Q & A
Last Written: 11 January 2006
I hope to add to this occasionally, so check back ever so often. I will date it when I do.
Many people have been asking me questions, here are some answers along with some rambling about things.
Here is a little background on schools and how they function. The school day is nothing like what you and I are use to in the States. That is part of the reason the Peace Corps is working with the Department of Education in the Republic of South Africa. Since 1994, when the apartheid was destroyed and a democracy was set into place, the rural villages (where we are) have been trying to catch up with the urban school systems. During the apartheid, the government place many restrictions and regulations on many things for the blacks and coloureds. Among those was the education of the blacks which was not nearly as high as the whites. As a result, the system that they used to teach with was terrible and they are implementing a new curriculum. This is where are main job lies, helping with the implementation. The teachers here were taught with Bantu education which was where a teacher would stand and the front and dictate what the students need to learn and questions were not to be asked. What the teacher said, whether right or wrong, was taken to be true. Group work, projects, and outside the box thinking are now among the ideas that are trying to be instituted into the classroom. This is difficult for many reasons. One, it is hard for someone who was taught in one manner to teacher others in another manner. This will slowly become better for the fact that the new teachers are better at this type of education and subsequently be better at teaching it. Resources are another problem, because it is hard to conduct an experiment with no supplies. Another issue is work ethic and parent and community involvement. A majority of the parents are not educated so the children don’t have any help or support at home. The parents honestly don’t care what there children achieve in school. This is a huge hurdle to overcome.
Books and stuff
One of the best biographies and books for that matter that I have ever read is A Long Walk to Freedom by Nelson Mandela. I HIGHLY recommend it, although its large in size it is a smooth read about the life of Nelson Mandela. It starts from his childhood all the way through his election as the first president in a democratic South Africa. An amazing man. And as I talk with the people here, they speak of him as being the work of God. The place has come a long way in just 12 years but still has a long way to go.
Another good resource to see into what life is like here is a movie, which I believe won some awards, called Yesterday. This is a depiction of a woman living and dealing with HIV/AIDS in a rural South African village in Kazunal-Natal. AIDS is a huge problem here. Number for 20-30 somethings is anywhere from 20-35%, crazy that 1 in 4 or 5 in that age group have AIDS. I, along with our other American friends here, often look around a room filled with people and just wonder how many people have it. Crazy to think about! It does seem to be getting better from a standpoint is more people are talking about it but it seems like people still aren’t getting tested which will solve the problem. Like anywhere also, the youth have that fearless attitude and don’t think that it will affect them.
Parent involvement is a problem. The parents meeting held once a quarter at our host school of 220 students is attended by 20 parents. That is not a good turnout and of those parents, not many actually want to help the school out at all. There is a parent governing body but the parents on this board don’t really want to be on it. They are elected into it, sometimes against their will. School fees are a huge problem. Parents don’t want to pay the fees for schools. Last year at our host school, over 10,000 rand ($1≈6 rand) in school fees were not paid by the parents. This is a very significant amount for schools that already don’t have much money to work with. This amount could buy a lot of supplies here. The schools fees are no more than 100 rand per year. This can be a significant amount but money budgeting is very poor here. There is a government program that allows a parent not to pay school fees if their income is below a certain amount. This doesn’t total that amount that wasn’t paid last year.
More to come in the future.
Here are some questions sent from Dave D at Carl Sandburg High School. Check back because I think I will add more thoughts as time goes on and as I get more time.
1) What does the average student wear? Brand names?
At school, uniforms are worn.
Boys: Gray or black slacks or shorts
Gray or blue button up collared shirt
Girls: Gray or black skirt, mini skirt or those all in one dress thingies (I’m a guy and don’t know any technical terms)
Gray or blue button up collared shirt
Depending on the day, the colors change. As far as cleanliness and tatteredness of the clothes, this depends on the parents and their situation at home. The ones with more money have the nicer, well-kept uniforms.
I am assuming the uniforms are a lot like those in Catholic schools at home, but I didn’t go to one so I will never know.
