First Day of School

Everyone sets off bright and early – Callie tells me everyone starts to get ready at 5.00am so they have a good start to the day. At 7.15 sharp the Cwebeni crew board their boat and set off up the river for the first stage of their journey. The second stage is a climb up what looks like a sheer cliff to the school perched high on a bluff above the sea. When we go to visit the school later, we drive around – about 30 km by road – about a 45 min drive on narrow roads.

The next lot to leave are the 4 from Vukandlula school – fetched by the Principal of the school, Mr Nofonta. They take a sharp turn off the road from Umngazi and up a sheer precipice, and with 5 of them in a Chevvy Spark, the car makes grating noises as the undercarriage catches on the rocks and corrugations on the road. The Sicambeni crew wait for a taxi which screams up 15 mins late, and then takes off like a rocket to get them to school high on the hills.

It’s a day of surprises for everyone – for some, they are given a class to look after all on their own, while teachers catch up on Admin. For others, they are loaded with lessons as teachers see this as a chance for them to have a bit of a break. Others are integrated into classrooms as though they have always been there. Callie ends up fixing all the computers and typing a letter for the Principal. Kevin finds the kids very quiet and reserved till he asks if they have ever had a white teacher before, and they relax and laugh and start to interact with him. Zinhle gets given a lesson to teach tomorrow – The Calendar – and she is expected to make that her lesson for the whole day. Luckily, she has plenty of ideas of her own and will cope while the teacher sorts out the feeding scheme budgets tomorrow and leaves her with the class on her own.

Everyone talks about the feeding scheme – how it takes at least an hour to get the children fed, while teaching time is abandoned. The students all refuse the meals that are offered to them by the staff, feeling that it is the children who should be getting the food. They also discover that all food and drink is seen as communal, as personal water bottles are used by all the teachers and sandwiches are shared out.

We visit Cwebeni and are expected to perform instant miracles in a computer room that was originally donated by Telkom, but has not been maintained. Only 5 of 12 computers are functional and the 50 Gr 9s are the only ones who get to use the computers on a sporadic basis. I ponder on whether no technology is better than non-functioning technology, and what message is sent to learners and community by donations that come without support.

In one classroom, a tiny boy stands near the board holding a huge stick. He is standing in the same position, pointing to a flag drawn on the board every time we walk past. The children seem friendly and well disciplined, and we get shy smiles from bigger children and rapturous shouts from little ones when they see the camera.

On the way back, we let the Garmin take us past Sicambeni school. We see the sloping field where Kevin and Thabo play a game of soccer with the kids after school. But it is the view that blows us away – a wonderful vista of sea, sand and coastal bush – breathtaking! I don’t know how I would teach if I were there – too much distraction.

Tomorrow we visit Sicambeni and Vukandlula and everyone starts teaching in earnest. We are warned by one of the management staff here to just “go with the flow” and not try and change the world in this month – simply try and make the difference we can to one or two lives. A bit cynical, but probably realistic. Remember the Starfish parable – let’s make a difference to one or two starfish.