A
crisp morning breeze whipped around my face as I waved my goodbyes to
the last of the Isolomzi students as they headed home. The workshop
had come to an end and the 14 Isolomzi students were left with
memories and experiences never to be forgotten. I felt privileged to
be a part of it.
It
all started a while back when Theo and I visited Isolomzi High and
found a competent principal at the helm of his exceptional school and
things just snowballed from there. Word reached Rondebosch Boys High
in Cape Town via Jock and the following Easter holidays Rowan, the
Maths guru from Rondebosch High and Marion, his better half, offered
to visit our centre and get a feel for the challenges faced by
schools out here in Transkei. They brought hundreds of text books
and maths papers with to distribute to students who visit our centre.
There are 2 high schools in the Qolora area fed by about 15 junior
schools. Tyali High is a typical overcrowded high school and learners
struggle to get a proper education whereas the charismatic principal
of Isolomzi High saw the opportunity and after Rowan and Marion
visited his school, ties between Isolomzi and Rondebosch High were
established.
A
one week workshop was planned by a Rondebosch team for the June
holidays and everyone was pretty excited about things to come. Jock
and 4 teachers drove 8 Rondebosch city boys all the way up from Cape
Town to meet 14 selected students from rural Isolomzi High. Jock
opened his house and his heart and the Cape Town crowd settled into
his holiday cottage while the Isolomzi students moved into 2
accommodation rondavels here at our centre.
The
Rondebosch boys were soon to learn how privileged they were to have
access to a good education on their doorstep, running water, money
and a functional home. The Isolomzi students were given a window
into the lives of white city boys and learnt about cultures in a
rural village.
Monday
kicked off with a meet and greet and students from both schools had
their first opportunity to get to learn a little bit about each
other. Everyone seemed relaxed and short before long they were
kicking a ball around outside and things just flowed from there.
Our
days were filled with activities, tour guided outings and free time
for the students to relax. The Rondebosch boys were jovial and
entertained us with their light hearted banter while the Isolomzi
students were more academically orientated and grabbed every
opportunity to learn as much as they could. They were thrilled to
all get email and facebook accounts and hopefully they will stay in
touch with each other.
Ross,
the aspiring Rondebosh Boys High chef, prepared most meals for us,
except the samp and beans (umngqusho) which the city boys found a bit
too unpalatable for their taste buds. On the other hand, the
Isolomzi students were not accustomed to western style of cooking and
not everyone enjoyed Ross’s delicious garlic mussels, broccoli and
cheese sauce and even green beans were too exotic for most of them.
We
went on 2 informative guided tours, one to the home of an igqirha
(medicine woman) and the second one was a short hike and a boat trip
to the Gates, a picturesque geological fissure through which the
Qolora river runs. We were told about Xhosa history and interesting
information about traditional uses of plant life. The igqirha showed
us how to pound mielies, winnow them into different sizes for
different dishes and some of us brave ones tasted a white frothy
concoction which she pounded from tree roots and which keeps evil
spirits away. Bjorn was the only one brave enough to get elbow deep
in fresh sloppy cow dung and smear it over the floor, a tradition
still practiced once a week in many homes here. Johan, the
photographer, captured all the memorable moments on his camera, and I
wouldn’t be surprised if he blackmailed the boys for their
hilarious attempts at singing, making animal noises and beat boxing
during the talent show. Johan is also a professional swimmer and gave
the Isolomzi boys a swimming lesson in the lagoon. Both Jordan and
Eddie’s loud mouths kept the party alive at all times.
Isolomzi
beat Rondebosch at every single competition from the debate, topic
being fracking, to the beautiful gospel singing at the talent show.
Eddie was beaten by Anathi at chess and Isolomzi even beat Rondebosch
on the sports field in a relaxed game of soccer and a casual game of
touch rugby.
Tinei,
from the Isolomzi group, showed leadership qualities and directed a
short movie about the life of a rural girl. I would love to see it
completed, edited and posted on Youtube.
Theo
entertained us with a fantastic fire poi show and I held my breath,
praying he wouldn’t burst into flames as it was his first time
ever.
The
maths teachers gave a workshop at our centre and the place was packed
with additional Isolomzi students who arrived for the lessons, all
dressed smartly in their school uniforms.
Two
of the maths teachers organized a session for the girls to create
dream posters where we had fun cutting and sticking magazine
clippings which we found inspiring.
We
ended the week with a lovely 3 course dinner for everyone at
Trennery’s Hotel on Friday night after spending the day at Isolomzi
High school for a special function. Representatives of the
Department of Education were invited to the school function as well
as a large group of influential guests, all connected to Rondebosch
Boys High who coincidentally happened to be staying at Trennerys
hotel on holiday and were keen to attend. The Xhosa culture at the
school function was evident in the beautiful singing and as always, I
swallowed a lump in my throat as the room swelled with the melodies
of praise singing. The students captivated the audience with a few
skits. The theme was anti drugs and the importance of education and
even though the message was serious, they managed to humour the crowd
and had us in stitches. Of course there was traditional dancing by
the boys who kept the beat with a guitar, drums and a kuduzela. The
girls received supportive ululating as they stomped around in time to
the makeshift drum and all looked stunning dressed as mamas in their
beautiful traditional outfits and painted faces.
Pride
swelled from Mr Butshingi and for the first time I saw the man
almost, but not quite (I don’t think that’s possible), lost for
words. Years of hard work, alienation from surrounding schools,
opposition from parents and elders, personal attacks on his
character, lack of support from previous teachers, union
interference, having to educate students from junior secondary
schools who fail to come close to preparing students for high school,
poverty, faction fighting and lack of resources are all issues which
he has faced at his school. His hard work paid off and for a day he
felt like a prince as everyone congratulated him on his success.
Later that night at the Trennery’s dinner, I heard promises of
further support from the other Rondebosch guests and the possibility
of twinning Rondebosch Prep with other schools in the area was even
mentioned.
The
workshop was a great success towards building further relations and
plans are already under way for September holidays when teachers will
return to assist with winter school at Isolomzi.
The
students of Isolomzi High have to work 3 times as hard as other
students to achieve their outstanding results and their dedication
and efforts have been acknowledged and the rewards will follow. The
pride I felt for these students and their wonderful school makes me
feel blessed. How lucky am I to have been involved.
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| The igqirha (medicine woman) performing a ritual on me to prevent evil spirits from entering my body |
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| Bjorn getting down and dirty |
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| A day of maths at the centre (note the Isolomzi students neatness) |
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| The boat trip |
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| Theo doing fire poi |
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| The Rondebosh Boys team |
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| Interaction at the centre |
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| Johan giving swimming lessons in the lagoon |
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| Isolomzi girls fashion shoot |
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| students and a ball - what more can I say |
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| The whole team - with Jock a happy man in the front |
