At least the sun was shining and the omens were good for the trip to deep rural schools on the dirt roads. We picked up Portia by 08:00 and proceeded to Mpomvane School to drop off the Fuel Cell kits as promised. We found learners with open text books in front of them but the teachers were busy with other administrative tasks.
The journey to the distant schools was like a trip down memory lane with all the experiences flooding back as we drove past each school. Esme had been to two of the schools and she too recalled very fond memories of her interactions with the learners. One thing that stood out for her was the way in which the learners, especially the girls, touched her hair and arms as they were totally fascinated by white people. I was reminded of the comments that one of the principals had made on my previous trip that for some of the learners we were the first white people that they had seen. A scary thought but also an honour and a privilege.
We had to stop at various places to ask for directions as the road conditions deteriorated after each kilometre. The trip took almost 90 minutes to cover the approximately 35km with the last few kilometres being carried out mostly in first gear over rough terrain. What a wonderful way to see our beautiful country. It gave us plenty of time to reflect on many topics in education.
We arrived at Intlangano SPS which consisted of 3 small buildings. The learners who were supposed to be in class were running around at 09:30 in the morning. The next day was scheduled to be an athletics day for the whole district so no teaching would take place. Under normal circumstances, Fridays are used for learners to clean the school which is supposed to take place after 12:00. The principal had obviously decided to shift cleaning to Thursday instead.
I wonder how much teaching time actually takes place in these schools, let alone effective teaching during a normal week.
It was agreed that I would take the Grade 4-6 learners while Esme and Johan took the Grade 2 and 3 and two teachers to train them with the Lego. Portia had identified this school as the second one to receive the Lego kits.
I am in two minds as to which is the best method to conduct the demonstrations. Yes, classrooms allow for a controlled environment but being in the open air provides a means of reinforcing the importance of clean energy.
I was astounded to find a Grade 6 learner accepting the challenge of the solar cell not working as I was casting a show over it. Again I return to the notion of their being potential even in these rural schools. Sadly though nobody could solve the problem of the wind turbine and the adjustment of the pitch of the blades to make it work.
I was devastated by the number of learners without shoes and the state of the clothes. Reflecting back though in all the schools visited no uniformed were dirty, only dilapidated and the shoes were always clean as well.
Intlangano SPS
Gr4 4 6
Gr5 3 7
Gr6 6 4 Total 30
We left the school after a 2 hour session and presenting them with Fuels cells and Lego kits and headed back towards Cofimvaba. The road eventually led to Vukani Primary school which consisted of a single small building in the middle of nowhere with 2 tiny classroom. After speaking to the principal we discovered that there were 32 learners in the whole school from Grade R to 3. On advice from Portia we did not do the Hydrogen Fuel Cell demonstrations and decided to allow the learners to simply play with the Lego for about 2 hours. We would have battled to get through to the learners with the fuel cell demonstrations who were simply too young to follow and had no training in English.
It was to prove the right thing to do as we learnt so much from simply watching how these learners who have never had exposure to such technology took to it naturally and were soon constructing all sorts of things to feed their imagination. Looking back I would love to have left this school with a box of Lego as the teacher had all the right attitudes.
The long drive home is always sad for me leaving the community that I have come to know so intimately. Waiting outside the Education Offices provided me with a time to chat to various officials or catch up with the local fork lift driver at the hardware store who showed interest in the work that we were doing, or waiting for the spade lady to walk past dresses in a tracksuit and pink apron, etc. There are many stories to tell of wonderful people in these communities.
It was a long 6 hour drive back to Port Elizabeth to contemplate the final 3 schools left in the overall project.