got the money to pay the fees and to pay for transportation, you can send your child to another school a few miles away, but few in this township can afford that.  Paul, our volunteer coordinator from Calabash Trust in Port Elizabeth, was telling us that his three girls go to a school where parents pay about $100 per child each month and there are 1000 children in the school. So the school abounds with resource teachers and extra programs.  We wonder how the enormous inequities will ever be overcome.   

Yet we have to refocus and remember how far this school has come over the past 5 years. The teachers have worked hard to implement the new strategies that we and other volunteers have shared, along with training on new materials and curriculum from the education department. Many work hard to update their skills, taking courses and attending workshops.

There are far more resources available to the students and the teachers over the past few years. The computer lab, once dusty and forgotten, now has up-to-date computers with curriculum-related software and even some with internet access.  Teachers work with their students in the lab on a regular basis.  There is a quality printer connected to the computers through a network.  We are simply amazed at how far this computer lab has come.

The impact of computers is felt throughout the area.  Principal Thambo reports there are a record numbers of students in Grades 1 and R.  “This is because parents have heard about our computer studies,” he says. Other schools in the area are not seeing growth in numbers like this. In fact, the education district thought Mr. Thambo was inflating his numbers to get additional funds. “I told them to come here and count the children. They are here. This is real,” he told me.

There are other resources – many purchased through the generosity of regular readers of this blog. Five years ago, there was one copier which rarely worked. Today there are two excellent copiers working all the time. Can a school function without a copier? Of course. But it certainly helps the teachers and administrators get things done efficiently. And, equally important, it shows the faculty that their time is valued.

Families Volunteering the Library

Principal Thambo asked Eileen to facilitate a meeting with families, and she eagerly agreed. It has been challenging to get parents to volunteer in the school, and there is a new group of parents who had never taken part in the earlier parent meetings while Eileen was here last.

At the meeting, there was a dialogue on the importance of parents and teachers being partners in the children’s education, with everyone giving what they can.  Unfortunately, there are many high school graduates in the township who cannot get a job. But what they can do is read to the younger children in the afternoons. In that way, they can gain self-esteem and use their time productively, while improving the education of all the children. One of our hopes for the future is to identify a parent who can coordinate parent involvement in the community. It is always hard in just 3 short weeks.

Eileen asked for volunteers to help organize and inventory the library. Some of the boxes of books that were shipped were donated to the municipal library and some of the more difficult ones were donated to the middle school and high school. Mr. Thambo has been asked by his superiors to determine exactly what books are in the library.

The following morning, several parents came to help. They enjoyed taking the books off the shelves and checking them against the master list, looking through the books and reinforcing their own English as they went. The process had value far beyond checking off book titles. The parents couldn’t wait to take books home and share them with their children. These parents were given permission to do that, but unfortunately there is no system for taking out books beyond the classrooms.

Increasing use of the library

One of our goals for the future is determining how to increase utilization of the library. Even the classrooms are not yet taking full advantage of the library. Grade 1 and R teachers want books in their classrooms, but as yet that hasn’t happened. The teachers in Grades 2, 3 and 4 have boxes of books in their class for students to take home at night, but they don’t visit the library to change out the books. Even more important, we don’t see many books going home regularly. The teachers tell us there are other priorities and that parents don’t read the books with the children. Part of the issue is that the students need help identifying books that they can read themselves, and Larry is working with the teachers on this.

A key challenge in this school, and others like it, is there is no funding for non-teaching staff. This seems to be an issue only in this province’s education district, and there is hope that this will change now that the national government has taken control of this failing education district.  In the meantime, every time a new responsibility is added, it falls on the principal or the teachers. While there is a library committee, they have challenges to overcome. Part of the issue is that books have never been a part of the culture of the school or the township. Another part is the desire to keep the books in good condition – in other words, to protect them from destruction by not using them. We’re working on this…

Learning to enjoy the natural resources

While we have enjoyed staying at Rosedale B&B, we miss seeing our friends in the township every day, particularly our former host family, the Mofus. The owners of Rosedale, Keith and Nomdumiso, are friends of the Mofus and they invited them over for a brai on Thursday. We had a wonderful time.