As far as dress around the village goes, the same applies. The wealthier (I use this in terms of the village) children have nicer and more clothes. Some children will be better dressed than me (which usually is hard) and some where the same thing for 5 days straight. I would say the styles aren’t really that much different than what you see at home. Appearance is quite important here, some people like to dress nicely. Trends come from the States and Europe. Most people have TVs too (4 channels) and there are American sitcoms (My Wife and Kids, Friends to name a few), American music and music videos, and, most importantly wrestling, WWE. Almost boys, and men for that matter, have at least one wrestling shirt with Eddie Guerro, John Cena, and the others. Girls tend not to wear shorts or pants due to tradition but this is changing with the younger crowd.
2) Are there problems with famines....epidemics?
I think the biggest epidemic is AIDS.
Food is also a problem whenever you enter a third world place with poverty the way it is. Our host family eats a pretty healthy diet comparable to back home. But both my host parents work and therefore have money for health food. The staple food here is bogobe, also called pap and porridge. This is made with fine ground corn meal. To make it, boil water and added the corn meal until it because thick, almost like mashed potatoes. This is all some eat for dinner. Although it is fortified with some vitamins, it isn’t a balanced diet. Chicken is the staple meat here. The wealthier families will eat bogobe and chicken and possibly gravy made of tomatoes, onion and other available veggies. Rice is also a common staple food. My family will have something different each night. Anything from pasta, gravy, and sausage to bogobe, cabbage, and chicken. My father is the biggest meat eater I have ever know. He like eating all kinds of meat. One of his favourites: sheep’s head (no I am not lying). Other favourites here include chicken’s feet and heads!
Schools have a feed scheme for the children. Every child will get a plate of food during the day (although one problem with it is, the government only funds it for 4 of the 5 days of the week.). This will consist of rice or bogobe and gravy. For some children, this may be their only meal of the day.
3) What are your classroom settings like....for example are there classrooms of freshmen through seniors together.
I have yet to visit the high school (but am hoping to get over there soon) as I work primarily with the primary school. The education system starts at grade 1 and goes through grade 12 before the student go off to university. The handful of student, again whose parents can afford it, will go to kindergarten which is run by the Catholic church in the village next to ours. Primary school is grade 1-4or 6 or 7. Middle school is from grades 7-9. High school is from grades 10-12. There is then a test at the end of grade 12 that you have to pass to graduate. The pass rate this year for this test was about 68% for the country.
As far as the classrooms themselves, we have four schools and all are very different.
Manyeding: ≈220 students Grades 1-6 6 teachers (1 is also the principal)
Gamasepa: ≈200 students Grades 1-7 6 teachers (1 is also the principal)
Obontse: ≈70 students Grades 1-7 3 teachers (1 is also the principal)
Rebogile: ≈40 students Grades 1-4 2 teachers (1 is also the principal)
As you can figure out, some of the schools are multi-grade classrooms. High schools are better in that I think they always have separate classes for each grade but not positive.
4) What do the students do for entertainment, and what do they have in terms of video entertainment.
This is kind of part of the problem if you ask me. There is nothing to do in the village. This is why drink is such a big problem even into high schoolers and younger. During the day after school, most people sit in the shade. At night, go home eat and watch TV.
5) How long is your school day?
7:50 to 1:30 for grades 1-3
7:50 to 2:40 for grades 3-7
This varies because the teachers can, and will, leave whenever. If they have an errand to run or their only transportation back home is early, then class is over.
6) What is the average diet like?
See #2
7) Are their extra curricular activities?
They have sports which includes soccer for boys, volleyball, netball for girls (kind of like basketball without the dribbling and backboard?!). The high school also has softball.
There is usually a choir and a traditional dance club. We are trying to start a chess club too. These activities are hard because the teachers don’t get paid extra and therefore don’t see a reason to stay much longer. There are a few dedicated ones.
8) What kind of traditions do you have?
All kinds. I can spend hours on this one. Weddings. Funerals are a week long event that involves all night vigils during the week. The traditional dress are still prominent. Other traditions having to do with babies and such. I will add more later.
