An End To An Amazing Week

This morning was very emotional for the school and our group. It was our last day with the students. We attempted to hold back tears as we said goodbye to the class and continued to thank them for welcoming us. We had prepared gift bags for the children and teachers. We gave everyone American flags and the students proudly waved it in the air. 

The school was kind enough to organize a trip for us to parliament in the afternoon! We had a tour of parliament which included access to the National Council of Provinces and the assembly room. We even had the opportunity to sit in on the National Assembly Chamber Debate on Vote 33: Rural Development and Land Reform! That does not always happen! Usually the tours are done on days the assembly is not debating. We were able to see how debates are conducted and the ability for the citizens of South Africa to sit in and listen to the debate. 

This is Parliament Street! 

Here is our tour guide, who also happens to be a former school teacher! She guided us into the National Council of Provinces. She explained to us the function and the process of making laws in South Africa. There are 9 provincial delegations and each has 10 members. They ultimately decide what to vote on depending on its influence on their province. 

After the parliament tour, we returned to the school and the teachers surprised us with gifts! Many students wrote letters for us and gave us many pictures. We will really miss them and will carry the memories with us. It has been a pleasure meeting them and see the drive, joy and energy they carry. 

After school, our group took the hop on tour bus, the blue route, which took us to a vineyard. The teachers planned on meeting us there. We would be spending time with them and learning more about the school. 

Some of us were hungry and stopped at a restaurant. We ate amazing food at Simon's! 

We were enjoying the view surrounding the winery. It seems the beauty of South Africa is all around us. This may be one of the top things we miss of South Africa! 

We had so much fun with the teachers! It was another memorable experience for us. Thank you teachers and principal!

As we say goodbye to the teachers, we felt we accomplished most of our goals. We were able to fundraise for the iPads and projectors. We have developed a relationship with the school, teachers and students. We will be leaving South Africa with such great memories and hope we can continue to maintain a relationship with St. Mary's. 

Zibi Dancing

The children of St. Mary's are just wonderful! They continue to show us love and bring us joy. Today was no exception. We are coming to a close of this week and today the school had a school assembly to thank us and say goodbye as a school. We saw the many talents of the children, singing, dancing, reciting poetry and doing drama. These kids have been blessed with gifts. Throughout this journey we have seen the smiles, felt the hugs, love and joy in the children. It's going to be very hard tomorrow to say goodbye. 

Later in the day the children had another assembly. The assembly focused on the zibi bin. It is a green trash can that is found on nearly every corner. We have seen South Africa really focus on recycling and being ecofriendly. The presentation focused on the importance of not littering and how the children can help their community and world by putting their garbage in the zibi bin. 

The presentation was right at the children's level. The mascot of the zibi bin, an ostrich, came on stage and entertained the children. They continued to review how to be ecofriendly by reducing, reusing, recycling. These 3 r's are important for them to remember and the children had an opportunity to show how much they learned. 

The presenters asked questions to the children and selected children to answer. They were rewarded with small prizes! They had tons of fun! 

The presentation also had a child friendly song, with a dance, that helped the children remember the theme of the presentation. Some children also had a chance to dance to the song on stage!

It didn't take long for the presenters to notice our group in the back and soon enough we were on stage! Sister John Marie even joined us! Well she actually didn't have much of an option when a teacher pulls you to the stage. The children had such a great time seeing us dance on stage. We may not have done a great job but we received praise from the children so it was worth it! 

Today we also had a lunch prepared for the teachers! We wanted to show how much we appreciated the welcome and willingness for us to be in their classrooms. 

The teachers loved the lunch! They did not expect it and continued to thank us for coming to their school. We have developed many relationships with the teachers and hope to maintain a connection with them. Perhaps they may join us back home one day! 

While tomorrow, Friday, may be our last day with the children, today was Sister John Marie's last day. Tomorrow she will be going to a different school to join the oblete sisters. The children and teachers presented her with a gift! 

Here she is showing her giraffe keychain. Sister will have many memories of the school especially dancing on stage! 

After school we also held a meeting to give the teachers and the principal the iPads we were able to purchase. Again, thank you to those who supported our cause. We would have never been able to meet our goal without your help! Thank you again! 

Sister John Marie, Dr. Rance-Roney and Miss M helped the teachers with the iPads. They explained how and why the iPads are beginning to revolutionize the classroom. The teachers appreciated the help and the gifts of the iPads and are determined to integrate technology into their classroom! Both communities, St. Mary's and DeSales's Education Department, will work together to help with the process and transform the learning process in St. Mary's Primary School! 

Guest Blogger: Thomson Jaffe - Long Street Nights Review

Theatre major here! I was so excited to come to Cape Town because they have such a rich artistic background and culture; I just knew I had to see something artistic while I was here, so I was the one to organize our trip to the Baxter Theatre Centre and Long Street Nights.

