Beware

Today we drove to Entabeni Safari Conservancy, a private game reserve. Our accommodations are spectacular. It feels like the Africa we’ve all seen in the movies - thatched hut roofs on the buildings, zebra skin rugs about, monkeys frolicking around. The conservancy sits at the feet of Mount Entabeni, which means “face of the mountain”, in the Africa bush on land that was once home to the koisan and the stage for brutal wars. Noelle, one of the rangers who happens to be from New Hampshire, explained as she drove us in to be ware because all of Africa’s Big 5 (the five most difficult to hunt animals – elephant, lion, leopard, buffalo, and hippo) are on the grounds and roam freely. We are reminded to make ourselves big if we encounter a lion and small if we run into a leopard. She also is kind enough to tell us that hippos are responsible for the most human deaths on the African continent of all animals, and that they come on land at night to graze. Sure enough that night as I slept, I was awakened to a grunting sound. Once I realized that it wasn’t a dream, I looked out of the window of my room where the fire in the fireplace was all but burned out to see a hippos rear-end. I like to think that he tucked me in that night.
On the morning of the 20th we met with a group of teachers and administrators from Limpopo – a more rural area of South Africa. We talked with them about the challenges they face. Again the discussion seemed to turn to the difficulty of language. South Africa has 11 official languages. Under their education policy children have the right to be educated in their mother tongue. While most South Africans know, at least 3 languages, it’s difficult to practicably implement teaching in all of the mother tongue languages when there are so many. Besides, as one of the teachers expresses, the children need English to succeed. I feel saddened that many of the children will lose their heritage and many of the beautiful African languages run the risk of dying which, of course, will erode indigenous culture and customs. It seems some of the teachers were surprised that most all of us felt this way. We reminded them that English is the only official language in the U.S. Our situation isn’t as complicated – or isn’t it. What are we doing to English as a Second Language learners who enter our schools when we, basically, ignore their native language? Aren’t we also contributing to the erosion of their culture and customs? Why when there are numerous studies, including an infamous one done in South Africa that proved the mother-tongue instruction (as a medium) improved student success. Makes sense. Students are better able to understand the content in their own language and, therefore, perform better.
No wonder, the students of Soweto in 1976 protested, in some cases to their demise, against instruction in Afrikaans. Children often know better.

Is an integrated approach effective for all students?

Happy Birthday, Madiba. Today is Nelson Mandela's 90th Birthday. What a befitting opportunity to visit the Verwoerd secondary school in Pretoria. The school bears the name of the man commonly referred to as the "architect of apartheid". The school now, however, is completely integrated with African, Colored, Asian, Indian, and Afrikaans students, a testament to Mandela's fight. Instruction in this school is dual medium. Students receive instruction (including the many PA announcements) in both Afrikaans and English. The principal speaks of the school as a level 5 schools - or a wealthy school, though I notice few computers or facilities features that would classify it as such in the U.S. Grant it, their school is a a stark contrast to the township schools that we have passed. We had an opportunity to speak to students who are members of their Global Youth Forum, including their first Black headboy. The students are all well-spoken and forthcoming, but I am struck by how easily they disagree with each other. Later, I learn from one of the teachers that it is expected that students have an opinion on everything and express it. And, that they did! Many, including the Black students, were not in favor of the country's affirmative action or Black Empowerment Movement. They spoke of apartheid being their parents' and grandparents' struggle. I venture to say that many American students and even some in my generation think the same of our nation's Civil Rights Movement. Others, including White or Asian/Indian students, saw the need for the country's affirmative attempts as retribution for Blacks. Interestingly where they stood on the issue was not clearly drawn by racial or gender lines. The students, who would fall into the category of "Born Frees" as referred to by some of the other presenters, also discussed the role of women in leading the country. South Africa has 50% representation by women in legislative positions. They take pride in the role of women's leadership in the shaping of their country, generally speaking. Though, one student commented frankly that he felt more comfortable being led by a man. Another felt women's leadership was beneficial because they get a leader and a mother in one figure. Again, what they had to say didn't seem as striking to me as how they said it. It's the type of discourse that we typically call critical thinking or that we expect of our honors/advanced students, but seemed commonplace between and among them despite race, background, socioeconomics, and gender. Their students were quite adept at representing their ideas orally. A look later at some of their portfolio samples which included a variety of essays including argumentative ones suggest that they are also coached to develop this stance in their writing, as well. Given the prescriptiveness of their curriculum (their outcomes based objectives, novels, exams, etc. are all provided by the South African National Education Department), their exhibition of free-thinking students is somewhat paradoxical. They aren't free of problems. The funding is inadequate, and teaching in both English and Afrikaans poses challenges related to time and politics. Many of the Afrikaans only schools in the area attract white students, often of resourceful families, who do not want an integrated experience for their families. The principal spoke of also needed to introduce learners to their first integrated experience. One example he gave was the cultural characteristic of Black students to often be more expressive and loud, which has met, on occasion, from Afrikaans students with resistance and ensuing disputes. That could happen anywhere - it's the nature of teenagers. When asked why not just have an Afrikaans-only medium school so as to attract white and/or wealthier students and alleviate some of the inherent problems, the principal said of his integrated school, he'd have it no other way. And with a 100% pass rate, their school is evidence that integration can work. And the fact that the school continues to bear the name of the apartheid architect is irony that could not be created in the best of novels.