9) Do you guys play sports....football?
Yes, the sport that you can get going at anytime is football (not the American kind). Soccer is HUGE in the village. If one of the people with a ball (me and two others in the village) doesn’t show up, you can walk around the village and see kids playing soccer with a ball made of plastic bags from the grocery stores. When I want to play soccer, I tell my 7 year old host brother and start walking to the field with the ball in the air. My host brother will run around yelling and by the time I arrive at the field (a dirt clearing in the middle of a field with poles as goals) there are a dozen kids ready to play. Running is something that we are doing and the kids like to run with us. Since kids don’t really have toys, they make there own out of sticks or wire. Hand crafted wire cars with soda can wheels are ‘driven’ all around the village by boys. Also old car ties are rolled around for a good time.
10) What is the weather like....?
Hot. Hot. Hot. So far it has been hot. And the sun is INTENSE. During between around 1-3 or 4, if you are outside, you are in the shade! I have never felt the sun to be so searingly hot than it is here. It is like a giant is holding a magnifying glass and the beam is pointing to you. Did I mention it was hot. The evening though are usually quite pleasant and it cools off nicely.
11) Is their a lot of poverty....?
Yes, see earlier answers.
12) What part of South Africa are you in?
Northwest province (actually they have changed the borders so I will be living in the Nothern Cape province soon). My village is called Manyeding which is 25 km ESE of a town called Kuruman (you should be able to find it on a map!)
13) What kind of music do the students listen to?
AfroPop is big. Band like Malika and Mafikizolo (I can’t spell) are the South African Pop bands. And American music, especially R& B and rap. 50 Cent, Eminem, Usher, and Destiny’s Child to name a few.
14) Can your students ask questions for us to answer...? (We would like to start a correspondence) I am still working on that. It maybe a while longer. You can ask me as many questions as you want though.
15) Do your students care about sports in America...for example, the World Series Champion Chicago White Sox
No soccer is king in the villages (and 2010 the World Cup will be here in SA). I have been told by South African’s that the blacks like soccer and the whites like rugby and cricket. Its funny though because you can buy a Sox hat on the street and you will see other teams thrown around. I think it is whatever the bootlegger brought in on the shipment they sell. The gardener for our host family sports a SF Giants hat, but he has no idea who it is.
16) What is the main religion where you are at?
Christianity. People are very religious here. Sunday is truly the Sabbath with nothing but the grocery stores open. People go to church (sometimes for 5-6 hours)
17) How is South Africa different from America...this is more of a question for you Adam.
I answer this one with everything I write.
18) Do they have fast food?
Yes, in town (Kuruman). Once you are in town, things pretty much look like they would back home. I have been told you can tell how big a town is by what fast food they have. Small towns have KFC (Kuruman does!?)
Middle towns have KFC and a local burger joint called Steers
Large Cities (like Pretoria) have KFC, Steers, and McDonalds. Yes not need to work, you can eat McDo here to.
19) What kind of responsibilities do the students have around home?
This is a tricky one. The kids here have a lot more responsibility than I ever remember having. From cooking and cleaning, to taking care of the animals. Some of this is due the larger number of orphans. In which case the grandparents are the caretakers. In school this is also the same. Since there is no janitors, the child clean the school every morning. From sweeping out classrooms to clean the school latrines the students are the cleaning crew. They also do the yards work and at one school are clearing a soccer field.
20) Are there a lot of stores to buy food and clothing...or are there a lot of farmers that grow their own food?
Yes. The grocery stores in town look like those in the States, just smaller and with different brands. You can pretty much get anything you desire. The Mountain Dew tastes different though and Pepsi is hard to find. Coke has a stronghold on the soda industry. They do have a Fanta Pineapple which is awesome.
Clothing is the same to in the towns. You can go to a Mr Price or Jet and keep up with the latest fashion trends.
21) What are the foods you eat for fun?
Watermelons can be bought now for about $1 now that they are in season. The fruit here is good. I am becoming and even better cook from scratch and make all kinds of sweets that are always dubbed Monate (delicious).
