Vacation
Over Easter holiday me and 12 other volunteers traveled first to a
backpacker on the coast of the Indian Ocean and then up to the Durban, South
Africa. It was an awesome time filled
with 1st world luxuries like restaurants, showers, and bbq’s. The first hostel we stayed at called the
Mantis and Moon had an awesome vibe with boardwalk paths through a jungle
environment with a lit up pool and treehouses.
I tried out surfing by just renting out a board from the hostel. It was not much of a success, mostly spending
2 hours getting smashed by waves! It was
wonderful to hang out with my friends for 5 days and escape the loneliness of
many weeks at site. Durban has all the
makings of a big city. We spent most of
the time on the beach with its huge boardwalk.
Caitlin, myself, and our newly found friend from the Netherlands Tomas
went to UShaka marine world aquarium and water park which was a solid
time!
It was nice to finally get out of Lesotho and see South Africa. My house in Lesotho is not far from the
boarder and the majority of our taxi ride to Durban. However, the landscape is so different than
in Lesotho. The spaces are wide open and
it is not a never ending village as the low lands of Lesotho seems. There is development and rest stops that are
the same as a US interstate. However
there is always the reminder that poverty surrounds you whether it be street
children as you leave the bar, the suburbs with every theft deterrent possible,
or dilapidated metal shack settlements where poverty from the distance appears
far worse than my rural Lesotho village.
Back to Teaching
Returning to school has been a challenge getting back into the swing of
things. A teacher at my school is out
for maternity leave for an unknown length of time and I am covering her three
math classes in her absence. So coming
back from break had all the anxiety of the first day of school because 3 out of
my 4 classes were new. It took me out of
the flow and I have had to readjust.
However, it has allowed me to interact with a lot of students that I
previously only saw infrequently for life skills lessons.
Education in Lesotho is centered on end of the year exams, everything
depends on it. Students take external
exams, meaning nationally or internationally standardized, at the end of form c
(10th grade) and form e (12th grade). Everything is built up for these two tests
and they mean everything. Unlike at home
students often don’t pass to the next grade.
A student who makes it straight through high school without repeating or
taking a year or multiple off because finances, babies, or home challenges is
extremely rare. Some of my students in
my 11th grade class are 23 years old, older than me. Additionally passing a grade only depends on
passing English and a set number of other subjects. This means that a student never has to pass
math and can still graduate, and this often happens. A major struggle I have is teaching students
who are way behind grade level and it often seems hopeless to catch them up.
Everyday teaching is filled with highs and lows, frustrations and
smiles. I am focusing on staying
positive and doing the best I can and trying to build friendships.
Other Projects to Stay Busy
Beyond teaching I have taken on 3 small secondary projects since being
back from vacation. The first is a
workout/training club at school. A
couple of guys asked me if I would help them exercise so on Monday, Wednesday,
and occasionally Friday we turn the school hall into a makeshift gym. It has taken off from the two guys we started
with and this week there were 20 students jumping around completing push ups,
burpies, and sit ups to the sounds of a Lupe Fiasco album. It is quite a sight! I will try to take pictures next time and
post. I have also tried to start
teaching them the ways of American football and ultimate frisbee also a
hilarious sight!
My lifeskills classes have been cut while I cover for teaching math but
I am working on organizing an HIV testing event at my school all of next week
and a community event on May 12th.
The community event hopefully will be a combination of performances from
students doing HIV/AIDS related poetry and dramas, a community testing event put
on by the hospital, and the painting of a large concrete AIDS ribbon on the top
of Qholaqhoe Mountain. Hopefully the
hospital will sponsor paint for the event and we will repaint the ribbon that
is hardly visible now and was originally created in 2000. A lot is still up in the air with
coordinating with the hospital so it is still a work in progress.
My third out of school project right now is to apply for a library
through African Library Project for one of the primary schools in my
village. The principle is really excited
about the project and we are starting to work on the application. The African Library Project organizes donors
in the states to organize book drives and financial donations to ship books to start
libraries in Africa. More info as the
project progresses!
I had pictures to upload but between my computer crashing, a computer virus, and the slow connection at the internet cafe no luck so next time!
I had pictures to upload but between my computer crashing, a computer virus, and the slow connection at the internet cafe no luck so next time!
