Friday night I fly to Johannesburg so that I can join a conservation project in Limpopo on Saturday. My time in Cape Town has been great and I have had such a good experience here. The school work has been very challenging and the city and its surroundings are beautiful. I will be very sad to leave but equally I am very excited about the next stage of my trip, which is really my main reason for being here. I am also itching to move on now and see more.
As of now I will be unable to update the blog for at least 2 weeks, and even after that I will be traveling and may not have internet access. I will do my best to add to it when I can but it may need to be completed once I arrive home.
I'm glad everyone has enjoyed it and I hope to be able to continue it soon.
Bye for now!
Paul
Wednesday, 17 March 2010
Kirstenbosch
I have been suffering from a cold this week and haven't done much in the school. I have been resting a lot and not really done anything exciting. We went to Pirates on Tuesday night to say goodbye to Vivian and myself, who both leave this week. I bought the group dinner as a thank you and a goodbye. On Wednesday evening the social was on and this time it was bowling in Newlands. It was good fun and there should be some funny photos of me on Facebook soon. Here I am on Long St with Dutch Tom and some others:
On Thursday I took the day off and went to Newlands for my Projects Abroad debriefing and looked in some shops. In the afternoon I went to Kirstenbosch botanical gardens, which are beautiful now we're in the late summer.
The gardens are also filled with an array of statues and artwork, giving a sense of not knowing what is around the corner. Here are a few of pictures from the gardens:
I even managed a close up of an African Monarch butterfly:
And of course a protea, South Africa's national flower:
On Thursday I took the day off and went to Newlands for my Projects Abroad debriefing and looked in some shops. In the afternoon I went to Kirstenbosch botanical gardens, which are beautiful now we're in the late summer.
The gardens are also filled with an array of statues and artwork, giving a sense of not knowing what is around the corner. Here are a few of pictures from the gardens:
I even managed a close up of an African Monarch butterfly:
And of course a protea, South Africa's national flower:
Tuesday, 16 March 2010
I don't want to be a teacher
That probably doesn't come as much of a surprise to most of you and I think I knew it before I left England. I have really enjoyed my time in the school and haven't been made to work particularly hard, but the behaviour and attitude of the majority of the children is so disheartening that it has totally put me off. I know that many children in UK schools are better behaved, but I have not found teaching particularly rewarding, even the fun parts. Each class has it's good ones, but they are the absolute minority and on the whole they are atrocious, both academically and behaviourally.
It is very depressing to think that I have travelled 6000 miles to help and yet the children often don't even care. They don't listen, they are lazy, they don't respect the teachers and they don't respect each other.
Despite this, I don't think the teachers do a bad job whatsoever. They work very hard, they are grossly under-resourced and they are distracted by other school matters on a regular basis.
As a result of these deficiencies, it is impossible for the children to be engaged in stimulating activities for the entire day. They are so used to waiting around for teachers that the tendency to talk, squabble and get up from their desks is ingrained into them.
My time here has definitely got teaching out of my system and I am very glad I have given it a go, but I couldn't imagine myself dedicating my time to a group of children as bad as these ones. Perhaps the teachers among you can reassure me with regards to British schools!
It is very depressing to think that I have travelled 6000 miles to help and yet the children often don't even care. They don't listen, they are lazy, they don't respect the teachers and they don't respect each other.
Despite this, I don't think the teachers do a bad job whatsoever. They work very hard, they are grossly under-resourced and they are distracted by other school matters on a regular basis.
As a result of these deficiencies, it is impossible for the children to be engaged in stimulating activities for the entire day. They are so used to waiting around for teachers that the tendency to talk, squabble and get up from their desks is ingrained into them.
My time here has definitely got teaching out of my system and I am very glad I have given it a go, but I couldn't imagine myself dedicating my time to a group of children as bad as these ones. Perhaps the teachers among you can reassure me with regards to British schools!
Monday, 15 March 2010
My quiet weekend
Not a lot to report I'm afraid folks. This weekend was a quiet and relaxing one. I deliberately packed everything I wanted to do into previous weekends to leave one free to chill or to do things I had forgotten.
We were allowed to leave early again on Friday but we stayed to check out a Nestle chocolate milk promotion on the school fields. It allowed us to mix with the children and get some more pictures with them:
After school on Friday we went to a reggae bar called Roots in an area called Observatory. We met up with the Human Rights volunteers and saw the live reggae band there. They were quite good and sang songs about last year's xenophobic attacks along with the obligatory Bob Marley covers.
On Saturday I went to Newlands with Callum for lunch and bought tickets to see The Stormers again (the VodaCom executive we met last week let us down.) Before the game we met up with a Bagley family friend called Selwin as well as Tyron (The Bagleys' daughter's husband) for a couple of beers in the lawn opposite the stadium. Here I am with Selwin:
The game was an evening one and made for a much better atmosphere than last week:
This time they played the Hurricanes from New Zealand and it was again a bit one-sided, The Stormers winning 37-13:
Here is a picture of Mr Bryan Habana (international winger) giving out signed photos. I didn't get one, boo:
After the game I invited Selwin and his friend to come drinking with us and we went to Pirates. It was interesting to have an evening talking to two cape coloured people about the current social situation in South Africa. They are wary and cautious of other ethnic groups around the country, but the main point they made was that under apartheid they found themselves in the middle of the social chain under whites, whereas now they perceive themselves to remain in the middle ruled by blacks under the ANC. Luckily they find a certain humour and irony to this.