No excuses

We visited the University of Pretoria and had the pleasure to meet with the campus president, Dr. Edward Smith. He explained the difficulty of the transition when campuses were ordered to merge after apartheid. Essentially, the merger was an order of integration. The country took a very convoluted system of higher education institutions and created fewer of them. University of Pretoria has since changed from a formally all white institution where one of its professors performed experiments to determine various ways to chemically kill Blacks. Now it is headed by a Black president. Interestingly, South African university populations are 65% Black. By U.S. standards, this is an enviable college-going rate of a minority group. The difference in South Africa, of course, is that Blacks are the majority. The integration order, of course, is reminiscent of the desegregation orders in the 60’s and 70’s in the U.S. As we walk around campuses that were previously all-white and now see that they are all-black and vice versa it begs the question if integration or desegregation orders accomplish their intended goal. When institutions are opened to people previously excluded why do the original occupants leave? Can you legislate the heart? Can you make people see the worth of others by forcing them to coexist?
On the way to campus we passed the squatter camps or “reform settlements” that illuminate the poverty that obviously and sadly cycles from generation to generation. As I look at the meager shacks, some no bigger than my bathroom and see the playful eyes of children who play in the winding dirt paths that connect the shacks, I wonder if they have college aspirations and if they do, will they be attainable. I wonder similar things as I drive through my own Detroit neighborhood. As the children play on basketball courts with netless hoops or in hydrant waterfalls, they always seem blissfully unaware that their condition is lesser than that of children just miles up the road.
Some manage to make it, though. Dr. Smith shared a story of one such child, the story he shared brought tears to my eyes, because it sounded so much like an incident of my own. He shared with us that he’d just buried his own sister who died of HIV/AIDS and his disappointment of her for the lifestyle she willingly chose. He was so disappointed that he chose not to attend her funeral. His apathy collided with his sorrow all at the same time, and it was hard for me to completely read his steely demeanor. He continued by stating that many college students at U of P are probably like students everywhere in that they are full of excuses about why they haven’t done assignments or otherwise have not lived-up to what is expected of them. Then, however, he talked of one student who he and the university helped when her mother died of HIV/AIDS. She, being the only child, a college student, an orphan did not have money for her mother’s burial costs. He rallied the university to assist her in buying a coffin. What’s important to remember is the death and burials are significant events in South African tribal culture. A proper burial with all family in attendance is an expected honor. My tears came streaming when he explained that she showed up the very next day to take an exam. He was surprised to see her on campus and said that he’d talk with the course lecturer to get her excused from the exam. She’d hear nothing of it. She wanted to do what was expected of her. No excuses. She needed to do all she could to successfully complete her coursework and graduate. It reminded me of my senior year at the University of Michigan, when I’d become orphaned. I’d lost my father the year prior to chronic kidney failure and just two weeks prior to my graduation in 1993, my mother passed away from esophageal cancer. I was student teaching, which, basically, is working full-time without pay. The day after I buried my mother I showed up to take the final exam - the one and only grade - for the natural science mini-course I was taking. The credit, of course, was needed for graduation which was just a few short subsequent weeks. Upon presenting my completed exam to Dr. Gingerich, he must have seen the grief and concern on my face. He quizzically asked if I was okay. I simply replied, “I’m not sure; my mother died, and I don’t know how well I did on this test.” He wondered why I was even there. In that moment, I also wondered, but acted on what I’d always been taught. Growing up, my parents, especially my mother, said to me explicitly and by their own work ethic to “suck up” whatever problems, ailments, and disappointments I had and do what needed to be done for work or school. No excuses. I remember being lectured that because of my skin color and gender I would be underestimated and undervalued. To demonstrate my worth and worthiness, I would need to work twice as hard. Dr. Gingerich offered to grade my exam on the spot and said that I could retake it if I did not pass with the needed “B”. I stood anxiously as he graded it…I passed…we hugged…I wept in his arms from relief, but more so because of his compassion. Never before had someone, especially not a white man, shown me their humanity through an act of grace. He allowed me in that moment to be the grieving, motherless child that I was. No excuses, just human.
Dr. Smith’s humanity was further evident as he took us on an extemporaneous visit to a primary school that he and the University had adopted. They had recently built a new library for the school, and it was the pride and joy of the school community. As we drove up to the grounds of the “Water of Life” school, I was struck by the poverty of the township. Many walked with bare feet along the roadside. Most of the houses were mere corrugated tin shakes with old tires and bricks holding the roofs down. The tin wash tubs outside were a sign of no running water indoors. And there were no signs of electric wires anywhere. As we pulled up to the school, the children were on lunch break and jovially playing in the courtyard. They seemed so happy. Women sat along the fence ready to sell fruits and other goods to the few who had a couple rand to purchase something for lunch. The school, like most in South Africa, has no cafeteria. This one does, however, unlike many others have a small kitchen that serves the 2,000+ students in grades R-5 two meals per day. The two women who run the kitchen provide the only two meal – both made of grain or corn - per day that many of these children will eat. But they happily learn – 60 to a classroom. They delight at our cameras and shout, “Shoot me” and rush to see the digital image of themselves on our camera screens.
As we enter the library, which is no larger than a typical U.S. classroom, probably smaller in fact, is bright with the color of the books. The three computers in the corner are the first I’ve seen in any of the schools we have visited so far, and they aren’t connected to the internet. The library manager, Prince, talks proudly of how the children love to come to the library. All they want to do is learn to read. While I clearly see that the library is a gift, I notice that many of the shelves are bare, as Prince says they need more books, especially resources, such as big books, for teachers to teach literacy. These children, some of whom are heads of households because they have lost both parents to HIV/AIDS and all of whom live in the most abject poverty and walk to school in bare feet, only want “to learn to read”. Well that’s a cause that I’m sure I can help and intend fully to rally my friends and colleagues back home to send books and teacher resources to send to them. I’m glad to have had this experience on Nelson Mandela’s 90th Birthday. E-mail me to find out how you can send books to the school.

