Here are some videos of my pictures:
Port Elizabeth - http://animoto.com/play/hgrVhSbjbCvogOjikXfsKA
Cape Town - http://animoto.com/play/7sgFyD8DUNUFUNOFTVX14Q
Friday, August 8, 2014
Tuesday, August 5, 2014
"How was your trip?"
Whenever you return from a trip, everyone asks you: "so, how was your trip?," or "What was it like in Africa?" The easy answer is always "it was great" or "amazing," but that simple response does not capture the experience that I had in South Africa. It's going to be difficult to put into words and my description will not be able to capture reality, but here's my best attempt at answering the question that everyone will be asking...
My experience as an educator was different than my experience as a tourist, so I have to make that distinction.
Educator's Experience:
I've had the opportunity to travel quite a bit lately but I have never been into the schools and I want to incorporate this into future visits. It was refreshing to talk with fellow educators about their triumphs and struggles in the classroom and realize that no matter where you are, working with kids is challenging. We had the rare opportunity to visit an array of schools within the same city, which made me realize that I need to visit more schools in my own district as well. The inequalities that exist within South Africa are visible and it seems that progress is slow. Before we left, I fell in love with a quote by Nelson Mandela: "Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world." As an educator, I know this quote is true. There is nothing more powerful than a good education, but so many people do not have access to one and it's criminal. This is true in South Africa, but it's also true in America. As my career as an educational leader emerges, I want to find a away to promote truly equal education for all children.
At Emafini Primary School, I had a workbook, chalk, chalkboard, and 45 learners in a class and I had to teach even though I didn't really know what I was teaching them. I taught students who were learning English as their second or third language and students from different academic levels who were all in the same class. They learned and they enjoyed what they were learning (I heard this later because they were talking about me in isiXhosa). As teachers in the United States, we have so many resources available to us that there is no excuse for not teaching our kids. I have an infinite supply of resources with multiple computers and internet access in my classroom. I have all the technology that a teacher could want; granted it doesn't always work properly, but I have it. I have 90 minutes during the school day to prepare for my lessons, grade papers, and do other work that needs to get done. I also have less students in a single class and far less in a given day. Why are we complaining so much? Good teachers are teaching around the world with the materials they have available... and they aren't complaining.
It's August and school is right around the corner. My goal for this upcoming school year is to bring the Xhosa spirit to Hoggard. We all need to work together for the benefit of the students. I want to remain positive throughout the school year. I have a difficult schedule for the fall semester, but I know that I can handle it. I will implement some techniques that were effective at Emafini and methods to help students who are struggling with their English comprehension. I want to create a community environment within my own classroom to ensure my students are collaborating for mutual success and not competing. I hope that I can pass this outlook along to my colleagues. I fear that the system has made many of us bitter and negative, but those attitudes are not what our students need. I am exciting about the upcoming school year and I hope that my Xhosa spirit still exists in October!
Tourist's Experience:
I will return to South Africa one day so that I am able to experience more of what the country has to offer. If you plan to go, my only advice is to not visit the U.S. Consulate. We got a safety briefing there which truly scared all of us, but I never felt unsafe during the trip. Port Elizabeth was a smaller city with a beautiful coastline. We were later told that no tourist ever spins so much time in PE, but I would strongly recommend going there.
Cape Town is what everyone told me that it would be: the most beautiful city. The geography of the city is so unique and I have never experienced anything like it. The coast was beautiful and almost reminded me of Maine or Northern California because of the huge rocks that were dotted along the beaches. Being at the V&A Waterfront felt similar to being at Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco. There were street performances, good food and shopping, and a very strong ocean smell. When you turn to your left (or right), you see the incredible Table Mountain which is so much bigger than you can imagine. You can hike up the mountain or take a cable car to the top. Unfortunately, it was closed for the winter, so this is something that I need to do when I come back.
Someone is wondering about the food and it was delicious. There was a strong English influence on the cuisine so I ate chips (French fries) with every meal, but their "ketchup" was different. We had a traditional English breakfast every morning: eggs, mushrooms, tomatoes, and baked beans. Something that was unique was that you could find such an array of meats. Besides from the basic pork, beef, and chicken, many restaurants had springbok and kudu on the menu. We were encouraged to eat warthog, but we never found a place that served it. South Africa is a destination that I would recommend if you are okay with being on a plane for 15 hours :)
Americans have many misconceptions about Africa. It's not a country... it's a huge continent that is very diverse. Within South Africa alone, there are 11 official languages. There are no lions or elephants roaming on the streets and I did not see any "tribal people." I didn't get malaria or Ebola.