On the way home we stopped at a take-away place to buy a gatsby, a South African answer to our late night kebabs. Imagine a genetically modified monster ciabatta, 50cm in length and filled with spicy beef, chips, salads and anything else you want. It weighs as much as a baby and only costs 70R (about 6 pounds). Needless to say it was enough for two, in fact probably enough for four. No picture though I'm afraid.
On Sunday morning I went to church with Lecia and Callum. This was interesting although not unlike a Church of England service, other than the racial demographic of the congregation. In the afternoon I literally did nothing. This was my last free day until I come home so I thought I would relax and read/watch TV. The only thing mildly entertaining on TV here is wrestling, and we've now become fixed on to this, wondering who will be victorious at the upcoming Wrestlemania...this really isn't something I expected from my travels!
We were allowed to leave early again on Friday but we stayed to check out a Nestle chocolate milk promotion on the school fields. It allowed us to mix with the children and get some more pictures with them:
After school on Friday we went to a reggae bar called Roots in an area called Observatory. We met up with the Human Rights volunteers and saw the live reggae band there. They were quite good and sang songs about last year's xenophobic attacks along with the obligatory Bob Marley covers.
On Saturday I went to Newlands with Callum for lunch and bought tickets to see The Stormers again (the VodaCom executive we met last week let us down.) Before the game we met up with a Bagley family friend called Selwin as well as Tyron (The Bagleys' daughter's husband) for a couple of beers in the lawn opposite the stadium. Here I am with Selwin:
The game was an evening one and made for a much better atmosphere than last week:
This time they played the Hurricanes from New Zealand and it was again a bit one-sided, The Stormers winning 37-13:
Here is a picture of Mr Bryan Habana (international winger) giving out signed photos. I didn't get one, boo:
After the game I invited Selwin and his friend to come drinking with us and we went to Pirates. It was interesting to have an evening talking to two cape coloured people about the current social situation in South Africa. They are wary and cautious of other ethnic groups around the country, but the main point they made was that under apartheid they found themselves in the middle of the social chain under whites, whereas now they perceive themselves to remain in the middle ruled by blacks under the ANC. Luckily they find a certain humour and irony to this.
On the way home we stopped at a take-away place to buy a gatsby, a South African answer to our late night kebabs. Imagine a genetically modified monster ciabatta, 50cm in length and filled with spicy beef, chips, salads and anything else you want. It weighs as much as a baby and only costs 70R (about 6 pounds). Needless to say it was enough for two, in fact probably enough for four. No picture though I'm afraid.
On Sunday morning I went to church with Lecia and Callum. This was interesting although not unlike a Church of England service, other than the racial demographic of the congregation. In the afternoon I literally did nothing. This was my last free day until I come home so I thought I would relax and read/watch TV. The only thing mildly entertaining on TV here is wrestling, and we've now become fixed on to this, wondering who will be victorious at the upcoming Wrestlemania...this really isn't something I expected from my travels!
Thursday, 11 March 2010
Sport and politics
During apartheid times the national rugby team, known as the Springboks, were a whites-only team. Eventually, the situation in the country got so bad that South Africa was banned from international sports. Consequently many non-white South Africans followed foreign national rugby teams.
After apartheid and the reunification of the country, many coloured South Africans continued to support other teams and renounced the national side. Slowly they are being won over and it may take some time but many people, certainly in this part of the country, still support New Zealand.
The issue is the use of the Springbok emblem, name and franchise, which so-called coloured people associate which a whites-only rugby team of the past. Recently a move was mooted to remove this altogether, however for reasons unknown to me the decision was taken to retain the Springbok. As a compromise, it was moved to the other side of the shirt, with a protea (South Africa's national flower) replacing the springbok on the left side of the shirt. This doesn't seem like a compromise to me, but in time I think the country will put this behind it. I would love a chance to see the national side play in order to gauge these feelings, but certainly the club side The Stormers have the full support of the city in the Super 14s competition and the stadium is packed with all manner of Capetonians.
With respect to football, I have had many discussions with people here about the World Cup. Whether it's volunteers, teachers, taxi drivers or shopkeepers, people have indifferent or ambivalent feelings towards it. The people here love soccer and support Manchester United and Liverpool mainly, and they even possess knowledge of the lower English divisional teams like Crystal Palace! Despite this, there doesn't seem to be the excitement for the upcoming competition as you would find in other countries. One teacher at the school assures me that this is simply the relaxed South African attitude and that they will get behind the team 100% when the time comes but I'm not convinced of this. As expected, many believe that the money spent on the World Cup really ought to have been invested in healthcare and amenities in the townships, as Zuma promised when he gained the presidency. In view of the developing status of the country I'm inclined to agree.
