Just Thoughts

Here we go! There are so many priceless experiences I have had being here in Cape Town. This trip is my first time out of the country and I don’t know if I should have started with a five and half week trip. However, thus far I can say it has been a bittersweet trip. The bitter is that I am dealing with the guilt of traveling internationally to commit myself to a service project, which particularly revolves around education. This is something I could have done in the states, even in my own hometown. I often criticize big figures about their willingness to put all their time and effort into helping internationally. However, we never really hear the same big figures advocate their philanthropy on projects that could have been done in the states. Coming to Cape Town has proven to me just how proud I am to be an American and have urged me to commit to a major ongoing service project back home, in addition to my other minor community service projects. My feeling to step up while in the states does not mean that I will not help internationally, but my overall dedication will be within my own land. Aside from my personal guilt, living in ONE house with 20 people is bitter. I am not a person who enjoys the fact that wherever you turn your head there is someone there. However, it is not ruining my trip and for the bad times in the house there are good times as well. But enough of the bitter I don’t want to be the Debbie Downer of the blog.

This trip has met my expectations drastically. I have enjoyed every minute of being a tourist and experiencing all that I can in five and half weeks. Cape Town is an amazing city, while at the same time being an eye opening city. The drastic difference between being well off and living in poverty is so evident, for example the atmosphere of Camp’s Bay then to look at the Townships. I feel that this trip has allotted us to be able to see all of this. I am grateful to see this and it has encouraged my personal belief to ever pity someone. This is because while people are in poverty the people I have met have been so happy and being a philosophy major I agree with Aristotle when he says the meaning of life is happiness. With the opportunities I have received I can say that working in Manenberg, experiencing Cape Town, and our academic excursions have been my favorite parts thus far. Although, I am sure the Kruger National Park may take the cake!

I am looking forward to the rest of the trip here. I’m hoping that the rest of the trip will top the beginning of the trip. But I am happy to know that the third week is over and this makes me feel like I made it over the hump. This hump I refer to is the fact that most of the trip is over because though I love SA, there is no place like home. Or now what I have come to conclude AMERICAN CUISINE. But for right now I can say that I am grateful and have learned to appreciate things 100x more than ever before, because I think people often forget that the circumstances of the poorest people could have easily been us!

A Rainbow Nation

Being in Cape Town so far has been such an unbelievable experience, as hackneyed as that may sound. Every afternoon when we drive to Manenberg, the township in which we work during the week, we pass by incredible views of Table Mountain and the skyscrapers in the Cape Town city center, but also the view of thousands of shacks inhabited by tens of thousands of people. We drive past high-end grocery stores and people selling bag after bag of oranges at traffic lights. The diversity and range of people and cultures that I have encountered while in Cape Town has been far beyond what I expected. I thought I knew enough about South Africa before I came to avoid culture shock, but with so many different cultures crammed into a single country and even a single city, it’s been impossible. Even so, I have had such an incredible time while I’ve been here.

While working in Manenberg, I have been able to understand the opportunities and privileges I have been afforded more acutely than ever before. For example, while I was teaching computer skills to a woman, I realized how much I take for granted when I log onto my laptop to check my email and my facebook and just generally waste time. To my learner, knowing how to get on the internet and search for jobs online opened up a new world of opportunities. Now she can help her daughter with school projects, whereas in the past she could only play solitaire. While it can sometimes be difficult to see how I’m making much of a difference in two weeks of IT training when there are so many other problems in Manenberg, seeing the look of excitement and triumph on my learner’s face made everything worth it.

A Pointless Question

As the Vanderbilt group approaches its last week working with the Manenberg community, Professor Nation’s question continues to reverberate in my head−“Was it worth it?” Ironically, I answer his question with more questions of my own. Have I made any impact in this community? How do I know whether my service will make a change after I leave? Should I have invested my efforts in other issues that affect Manenberg as oppose to teaching IT Development, English, and Math?

These are the idle thoughts that slither through my conscience and remain the most challenging part of this adventure. The reciprocity of global learning has provided the framework for human rights to be universal. However, as I continue to work in the township of Manenberg, I see how unfairly basic human rights can easily be violated. South Africa’s apartheid remnants lurk openly in the diversely rich country. The list of injustice is long:

Violence against women-Check

Limited access to healthcare- Check

Scant opportunities to education-Check

High rates of HIV- Check

So how could knowledge of Microsoft Word & Excel or identifying a gerund phrase alleviate any of these bigger issues? Is approaching things from this angle pointless?

Think, Gheremey. Think.

“Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase,” says Dr. Martin Luther King. It’s funny how eagerly I want to make a change. I’ve forsaken my patience for empathy. Seeing struggle is hard but erasing it takes much time. South Africa’s movement from apartheid is similar to America’s era of Civil Rights dating as early as the 1930s. The fight for racial, economic, and social equality took years to overcome. Actions that may seem “pointless” to my generation have been noted in history as landmark movements that paved a better life for future generations. Civil disobedience acts from African Americans such as sitting in segregated lunch counters seemed futile at the time. Ridiculed and taunted for trying to get what should have already been given to them at birth. This is the same phenomenon that is occurring in South Africa today. The only difference is that I am amidst history in the making. The Civil Rights Movement is an intangible concept to fathom simply because I’m far removed from the event. 

The apartheid is only several years from its end. Being a part of history is unusual because there’s the hard reality that I may not witness the outcome of the work put in for the change for which I am fighting. This is the mentality I must keep while working in Manenberg. Is it worth it? Is it all pointless? Of course not! The empowerment of the Manenberg community is consequential to detaching the stigma of generational hopelessness. My work will not be in vain, and it will inspire others to work to eradicate the other pressing issues here in South Africa. Freedom has no due date. Therefore, I will continue to work…..patiently…..hopeful…faithfully. The IT Development and English/Math teachings have energetically reminded that there are people that the globe wants to see the rise of the townships. Pointless? I think not.

Fixing a Class-Based Calamity

Jonathan Jansen, Vice Chancellor of the University of the Free State, proposes some solutions for the ills of public education in today's Sunday Times. He will speak with our group on Tuesday, July 12 at UCT.

A Proper Education

Children and families make many sacrifices to obtain a proper education. I remember growing up my parents went through extensive measures so I could receive a good education in our public school system. The children that I work with in Mannenburg are in the 6th and 7th grade, however, the SHAWCO center provides a place for all children of Mannenburg to enjoy education, sports, and technology. I remember when I was 11 and 12, I was a sports fan and budding music connoisseur. I loved everyday that I could spend with my friends and family. The children of Mannenburg are quite similar and they enjoy local music and similar songs that I enjoy. They like to play different kinds of sports and enjoy many different forms of technology. There are also children who are very advanced in reading and math and those who are struggling to make out words and lack basic comprehension skills.

After working with the children kids for about a week, it’s frustrating to see how easily many children fall behind because of a lack of resources. There are several obstacles and barriers that prevent many children from obtaining a proper education that may include gangs, violence, drugs, and improper teaching styles. I have discovered from my professors, lectures, and people in and out of the Mannenburg community that a great number of people in South Africa suffer from unemployment because they lack the proper skills for the jobs available. Many of the learners struggle with the English grammar exercises because they were improperly or insufficiently taught skills they need such as reading, comprehension, and math which has allowed them to pass through they system.

While it is possible for children to pass in several different educational systems, it is quite frustrating to discover that these children are ill equipped and unmotivated to desire changes to their own education. Many times this week I have found myself struggling to teach the differences in the English language when my learners do not have a solid understanding of grammar. It seems quite backwards for me to “tutor” a child on grammar exercises when ultimately I teach the rules of English grammar. Although it is much easier for the children to speak the language, they are more comfortable speaking Afrikaans than trying to write English sentences.

I only hope after this experience that they can remain steadfast in their quest to achieve an education and overcome the obstacles that they face. I also hope that that their holiday curriculum will challenge them so that they can perform better during the school year.

Let Me Be Something...

Finishing the book, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, on my Mango flight from Johannesburg to Cape Town, I was struck by a passage of Betty White’s book: the main character wishes, “let me be something every minute of every hour of my life. Let me be gay; let me be sad. Let me be cold; let me be warm. Let me be hungry...have too much to eat. Let me be ragged or well dressed. Let me be sincere - be deceitful. Let me be truthful; let me be a liar. Let me be honorable and let me sin. Only let me be something every blessed minute. And when I sleep, let me dream all the time so that not one little piece of living is ever lost."

So far, I, as well as our whole group, have challenged ourselves to be something and feel something throughout our short time in South Africa. I have been wildly perplexed at the airport in Joburg, intrigued by the “rainbow nation” I heard choruses sing of on my second night here, and troubled by a young boy begging late at night on Long Street. I have been breathless, viewing the stunning Cape Town from Rhodes Memorial and atop Lion’s Head, enlightened when speaking with and learning from my learners in Manenberg. I’ve felt alive, running around the school yard with my 6^th grade learners. And both frustrated and overwhelmed by the state of education, safety, and health care of Manenberg as well as across South Africa.

In a reflection, Naveed, our RA, told us a piece of advice he had been given- to never pity anyone. It is important not to feel pity, but to work toward understanding and empathy toward everyone we meet. So let us feel something as we see a homeless man outside our house, as we pass by rows of shacks in the townships, and as we read statistics such as the fact that in 2009, 1,477,000 black Africans over the age of 15 could not write their own names. It is important to be something every minute we are here and to address the more difficult things that we see and experience. In doing so, we are working to better promote change and to ensure that “not one piece of living is ever lost.”