I did see a nation that is still divided over a painful history that has many similarities with the struggle that America has gone through. I learned that living in a democracy is so much more than voting once every four years; it's about all the freedoms that we take for granted. South Africa has had a democracy for 20 years and they have made many accomplishments but they aren't "there" yet, although I don't think that America has figured it out yet either. I know that my two week experience in South Africa will change my professional and personal lives and I hope that other people get the chance to be transformed by a similar experience.
Thanks for following my blog!
My experience as an educator was different than my experience as a tourist, so I have to make that distinction.
Educator's Experience:
I've had the opportunity to travel quite a bit lately but I have never been into the schools and I want to incorporate this into future visits. It was refreshing to talk with fellow educators about their triumphs and struggles in the classroom and realize that no matter where you are, working with kids is challenging. We had the rare opportunity to visit an array of schools within the same city, which made me realize that I need to visit more schools in my own district as well. The inequalities that exist within South Africa are visible and it seems that progress is slow. Before we left, I fell in love with a quote by Nelson Mandela: "Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world." As an educator, I know this quote is true. There is nothing more powerful than a good education, but so many people do not have access to one and it's criminal. This is true in South Africa, but it's also true in America. As my career as an educational leader emerges, I want to find a away to promote truly equal education for all children.
At Emafini Primary School, I had a workbook, chalk, chalkboard, and 45 learners in a class and I had to teach even though I didn't really know what I was teaching them. I taught students who were learning English as their second or third language and students from different academic levels who were all in the same class. They learned and they enjoyed what they were learning (I heard this later because they were talking about me in isiXhosa). As teachers in the United States, we have so many resources available to us that there is no excuse for not teaching our kids. I have an infinite supply of resources with multiple computers and internet access in my classroom. I have all the technology that a teacher could want; granted it doesn't always work properly, but I have it. I have 90 minutes during the school day to prepare for my lessons, grade papers, and do other work that needs to get done. I also have less students in a single class and far less in a given day. Why are we complaining so much? Good teachers are teaching around the world with the materials they have available... and they aren't complaining.
It's August and school is right around the corner. My goal for this upcoming school year is to bring the Xhosa spirit to Hoggard. We all need to work together for the benefit of the students. I want to remain positive throughout the school year. I have a difficult schedule for the fall semester, but I know that I can handle it. I will implement some techniques that were effective at Emafini and methods to help students who are struggling with their English comprehension. I want to create a community environment within my own classroom to ensure my students are collaborating for mutual success and not competing. I hope that I can pass this outlook along to my colleagues. I fear that the system has made many of us bitter and negative, but those attitudes are not what our students need. I am exciting about the upcoming school year and I hope that my Xhosa spirit still exists in October!
Tourist's Experience:
I will return to South Africa one day so that I am able to experience more of what the country has to offer. If you plan to go, my only advice is to not visit the U.S. Consulate. We got a safety briefing there which truly scared all of us, but I never felt unsafe during the trip. Port Elizabeth was a smaller city with a beautiful coastline. We were later told that no tourist ever spins so much time in PE, but I would strongly recommend going there.
Cape Town is what everyone told me that it would be: the most beautiful city. The geography of the city is so unique and I have never experienced anything like it. The coast was beautiful and almost reminded me of Maine or Northern California because of the huge rocks that were dotted along the beaches. Being at the V&A Waterfront felt similar to being at Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco. There were street performances, good food and shopping, and a very strong ocean smell. When you turn to your left (or right), you see the incredible Table Mountain which is so much bigger than you can imagine. You can hike up the mountain or take a cable car to the top. Unfortunately, it was closed for the winter, so this is something that I need to do when I come back.