I hope to add to this occasionally, so check back ever so often. I will date it when I do.
Many people have been asking me questions, here are some answers along with some rambling about things.
Here is a little background on schools and how they function. The school day is nothing like what you and I are use to in the States. That is part of the reason the Peace Corps is working with the Department of Education in the Republic of South Africa. Since 1994, when the apartheid was destroyed and a democracy was set into place, the rural villages (where we are) have been trying to catch up with the urban school systems. During the apartheid, the government place many restrictions and regulations on many things for the blacks and coloureds. Among those was the education of the blacks which was not nearly as high as the whites. As a result, the system that they used to teach with was terrible and they are implementing a new curriculum. This is where are main job lies, helping with the implementation. The teachers here were taught with Bantu education which was where a teacher would stand and the front and dictate what the students need to learn and questions were not to be asked. What the teacher said, whether right or wrong, was taken to be true. Group work, projects, and outside the box thinking are now among the ideas that are trying to be instituted into the classroom. This is difficult for many reasons. One, it is hard for someone who was taught in one manner to teacher others in another manner. This will slowly become better for the fact that the new teachers are better at this type of education and subsequently be better at teaching it. Resources are another problem, because it is hard to conduct an experiment with no supplies. Another issue is work ethic and parent and community involvement. A majority of the parents are not educated so the children don’t have any help or support at home. The parents honestly don’t care what there children achieve in school. This is a huge hurdle to overcome.
Books and stuff
One of the best biographies and books for that matter that I have ever read is A Long Walk to Freedom by Nelson Mandela. I HIGHLY recommend it, although its large in size it is a smooth read about the life of Nelson Mandela. It starts from his childhood all the way through his election as the first president in a democratic South Africa. An amazing man. And as I talk with the people here, they speak of him as being the work of God. The place has come a long way in just 12 years but still has a long way to go.
Another good resource to see into what life is like here is a movie, which I believe won some awards, called Yesterday. This is a depiction of a woman living and dealing with HIV/AIDS in a rural South African village in Kazunal-Natal. AIDS is a huge problem here. Number for 20-30 somethings is anywhere from 20-35%, crazy that 1 in 4 or 5 in that age group have AIDS. I, along with our other American friends here, often look around a room filled with people and just wonder how many people have it. Crazy to think about! It does seem to be getting better from a standpoint is more people are talking about it but it seems like people still aren’t getting tested which will solve the problem. Like anywhere also, the youth have that fearless attitude and don’t think that it will affect them.
Parent involvement is a problem. The parents meeting held once a quarter at our host school of 220 students is attended by 20 parents. That is not a good turnout and of those parents, not many actually want to help the school out at all. There is a parent governing body but the parents on this board don’t really want to be on it. They are elected into it, sometimes against their will. School fees are a huge problem. Parents don’t want to pay the fees for schools. Last year at our host school, over 10,000 rand ($1≈6 rand) in school fees were not paid by the parents. This is a very significant amount for schools that already don’t have much money to work with. This amount could buy a lot of supplies here. The schools fees are no more than 100 rand per year. This can be a significant amount but money budgeting is very poor here. There is a government program that allows a parent not to pay school fees if their income is below a certain amount. This doesn’t total that amount that wasn’t paid last year.
More to come in the future.
Here are some questions sent from Dave D at Carl Sandburg High School. Check back because I think I will add more thoughts as time goes on and as I get more time.
1) What does the average student wear? Brand names?
At school, uniforms are worn.
Boys: Gray or black slacks or shorts
Gray or blue button up collared shirt
Girls: Gray or black skirt, mini skirt or those all in one dress thingies (I’m a guy and don’t know any technical terms)
Gray or blue button up collared shirt
Depending on the day, the colors change. As far as cleanliness and tatteredness of the clothes, this depends on the parents and their situation at home. The ones with more money have the nicer, well-kept uniforms.
I am assuming the uniforms are a lot like those in Catholic schools at home, but I didn’t go to one so I will never know.