A brai is far more than a bar-be-que. It involves sitting around the firepit as the wood fire is built, waiting for the coals to get hot, cooking over the coals, and then enjoying the fire for hours afterwards. In the cool weather, you enjoy the warmth of the fire. In the hot weather, the smoke keeps the bugs away. It’s an entire evening of sitting out under the stars, bundled up if you need to be. Compare that to an  American bar-be-que where we try to light charcoal as quickly as possible, pouring on chemicals to speed the process; then we cook the food and retreat inside if the weather isn’t perfect. Sitting around the campfire in cool weather is reserved for a camping trip.

The enjoyment of the outdoors no matter what the season is one of the many lessons we learn on our visits here. We are always struck with how wasteful we are at home. Here, cups and plates are washed, not thrown away, even with a large crowd. We are very aware of the limited resources around us. We begin to guard small bits of plastic wrap, keep our paper napkins for future use (there are none at school) and view a plastic bag as a treasure. Yes, we have been washing out our small plastic bags for sandwiches!

A weekend trip to the beautiful “Valley of Desolation”

We always talk about traveling a bit on the weekends, but by the time Friday rolls around, we typically are exhausted and need to spend our awake time finding resources for the next week. Having the library at the school has made a huge difference. There are books geared to teachers as well as students that we can use in our professional development. Plus, this year, we are on the same wavelength with the teachers and planning was much easier.

So we decided to spend a weekend in Graaff-Reinet, a tourist town about 3 hours north of Port Elizabeth, surrounded by the Camdeboo National Park.  On Saturday, we hiked around the park on a beautiful trail with spectacular views above the Valley of Desolation. It has the feel of the desert southwest of the U.S., but with springbok (like small deer), kudu, and ostriches running about. We get a true appreciation of wide African skies, with views of mountain range after mountain range in the distance.

We stayed in a lovely B&B and enjoyed the local food. The only downside was reading a book about the area that was in the B&B library. Although published in 2008, you would have thought it was written under Apartheid. The entire history was presented from the view of white Dutch settlers, with the Xhosa tribe that lived in the area viewed as a problem for the settlers without any recognition of their stake in the area. There was an entire chapter on angora wool, a mainstay of trade for the whites; yet there was no chapter on slavery, prevalent in that area. (Yes, it bore a striking resemblance to books on American history from a generation ago.) I was told that Graaff-Reinet is one of those communities that still hasn’t accepted that life is different these days.

Well, that wasn’t the only downside. We picked up a 24-hour bug there which made the 3-hour drive home a bit dicey. But Larry’s didn’t hit until after we were back in Port Elizabeth, so we were OK. We slept most of the rest of the day. On to week three.

 

A School With Serious Intent

We arrive in the township for our 4^th  volunteer visit, and it all feels so familiar, so comfortable. Our feelings are confirmed when we walk into school early in the morning and the teachers greet us with powerful hugs and the words, “Welcome home.”

There are no welcome parties for us, big or small; and that is very fine with us. We all just get to work, recognizing that nothing is more important than educating a child in a new democracy.

There is a seriousness about the school this year. The Eastern Cape, where this school is located, has fallen behind the other provinces in South Africa in terms of education. The education district that oversees A.V. Bukani is rife with corruption and the central government – for the first time ever – has taken control of this district. There are still questions of who is in charge of what, but there is no question that things are moving forward.

In just a few weeks, all students at A.V. Bukani will have to take national exams in math, English, and their home language (Xhosa in this school). Prior to this, only 3^rd grade took the exam. The teachers are working hard to prepare their students, in content as well as test-taking skills.

Sample questions for the national exams were posted on the internet and our school downloaded them last week. (Yes, the school does have internet connection at a few computers! But as one of the teachers said to me, “What about schools that have no computers? They cannot even see the sample questions.”)

Our students must take the same exams as those whose mother tongue is English.  The 4^th grade exam included a question about rhymes. It became clear to the teachers that many of the students did not know the word “rhyme,” although they know rhyming sounds. What other obstacles lay in wait in the exams?

