A 6:45 start was needed to get to Zwelibangile by 08:00. Despite this we were 15 minutes late due to poor road conditions. The school is set in a valley at the bottom of a small pass. On route we approached a black Toyota Corolla which reached the school ahead of us. We found the approach to the school to be very entertaining as the Toyota navigated across a large donga, around grassy patches and wide detours to avoid the unmaintained dirt tracks which were basically impassable even with a high clearance vehicle. When in Rome do as they Romans do – so we followed the Toyota.

The approach to the school

Observation of a Hydrogen Fuel Cell

A learner preparing a thank you letter.

Soon after arrival we had both sessions well underway and within 45 minutes the training was over. Three learners volunteered to write the letters and they were primed as to what to write. Again we hit the snag of learners who were not confident to write in English and the letter writing took over an hour to complete with many repeat attempts. It was important for the learners to write the letters and not just to have the contents dictated to them. This meant that we left the school just before 10:00.

There was evidence of previous attempts to assist the school with the installation of a large solar panel to power the buildings. Sadly the only thing left was the framework to hold the solar panels. These frames were evident at several other schools in the area.

A teacher present in the demonstrations was busy marking Mathematics workbooks from the learners. When approached she confirmed that every Monday all Mathematics teachers are out of the classroom receiving extra training which they then implemented for the remainder of the week. This is as a result of the country being ranked the lowest in the world with respect to literacy and numeracy out of 148 countries.

Zigudu 30 July 2015

The road to Zigudu goes from bad to worse for the last 5km necessitating low gear for a significant portion of the journey as there are numerous outcrops of rocks embedded into the road. The school itself is located in a valley and was part of a Catholic Mission Station.

The school forms part of a Catholic Mission Station

On arrival just after 10:00 the Principal informed us that the school was busy feeding the learners, including the staff, with a meal of rice and chicken pieces. This was all orderly and we waited for well over an hour for all classes to be fed. In retrospect we estimated that the school stops for almost 2 hours a day to allow for the learners to be fed. If this is repeated every day it soon adds up to a significant amount of teaching time that is lost each week.

On Fridays the schools stop at 12:00 to allow the classrooms to be cleaned by the learners – there are no cleaning staff attached to the schools. This leaves less than 3 hours of possible teaching time every Friday and not much more during the rest of the week. There is no apparent pressure for teaching and learning to take place to the detriment of each and every learner.

Esme made use of the opportunity with the Grade 4 and 5 classes finishing earlier and managed to get started with a very exciting lesson using the Duplo on the shade cloth in the sun. The Clean Energy session followed soon after with a long wait for the letters to be written. The quality of the contents and the time taken to complete appears to be a function of the distance from Cofimvaba where the first schools were very positive while the more distant schools battled to complete this exercise.

Sintile 30 July 2015

The road trip to Sintile was a further 5km from Zigudu to make the 12:00 appointment. The school is on the outskirts of a small community and serves the needs of learners from Grades 1-9. On a previous trip I had noticed teenagers walking up the road in the mornings and down again in the afternoons when it dawned on me that learners in Grades 10-12 had to attend school in another community for three or more years necessitating walking each day to and from school.

Poor road conditions leading to the Sintele community

Learners using tablets to record the lesson

A Hydrogen Fuel Cell in action

Handing over equipment to Mrs Gcobo

Together we can make a difference

We were warmly greeted by a member of the School Governing Body as most of the teachers were attending meetings in Cofimvaba. It is not uncommon for school time to be used for such activities at the expense of teaching. This meant that our visit filled an essential gap in the learning program for the Grade 4-5 learners for Duplo and the Grades 6-9 learners participating in the Hydrogen Fuel Cell Demonstrations.

The Nciba circuit was selected to participate in the Information Communication Technology for Rural Education and Development (ICT4RED) project. This included equipping some 18 schools in the circuit with basic tablets connected to a WiFi. Three schools, Mvuzo, St Marks and Arthur Mfebe were also equipped with fully operational Hydrogen Fuel Cells to charge these tablets in the afternoons and evenings.