Pics from Pre Departure Orientation in Washington, DC & First Two Days in SA

journey to South Africa

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Sunrise in South Africa

This morning I awoke to my first sunrise in South Africa. After 20+ hours of flying starting Saturday at about Noon in Washington, DC, we touched down in Johannesburg at 5pm Sunday, greeted by the most warm sunset and the most beautiful people with the biggest smiles and greatest hospitality. One of the first signs that I saw in the airport read, "we've been waiting for you for 4 million years" (an advertisement for the Cradle of Mankind exhibit). It's true what Dr. Gary Weaver of American University said during our PreDeparture Orientation - South Africans live by the verb "to be", where Americans tend to live by the verb, "to do". Or, as Viwe our PreDeparture Orientation leader from AED who is a South African, shared an important word in South African culture is "ubuntu", which means I am because we are. So far this has been evident in the manner in which the airport workers greeted us and were so eager to help us with our luggage, how the program officers welcomed us and carried our luggage, the personalized name tags that we each were given with made of African beads, the wonderful meal that was prepared for us by the hotel. I ended last evening after settling in to my room at the Schongezich guest house in Pretoria by watching on South African Broadcast Company TV a special tribute to Mandiba, Nelson Mandela, on the occasion of his 90th Birthday this week. A lecture was presented by Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, president of Liberia, and first woman president in Africa. She spoke of promoting more freedom Southern Africa and across all of Africa. She spoke of justice for Zimbabwe and for the children and women who are frequent victims of violence. She envisioned an Africa that was economically independent based on public commerce and industry. She embodied the zulu word, "khulumani" - which means "speak up" when she proudly proclaimed that women's leadership will be what changes the world! What a night cap!