The figures are based on the number of questionnaires gathered from the learners on completion of the demonstrations.

Please note that these figures may vary by as much as 30%. This was discovered towards the end of the project when there were discrepancies between the stated number of learners and the actual number of questionnaires gathered.This would take the total number of learners reached to over 2800 based on 2176 questionnaires gathered.

We faced the downward journey after T M Hani school taking extra precautions to navigate the rough roads. Little did we realise that we were heading for the birth place of Chris Hani. The school was surrounded with many mud walled huts which were in a poor state of repair with many being abandoned as well.

The entrance to the school lead to two brand new school buildings but there were no learners in sight. They were behind the new buildings in classrooms that were in a poor state of repair. There was evidence of an insulation layer of polystyrene but this was long gone in most classrooms exposing the learners to bare metal walls and roof with no protection in winter or summer. Huge snow storms were predicted for later in the week.

Again the right decision was taken to host the demonstration out in the open on some pretty rough ground with a group of learners standing on top of balcony outside the classrooms with the rest surrounding the table.

When we arrived there were only three teachers on the school property with the rest at various meetings for the day. Based on this fact we decided to include all learners from Grades 4 – 9 in the demonstrations.

The location afforded the opportunity to demonstrate wind energy as a light breeze had picked up. The turbine blades were soon spinning around at high speed much to the delight of the learners. The same principles that had been used at the previous school were deployed to reinforce the notion of energy transfer and the importance of renewable energy.

The teachers adopted a different attitude to the learners telling them that they had to answer the questions to avoid test at the end of the presentation. Despite this, a few learners did engage in the demonstration and I am confident that these individuals will go far in life.

On leaving the area we stopped off at the Arthur Mfebe and St Marks Schools to drop off the SD cards with the content for the Tablets.

It was a sad day knowing that all 18 schools were now complete and I will miss the friendly smiles of the learners and teachers. The spirit of Ubuntu is alive and well.

Thank you to Anglo American Platinum for the privilege of making a difference in the lives of the learners and teachers in this community.

After an early start from Cathcart we made our way through the St Marks area to find the T.M. Hani School purchased on top of a hill side. A high clearance vehicle made it easier to navigate the very rough access road to the school. Having an off road trailer also ensured that the equipment arrived safely as well.

The decision was taken to do an outdoor presentation and to include the Grades 4-9 to make up a total of 75 learners as it was not a very big school. We drove in to the school grounds and within 5 minutes were greeted by the eager leaners surrounding the demonstration table.

The first few minutes of any demonstration was spent covering issues of motivation, Mathematics vs Mathematics Literacy, girls getting an education before having children, focusing on doing extra homework to improve their chances in life, etc.

The demonstration table was in half-sun which meant that the solar energy component was very easy to set up. Learners were encouraged to make observations as engineers to solve problems presented to them. One component that worked well was the use of the capacitor to capture radiant energy and to then release this in the mini car. If no energy is put in then no energy is released. The solar panel was used to capture radiant energy but this was purposely faced in the opposite direction to the sun. Again the car did not move. Some of the more observant learners (and some teachers) pointed out the problem and soon the car was working from the capacitor (stored potential energy).

This same principle was demonstrated with the hydrogen fuel cell where energy had to be put into split the water in the first place. Only then could one get energy out through the hydrogen fuel cell which worked well by releasing the car on the concrete floor and allowing it to run for quite a distance on a drop of water.

I was impressed with the enthusiasm of the teachers (7) including the answering of the questions when I posed them to the whole class – an aspect that needs further investigation. In general discussions with a teacher afterwards he reported that the lesson was very informative as they had covered that section of the work just last week. More importantly he commented on my teaching strategy which he will use in other classes.

The demonstration lasted about 90 minutes and was most enjoyable.

If we thought that the trip to Sudubipoort was good we soon discovered a hidden gem of South Africa. This is yet another reason why I took on this project, to see more of our beautiful country. The people of this region are so welcoming and hungry for knowledge. They are surrounded by natural beauty just outside their classrooms.