The Hydrogen Fuel Cell demonstrations were filmed using several tablets where hopefully they will be able to revisit the demonstrations during class at a later stage.

The writing of the thank you letters was particularly poor at this school as the learners battled to complete the exercise. One has to bear in mind that learners in these communities are only taught English from Grade 4 onwards. Considering the quantity and quality of teaching in these schools it is no wonder that the outputs are so poor.

It was with a sad heart that we said goodbye to this community after visiting 40 schools and interacting with over 4 000 learners with over 80 demonstrations in clean energy. There is evidence of a return on investment where some of the principals had reported an improvement in the science results. This can potentially be attributed to a change in attitude on the part of the learners associated with the Anglo American Platinum funded initiative.

The challenge is now to build on the lessons learned and continue to build capacity in other communities to initiate a pipeline for clean energy especially in the area of Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics and Innovation (STEMI).

The weather conditions forecast for the Eastern Cape region for Friday 31^st July necessitated a change in plans for the trip. We departed at 06:00 on Wednesday morning for a 12:00 meeting at Bangilizwe which we made with 30 minutes to spare. After the customary meeting the principal we arranged for a double session where Esme and Melissa would take the one class of learners for Duplo training while the main training was conducted with the Grades 7 – 9 outside in the sun.

Outdoor classrooms are still the best to demonstrate clean energy where the concept of energy transfer was reinforced throughout the training. During earlier sessions it was noted that learners often reported that the car used water to move. This possible misconception was clarified by repeating several times that energy is used for electrolysis. The Hydrogen and Oxygen then represented stored potential energy where the energy could be extracted as electricity through the Hydrogen Fuel Cell producing electricity and water. It was pointed out that it is the electricity that drives the car and not the water.

Entrance to the school

Girls can do science

Handing over the equipment to Mr Batala

Esme, Melissa and Mario found the trip to the region very informative. Key points included the distances that the learners have to walk, girls wearing gyms and short socks in temperatures just above freezing, some learners without jerseys, clean clothes despite being torn and well worn, etc.

Another interesting observation with the Duplo was reported by the teacher. Apparently one of the girls lacked in confidence and seldom communicated with her peers. This isolation meant that she was labelled as being not very clever. The introduction of the Duplo allowed her to communicate on an equal footing with her peers surprising everyone and boosting her confidence.

This experience reinforces the importance of layering additional services to the primary function for other initiatives. It all stemmed from a simple question halfway through the second phase of the project where the intention was to provide more university students with the opportunity to experience rural education. Rather than just observing they were thrown into the deep end and delivered several sessions with the Duplo. Since then a model for exposing learners to computer programming has been piloted with the Eastern Cape e-Skills Institute in partnership with NMMU in preparation for a possible national roll-out..

After the training session we returned to the Farm outside Cathcart for a quiet evening of load shedding. This was not a problem as we enjoyed an evening around the fire in the bright moonlight.

Assembly on a cold winter morning

This is a special community and each school welcomes visitors with open arms and warm hearts. Assembly taken by the Principal, Mr Rwayi, was in progress and we waited for the Grade 11 and 12 learners to be released. The decision was taken to hold the demonstration in front of the Hydrogen Fuel Cells which power the Tablets for the ICT4RED (Information Communication Technologies for Rural Education and Development) project. The warmth of the sun was appreciated by all as it would definitely have been colder sitting in a classroom. Conducting sessions in the sun makes a powerful statement for clean energy especially where one is able to draw parallels between demonstrations and the real world in such close proximity.

By the time we left for Mbudlu the combination of local traffic and the sun had dried out the roads which were virtually unnavigable just 24 hours earlier. There was one section of the road which did provide an adrenalin rush for all but it was substantially shorter than the previous day’s experience. Clear skies allowed Cadi and Orcilla the opportunity to see the local community that we drove though. Washing was being done, cows grazing at the back door, pigs scurrying around the yards, dogs and goats chasing each other amongst a well-constructed houses interspersed with traditional buildings of adobe bricks and a zinc roof.