As far as dress around the village goes, the same applies. The wealthier (I use this in terms of the village) children have nicer and more clothes. Some children will be better dressed than me (which usually is hard) and some where the same thing for 5 days straight. I would say the styles aren’t really that much different than what you see at home. Appearance is quite important here, some people like to dress nicely. Trends come from the States and Europe. Most people have TVs too (4 channels) and there are American sitcoms (My Wife and Kids, Friends to name a few), American music and music videos, and, most importantly wrestling, WWE. Almost boys, and men for that matter, have at least one wrestling shirt with Eddie Guerro, John Cena, and the others. Girls tend not to wear shorts or pants due to tradition but this is changing with the younger crowd.
2) Are there problems with famines....epidemics?
I think the biggest epidemic is AIDS.
Food is also a problem whenever you enter a third world place with poverty the way it is. Our host family eats a pretty healthy diet comparable to back home. But both my host parents work and therefore have money for health food. The staple food here is bogobe, also called pap and porridge. This is made with fine ground corn meal. To make it, boil water and added the corn meal until it because thick, almost like mashed potatoes. This is all some eat for dinner. Although it is fortified with some vitamins, it isn’t a balanced diet. Chicken is the staple meat here. The wealthier families will eat bogobe and chicken and possibly gravy made of tomatoes, onion and other available veggies. Rice is also a common staple food. My family will have something different each night. Anything from pasta, gravy, and sausage to bogobe, cabbage, and chicken. My father is the biggest meat eater I have ever know. He like eating all kinds of meat. One of his favourites: sheep’s head (no I am not lying). Other favourites here include chicken’s feet and heads!
Schools have a feed scheme for the children. Every child will get a plate of food during the day (although one problem with it is, the government only funds it for 4 of the 5 days of the week.). This will consist of rice or bogobe and gravy. For some children, this may be their only meal of the day.
3) What are your classroom settings like....for example are there classrooms of freshmen through seniors together.
I have yet to visit the high school (but am hoping to get over there soon) as I work primarily with the primary school. The education system starts at grade 1 and goes through grade 12 before the student go off to university. The handful of student, again whose parents can afford it, will go to kindergarten which is run by the Catholic church in the village next to ours. Primary school is grade 1-4or 6 or 7. Middle school is from grades 7-9. High school is from grades 10-12. There is then a test at the end of grade 12 that you have to pass to graduate. The pass rate this year for this test was about 68% for the country.
As far as the classrooms themselves, we have four schools and all are very different.
Manyeding: ≈220 students Grades 1-6 6 teachers (1 is also the principal)
Gamasepa: ≈200 students Grades 1-7 6 teachers (1 is also the principal)
Obontse: ≈70 students Grades 1-7 3 teachers (1 is also the principal)
Rebogile: ≈40 students Grades 1-4 2 teachers (1 is also the principal)
As you can figure out, some of the schools are multi-grade classrooms. High schools are better in that I think they always have separate classes for each grade but not positive.
4) What do the students do for entertainment, and what do they have in terms of video entertainment.
This is kind of part of the problem if you ask me. There is nothing to do in the village. This is why drink is such a big problem even into high schoolers and younger. During the day after school, most people sit in the shade. At night, go home eat and watch TV.
5) How long is your school day?
7:50 to 1:30 for grades 1-3
7:50 to 2:40 for grades 3-7
This varies because the teachers can, and will, leave whenever. If they have an errand to run or their only transportation back home is early, then class is over.
6) What is the average diet like?
See #2
7) Are their extra curricular activities?
They have sports which includes soccer for boys, volleyball, netball for girls (kind of like basketball without the dribbling and backboard?!). The high school also has softball.
There is usually a choir and a traditional dance club. We are trying to start a chess club too. These activities are hard because the teachers don’t get paid extra and therefore don’t see a reason to stay much longer. There are a few dedicated ones.
8) What kind of traditions do you have?
All kinds. I can spend hours on this one. Weddings. Funerals are a week long event that involves all night vigils during the week. The traditional dress are still prominent. Other traditions having to do with babies and such. I will add more later.
9) Do you guys play sports....football?