The road took us past a group of 15-20 vultures soaring around a carcass. We climbed even higher circling around so that we were able to look down on the small poort where Sidubipoort was nestled in between the mountains. What a truly magnificent experience.

We arrived at Gudwana to be greeted by an excited Principal who was expecting us. With assistance from the girls it did not take long to set up in the open air to accommodate about 50 learners in Grade 6-9. It was a challenge to interact with them with several of the learners being well above the average age. They were extremely reluctant to interact but despite this the demonstrations were completed successfully.

On leaving the school we took the road which brought us out to Khwaza School. Copies of the digital content was delivered to

1. Sidubipoort
2. Gudwana
3. Khwaza
4. Nthingeni
5. Mbudlu – What a welcome. I was a long lost fiend and had to be photographed before leaving. I challenged one of the teachers to consider doing their masters degree through NMMU based on this project
6. Zamuxolo
7. Mvuzo – An interesting observation was the installation of a Hydrogen Fuel Cell at the school since my visit in June. The principal reported that this was from the CSIR by will be investigated further. Again the question a potential Masters degree was raised with the principal.

After an early start from the farm we decided to stop off in the St Marks area to await instructions for the day. This came through just after 8:00 and we proceeded to Cofimvaba first to find a dirt road that was the start a journey that was certainly one of the most memorable trips of all the school visits for me. It was close to 4×4 roads despite small sedans coming down the road towards us.

We crawled in first gear on many occasions passing many children waving at us from other schools and huts. The further we went the higher we climbed necessitating more and more stops to take in the breath taking views of the area. At one point we started to descend with a vulture flying past us at eye level. Everyone was so excited at these events and the anticipating grew as we entered the poort to find a small school nestled in a very small community. The quality of the houses indicated a lower income relative to the other communities but this did not detract from the warm welcome that we received.

The decision was taken to host the demonstration in the open air once again to facilitate greater interaction rather that the traditional classroom demonstrations. The table was arranged so that it was half in the sun and half in the shade to facilitate the solar demonstration. This time all demonstrations were completed and all aspects of the demonstration were interlinked with the Hydrogen Fuel cells.

Key points from this visit include the fact that some of the university students had not seen a long drop as a toilet in the past and went to view one out of interest. The principal also noted that this was the first time that many learners had seen a “white” person in this community which fascinated the learners. The girls also reported that they were not accustomed to the learners touching their hair to see what it felt like and yet they created quite a stir when they moved around to see the school after the demonstrations.

Wherever there is a camera one is mobbed by excited learners keen to get their pictures taken. It is something special to see and experience first-hand the joy in the faces. This continues to create mixed emotions for me every time I go into a school of this nature.

This time I was accompanied by Kim, Bonny, Roxanne and Lauren – 2nd year pre-service teachers from NMMU. We stayed on a farm outside Cathcart and travelled through to Cofimvaba arriving just after 08:00. As per usual we waited from further instructions from Mr Mgijima from the Cofimvaba Education Department. The first SMS indicated that we were to proceed to St James in the town itself which meant that we could arrive just after 08:15.

On arrival we joined in the morning assembly for the school which was a very orderly affair run by the Principal, a Sister from this Catholic run school. On meeting the Principal I got the impression that discipline in the school was very strict and that the learners reciprocated with respect to all teachers and visitors. The learners had to remove their shoes to enter certain venues, including the computer room and library.

After explaining the purpose of the visit we agreed that the demonstration would take place in the open air below a raised bank in the school courtyard as there was no venue to host a large group of over 200 learners in Grade 10. This was to prove to be the right decision as it clearly demonstrated the importance of alternative energy to the learners. It included a clear demonstration of solar and wind energy as precursors to the Hydrogen fuel cell demonstrations which built on the concepts that were developed in the minds of the learners.

The concept of storing and transferring energy was being refined with each demonstration where the learners were actively engaged at close quarters. This included affording some learners to hold the apparatus during the demonstrations adding a different dimension to the process.

A further combined Grade 11 and 12 session added a further 200 learners to the second session which highlighted the deputy head boy as being an exceptionally talented individual who will go far in life. The downside of large groups is that it is not possible tag the talented individuals as they disperse to complete the questionnaires. There was also no guarantee that all the questionnaires would be returned.