A picture is worth a thousand words

The Principal, Mr Bangweni gave us decision to host a Duplo session in the sun using shade cloth for the learners to work on. The excitement from the Grade 1 and 2 learners was deafening as they literally dived into the box. This kept them occupied and allowed for their minds to wonder into different worlds for the 45-60 minutes while the clean energy demonstration was underway. The rest of the school was left to stare out of the windows to wonder why they were not selected to participate. The decision as to which Grade is always left up the principals as to which groups are selected to participate.

The final visit for the day was St Marks which was opposite Arthur Mfebe. Time was limited as the school finished at 1pm on a Friday. The other problem is that schools are given permission to use the learners to clean the school from midday on a Friday as there are no funds for cleaning staff let alone a caretaker. It was interesting to see everyone scurrying around with various chores to ensure that they could finish by 1pm. Our demonstrations and letters were also completed before this time with the equipment handed over to the Principal, Mr Tafane. This meant that we could do the 5 hour drive stopping for diesel and another short break in Fort Beaufort and still be home before it was dark.

Local road conditions

Hydrogen Fuel Cell in action

Customary desk grave yard

It was mission accomplished for all schools even under very difficult weather conditions and limited time. 6 Schools completed with a further 4 for the next visit.

We arrived at the Kwaza Senior Secondary School just after 08:00 with the school gates being locked and virtually nobody in sight. Slowly but surely more and more staff and pupils arrived, well, those that actually were able to reach the school. The Principal Mr Simayne informed us that over 75% of the learners were either cut off by swollen rivers or there was too much mud and rain to make it safely to school. One has to bear in mind that many learners will receive a cooked meal per day as the only sustenance which is compelling enough to make the journey. Attending a high school often means that learners have to walk to the next community some distance away, a luxury that many city dwellers take for granted.

Handing over of the equipment to the Principal Mr Simayne

The road to Kwaza

After the official greetings we were told that we could have the whole school for the demonstration – approximately 100 learners of the usual 450. The plan was to provide a shortened version of a previous training session and then to ask a select number of individuals to draft thank you letters to specific companies. These letters would be forwarded to Anglo American Platinum in England for distribution to their partners around the world.

The schedule allowed for 2 hours per school including getting to the next session. Based on previous experience more time had to be allocated to the completion of the letters while the rest of the learners completed a short questionnaire for record purposes.

The road to Zamuxolo was to prove a real challenge based on what was experienced earlier in the day. Travelling at under 10km per hour and with the diff lock on we barely managed to make 500m in thick mud. It was virtually impossible to drive on the side of the road as deep ruts had been formed and we had to contend with where these ruts were directing the wheels to.

Visits to Zamuxolo are always depressing due to the poor state of the buildings. Three mud walled huts are on the premises along with 6-7 poorly resourced classrooms. One mud walled hut is used as a store room as the thatch roof is disintegrating. The second one is used as a Grade R classroom and fortunately has door and windows that closes. The third building has no door or door frame exposing the Grade 7 learners to the elements in summer and winter. Despite this the staff and learners are very positive and one is always welcomed with open arms especially by the Principal Mrs Tyembile.

The community close to the school

Presenting the equipment to Mrs Tyembile the Principal of Zamuxolo.

Chalkboard inside the Grade 7 classroom – a mud walled hut with no door.

Three classrooms – two still in use.

Cadi and Orcilla, the two NMMU students supervised the free play session with Duplo supplied by the Lego Foundation while the clean energy demonstrations were delivered to the Grade 8 and 9 learners. I often have to remind myself of the fact that the learners are only exposed to English from Grade 4 onwards which presents a serious challenge to learning. Despite this I am confident that I was able to connect with the learners through Science and Technology by drawing on key role models from similar communities such as Siya Xuza who won the World Science Expo with his Phoenix Rocket. The equipment for Horizon Fuel Technologies also provides a key platform for engaging their minds.