Yes, the sport that you can get going at anytime is football (not the American kind). Soccer is HUGE in the village. If one of the people with a ball (me and two others in the village) doesn’t show up, you can walk around the village and see kids playing soccer with a ball made of plastic bags from the grocery stores. When I want to play soccer, I tell my 7 year old host brother and start walking to the field with the ball in the air. My host brother will run around yelling and by the time I arrive at the field (a dirt clearing in the middle of a field with poles as goals) there are a dozen kids ready to play. Running is something that we are doing and the kids like to run with us. Since kids don’t really have toys, they make there own out of sticks or wire. Hand crafted wire cars with soda can wheels are ‘driven’ all around the village by boys. Also old car ties are rolled around for a good time.
10) What is the weather like....?
Hot. Hot. Hot. So far it has been hot. And the sun is INTENSE. During between around 1-3 or 4, if you are outside, you are in the shade! I have never felt the sun to be so searingly hot than it is here. It is like a giant is holding a magnifying glass and the beam is pointing to you. Did I mention it was hot. The evening though are usually quite pleasant and it cools off nicely.
11) Is their a lot of poverty....?
Yes, see earlier answers.
12) What part of South Africa are you in?
Northwest province (actually they have changed the borders so I will be living in the Nothern Cape province soon). My village is called Manyeding which is 25 km ESE of a town called Kuruman (you should be able to find it on a map!)
13) What kind of music do the students listen to?
AfroPop is big. Band like Malika and Mafikizolo (I can’t spell) are the South African Pop bands. And American music, especially R& B and rap. 50 Cent, Eminem, Usher, and Destiny’s Child to name a few.
14) Can your students ask questions for us to answer...? (We would like to start a correspondence) I am still working on that. It maybe a while longer. You can ask me as many questions as you want though.
15) Do your students care about sports in America...for example, the World Series Champion Chicago White Sox
No soccer is king in the villages (and 2010 the World Cup will be here in SA). I have been told by South African’s that the blacks like soccer and the whites like rugby and cricket. Its funny though because you can buy a Sox hat on the street and you will see other teams thrown around. I think it is whatever the bootlegger brought in on the shipment they sell. The gardener for our host family sports a SF Giants hat, but he has no idea who it is.
16) What is the main religion where you are at?
Christianity. People are very religious here. Sunday is truly the Sabbath with nothing but the grocery stores open. People go to church (sometimes for 5-6 hours)
17) How is South Africa different from America...this is more of a question for you Adam.
I answer this one with everything I write.
18) Do they have fast food?
Yes, in town (Kuruman). Once you are in town, things pretty much look like they would back home. I have been told you can tell how big a town is by what fast food they have. Small towns have KFC (Kuruman does!?)
Middle towns have KFC and a local burger joint called Steers
Large Cities (like Pretoria) have KFC, Steers, and McDonalds. Yes not need to work, you can eat McDo here to.
19) What kind of responsibilities do the students have around home?
This is a tricky one. The kids here have a lot more responsibility than I ever remember having. From cooking and cleaning, to taking care of the animals. Some of this is due the larger number of orphans. In which case the grandparents are the caretakers. In school this is also the same. Since there is no janitors, the child clean the school every morning. From sweeping out classrooms to clean the school latrines the students are the cleaning crew. They also do the yards work and at one school are clearing a soccer field.
20) Are there a lot of stores to buy food and clothing...or are there a lot of farmers that grow their own food?
Yes. The grocery stores in town look like those in the States, just smaller and with different brands. You can pretty much get anything you desire. The Mountain Dew tastes different though and Pepsi is hard to find. Coke has a stronghold on the soda industry. They do have a Fanta Pineapple which is awesome.
Clothing is the same to in the towns. You can go to a Mr Price or Jet and keep up with the latest fashion trends.
21) What are the foods you eat for fun?
Watermelons can be bought now for about $1 now that they are in season. The fruit here is good. I am becoming and even better cook from scratch and make all kinds of sweets that are always dubbed Monate (delicious).
posted by aliberatinsa at 1:06 AM
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