Although most agree that South Africa will not be successful on the pitch, there is anxiety about issues off of it. Some people believe that prices will be increased in restaurants and bars (alcohol is so cheap here at present) and as a result the locals will be priced out of the city centres, with restaurant proprietors encouraging richer tourists into their establishemnets, even possibly rejecting locals outright. This may lead to further violence and crime. Time will tell.
Finally, cricket used to be heavily funded in the Western Cape and the school I am working at was one of the first in the locality to produce a team that competed with other schools in the region. This year funding has ceased and now the cricket season has ended without any inter-school matches being played. This is a real shame and hopefully is not a sign of things to come for the imminent football season, who we are coaching for potential games now.
After apartheid and the reunification of the country, many coloured South Africans continued to support other teams and renounced the national side. Slowly they are being won over and it may take some time but many people, certainly in this part of the country, still support New Zealand.
The issue is the use of the Springbok emblem, name and franchise, which so-called coloured people associate which a whites-only rugby team of the past. Recently a move was mooted to remove this altogether, however for reasons unknown to me the decision was taken to retain the Springbok. As a compromise, it was moved to the other side of the shirt, with a protea (South Africa's national flower) replacing the springbok on the left side of the shirt. This doesn't seem like a compromise to me, but in time I think the country will put this behind it. I would love a chance to see the national side play in order to gauge these feelings, but certainly the club side The Stormers have the full support of the city in the Super 14s competition and the stadium is packed with all manner of Capetonians.
With respect to football, I have had many discussions with people here about the World Cup. Whether it's volunteers, teachers, taxi drivers or shopkeepers, people have indifferent or ambivalent feelings towards it. The people here love soccer and support Manchester United and Liverpool mainly, and they even possess knowledge of the lower English divisional teams like Crystal Palace! Despite this, there doesn't seem to be the excitement for the upcoming competition as you would find in other countries. One teacher at the school assures me that this is simply the relaxed South African attitude and that they will get behind the team 100% when the time comes but I'm not convinced of this. As expected, many believe that the money spent on the World Cup really ought to have been invested in healthcare and amenities in the townships, as Zuma promised when he gained the presidency. In view of the developing status of the country I'm inclined to agree.
Although most agree that South Africa will not be successful on the pitch, there is anxiety about issues off of it. Some people believe that prices will be increased in restaurants and bars (alcohol is so cheap here at present) and as a result the locals will be priced out of the city centres, with restaurant proprietors encouraging richer tourists into their establishemnets, even possibly rejecting locals outright. This may lead to further violence and crime. Time will tell.
Finally, cricket used to be heavily funded in the Western Cape and the school I am working at was one of the first in the locality to produce a team that competed with other schools in the region. This year funding has ceased and now the cricket season has ended without any inter-school matches being played. This is a real shame and hopefully is not a sign of things to come for the imminent football season, who we are coaching for potential games now.
Babalaas
This morning I am babalaas, which is an Afrikaans word meaning hungover. Every Wednesday night Projects Abroad organise a social to get the volunteers together. Last night we went to a great restaurant called Cubana in Newlands and then went on to a bar named Neighbourhood on Long Street. It was nice to meet some new people and as a result I forgot to set my alarm, overslept and missed the morning session at school!
When I got to school today I took a group of 10 year olds out onto the field and sat and read stories with them in the sunshine. It was lovely and I wish I had a photo to show you. Some of them weren't paying attention and didn't respect the reader with silence but the good children could read very well and they made it a really rewarding morning, gathering around me excitable and enthusiastic. I think they are always glad to get out of the classroom, and I also think that they find me a novelty. They play with my hair and stroke my arms, I believe because they haven't spent time with a white person before and want to check that I'm real!
I'm in the computer room now as I have become a typist for one of the teachers. I really don't mind though as I'm happy to do anything to help. In return she has promised to buy me a car when she wins the lottery. I have insisted that she shouldn't as my cars tend to get towed away! During the afternoon there have been I.T. classes and the computer teacher often leaves music playing from his own PC in the room. The children then sing along perfectly to every song, mainly western hip hop and pop. Music is such an important part of the children's lives and it is the only thing I have seen that can bring them together in harmony without them fighting, shouting, disobeying and ignoring. When music is in the room, it seems to override any activity or task that the children are doing.
In the staff meeting on Monday morning, the Principal mentioned that one of his 'informers' spotted me at the rugby stadium on Saturday wearing a Springboks jersey. I confirmed that I was there, but he refused to tell me who saw me. Now it is Thursday and he has finally informed me that he saw me himself when I appeared on South African TV. It turns out that a camera panned onto me and Callum after a try was scored!
When I got to school today I took a group of 10 year olds out onto the field and sat and read stories with them in the sunshine. It was lovely and I wish I had a photo to show you. Some of them weren't paying attention and didn't respect the reader with silence but the good children could read very well and they made it a really rewarding morning, gathering around me excitable and enthusiastic. I think they are always glad to get out of the classroom, and I also think that they find me a novelty. They play with my hair and stroke my arms, I believe because they haven't spent time with a white person before and want to check that I'm real!
