After an early start we arrived outside the Cofimvaba District offices a few minutes after 08:00 as usual expecting the customary long wait. We were pleasantly surprised when Sbo made contact with us to say that Portia was on her way.
At that stage the temperature was just below 30 and was destined to rise rapidly. The first school that we visited was Mpomvane SPS which consisted of 4 classrooms. On enquiry we were told that there were a total of 38 learners in Grades 3-6.
Surprisingly enough there was no electricity as the weather was very unstable and we were informed that any wind disrupted the power supply. The decision was taken to host the session on the south side of the building where there was some shade as the classrooms were very small. The beauty of doing the experiments outside was that one is able to reinforce the importance of clean renewable energy. In this instance the wind cooperated allowing for a successful demonstration of all activities.
Learners were also introduced to using recycled materials to make their own propellers. This is possible using round plastic containers such as yoghurt cups, lids of deodorant cans, etc. With a little measurement, cutting and bending of the plastic, it is possible to reshape the container into a simple propeller.
Mpomvane SPS
Male Female
Gr3 11 7
Gr4 3 2
Gr5 5 2
Gr6 5 3
24 14 38
Due to the fact that we had made any early start and the school was close to Cofimvaba, Portia suggested that we filled in the register and moved on to the next school which was also not far away .