The final destination for the day was Gando Junior Secondary School some 10km away. Fortunately some of the trip involved tarred road allowing for excess mud that had caked onto the wheels and underside of the vehicle to be dislodged. A warm welcome awaited us from the staff very soon after arriving the demonstration had begun to a very lively group of Grade 8 and 9 learners. I will never forget the tears of joy from the Principal, Mr Chulayo, as he accepted the handover of the Hydrogen Fuel Cell equipment to the school.

I am left with a feeling of hope when completing all presentations and focus on trying to increase the returns on investment at every opportunity. My personal belief is that we should expect a greater than 10% return on investment where this project has provided over 4 000 learners with exposure to clean energy technologies thanks to Anglo American Platinum and partners. This would mean that over 400 more learners may be inspired to go into Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics and Innovation (STEMI) rather than look forward to a life of unemployment.

Please refer to News reports on the event.

A sad moment was experienced where learners from the lower grades raced to the school gate. The boys formed a circle to urinate on the road while the girls went a little further up a small embankment to relieve themselves. I was told that a new ablution block was completed but had not yet been handed over. These learners have the right to the dignity that most other learners experience. I have no answer but am committed to making a change for these and other learners.

The highlight for the day for the whole school was a demonstration of the drone. Despite being told what was about to happen the school was absolutely silent as Igor prepared the drone. It finally lifted off to the amazement of everyone who could not believe what was happening in front of them. After hovering for a few second Igor directed the drone to rise up some 40-50 m to load applause from everyone. Seeing the joy on their faces was worth all the time and effort indicating the importance of real Science and Technology demonstrators in these communities.

I call these Siya moments after Siya Xusa who lived some 100 km from this community. His life was transformed when he saw an aeroplane for the first time when he was just five years old. He is an innovator and entrepreneur making a significant difference on a global scale having emerged from a deep rural community.

We planned the trip over the mountain past Sedubipoort. Steven and Igor were not prepared for the vista that they were presented at the top of the mountain looking back at Cofimvaba. I have little doubt that the footage taken of this vista will be magnificent but nothing like what awaited them around the next corner. We had to stop the car immediately as Steven had seen the opening scene for the video clip looking over the Kei River valley.

Two more vistas opened up as we progressed over the mountain which equalled what we had experienced previously. We paused for a few minutes to launch the drone to fly over a community near Kwaza much to the delight of locals in distant huts.

Another unique experience was being confronted by burning tyres and a road block with disgruntled locals protesting over the lack of service delivery. In true local spirit a gentleman in a dilapidated bakkie pulled up and instructed us to follow him as he knew a short-cut. This saved us a lot of time as we still wanted to drop into St Marks to shoot another Hydrogen Fuel Cell school.

The drone was launched once again much to the delight of the local school children many of whom recognised this ‘white man’ from last year. After a long day driving we arrived back in PE safely after 38 hours on the road covering over 1200 km.

Zamuxolo

Grade R’s Saying hello.

The Grade R Classroom

An ablution block awaiting to be handed over.

The local loo for the little ones – in the street

A Grade 7 class in a mud walled hut learning English

Igor entertain the school with the Drone

Playful times with a skipping rope

A local watching a football match near Arthur-Mphebe

Steven in action

Trying their luck to catch the drone.

Steven and Igor preparing the opening scene for the video

We arrived at Mvuzo in the Cofimvaba district before 10:00 being met by the Principal, Mr Mqomboti. An outdoor classroom was set up with the learners sitting on the veranda looking down on the demonstration table. This also provided strategic vantage points for the cameras to capture the moments on video. The first session included about 70 learners and the interactions were very positive with many questions. The wind cooperated allowing for a totally clean energy demonstration.

While Steven and Igor were filming individual interviews a second group were given the same demonstrations. Again the sessions was well received where individuals with talent were again identified as part of this human capital development project.

