Lovedale Primary – 03 Jun16

Lovedale Primary, Kroonstad 03 June 2016

The effort to be at the school by 07:15 was well worth it. On route to the school the temperature dipped to 01 degrees Celsius with crisp Free State air and clear skies.

On arrival I was able to wander around the entrance to the school taking pictures of learners walking the 2-3 kilometres from the nearest community. Some of the very young ones were accompanied by their mothers but most of the approximately 300 learners made the trek on foot in small groups chatting as they tried to keep warm and to arrive on time. The late comers had to run the last few hundred metres to be in time for assembly.

The sound of children singing is food for the soul as it warmed the bottom of my heart on this fresh winter’s morning. The harmony was something to experience and one can only imagine the wonderful stories they were singing about in their mother tongue. Recordings of such events cannot capture the richness of the experience. There were a number of girls in short school dresses with bare legs and no socks. One can only imagine the discomfort that these children will have to endure when winter arrives with vengeance.

On inquiry I was told that the teacher for Grade 5 was absent so I offered my services for the first 2 periods to teach Natural Science and Mathematics. This was a wonderful experience filled with excited and enthusiastic learners who were willing to participate in the activities provided. I would love to be a fly on the wall when their regular teacher returns on Monday morning to hear the stories of this strange teacher in their classroom.

The previous day I had done the demonstrations outside the library. By the time it had warmed up a little the Grade R class were exercising in the sun in the same area. The decision was taken to move the demonstrations to the Hydrogen Fuel Cell units some 100 metres from the school. This certainly helped to reinforce the role that this electricity supply to the 34 family was playing in the community.

After a very successful day I handed over the equipment to Mrs Cecilia Mohapeloa, the principal and the School Governing Body. It was with a heavy heart that I left this special community. At the same time I feel confident that the model adopted of touching the whole school was the right way to go in this case. Due to the size of the school I was able to interact with each and every learner in the whole school from Grade R to Grade 7.

Thanks must go to Anglo American Platinum for affording me this unique opportunity of taking Clean Energy Education to rural schools through a process of EduTourism.

Gr R(35), Gr 1(31), Gr 2(42), Gr 3(47), Gr 4(36), Gr 5(35), Gr 6(35), Gr 7(29)= 289 Learners