You might have read a bit about the play in yesterday's blog, but as the resident theatre fanatic, I wanted to share my thoughts about the play! 

The play's official description is the following:

"Long Street, Cape Town, after midnight, no boundaries exist, and anything can happen. It's a place rich in history, where dreams can come true or be brutally shattered. This is theatre based on reality - raw, dangerous and alive."

Long Street is a real street here in Cape Town. We actually walked down it when we went to Mama Africa for dinner last week! They even mentioned Mama Africa in the play which we all thought was pretty cool.

The first thing that was amazing about the play is that we were seeing a South African play, performed by South African actors in South Africa. That was unreal...

In his Director's Note, veteran SA director/actor, Nicky Rebelo chose to quote Herman Charles Bosman. Bosman said a lot of incredible things that helped Rebelo in creating this play (he and the actors created it by spending two straight weeks at Long Street), but the quote I liked the best was "Your material is humanity, reality, life. Plot is of minor importance, the characters, the feeling for place, the knowledge of life, truth to life is the only truth that matters... The most creative way of devising stories is to bring characters to life, set them in motion and then follow them into action." This is clearly what Rebelo and his cast set out to do. 

The theatre was Schubert-esque for all of you  Act 1 fans. We were right on top of the stage, which was decorated with detailed matte paintings of Long Street monuments and fluorescent lights. 

The play followed six people and their adventures on Long Street. It was told mostly through short vignettes, but also short scenes involving no more than two cast members at a time. Mia, played by Natasha Dryden, was my favorite. She has the most fully-developed arc, where she matured from a young and wild party girl to a woman trying to figure life out. Sizwe, played by Thando Doni, was a sweet, black man looking for love from an idealised, white tourist. Doni was so charming that you couldn't help but love Sizwe, who ended up in pink jeans and green converse at the end of the play. DJ Catherine, played by Daneel van der Walt, was another favorite of mine and the group's. Jasmine, played by Riana Alfreds, needed work. Alfreds' work was great, but the character was ambiguous and left me confused for the most part. I was never entirely sure what this woman was doing on Long Street... Thami Mbongo played perpetually drunk businessman, Duma. I wish I could see Mbongo in something else, because it is obvious that he is superb and his resume is packed. Duma was the least developed character; he would stumble on stage, philosophize with a glass in his hand and leave, he never went anywhere. I wanted to see more from Duma, but I never got it.

I think that there is still space to reconfigure and workshop the play, due to the fact that some characters fell flat compared to the more richly developed characters. You needed all six of the characters to get the real flavor of Long Street, but not every character felt necessary to the play.

I'm so glad that I was able to see a play during my stay in Cape Town and I know that Long Street Nights was a once in a lifetime experience (like most of the things on this trip). Sharing it with this group of people was also incredibly special and is something I will never forget!

Thank you for reading my post. To read more about my personal experiences in Cape Town, please visit my personal blog,thomsonstravelblog.blogspot.com!

Is it really Wednesday?

Can you believe it's Wednesday already? We have had a great experience with St. Mary's so far. We also are learning how to say many more words in Afrikaans! The children brighten up our days as they enter the classroom. It's going to be difficult saying goodbye on Friday. We only hope to maintain a connection with St. Mary's. 

The third grade has been working very hard on their math symbols and vocabulary. They even made their own rap and move to go help them remember their math better! 

For their hard work, they were able to go to the Company Gardens and perform there as they ate their lunch. 

A group of students gathered together to practice their dance routine. They are selected by a teacher and are performing for a special guest tomorrow, Thursday. Dance is a component of the school and this is influenced by the art culture of South Africa. 

We are so proud of Emma and the students! They have been learning how to cha cha and today they learned how to turn! We are so proud of everyone! 

Jen was very excited to join in on the fun! Luckily her dance partner was able to show her the dance!

The children's dancing also got to Ashley and Emily and they quickly joined the group! They picked up on the dance!

Jen, Ashley and Emily weren't the only ones dancing. Lisa couldn't wait to join in! 

The students worked so hard and were awarded with free dance minutes! They took advantage and quickly demonstrated their amazing dance moves! Of course our girls had to show them their moves too! 

We have had such a good time with the teachers and students. We decided we needed to show how grateful we were to have the opportunity to work with them. Tomorrow's lunch is on us! We had a team preparing the lunch. We hope the teachers will enjoy an American styled lunch! 

Teach and Learn

St. Mary's has welcomed us with open arms and have been so kind to us. They provided us with breakfast and lunch! 

Grades R to 3rd grade had an assembly today that focused on the religious songs they are to know. The students really can carry a tune! It was a great opportunity to see the classes and schedule of the school. 