On completion of the interviews the film crew moved to the real Hydrogen Fuel Cells which generate electricity for the Android Tablets in the classrooms and the computer room. It is hoped that the learners and the teachers made the connection between the demonstrations and the real fuel cells on the school property.

We left the school round 14:00 and decided to do a trip to see further schools. This included a trip into Cofimvaba for fuel and then onto Zwelibangile. We stopped at the top of the pass which presented up with magnificent view of the Kei River valley. Half way down the pass the decision was taken to launch the Drone helicopter with a GoPro camera to capture the scene that lay before us. Little did we realize that opposite the Zwelibangile school we would experience the purity of surround sound of a community preparing for the end of the day. Sheep were bleating while being herded into the kraals, a grandfather was calling his daughter on the opposite of the valley, goats bemoaned being locked up for the evening, chickens and geese added to the noise, all while smoke rose from cooking fires and locals went about their daily tasks. It was an experience that no camera could capture even with the best sound recorders.

The return trip took us past Zenzile, Siyabalala, Bangalizwe and on past St Marks and Arthur-Mphebe to reach the farm near Cathcart after 7:00 pm. The day ended with the customary braai and appreciation of the quietness of the Coverside Farm where the crickets go to bed after 8:00 pm.

Sunrise outside Fort Beaufort

Mvozo outside Cofimvaba

Ideal outdoor classroom

On arrival we met the principal and the decision was taken to allow the Grade 2 and 3s to play with the Lego. This is always a winner as it did not take long for the usual scrum for pieces. The basic instruction was to find 10 pieces and to return to their desk. They were given a few minutes to construct something with the pieces that had and then ask their partners to check that they had used on 10 bricks. There were some that had not followed the instructions.

The next step was for them to combine their blocks to make something bigger and then to explain in English what they had made. Easier said than done as they battled to articulate what they had made despite the high levels of interest and enthusism.

Sadly after about 90 minutes we had to drag the equipment away from them having seen the positive effects on their cognitive development. I am convinced that well constructed Lego programme has a place in education to the point of impacting on most subjects in a positive way.

I was not looking forward to leaving this community that I had come to know so intimately let alone the long drive to Pinetown. It was an awesome journey visiting all 26 schools in the  Nciba district with a bonus of adding a further 4 schools and the Lego project.This journey had included over 3500 learners and a large number of teachers as well.

There were many lessons learnt and I look forward to implementing these in the next project.

We arrived at the Education Department in Cofimvaba on 08:00 as per usual and were soon joined by an excited Sbo. The route we chose took us up and over the mountains past Sidubi Poort. Even Sbo was impressed with the majestic mountain views which were breathtaking.

I was not surprised that Sbo had not visited Keilands as he enquired about it. He confessed that he had been in the Cofimvaba district for 4 years and hod not had the need to either drive to the Sintele area and walk down the mountain and across the river, or driven round to Stutterheim to access the Keilands school.

We arrived at the school having negotiated some serous mountain climbs in a forested area. We were greeted by the principal where the school buildings were constructed by the locals. The ablutions were a modern facebrick but the rest of the buildings very dilapidated. On closer inspection we discovered that the building roof trusses were made from long poles harvested from the forest with a tin roof on top – functional.

The whole school consisted of 55 learners with 15 from Grades 4-6. We set up the table in the space outside the principal’s office while the Lego was shared with the Grades 2-3 classes – 23 in total.

I initiated the discussion with the solar demonstration as there were the usual remnants of a solar panel on the school grounds – minus the panels. This created the link to the Sun, photosynthesis and the flow of energy. Surprisingly enough there was a learner who added the importance of chlorophyll. This worked well as I used to use this as the lead in using the dynamo apparatus which was now non functional. A spare had been ordered from Prague.

After a 90 minute lesson I had to sadly disrupt the Lego class as the learners were having so much fun transforming their creative ides into realistic aretfacts using the Lego bricks.