After completing St James we moved on to Cofimvaba Senior Secondary school round the corner from St James. These two schools were not on the original list but I was asked to include them in a session as part of the request from Mr Mgijima. I now understand why. Cofimvaba SSS is a very new building with a principal who is very dedicated to the task. She runs the system very efficiently and welcomed us to the school.

We were taken to the Science Teacher and told that there were over 400 Grade 10 and 400 in Grades 11 and 12. The logistics of setting up in an open area made it impossible and we resorted to setting up in the school hall with a full PA system and data projector.

The large numbers provided an interesting dimension to the process which my NMMU students were rather concerned about. The challenge was to engage as many learners while showing them as much of the equipment as possible. This was achieved through the use of a data projector and the built-in web cam of a laptop focused on to a strategic area of the desk. I use this technique often in my lectures and it was my student who suggested that the equipment be set up in this manner. I was impressed by their suggestion.

I am confident that through the use of “edutainment” and drama the learners were given a demonstration that was of the highest calibre. This included the dynamo, wind energy and hydrogen fuel cells but excluded the solar cell demonstration. On checking the total number of questionnaires returned it was discover that over 50% were not collected for whatever reason. It would appear that the larger the group the greater the chance of the questionnaires not being returned which was detected by Jade from the visit to the region last week. This would certainly account for the lower numbers overall.

These values are based on the initial questionnaire counts from the learners.

Average 91.6 learners per session

It was detected as in once school as many as 40% of the learners did not hand in their questionnaires for some reason. This was picked up in the difference between the head count and the questionnaire count.

The weather was still overcast with a slight breeze from the west. We noticed evidence of a Hydrogen Fuel Cell electrical backup system on the school property but sadly there was no electricity once again. The school was busy with some form of testing process but had agreed to release the Grades 4-7 learners for the demonstration.

I identified a perfect spot in the school playground to set up next to a raised veranda. The table was brought out along with the equipment and soon we were surrounded with in excess of 200 eager learners. Where we lost out on the solar panel and wind demonstration at previous schools they formed a natural build up hydrogen fuel cell component.

One noticeable difference between the smaller and the larger demonstrations is that it is more difficult to firstly notice the learners with potential and secondly to tag their questionnaires for future reference. There was one very bright young lady that was able to articulate her responses to the questions posed. She was also upset that I had not heard her offering suggestions as to how the output of the wind turbine could be increased.

Despite the language barriers I continue to be impressed by the eagerness to learn and the ability to interact with the demonstrations. Given the fact that five staff members were in attendance I am confident that they will continue to extend the content through recalling different aspect of the demonstration in their lessons no matter what subject they were teaching.

Departure from the farm outside Cathcart was before 06:30 as we had a long way to go and were planning to be there for the start of the school day. Light rain was falling which put a dampener on our plans to hold an open air session as there was no electricity at the school.

I am always impressed with the view of the Kei valley as we approached Zenzile. The scenery makes the bad roads worthwhile. I was able to point out the different schools to the students as we drove along recalling different experiences at each location.

We made it in time to see the learners congregating in neat rows demarcated by small stones for assembly. The learners were ranked from Grade 1 to Grade 7 with the smallest in the front and the tallest at the back. As they assembled they spontaneously burst into song which grew louder as more learners arrived. What an experience to witness these learners sharing in the joys of life.

We were shown into the Grade 1 classroom which was the largest venue. What struck me was the absence of any light fittings. Approximately 150 learners shuffled in and took their places on benches making the room rather full to say the least. An additional seven staff joined in the session as well which was encouraging to see. Once again they were so engrossed in the demonstration that they put their hands up to answer the questions or simply shouted out the answers. This raised the issue of the demonstrations having an impact on the teachers as well through exposure to the technology and different pedagogies.

Both Jade and Esme took a different component of the lesson and did exceptionally well in presenting their aspects of the demonstration. They had observed two previous sessions which included subtle changes in the manner in which the information was presented based on how the learners responded. I commended them for their efforts and was able to link all the different components as part of the conclusion of the lesson.