The Past Week

It’s hard to believe that we are already halfway done tutoring the children. It has been a great experience thus far, with each day being more successful than the one before. All of us work with between 2 and 3 students in either grade 6 or grade 7, but we have had to tailor the curriculum to the abilities of our individual learners. This past week, we taught our learners English (Afrikaans is their first language) and quickly discovered that our learners were all at very different points in their level of understanding. Some were able to differentiate the difference between reported and directed speech, while others did not know the alphabet.

This demonstrates one of the primary problems with the South African education system. Students are passed on to the next grade without mastering the basic material appropriate for their age group because of overcrowding. For example, we learned in lecture that many classrooms in the poorer townships have just one teacher for up to 60 students. Struggling students do not receive the individual attention to successfully learn the material. We all have individual goals for our students. For example, I hope that my students will have their multiplication tables memorized and be able to correctly punctuate a paragraph. We only have two weeks total, so the best goals are small, but specific, as these offer the greatest chance of success. Although the program has offered both frustrations and tribulations, we are all excited for the opportunities to teach in the week ahead.

An Unexpected Lesson from Some Unexpected Teachers

So today concludes our first week of working at the SHAWCO Holiday Program at Manenberg Primary School. The three hour program consists of teaching 6th and 7th graders English and Math, providing lunch, and playing games with them. We all come together to play games, but during instruction time each Vanderbilt student tutors from one to three students. To be honest, the first few days of the program were pretty rough. The program was... unorganized--kids were running everywhere, materials were lacking, and the curriculum provided seemed arbitrary and not grade appropriate. As I am studying Education back at Vanderbilt, the teaching approaches implemented in the program here were very frustrating for me to see, let alone use. However, after a few rant sessions and brainstorming, our group pulled together and somewhat reorganized the logistics of the program. Five days later, the program is running much more smoothly and I think the kids are really starting to learn and enjoy themselves.

One hard thing to deal with while working at the program is that we are teaching only a small portion of the children in Manenberg. We are only a group of 20 students that can tutor a maximum of three or four students each before it becomes unmanagable. Thus, many children have to be turned away. However, this does not mean they don't still show up to the school. Every day when we start the program, other kids from around the neighborhood hang outside the classrooms, bang on the windows, play games, and wait for the breaks when we go outside to play. They have served as quite an annoyance, as their constant banging on the walls and random barging into the classrooms make it hard for our students to concentrate. However, today I got to see these neighborhood children in a different light.

Today we began teaching math. Five minutes into starting the math worksheets, I realized that one of my students did not know how to add. Luckily at that moment we were scheduled for a break, so I had some time to write out easier problems for my student. While the students were out playing soccer and running around, I sat against a wall outside and began writing out simple addition problems. Almost immediately after I sat down, a boy that isn't in the program curiously circled around me to see what I was up to. The boy took one look at my paper, smirked, and claimed that the problems were too easy. I challenged him and asked if he wanted harder ones, to which he nodded. I then wrote out a harder problem which he solved quickly and looked to me in anticipation for more. Pretty soon I had a group of little boys around me, asking for math problems and eagerly shouting out the answers as fast as they could. I continued to sit there for the next thirty minutes, teaching little math tricks and quizzing the boys.

Although this was just 30 minutes of doing simple math problems with a couple boys against the wall of a classroom, that time was pretty special to me. These boys, who I had seen as rowdy little trouble makers, really did have a thirst for learning. They enjoyed doing math problems and kept asking for more. Suddenly I wished we could have class outside so others could join in on the fun. Teaching those boys showed me how hopeful these children are and how they yearn for knowledge. It reaffirmed my aspirations to be an educator and highlighted the importance for effective teachers to capture this thirst for knowledge and help students reach their highest potential. I fear the reason why many of these students are several grade levels behind where they should be is not because of lack of interest, rather a lack of skill on the part of educators and an inefficient education system. Because this is a much greater issue than I can tackle in two weeks, I am focusing on what I can do with the time that I do have. Hopefully my passion for teaching will shine through to these little ones and I can encourage them to continue in their education, as they have encouraged me to continue in mine.

What's a Drop Cap?