I'm in the computer room now as I have become a typist for one of the teachers. I really don't mind though as I'm happy to do anything to help. In return she has promised to buy me a car when she wins the lottery. I have insisted that she shouldn't as my cars tend to get towed away! During the afternoon there have been I.T. classes and the computer teacher often leaves music playing from his own PC in the room. The children then sing along perfectly to every song, mainly western hip hop and pop. Music is such an important part of the children's lives and it is the only thing I have seen that can bring them together in harmony without them fighting, shouting, disobeying and ignoring. When music is in the room, it seems to override any activity or task that the children are doing.
In the staff meeting on Monday morning, the Principal mentioned that one of his 'informers' spotted me at the rugby stadium on Saturday wearing a Springboks jersey. I confirmed that I was there, but he refused to tell me who saw me. Now it is Thursday and he has finally informed me that he saw me himself when I appeared on South African TV. It turns out that a camera panned onto me and Callum after a try was scored!
Wednesday, 10 March 2010
Pictures (take 2)
Here are a few more photos from the weekend.
A view half way up Table Mountain:
Four climbers at the top of Table Mountain:
Another view from the summit:
Here is one of the sand dunes near Atlantis:
And here is a piece of unorthodox sandboarding by some idiot:
Cape Town and Table Mountain viewed from Robben Island:
Guard tower on Robben Island:
Flag pole on Robben Island:
Canadian Dan playing Land Water:
A view half way up Table Mountain:
Four climbers at the top of Table Mountain:
Another view from the summit:
Here is one of the sand dunes near Atlantis:
And here is a piece of unorthodox sandboarding by some idiot:
Cape Town and Table Mountain viewed from Robben Island:
Guard tower on Robben Island:
Flag pole on Robben Island:
Canadian Dan playing Land Water:
Tuesday, 9 March 2010
Planning!!!
Sorry, this had to come at some point! Bear with me, it might not be too boring.
I got chatting to Les the other morning about the house, which he built himself. It took him six or seven years and included six months of crippling injury when cement got into his shoes as he was laying the foundation (which only needed to be 1m deep for a large two storey house!) and prevented him from being able to remove his shoes and socks. As a result he couldn't walk for those six months.
The planning system here seems to be similar to home, from what I can tell. You draw up your plans, the application process is the same; neighbour consultations, objections, committees etc. The authorities are free to decide an application on its merits whether there are objections or not, much like in the UK.
A teacher told me another story about a local shopping centre that is proposed to be constructed on a wetland area. The Government has granted an equivalent to outline permission, with the locals up in arms due to the destruction of the habitat and the fact that there are several other shopping centres in the area. This particular teacher believes there to be money changing hands somewhere, and his view was very much that bribery is at large in the South African planning system.
You can probably tell from the subject of this post that it has been a quiet couple of days! I was supposed to be coaching the girls football players after school today but it has started to rain and I'm now free for the afternoon. I continue to split my time among the classes, helping with maths, English, musical theory and sports. I'm even invited to a ballet class on Friday so there should be a post on that but definitely no pictures!
I had another class on my own this morning for an hour while they worked on English. The same kids cause the problems each lesson and I find it very hard to explain to them certain spellings as they expect every spelling to be as it sounds. The other usual problems include noise, cloth ears and 'ants in pants' syndrome.
Hello to the new blog followers, welcome aboard!
Bye for now.
Pauley (as Lecia now calls me)
I got chatting to Les the other morning about the house, which he built himself. It took him six or seven years and included six months of crippling injury when cement got into his shoes as he was laying the foundation (which only needed to be 1m deep for a large two storey house!) and prevented him from being able to remove his shoes and socks. As a result he couldn't walk for those six months.
The planning system here seems to be similar to home, from what I can tell. You draw up your plans, the application process is the same; neighbour consultations, objections, committees etc. The authorities are free to decide an application on its merits whether there are objections or not, much like in the UK.
A teacher told me another story about a local shopping centre that is proposed to be constructed on a wetland area. The Government has granted an equivalent to outline permission, with the locals up in arms due to the destruction of the habitat and the fact that there are several other shopping centres in the area. This particular teacher believes there to be money changing hands somewhere, and his view was very much that bribery is at large in the South African planning system.
You can probably tell from the subject of this post that it has been a quiet couple of days! I was supposed to be coaching the girls football players after school today but it has started to rain and I'm now free for the afternoon. I continue to split my time among the classes, helping with maths, English, musical theory and sports. I'm even invited to a ballet class on Friday so there should be a post on that but definitely no pictures!
I had another class on my own this morning for an hour while they worked on English. The same kids cause the problems each lesson and I find it very hard to explain to them certain spellings as they expect every spelling to be as it sounds. The other usual problems include noise, cloth ears and 'ants in pants' syndrome.
Hello to the new blog followers, welcome aboard!
Bye for now.
Pauley (as Lecia now calls me)
Robbery
I have deliberately held this post back from publication until I travelled home in order not to scare or upset anyone, but I have to report that unfortunately we were robbed in the night on Sunday 7th March.