The Library!

What can we say about seeing the library at the school? It is so powerful to see this amazing resource for all the students. Volunteers over the last few years have helped organize it and further refine the categories of books. Teachers in 2^nd, 3^rd, and 4^th grade have taken boxes of books into their classrooms and the students can take books out about two times a week. We’re encouraging them to have books go home even more frequently.

It is so rewarding to see the books in homes throughout the townships. One of our favorite sights was a glimpse of a 4 year-old laying on a chair in the kitchen, paging through the Berenstain Bears book that his older brother had brought home from school. Yes, the library is indeed having an impact!

Grade 4 students enjoying the book
"Are You My Mother?"

We are working to introduce the books at Grade R (Kindergarten) and Grade 1.  English is now introduced in Grade 1, rather than 2, and this is a new responsibility for the Grade 1 grade teachers. Most relish it, but some don’t have strong English skills themselves, so it’s been challenging. But they know it is what’s best for the children.

Eileen has been going into all the Grade 1 classes, and some others, singing songs in English and reading some books. The kids are incredibly engaged. They are so excited to be able to do something that was reserved for their older brothers and sisters.  And the teachers appreciate the opportunity to see some new techniques they can use with their students.

The Grade R (K) teachers have so far not been given any books for their classrooms.  One of the new teachers, a bright young educator, said she’s been asking for books. “The Grade R teachers feel neglected!” she said.  Eileen talked to the principal about the value of having books in the classrooms for the youngest children, and that will soon be happening. Larry is going to do some training for the Grade 1 and R teachers early next week.

Grade R (K) teacher singing with her class 

Increasing teachers’ knowledge of literacy strategies

We’ve been impressed with the work that has gone on in the classrooms over the two years since we’ve been here. There is much more interaction among the students, with the teachers encouraging the students to “Think – Pair – Share,” a technique Larry and Sara taught the teachers during our first visit.  Some of the teachers have excelled at this and the healthy buzz going on in the classrooms warms our hearts.

The weekly planning meeting with the teachers and Paul,
our volunteer coordinator

Larry has developed a plan with the teachers to do a “train the trainer” approach sessions for teachers in 2^nd, 3^rd, and 4^th grade with two teachers from each grade. These teachers will then train the other teachers in that grade after we leave. The focus is an issue the teachers raised: helping the students retell the stories they are hearing or reading on their own. Larry has demonstrated a technique in which students talk, draw, and write about the beginning, middle, and end of stories read to them.  This approach will help students develop an understanding of the structure of stories, which will help build understanding and improve their retellings.  Teachers have been enthusiastic about the approach and have been pleasantly surprised at the positive responses from some of their struggling students.  Next week they will take over the teaching, with support from Larry.   

New responsibilities for the school leadership

The government just completed an evaluation of A.V. Bukani and determined that the school earned  The right to manage its own funds.  Up to this point, school leadership had to request funds from the district school office, and it could take six months to get an order of paper! Worse, money often didn’t make it out of the district office at all.  Now the principal and the school governing board (including teachers and parents) have control of the funds.

Our principal, Mr. Thambo, is thrilled that he can now take charge of his own funds. This is something he has fought for. But there are also challenges. For the last decade, schools have not been permitted to hire non-teaching staff at the school, so all the financial issues must now be added to the work of the principal and the teachers. Mr. Thambo is getting training in management of the funds, but it is a huge responsibility.

Reconnecting with our friends and “family”

This year, we are not staying with the Mofu family in the township.  Rev. Mofu has been quite ill and we have been very worried about him.  At the end of our first day of school, we quickly walked to the Mofu’s to see how he is. We are thrilled to report that his health is much better. He's lost weight, eating healthier and his diabetes completely disappeared! (Diabetes is a huge health issue here and we hope some day to bring in nutrition classes for the teachers and families) The doctors are hoping that Rev. Mofu's kidney problems, which were related to the diabetes, will increasingly improve as well. We are VERY relieved.

