I will very much miss Mrs. Abrahams and the two groups of children with whom I have been working for the past five weeks. We have covered a great deal of ground together – working on phonics and sight vocabulary, listening to and reading African folk tales and fables and dramatizing some of these stories, plotting the tribes from which these tales came on a map, learning about animal groups, animal habitats and characteristics and more. Mrs. Abrahams has taken to asking my advice on school issues, with which she is very much involved, as probably the most senior teacher there.
And the “transport”? It is those stitched-together old VW minibuses like they have in Tanzania. There they are called dala dalas – here they are called taxis. The routes are highly competitive and there have been shoot-outs over “ownership” of routes. They drive down the street “hooting” (we call it honking) especially during rush hour to alert potential passengers to their availability. And they are everywhere – in all areas of the city. One of the reasons the government hasn’t spent on public transportation – buses and trains – is because of the availability of these vehicles, and the lobby power of the people who control this trade. Parents book this mode of transportation for their children, probably because they don’t have other options, and pick-up at school dismissal time is so hectic that I wonder that children aren’t run over every day. We volunteers at CCS are highly cautioned against using such transportation. As a matter of fact, we have lots of safety dos and don’ts here at CCS. And a curfew on weekdays and weekends.
Many of the children have hard-to-pronounce names. Xhosa names and their meanings: Siphosetu (our gift), Masithembe (we are hopeful), Sinovuyo (we are joyful), Vuyelwa (we are happy for you), Lulama (humble), Lindiwe (waiting). Zulu names and their meanings: Nonhlanla (luck), Busisiwe and Busiswa (to be blessed), Sibongile (we are grateful). Believe me, I am grateful for the names like Tracey, Amber, Danielle, Abigail, Melissa, Prudence, and Leo that aren’t such a mouthful!
The other morning we actually arrived at school at 8:15 A.M. (instead of the usual 9:00 A.M.) because, with the new group at home base, we actually are using three vans and more people are heading to the closer-in townships like Athone and Langa, making the overall ride shorter. Our van no longer heads downtown first. So we arrived in time to see a morning assembly at Blossom (picture the children standing at attention in the central courtyard) at which the newly chosen prefects (7th grade monitors) were solemnly installed by the principal, complete with a lecture on leadership and responsibility.
I’ve been staying the whole day at Blossom Street Primary several times during the past two weeks. Spent some time in the computer room with each fifth grade class recently – their computer room was set up about two years ago and they have about 25 computers with Windows XP! The children go in for a double period and basically work (in twos) at their own level on reading and math games. They also seem to be much more adept than those new computer-learners I worked with in Tanzania.
When a teacher is absent at Blossom Street, there are no funds for substitutes. The children are usually divided up among the other classes and basically, they sit and do not much of anything all day. Last Friday Mrs. Abrahams had to go out of town to attend a funeral, so she asked me to spend the day with her class. No problem – except when Friday came, I had to sit in for another teacher first who was driving the principal to the airport. His sixth graders were supposed to be working on place value, but needed lots of help. Finally got back to 5A after tea break (10:30 – 11:00 A.M.).
This Friday will be my last day. On Fridays the children (and teachers) are dismissed at 12:30 P.M. That’s the day they are allowed to dress in regular clothes (no uniform) but only if they bring a fee (of about 5 Rand – which is less than one dollar). This, too, is used as a fund raiser by the school.
In the Cape Times the other day there were sad statistics pertaining to education. Apparently, in a test given to sixth graders in public schools in the Cape Town area last year, 14% of the “learners” (which is what the pupils are called in schools here) are on level in numeracy and 42% are on level in literacy. Now, if that’s an average and there are some higher-performing schools like Blossom Street, one can just imagine the levels at some of the worst schools in the townships.
Athlone, where Blossom Street Primary is located, used to be a coloured township. Afrikaans was the language of instruction there up until maybe 2000, according to Mrs. Abrahams. Now the children are taught in English, and Afrikaans is taught as a language. Afrikaans, although seen by most as the “language of the oppressor” is also the mother tongue to most of the coloured population, and they number about half of the 3 million people in Cape Town. So that is a thorny disconnect. The new South Africa has laws which say a child has a right to be educated in his/her mother tongue, so many of the township children are educated in isiXhosa, learning English as a subject in school. Many of the isiXhosa children attending Blossom Street don’t even live in Athlone – they are transported there because their parents want them to be educated in English. And Blossom Street is not overcrowded by SA standards – about 35 to a class.
And the “transport”? It is those stitched-together old VW minibuses like they have in Tanzania. There they are called dala dalas – here they are called taxis. The routes are highly competitive and there have been shoot-outs over “ownership” of routes. They drive down the street “hooting” (we call it honking) especially during rush hour to alert potential passengers to their availability. And they are everywhere – in all areas of the city. One of the reasons the government hasn’t spent on public transportation – buses and trains – is because of the availability of these vehicles, and the lobby power of the people who control this trade. Parents book this mode of transportation for their children, probably because they don’t have other options, and pick-up at school dismissal time is so hectic that I wonder that children aren’t run over every day. We volunteers at CCS are highly cautioned against using such transportation. As a matter of fact, we have lots of safety dos and don’ts here at CCS. And a curfew on weekdays and weekends.
Much of the Blossom Street neighborhood of Athlone looks like a working class area. But, come nighttime, the drug warlords and gangs take over. Tik (crystal meth) is apparently a problem here and the ruling gangs are called the Americans and the Playboys. So things are tough.
Not sure I’ve made as much of a contribution to Blossom Street Primary as I did in Tanzania at Mwereni – but I sure have enjoyed my time here. And learned lots!
Not sure I’ve made as much of a contribution to Blossom Street Primary as I did in Tanzania at Mwereni – but I sure have enjoyed my time here. And learned lots!
[The photos show Mrs. Abrahams and me, my literacy groups, Mrs. Lawrence (the teacher of 5B), Tracey of 5B in the computer room, a newly installed prefect, and Mrs. A supervising the safety patrol at dismissal time.]
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