Nandi has finally filled us in on exactly why I flew for two days to go to the other end of the world. For two weeks we are working with adults doing ‘IT Training’ in the township of Manenberg. I’m working with two women one named Aziza and one named Ghadija. Not to try and paint some hyped up portrait of these poor women, but neither have them have used computers before and they are taking the class to become more familiar with and use the computer to send emails, and hopefully use them in potential jobs. Seriously though, to be honest my patience is tested when it comes down to teaching how to highlight in Microsoft Word. Click and drag. No. Click. No not there. Yes there. Now drag. No, not that far. Now let go. No let go. Now click. Ok it’s gone, try again. It’s challenging to try and be respectful of women who are older than me, while at the same time trying to teach them a technical skill that requires a lot of correction from the teacher in order to get the hang of it. We do training for three hours every morning; we roll in on the SHAWCO bus, and just like in every documentary, BBC special, and commercial on TV for adopting children kids do run up to the car, grab onto you, hug you, want to know your name and play. It’s slightly overwhelming, but they have so much energy and it’s fun to kick the ball around with them.

Seeing that I’m using Word at this moment, it’s strange to see someone who has never used a computer before try and type on Word; and while they are picking it up quickly Aziza keeps apologizing and thanking me for my patience. She seems nervous to make mistakes and cause anyone disturbance or ask too much of them. I really do enjoy the interpersonal connections we’re allowed to make with each other at this level of engagement. I’m getting to know two people extremely well, and Vince, the director of the program, keeps mentioning the amount of empowerment the women in the program feel. Even if they are not able to get a job with their newly learned skill, they have gained the knowledge and confidence that they can use a computer, which is an intimidating machine. I’m also learning things on Word, like Drop Cap. It’s crazy. It makes the first letter of your paragraph really big like an old fashioned book.

Everything else in the house is going really well. Our guide, Nandi, is the best; she has way too many friends and they’re all too nice. We’ve been going out and meeting people wherever we go. It’s kinda strange because a lot of people want to talk to you just because you’re from the states, but it’s still enjoyable to constantly be meeting new people and learning more and more. And not just South Africans, there are students from other schools we are meeting, people from other countries like Zimbabwe, Namibia, and other places. I feel so connected to the global world here not just because I’m in another country, but because everyone here comes from such interesting and new backgrounds (to me, at least).

Education and Illiteracy

Another blogger's take on the difficult state of education in South Africa and the way forward.

A Token of Appreciation

Today I woke up a bit terrified. Today we are going to start working with the kids.

Although most of us are ok, I think some of us are a little apprehensive of teaching younger students, particularly since we were forewarned that they could be a little difficult sometimes. I can't remember the last time I tutored 6th and 7th graders but I can remember me as a young middle schooler, and I know for certain that I was a pain.

In any case, I'm sure we'll all figure it out and make buddies soon enough but today marks a big change. For one, it's the 4th of July. Every 4th of July that I can remember was spent back home in the States. The idea of going to lecture at 9 am on Independence Day is unusual to say the least but the sacrifice is well worth it.

On Friday we wrapped up our IT training program with the adults. I received an email from my learner this weekend, expressing her gratitude to us for helping the Manenberg adults these past two weeks. It wasn't until I saw her email, that I realized what a positive impact, even if small, that our group made. I think it's easy to undermine some of the daily skills we possess. For most of us, computer skills was just a given. We grew up with computers, so we couldn't imagine IT training being as vital as it was. I think this week a lot of us struggled with the dilemma of whether our time and effort in South Africa was worth it. I think every service adventure comes with a misconception that you have to do something big, something momentous for it to be worthwhile, but really, it's the culmination of little things that amount to big changes.

Mother Theresa once said that, "In this life we cannot do great things. We can only do small things with great love".

I have no doubt that every single one of us fully invested our efforts into our learners. The degree of accountability and passion and frustration that every Vanderbilt student shared with his/her learner these past two weeks serves as testament of how much each of us worked hard to maximize our time with the learners.

To a large degree, the true value for us students was getting to know the Manenberg community. We came in with little knowledge specific to the Manenberg community and left with at least a deeper understanding of our learner's daily experience--one that I thought would drastically contradict mine but it didn't. It's easy to believe that just because someone lives miles away, on a different continent, in a different kind of neighborhood that they would be completely different to us, but my learner wasn't. She went to church, visited her relatives and went to the supermarket to buy food every week and travelled to the mall from time to time. Yes, our experiences are different, but the essence is the same.

'N mens is net 'n mens deur 'n onder mens

"A person is only a person through another person." The community members of Manenberg who participated in SHAWCO's IT training were immensely grateful for the assistance provided by their Vanderbilt trainers. Many of the trainees are local women who want to pass their new IT skills on to their children. By helping with this program, we may have not only had a direct effect on the adults who sat through the course--there will hopefully be a radiating effect outward to Manenberg's young people, as well. Young people who badly need extra support in a still highly unequal education system.

On the flip side, we have learned much about Manenberg, the condition of Cape Town's townships, and development, in general, from these community members. The first-hand experience of working in the SHAWCO Manenberg Centre has been an education in itself and has lit a fire in many of us to learn how to best work with communities like Manenberg, both here in South Africa for the next few weeks and beyond.