The children of St. Mary's have shown us their many talents. It was just time to have one of our own show her talent. Emma was a wonderful teacher to the fifth graders and taught them a cha cha lesson! The children were very excited to learn from one of the best! Although they had a few challenges, they learned in a matter of minutes! 

Today was a new day to learn more and more of the similarities and differences American and South African schools have in common. For example, in third grade, cursive handwriting is introduced and is a component of the curriculum. The difference between the countries is the actual formation of the letters! An x in South African cursive looks like the Chanel designer logo, c's connected on opposite sides. Again, we are learning so much in the schools and are so happy to connect with the teachers and students! 

We also had the opportunity to meet an artist who believes it is important to integrate the South African culture into doll manufacturing. She has made a doll that represents the image of a South African girl. The doll even sings a lullybye in a native language and English! Here is another example of the significance of demonstrating and teaching others your culture. 

Tonight's event was a play at the University of Cape Town! The university was beautiful! We went to their theatre to see Long Street Nights, about the infamous street in Cape Town. The play features the reality of location, involving hopes, dreams and ultimately, reality. We were amazed to see such great artists performing. It was an experience we will never forget. 

Guest Blogger: Dr. Rance-Roney

Monday morning, 6:40 a.m., we began our long walk to St. Mary’s Primary in the semi-dark.  When we arrived, we were ushered into the small auditorium where we were treated to breakfast by the teachers, the wonderful secretary Astrid, and Ms. Ursula Vivier, the school principal and her Yorkshire terrier.  We couldn’t have felt more welcome, calming my fears that the long distance plans would go awry.  

After a tour of the school, we arrived back to walk down a long line of St. Mary’s children waving American flags and playing American patriotic music to start the assembly organized especially for our Education team and a visiting teacher from the U.K.  Children sang to us, performed African dances, introduced the school in the eleven official languages of South Africa, and played African drums.  

Today was the start of a wonderful partnership.  In teams of two, we became part of the eight classrooms of St. Mary’s, sometimes just appreciating the warmth and vibrancy of the children, but also learning the culturally-unique techniques of the South African classroom.  What we most noticed is that the act of teaching is clearly an art that crosses borders and cultures.  These could be our own classrooms. These could be our own children.

Our afternoon ended with three beautiful and articulate seventh graders teaching us both Afrikaans and Xhosa.  Although one wants to be a doctor, one a fashion designer and one a graphic designer, they clearly were born to teach.  At the end of the session, they gave us a test which we all failed miserably, including Sister John Marie.  The only phrase we remembered in Afrikaans was a phrase we heard as “buy-a-donkey” which roughly translates to “thank you very much.”

As has happened throughout our trip, our DeSales students were professional, warm, and invested in the children in front of them.  One young boy in second grade wrote a love note to one which said, “I never had a teacher like you, Miss Ashley.”  We second that statement!

If you are a parent reading this blog, I can’t convey how wonderful your daughters have been on this trip.  They are working as a team, are optimistic, flexible, interested in everything around them, and just a plain delight to be with.  I couldn’t have found a greater group to have gone on this journey with me.

Cheers.  Dr. RR

A Warm Welcoming

We were finally able to enter the school and began our mission! We woke up very early and were very excited to arrive at the school. The school was kind enough to have a breakfast for us to start the day! We had such a great timer meeting the teachers. Many of them were able to recognize us! 

We had our own student tour guide and he was very proud to be given that role. He let us see the playground and even visit the Reception classroom, what we would call the kindergarten classroom. 

As we reentered the school building, we were greeted by all the students. They held American and England flags, to represent our group and a British teacher. As we walked into the auditorium, it was hard to hold back tears. They waved our flags as our national song was played. We felt welcomed and accepted into the school. 

The students prepared dancse and songs for us! They were beautifully done and represented their culture. The showed us their culture with great pride. We were very fortunate enough to have a deeper understanding of the culture here in South Africa. 

After the assembly, the student leaders each took us to our corresponding grade. The school serves up to grade 7. We have two DeSales students or faculty on each class. As we entered the classroom, the children were excited to see us! As their warm up, they worked in a news book and we were the center of it! According to one of the students, we are the best! 

It's been really great learning with and from the students. We are learning so much for both students and teachers. This is a great opportunity to grow as future teachers and expand our techniques and skills we have. 

We even had a chance to learn more of the Afrikaans and Xhosa language after school with three wonderful seventh graders. We may need more after school tutoring but we managed to remember thank you very much, bye-a-danka. Now let's just hope we don't get a test tomorrow because we may not do very well!

Hearing the goals and stories of the three girls really allows us to see the wonder and curiosity of children regardless of age. We wish to continue a relationship with the girls. They even wish to study in New York City as future a doctor, fashion and graphic designer!

This week may pass quickly but the imprint the teachers and students have made will forever be with us. We just hope to learn more from them as the days go by.