Someone is wondering about the food and it was delicious. There was a strong English influence on the cuisine so I ate chips (French fries) with every meal, but their "ketchup" was different. We had a traditional English breakfast every morning: eggs, mushrooms, tomatoes, and baked beans. Something that was unique was that you could find such an array of meats. Besides from the basic pork, beef, and chicken, many restaurants had springbok and kudu on the menu. We were encouraged to eat warthog, but we never found a place that served it. South Africa is a destination that I would recommend if you are okay with being on a plane for 15 hours :)
Americans have many misconceptions about Africa. It's not a country... it's a huge continent that is very diverse. Within South Africa alone, there are 11 official languages. There are no lions or elephants roaming on the streets and I did not see any "tribal people." I didn't get malaria or Ebola.
I did see a nation that is still divided over a painful history that has many similarities with the struggle that America has gone through. I learned that living in a democracy is so much more than voting once every four years; it's about all the freedoms that we take for granted. South Africa has had a democracy for 20 years and they have made many accomplishments but they aren't "there" yet, although I don't think that America has figured it out yet either. I know that my two week experience in South Africa will change my professional and personal lives and I hope that other people get the chance to be transformed by a similar experience.
Thanks for following my blog!
Monday, August 4, 2014
Robben Island
On Thursday, our group went on a tour of Robben Island. The island has played an infamous role in the history of colonialism in South Africa. The British used the island to exile African chiefs who threatened their reign and after gaining independence, the South African government used it originally as a sanatorium for people with leprosy or severe mental illnesses (Coombes, 2003). During apartheid, the government built a prison on the island and many people were sent their as political prisoners. Nelson Mandela, the leader of the African National Congress, was arrested in 1964 for treason: conspiracy to overthrow the government. Mandela's sentence was life imprisonment and he was sent to Robben Island to work in the limestone quarry. He served 27 years in prison at Robben Island and later at Pollsmoor Prison in Cape Town and was released in 1990. While he was at Robben Island, he secretly wrote about his experience, which was later compiled into his book, A Long Walk to Freedom. We took a 40 minute ferry ride from the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town to reach Robben Island. Though the prison on the island was medium security, there were never escapes because of the distance to land and the amount of great white sharks that love the area where the Atlantic and Indian Oceans meet. From the island, there is an incredible view of Table Mountain, which was an eerie reminder to prisoners of the freedom that they did not have, but also served as inspiration to continue their fight for equality.
Below is a picture of Mandela's cell while at the prison:
Robben Island prison housed political prisoners until 1991 when the last prisoner was sent back to Cape Town and the prison was officially closed. The island had always played an important part in the history of South Africa and many different groups argued over what to do with the it after its closing (Coombes, 2003). Proposals were made to create a Disney-style amusement park, rehabilitation camp for street children, and a casino. With the fall of apartheid in 1994, it was decided that the island needed to serve as a reminder of the past and a monument for the perseverance of the human spirit. The Robben Island Museum was created and has become a centerpiece for the "new" South Africa.
After the ferry ride, we walked from the harbor to the prison where our tour guide brought us into a large room to begin the discussion. He started by telling us the story of his arrest. Our tour guide was a political prisoner on the island for over 10 years and that realization added a different element to the experience. It was incredible to have a former prisoner recount his experience in the prison. He talked about punishments that prisoners received for not following the rules. Guards would bury men neck-deep in the dirt and urinate in their mouths. Also, the racial factions that existed throughout the rest of apartheid South Africa were maintained while in prisoner. Black men received less food than their colored prison mates and they were treated vastly different as well. They worked in the limestone quarry which had long-term effects on their health from respiratory problems to blindness. Prisoners lived and worked in these inhumane conditions while serving sentences for "crimes" against the apartheid regime.
After the prison tour, we got on the bus and a different tour guide took us around the island to see the leper's graveyard and church, and the precinct village where the guards and their families lived. Today, the village houses the employees of the museum. There is a school on the island which was just closed in 2011 because of low enrollment. Children must take a ferry to school each morning and they often cannot attend school because of the rough seas. At the end of the island, we were able to get out to experience an incredible view of the oceans and Cape Town.
On the bus, the tour guide had asked where everyone was from. People came from Germany, Holland, England, Sweden, Jamaica, and the U.S. She thanked all of us for playing such a significant role in the end of apartheid, since many western nations had sanctioned the South Africa government in an effort to advocate equal rights. Finally, she encouraged us all to tell others about what we had seen and learned about Robben Island and to teach about the triumph of humanity.
References:
Coombes, A. E. (2003). History after apartheid: Visual culture and public memory in democratic South Africa. Durham: Duke University Press.
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