One by one, the volunteers at the house went to bed, each of us forgetting to lock the first floor balcony door at the front of the house. It was a momentary lapse in security consciousness and at 4am I was woken by Mrs Bagley, who had been woken by Vivian. The robber came in and stole her laptop, which was out on the floor in her room (not a particularly smart place to put it). Vivian's bedroom door was open which isn't very sensible either but it was a warm night. Vivian woke as the robber tried to take her phone as well and then he must have panicked and run out over the balcony to leave with the laptop in hand.
Although I argued that the responsibility must be shared, Mrs Bagley seemed to place the blame with myself and Callum as we were the last people awake that night. On my part, I went to bed at 10:30 knowing Callum was still watching TV. I wasn't sure whether Lester was up too, as he often watches TV until about midnight.
Callum and I were faced with a representative from Projects Abroad who asked all parties if they were happy with the living arrangements (which was a bit harsh) and with the security at the house. Everyone agreed that things were fine and on we go.
I am critical of the way that the Projects Abroad representative handled this situation. I arrived home the next day and we had a meeting around a table. He had spoken to the others earlier in the day when the crime was reported, but he hadn't bothered to get mine and Callum's side of the story beforehand and I think that was unprofessional. Although he portrayed diplomacy and he seemed to really take on board my thoughts in particular, I sensed that we were being treated as guilty but I have to say that Mrs Bagley in particular has her mind made up on many things without all of the information and thought put in. On this occasion, she received Vivian's story first in the middle of the night and made her mind up accordingly, which I find disappointing.
It all seems perverse considering that the back door doesn't lock at all but the Bagleys have complete faith in the dogs to prevent a break in from the rear, despite them only being able to raise alarm with a few barks. Should you be desperate to, breaking into this place would be absolutely simple. Some of the windows have cracked panes, they are all single glazed. The window by Callum's bed is even held into its frame with masking tape for goodness sake. I've already blogged about the crazy front gate and the balcony itself locks with a simple bolt through both openable doors.
Does it also mean that we have to check the entire house at night? I've gone downstairs to get water quite late before to find the side door wide open without me knowing whether the Bagleys are in bed or not. On that occasion I locked the door and went to bed. Was that my responsibility? When you are a guest you don't wander around someone's house checking they've locked everything at night. The volunteers use the upstairs of the house mainly and there is a sign by the balcony asking for it to be locked at night, fair enough. But it doesn't state that the last person up is responsible. Also, myself and Callum weren't even using the balcony that evening.
During the meeting I made my points about the responsibility being all of ours, and I didn't sense any direct blame from Vivian, but the overall feeling was one of being given a bit of a ticking off which made things a bit uncomfortable. It's not helped by the fact that Vivian's English isn't amazing and I'm never sure what she, or Marjam, are thinking. We don't interact with the German girls much anyway and they're not outgoing so no damage has been done to friendships. Much later on I found out that Callum was unhappy that the girls sat and offered nothing to the meeting, be it either blame or defence towards us.
I have to be fair though and say that the Bagleys have been fine with us since, Les in particular, who is often quite easy-going and thinks these things happen...and have in the past when a similar failure to lock the balcony resulted in their stereo being stolen.
As well as being extra careful that the balcony is locked each evening, Callum and I now place a coin filled drinks bottle on our bedroom door handle so that we would be woken up by the noise of it falling should our door be tried in the night.
Despite this incident, I don't feel in danger in any way and I'm still sleeping fine! Oddly, I'm actually glad it's out of the way and if it happens again I know what to expect. These people are not violent and they don't want to hurt anyone. They are just desperate people who have nothing. Theft is a way of life here and many people rely on it to survive. I am, however, glad that I have nothing valuable here with me!
One by one, the volunteers at the house went to bed, each of us forgetting to lock the first floor balcony door at the front of the house. It was a momentary lapse in security consciousness and at 4am I was woken by Mrs Bagley, who had been woken by Vivian. The robber came in and stole her laptop, which was out on the floor in her room (not a particularly smart place to put it). Vivian's bedroom door was open which isn't very sensible either but it was a warm night. Vivian woke as the robber tried to take her phone as well and then he must have panicked and run out over the balcony to leave with the laptop in hand.
Although I argued that the responsibility must be shared, Mrs Bagley seemed to place the blame with myself and Callum as we were the last people awake that night. On my part, I went to bed at 10:30 knowing Callum was still watching TV. I wasn't sure whether Lester was up too, as he often watches TV until about midnight.
Callum and I were faced with a representative from Projects Abroad who asked all parties if they were happy with the living arrangements (which was a bit harsh) and with the security at the house. Everyone agreed that things were fine and on we go.
I am critical of the way that the Projects Abroad representative handled this situation. I arrived home the next day and we had a meeting around a table. He had spoken to the others earlier in the day when the crime was reported, but he hadn't bothered to get mine and Callum's side of the story beforehand and I think that was unprofessional. Although he portrayed diplomacy and he seemed to really take on board my thoughts in particular, I sensed that we were being treated as guilty but I have to say that Mrs Bagley in particular has her mind made up on many things without all of the information and thought put in. On this occasion, she received Vivian's story first in the middle of the night and made her mind up accordingly, which I find disappointing.
