South Africa Part 2

The second half of our week in South Africa was just as amazing as the first. And just as busy!

On Tuesday morning I went to Robben Island. This is where the political prisoners were exiled to during the apartheid. Since many of the prisoners were well educated, and they all valued education, they held classes in prison and many of the prisoners left with the equivalent of two degrees. And not only did the prisoners educate each other, they also included the guards in these lessons, so the guards too increased their education. We were also given a tour of the prison itself by a former political prisoner. We saw the cell where Nelson Mandella had stayed, and had a chance to look inside other cells where there were brief stories about the person who lived in that cell. It gave me chills. On a lighter note, we also saw penguins on the island. They were cute.

The next day I visited the Amy Biehl Foundation. Amy Biehl was a young American who was stoned to death while helping in the struggle against the apartheid. Her parents began the Amy Biehl Foundation Trust which now runs programs for school children. We visited several different schools and saw various programs in action. There’s one program where the seventh graders read to the first graders and serve as role models. There is also an after school music programs where students learn to play the recorder and other various instruments. Some of the children performed dances for us that they were learning in their after school programs. We also saw the golf program in action where students were learning how to play the game. The Foundation is there to provide children an opportunity for safe and constructive after school activities as an alternative to drugs and violence.

On my final day in South Africa I visited St. James Mission School in Kalk Bay. We were greeted by the principal, Greg Gordon, and given a tour of the school. Then we had the opportunity to view classes in session. We visited the preschool where an instructor was teaching the children English through games and songs. All classes are taught in English, and for some of the children school is the only place they hear and speak English, so the program as the preschool helps prepare them. We also saw part of a computer class. The sixth grade teacher was working with the second graders to teach them basic computer skills. We visited the library which is in a trailer type building right outside the school. It’s very small, but the librarian told us they have 6,000 books. And she’s working on getting a couple of computers in there and switching to more electronic resources. The school also has a program to help kids deal with different issues such as anger management and sex. We sat in on a session where 7 boys were discussing anger. They were drawing pictures of what their anger looks like, talking about what makes them angry, and talking about times during the past week that they got angry or were able to avoid getting angry. They were very open and willing to share with each other. Because many of these kids are coming from poor areas, their parents often are just focused on making it day to day. So these sessions are there to help boost self esteem, and really get at things kids deal with every day. It was a great visit.

And that about concludes my experience in South Africa. There’s so much more I didn’t have time to do. I’ll come back someday!