First Impressions!

Part III

Hellooooooo,

thank you for your lovely reactions and e-mails…makes me happy to hear from you guys!

Now it is Sunday and my first week is already over…can’t wait for the next one to begin:)! The aim of this week was to get to know the different education projects BIA is involved in and all the important people concerned with the same. Just to give you a general impression about the organization I’m working for…’Born in Africa’ is a South African Non-Profit Organization whose mission statement is: “Giving children better opportunities to finish their school careers successfully, by creating structures that help find a way out of the existing spiral of poverty and social exclusion and to provide youngsters with better prospects for the future”. It is doing that by focusing on the social and educational development of colored (not black) youngsters from underprivileged backgrounds living in disadvantaged communities - the so-called ‘townships’ - in the Bitou district in the Western Cape. BIA’s motivation is founded on the belief that good education is not only a precondition for a socially-equitable South Africa but it is, above all, one of the fundamental rights of a child. In order to achieve its mission, BIA has developed a threefold strategy for action:
1.) Individual Support Program
Selected children are being sponsored by so-called ‘godparents’ with the material
means they need to go to school (uniform, schoolbooks, etc.) and are being counseled by BIA mentors who ensure that the children get emotional/ social support and that they learn about various life orientation skills (hygiene, self-esteem, HIV/ Aids awareness, etc.).
2.) Education Projects
The education projects take place in-or outside the school, thus involving an even
greater number of children. The nature of the projects varies, either aiming at developing a certain skill (such as reading-, swimming-, computer- classes, educational excursions, holiday camps, etc.) or at providing extra logistical or material support to schools or existing organizations.
3.) Parent-Working and Community Activities
The organization of camps/ workshops for parents in which a wide range of socially
relevant issues (alcoholism, drug abuse, HIV/ Aids, etc.) or certain skills that might be useful to them (computer skills, entrepreneurship, etc.) aims at “[…] the creation of balanced and stimulating environments for the children to grow up in.”

I haven’t gotten to know all the educational projects yet; however, I got a general overview: All the pupils here wear school uniforms - most of the children’s uniforms are dirty and in a very few cases, the children smell badly. The learning level is very low. Some children are already in 4th grade but can neither read nor write…one little boy didn’t even recognize the numbers from 1 - 10. Those kids usually suffer from what is called the ‘Fetal Alcohol Syndrome’ (FAS)…occurring when the mothers have been heavily drinking during pregnancy which - as you know - has a strong influence on child’s development. Alcoholism is in general a severe problem in the townships…every Friday is ‘all- pay-day’ where the adults who are employed, receive their wage and ‘invest’ it in alcohol…being at the weekend in the townships - we are not allowed to because it is too dangerous - you can see lots of drunken people wandering the streets.

In this first week - even without getting to know all the projects…I have seen and experienced a lot…joyful, sad and disturbing moments. Here are some fragmented impressions:
Tuesday in the township of ‘Kranshoek’, for example, I assisted the little children (grade 1 - 5) in making exercises for Afrikaans, Math etc. on the computer since on the one hand, teachers usually can’t handle a bunch of 40 pupils in one class and on the other hand, they usually also don’t know how to work with a computer. One of the exercises consisted of the flash of one word with three letters like ‘hug’…the children should then write it down correctly. A little girl suffering from the FAS-syndrome (you can see it in their faces) couldn’t do it…she could only remember the first letter. Adding to that, she looked heavily beaten because her eyes were swollen…she was so afraid, she didn’t communicate with me. If you see something like that and can’t help in any way, you feel so powerless…it’s awful. I would have liked to give her a hug and tell her everything is going to be ok…but the truth is…it’s not going to be ok. Positive and negative emotions are so close together…at the very same day, I was so happy and proud of myself that I taught two little boys - without me speaking Afrikaans and without them speaking English - how to read the clock…and it worked! While I used some words in Dutch and most basic words in English…they understood.:)
On Wednesday in the township of ‘Wittedrift’, the little children were much more open and enthusiastic compared to ‘Kranshoek’. When I entered the gate, I already had six little girls in my arms…wanting to cuddle and be held by their hands…incredibly cute. Saskia, Diet and I danced with them and let them play on the playground which they enjoyed very much. Some of them were really yearning for attention…saying ‘Juffrow Anika’ (Miss Anika) the whole time…hihi.
Thursday, Saskia and I checked out the local fitness center and instantly became members (yeah!) - even though being it a 20min -walk up a very steep hill and at night not very pleasant …last time we encountered some wild dogs barking pretty heavily and you know I’m afraid of dogs particularly of wild ones, so I literally jumped at Saskia. She took revenge…while walking up the hill, she thought she saw a snake and jumped at me…haha.
As it is ‘Mother’s Day’ today, one girl in high school wanted to be particularly polite and whished me a nice one…when I told her I’m not a mother yet…she made a very funny and surprised face…she didn’t get it. She was only satisfied when I told her, I’m working on it right now (by the way, I would love to have a colored baby ;-))…hihi. Lots of other people congratulated me to ‘Mother’s Day’ as well. In the townships here, it is unusual when you have your first baby at the age of 16 and you second one by the age of 18.
What I recognized…white people are so ‘lame’…when we went out on Friday and all the colored people were dancing…you could really see that they can feel the rhythm. Dancing is a way of expression for them. We celebrated Eric’s birthday and some teachers of the townships schools also came to congratulate him…and even though they are about 50 years old, Ethel and Trevor really knew how to hit the floor. Amazing! Today, we went to church which confirmed my observation…even the grannies knew how to swing their hips…haha. In church here, it is actually fun and not as boring as it is back in Europe…people sing and dance the whole time, hugging each other and just have a good time.
Yesterday, a whole bunch of people went to a nice restaurant at the waterfront in Knysna (a town which is a little bigger than Plett) where I had oysters for my first time …they tasted very good actually (Mom, that are not at all slimy as you told me…rather, they have lots of flesh). But if I would have the choice, I would choose mussels over oysters!

That’s it for now…I could tell you sooo much more but at some point it’s just enough!
Have a great start in the new week!

Love, ani