It all seems perverse considering that the back door doesn't lock at all but the Bagleys have complete faith in the dogs to prevent a break in from the rear, despite them only being able to raise alarm with a few barks. Should you be desperate to, breaking into this place would be absolutely simple. Some of the windows have cracked panes, they are all single glazed. The window by Callum's bed is even held into its frame with masking tape for goodness sake. I've already blogged about the crazy front gate and the balcony itself locks with a simple bolt through both openable doors.
Does it also mean that we have to check the entire house at night? I've gone downstairs to get water quite late before to find the side door wide open without me knowing whether the Bagleys are in bed or not. On that occasion I locked the door and went to bed. Was that my responsibility? When you are a guest you don't wander around someone's house checking they've locked everything at night. The volunteers use the upstairs of the house mainly and there is a sign by the balcony asking for it to be locked at night, fair enough. But it doesn't state that the last person up is responsible. Also, myself and Callum weren't even using the balcony that evening.
During the meeting I made my points about the responsibility being all of ours, and I didn't sense any direct blame from Vivian, but the overall feeling was one of being given a bit of a ticking off which made things a bit uncomfortable. It's not helped by the fact that Vivian's English isn't amazing and I'm never sure what she, or Marjam, are thinking. We don't interact with the German girls much anyway and they're not outgoing so no damage has been done to friendships. Much later on I found out that Callum was unhappy that the girls sat and offered nothing to the meeting, be it either blame or defence towards us.
I have to be fair though and say that the Bagleys have been fine with us since, Les in particular, who is often quite easy-going and thinks these things happen...and have in the past when a similar failure to lock the balcony resulted in their stereo being stolen.
As well as being extra careful that the balcony is locked each evening, Callum and I now place a coin filled drinks bottle on our bedroom door handle so that we would be woken up by the noise of it falling should our door be tried in the night.
Despite this incident, I don't feel in danger in any way and I'm still sleeping fine! Oddly, I'm actually glad it's out of the way and if it happens again I know what to expect. These people are not violent and they don't want to hurt anyone. They are just desperate people who have nothing. Theft is a way of life here and many people rely on it to survive. I am, however, glad that I have nothing valuable here with me!
The daily grind
School is still going ok but the classes are over-populated, excessively noisy and at times out of control. The intercom continues to blurt out messages from the principal several times a day, often calling a teacher out of a classroom to see him and leaving the class unattended...a terrible waste of the children's time.
Due to the large class sizes, individual children don't get the tailored attention that they need in order to learn and address the gaps in their knowledge. Children come up to me and hug me whenever I'm walking around the school and I think this is down to appreciation of my attention as well as general friendliness.
On Monday I had a whole class for a literacy test they had to do. I have found that over the last week I have become much more stern as a teacher and more openly irritated with the children, but it seems to work as long as you don't lose your cool.
I'm also continuing to help with P.T. (that's Physical Training to us Brits) lessons and after school football. I got snapped today playing a fun game called 'Land Water' with a class. The idea is that you stand outside a line on the land, and in front of the line on water. The children have to listen to what I say and follow the instruction i.e. step onto land when I say 'land' and on water when I say 'water'. My body does different things, however, and I try to trick them by standing on water when I have actually said 'land'. The children have to listen and follow the verbal instruction and not the physical one as the game speeds up. Does that make sense?! Anyway, if I catch their mistakes I point at them, they are out of the game and they have to sit in the middle of the water. The winner is the last child standing:
I also regularly get dragged into I.T. lessons when I'm using the internet. Because the computers were donated to the school, they are all old and slow, with error messages appearing all the time while the children try to play learning games on them. The games program itself is prone to crashes and half of the lesson time is spent wandering around restarting the program for them.
Thank you for all of your emails and messages. Sorry if I have not replied to them all, I'm quite busy and the blog takes ages to do as the internet is so slow here at the school. Thanks for the support for the beard...my beard is very humbled.
Due to the large class sizes, individual children don't get the tailored attention that they need in order to learn and address the gaps in their knowledge. Children come up to me and hug me whenever I'm walking around the school and I think this is down to appreciation of my attention as well as general friendliness.
On Monday I had a whole class for a literacy test they had to do. I have found that over the last week I have become much more stern as a teacher and more openly irritated with the children, but it seems to work as long as you don't lose your cool.
I'm also continuing to help with P.T. (that's Physical Training to us Brits) lessons and after school football. I got snapped today playing a fun game called 'Land Water' with a class. The idea is that you stand outside a line on the land, and in front of the line on water. The children have to listen to what I say and follow the instruction i.e. step onto land when I say 'land' and on water when I say 'water'. My body does different things, however, and I try to trick them by standing on water when I have actually said 'land'. The children have to listen and follow the verbal instruction and not the physical one as the game speeds up. Does that make sense?! Anyway, if I catch their mistakes I point at them, they are out of the game and they have to sit in the middle of the water. The winner is the last child standing:
I also regularly get dragged into I.T. lessons when I'm using the internet. Because the computers were donated to the school, they are all old and slow, with error messages appearing all the time while the children try to play learning games on them. The games program itself is prone to crashes and half of the lesson time is spent wandering around restarting the program for them.