The other issue is that part of the roof of the Mofu’s home blew off in a heavy wind last year. They are now repairing the home and doing some other home renovation, so there are boards and nails everywhere.  In between the hammering, we got to visit with their grandsons who are now in Grade 6, Grade 2, and preschool. It is hard to believe that 11 year-old Yanga was only 6 when we first met him. His charming smile and big hugs never changed. We’ll be back to visit more next week.

We are staying with other friends just outside the township, Nondumiso and Keith. Rosedale, their totally “green” B and B which opened 3 years ago, is in the midst of their organic orange farm on the border of the township.  They are fascinating people who have lived extraordinary lives and we truly enjoy their company. They are very supportive of the school and the volunteer program. This is where Sara, Alex, and Cecily stayed in 2010; and Keith and Miso graciously held our Farewell Party there that year when the school building was closed because of the teachers’ strike. We often visit in the township in the afternoons and then go to Rosedale for dinner. We particularly love sitting outside in front of the open-pit fire after dinner and enjoying the cool, clear evening with the full moon peeking through the indigenous trees and the sounds of exotic birds filling the air.

"It is no longer a container. It is a library."

YES, the books finally arrived!!

 

The container was opened on the Monday of our third and final week. As box after box was opened, the principal and teachers were in awe of the quality of the books. We learned that not only are books very expensive in South Africa, there are few as well written and illustrated as these beautiful books.

Members of the community soon surrounded the container, helping move the 600 boxes of books and a dozen book cases into a storage area while work is done ot convert the container into a library. Fourth graders soon began eagerly helping.

The roller coaster takes off

Books, books, where art thou, books?
The books have arrived! ...Oh wait a minute, the books didn’t arrive. ...They are on their way to the school…. or maybe not. Welcome to life here the past few weeks.

For those who have followed this project, you know the container of books was scheduled to arrive before we did, with time for adding windows and doors. But the original ship was overbooked, and our library shipment sat waiting for the next ship, with a revised arrival date of August 3.

And then the roller coaster began:
* The ship was delayed a few days at sea.
* The shipping company decided to bypass Port Elizabeth (PE) and go straight to Durbin on the Eastern Coast and then come back to PE (delay of a week).
* No! It didn’t go to Durbin because of protests at Port Elizabeth. It headed back to PE for docking last weekend. Yay!
* Extremely high winds prevented the ship from docking, and it missed its scheduled berth in PE.
* The ship finally docked and the shipping company informed us that the shipment would be trucked to the school on Saturday at 8 am. That meant the principal of the school had to drive an hour to be on the grounds to meet it. We would not be in the township when it arrived.
* Saturday morning comes and goes. No shipping container. But wait! After frantic phone calls, Calabash Tours and Trust (who oversees and supports our placement) determines that the shipment was dropped off at the Police Station in Addo a few miles away because the truck driver “couldn’t find” the school even with explicit directions.
* More frantic calls. The trucking company will return Sunday morning to move the shipment to the school grounds. Frustrated and angry Mr Thambo, the school principal, has a conversation with the shipping company representative, a racist who challenges Mr. Thambo’s right to be angry. We are appalled.
* Joy! Rapture! On Sunday, the books are indeed moved to the school grounds!

Yes, life in South Africa is never a straight path, and from what we are told, it is similar in other developing countries. You take 10 steps forward and 9 back. And there are always stories that put life in perspective. Our school still lacks telephone lines, but we learn that two schools in the cluster of seven schools that are supported by Calabash don’t have electricity because the wiring was stolen. One of those schools has power again, through wiring paid for by Calabash with outside donations, but the other school remains without electricity.

We so admire the people who work in development and fight these battles on a daily basis. It is clear we must remain optimistic and rejoice in the positive changes. There is an attitude that things do work out in the end and you must persevere. As Americans, we feel the experience here is so important to our own personal growth. We rapidly stop taking things for granted.
We do see many South Africans of all races taking things into their own hands. Paul from Calabash tells us of a woman in PE who organized an informal preschool for orphans “who nobody wants.” She runs it with the meager pension (social security) her husband gets. At night she takes home all 15 children to sleep in her small home. “Why do you do this?” Paul asks her. “How can I not do this?” she replies.