Thank you for all of your emails and messages. Sorry if I have not replied to them all, I'm quite busy and the blog takes ages to do as the internet is so slow here at the school. Thanks for the support for the beard...my beard is very humbled.
Monday, 8 March 2010
Robben Island
On Sunday I took a trip to the waterfront and travelled to Robben Island, where political prisoners were held during apartheid, most famously Mr Nelson Mandela. I was dropped off at the Victoria & Alfred Waterfront, which is a touristic area full of restaurants, gift shops and bars. It is also a working harbour which gives it a certain charm. The most impressive sight for me though was the four statues at Nobel Square, which honour South Africa's four Nobel Peace laureates: the late Chief Albert Luthuli, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, former president F.W. de Klerk and Nelson Mandela:
I also found several musical groups at the docks who were all great:
Here is a view of a ship arriving into the Waterfront harbour before I set off for Robben Island:
After wandering around for a while and worrying about sea-sickness I boarded the boat to Robben Island. The tour included a bus ride around the island. Prior to its use as a prison, the island was used to home a leprosy colony, the legacy of which is this eerie graveyard:
Next on the tour is the lime quary where the prisoners worked to produce material for the roads on the island. The cave you can see on the left of the picture was used as a shelter during break times by the prisoners and is the place where the modern democratic constitution of South Africa was formed:
You may also notice a pile of rocks and this is very symbolic. On a recent visit to the island, Mandela and other dignitaries walked around the quarry and in a typically impromptu act, Mandela dropped a rock on the ground. All of the others followed suit until there was a large pile of assorted rocks of all shapes, sizes and colours. This represents the Rainbow Nation.
Due to the bright sunshine and reflective rock surface, many of the prisioners here suffered from eye problems later. In fact, when Mandela left the island he required several eye operations as a result. To this day, no one is allowed to use a flash when photographing him. Other prisoners suffered from lung cancer due to the inhalation of limestone dust.
Our next stop was to the maximum security prison:
We were met by our guide, Derek, a former political prisoner himself:
Derek told us his personal story; he was sentenced to 7 years here in 1986 for sabotage. He and his group set fire to a government building containing important information. I had huge admiration for Derek for being able to do the job he does, spending hours every day at the very prison in which he was incarcerated, reliving the bad times. I'm not sure I could do such a thing, but rather than being bitter and begrudging Derek is positive and excited about a future South Africa and holds no animosity towards his captors. He is even quick to make the point that many of the guards here were nice to him.
Derek led us to Section B (Mandela's section) where we were shown the courtyard where prisoners worked breaking rocks and making textiles:
Here is how it looks today:
Here is a view of the Section B prison block. Mandela's cell window is the one on the right:
Here is the view into his cell (No. 5), preserved as it would have been during his imprisonment:
Robben Island is (along with Auschwitz) the most desolate and thought-provoking place I have ever been. After 2 hours I was ready to leave. Imagine spending 18 years here as Nelson Mandela did, and 27 years imprisonment in total.
I also found several musical groups at the docks who were all great:
Here is a view of a ship arriving into the Waterfront harbour before I set off for Robben Island:
After wandering around for a while and worrying about sea-sickness I boarded the boat to Robben Island. The tour included a bus ride around the island. Prior to its use as a prison, the island was used to home a leprosy colony, the legacy of which is this eerie graveyard:
Next on the tour is the lime quary where the prisoners worked to produce material for the roads on the island. The cave you can see on the left of the picture was used as a shelter during break times by the prisoners and is the place where the modern democratic constitution of South Africa was formed:
You may also notice a pile of rocks and this is very symbolic. On a recent visit to the island, Mandela and other dignitaries walked around the quarry and in a typically impromptu act, Mandela dropped a rock on the ground. All of the others followed suit until there was a large pile of assorted rocks of all shapes, sizes and colours. This represents the Rainbow Nation.
Due to the bright sunshine and reflective rock surface, many of the prisioners here suffered from eye problems later. In fact, when Mandela left the island he required several eye operations as a result. To this day, no one is allowed to use a flash when photographing him. Other prisoners suffered from lung cancer due to the inhalation of limestone dust.
Our next stop was to the maximum security prison:
We were met by our guide, Derek, a former political prisoner himself:
Derek told us his personal story; he was sentenced to 7 years here in 1986 for sabotage. He and his group set fire to a government building containing important information. I had huge admiration for Derek for being able to do the job he does, spending hours every day at the very prison in which he was incarcerated, reliving the bad times. I'm not sure I could do such a thing, but rather than being bitter and begrudging Derek is positive and excited about a future South Africa and holds no animosity towards his captors. He is even quick to make the point that many of the guards here were nice to him.