One of the elderly grandmothers in the community took Eileen to her home in the township for a short visit. As is typical with Xhosa homes, it was neat and spotless. She showed Eileen her partially built new home a few feet away. It is one of the homes built by the government to replace the old mud or metal shacks. But the government ran out of money and the house sits unfinished like so many we’ve seen. She said, “I must finish it myself. I will get cement and put it up. And then I will clean it because it must be clean. And then I will paint it myself.”

So how can the Kugler family get frustrated? We have to overcome the obstacles when we can and make progress where possible. And we must continue to work so that more progress is made. Perseverance is a lesson we learn on a daily basis.

Setting up the library begins

We are so happy and relieved that the shipment is finally on the school grounds. There will be many volunteers from the community helping unload the container. Monday afternoon, the families will come in for a program about the library. Eileen will be sharing ways to help their children even if they don’t read English, such as looking at the book together and talking about the pictures.

Last Thursday, we did a workshop for the teachers on how the library will work. Because there is no funding for a librarian and the container can’t hold all the books, the system will largely be classroom based, with teachers bringing boxes of appropriate-level books into their rooms. Each child will have the opportunity to choose a book each night and take the card from the back of the book and put it into their clip (a clothes pin with their name) hanging in the classroom. When they return the book the next day, they will put the card back in the book and choose another book.

We had a great brainstorming session with the teachers on how to make the system function well. They had wonderful ideas for dealing with issues such as a teacher being absent. They were also concerned about the books being damaged by the students. Eileen talked with them about the importance of the students using the books and not worrying whether they remain in pristine condition. “I know you often receive books that have been worn out by someone else. Now you will have new books that your students can wear out themselves. If we return and the books are in perfect condition, then we know the library was not used.” We’re setting up a system where parents can come in and repair damaged books.

While we would have loved to have the library here on the first week, we see the excitement building for these books. The literacy work has created a hunger and purpose for the books, as the teachers see the impact of read-alouds and shared reading. Families are excited about the books that will be in their midst, and even when we meet new people from the community, they are aware of the library project!
We hear too many examples of books being sent to schools without any on-the-ground preparation for how they will be used (Volunteers in a school in PE discovered boxes and boxes of books in a dusty closet sent to the school by a major non-profit). We are hoping that by working with the teachers on setting up the system and using the books in the classrooms, and by working with the families on looking at the books together at home, we will indeed create a library that is used instead of becoming a protected trophy.

In addition to holding the boxes of books which the teachers can look through, the container will also be converted into a library room where special programs can be held. Eileen has been working with the municipal librarian to get family reading programs organized. The municipal library will train volunteers to be story readers. Eileen already has two volunteers, one of the grandmothers from last year’s program who has excellent English skills and a young Xhosa man who works in one of the local restaurants. He loves reading himself and is eager to be a part of the library.

Progress in literacy

There were great strides in literacy work this week. Most teachers demonstrated the techniques we taught them the past two years and some of the new teachers implemented the techniques we introduced just last week. One of the teachers just learning the think-pair-share said she could use the technique in all her subjects, not just teaching English. Yes!

We have seen tremendous growth in the learner’s abilities to predict, retell and share their ideas about characters. We were especially encouraged that some of the teachers asked their learners to write about the read-aloud books and the learners constructed their own phrases and full sentences. The teachers were really excited about what they saw.

 

Cecily leaves her mark on literacy at BukaniCecily Kaiser, Sara’s friend who joined us this year, has been a wonderful addition to the team. She is ever enthusiastic, hard-working, and brimming with ideas for working with the teachers. And the teachers love and respect her. Her love of children is evident every moment.




At Cecily's final meeting with the teachers, she shared how much the past two weeks have meant to her “I’ve been hearing about this work for two years from the Kuglers, but I could not imagine how wonderful this could be. I feel like I have new family on this side of the world. And I have learned so much from each of you. It is very hard to leave.” She then went out to the courtyard full of students singing songs to tell her how much they appreciated her time with them.

There is much to be done with only one week left for Larry, Eileen and Sara. This is the point that we wish we had another month here. But it is five more days so we’ll pack in as much as we can.