Derek led us to Section B (Mandela's section) where we were shown the courtyard where prisoners worked breaking rocks and making textiles:
Here is how it looks today:
Here is a view of the Section B prison block. Mandela's cell window is the one on the right:
Here is the view into his cell (No. 5), preserved as it would have been during his imprisonment:
Robben Island is (along with Auschwitz) the most desolate and thought-provoking place I have ever been. After 2 hours I was ready to leave. Imagine spending 18 years here as Nelson Mandela did, and 27 years imprisonment in total.
Saturday sandboarding and rugby
On Saturday morning at 8am we were picked up by our tour guide Dylan for a morning of sandboarding. Now I didn't think this was a sport but apparantly you wax your board, strap your feet in and go, much like snowboarding. We were driven to a beautiful area of sand dunes near the town of Atlantis:
After a few runs we got better at it and it was so much fun. Dylan took some good pro shots too and these can be found here:
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/group.php?gid=131051117947&ref=mf
Here's a picture of me and my board:
And two cool group shots from Dylan:
Here's one of a group of us sliding down a dune:
Three days later and I am still trying to get the sand out of my shoes!
In the afternoon Callum and I went to Newlands stadium to see the local rugby team (The Stormers) play in the Super 14s against The Highlanders from New Zealand. It was a rather one-sided affair with The Stormers winning 33-0 but it was a great spectacle and a really partisan crowd (who were happy with the result)!
When we arrived home we were met by a wedding reception at the house. A son or cousin (I'm never really sure) of the Bagleys was getting married and, as we were sober, we had to hit the ground running and just start dancing! I got chatting to a friend of the family called Albert who happens to work for VodaCom (the sponsors of The Stormers) and he has a hospitality box at the stadium...so we managed to talk ourselves into the hospitality box for next Saturday's game!
After a few runs we got better at it and it was so much fun. Dylan took some good pro shots too and these can be found here:
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/group.php?gid=131051117947&ref=mf
Here's a picture of me and my board:
And two cool group shots from Dylan:
Here's one of a group of us sliding down a dune:
Three days later and I am still trying to get the sand out of my shoes!
In the afternoon Callum and I went to Newlands stadium to see the local rugby team (The Stormers) play in the Super 14s against The Highlanders from New Zealand. It was a rather one-sided affair with The Stormers winning 33-0 but it was a great spectacle and a really partisan crowd (who were happy with the result)!
When we arrived home we were met by a wedding reception at the house. A son or cousin (I'm never really sure) of the Bagleys was getting married and, as we were sober, we had to hit the ground running and just start dancing! I got chatting to a friend of the family called Albert who happens to work for VodaCom (the sponsors of The Stormers) and he has a hospitality box at the stadium...so we managed to talk ourselves into the hospitality box for next Saturday's game!
Table Mountain
After a quiet morning at school, myself and Callum climbed table mountain along with two girls from his human rights office (Mel and Anjuma). We got driven to the foot of the mountain walkway for the start:
Within two of the longest hours of my life we made it to the summit. I have to say that it was one of the toughest physical activities I have ever participated in. 30 degree heat, no shade and rocks of 1m in height to climb most of the way up. Along the way, the views over the city were amazing:
Along the way we also saw more dassies. Here's one for you, Annette:
Here is a shot taken by Mel of our climb. I was starting to feel a bit fed up by this point:
The views from the top are spectacular and I am so glad I managed it. Here I am at the summit:
From the summit you have views of the entire city and Table Bay to one side:
And Camps Bay to the other side:
We had some food in the overpriced restaurant at the top and then got time to take some pictures before the cable car down. Here's one of the sun setting:
Unfortunately we had to leave before the sun fully set. It was 7pm and getting dark, therefore the cable car was the only 'safe' way back down. The steep angle of the cables coupled with the 1000 foot drop made it quite daunting and I don't really like things like this. Louise wouldn't have even stepped inside! Despite being crammed against 50 others, I managed to get this picture of our rapid descent:
Overall it was an unforgettable experience and a breathtaking landscape. A definite highlight of my travels so far.
Within two of the longest hours of my life we made it to the summit. I have to say that it was one of the toughest physical activities I have ever participated in. 30 degree heat, no shade and rocks of 1m in height to climb most of the way up. Along the way, the views over the city were amazing:
Along the way we also saw more dassies. Here's one for you, Annette:
Here is a shot taken by Mel of our climb. I was starting to feel a bit fed up by this point:
The views from the top are spectacular and I am so glad I managed it. Here I am at the summit:
From the summit you have views of the entire city and Table Bay to one side:
And Camps Bay to the other side:
We had some food in the overpriced restaurant at the top and then got time to take some pictures before the cable car down. Here's one of the sun setting:
Unfortunately we had to leave before the sun fully set. It was 7pm and getting dark, therefore the cable car was the only 'safe' way back down. The steep angle of the cables coupled with the 1000 foot drop made it quite daunting and I don't really like things like this. Louise wouldn't have even stepped inside! Despite being crammed against 50 others, I managed to get this picture of our rapid descent:
Overall it was an unforgettable experience and a breathtaking landscape. A definite highlight of my travels so far.
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