Week 5- Shuttlebus Lines, Classes Begin, and Planning Adventures

Feb (that is how people refer to February here in SA) 3- I was able to get some work on my presentation for critically observing teaching and classroom management for the 3^rd year students. In their teaching program at UJ, they have created a program where teachers get into the classroom progressively more each year. The first year students observe classes at the primary school that is connected with the university (called Funda Ujabule), second year preservice teachers observe and teach at Funda Ujabule, and the third year students teach at Funda Ujabule and out in the community. The teachers are being asked to begin with observations and in the next few months, they will increase the teaching lessons. The workshop I am giving is to support their critical thinking and journal writing about their school visits. 

Art under an freeway in the CBD

On the rooftop with Michelle and Edward
before the movie.

Later that afternoon, I went to listen to salsa downtown, however, we got there a bit late so the plan changed to enjoying a refreshing drink at a rooftop club followed by a documentary called, Jiro. Jiro is a Michelin Star sushi chef in Japan and he has perfected sushi. The dinners cost around $300 and include many rounds of just sushi. Jiro is 85 years old, has two sons, and doesn’t plan on retiring any time soon. 

February 4- Today was the first day of classes and the line for the shuttle was much longer. It took a few hours to get on a shuttle to campus and over an hour of waiting in line to get a shuttle to return home. I met a girl from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). She told me about how proud her family was that she is attending school but that she is lonely living with her “sister” who is also away from her family. She travels about an hour on the mini-buses to get to the APK campus shuttle. She said she cried for the first 6 months she was here and lost a lot of weight because she was so sad she wasn’t doing well because her English is not very good. I recommended she tried to get into a study group where she could work with other people at improving her English and maybe they would read her papers before she turned them in. I also told her about the writing center.

February 5- This morning, there was an article in the paper on the primary school condom program. They were discussing the rate of pregnancy and the issue of youth not being informed about sex at home.

Rape has been a topic of discussion here in South Africa with the case going on in Cape Town. On February 1^st, a 17-year old girl was gang raped and died shortly after. This case (along with the international media of the gang rape in India) have brought public protest and increased media coverage on the tv, newspapers, and radio stations. One report said there is a rape every 5 seconds in South Africa. There was another article suggesting the country should make it attempted murder if the rapist has HIV or AIDS. Men were calling up the radio and discussing how they were raped as children and adults and the authorities and families didn’t take it seriously.

On a lighter note, I was able to interview three more faculty members about inclusive practices. It is refreshing to hear the interest in learning strategies for working with diverse learners. I am excited for the textbooks to arrive at the Embassy and begin sharing materials. Also, on the shuttle on the way home I met Ntswaki, a student who also missed her first class because of the shuttle lines. She lives about an hour east of the APK campus and got up at 5am to catch minibuses to get to the shuttle. She also told me that she is working on her degree in business management so that some day she can have her own home. She lives in a 3 room house (kitchen, bedroom, and main room) with 5 family members. I asked her about a bathroom, she said there isn't one and that she hates to shower in the kitchen with the family there but she is working hard and will do well in business. I asked her if it was government housing or if they built it themselves, she said government housing but it was old.

February 6- The line at the shuttle was even longer today and most of these students were again late or missed their first class. I told the Dean’s secretary and she asked me to send her an email about the issue. I won’t bore you with the details of the email, but I did my best to give the university credit for supporting students by offering the service, however, voiced my concern for the multiple buses going to the other campuses and Soweto lines being so long. They responded with saying it was due to budgeting issues (I found out it costs R1,000,000 or $112K to add a bus for one year), which I understand. The part that bothered me a bit was when they said the lines were long because of past students still using their ID to get on buses and students “joy riding” between campuses. I can’t imagine waiting in line for 1.5-2 hours to “joy ride” but maybe that is just me. They said they were going to have another meeting with the SRC president and other transportation heads to discuss the issue soon. I thanked them for their diligence and effort around this issue.

On the right is the line at 7:25am...on the left is the back of the line rushing the bus. The girl in front of me didn't get on the bus when it arrived due to the commotion. She missed her classes...certainly that has to be worth educational costs?

 

February 7- Today, the newspaper reported that SA is getting close to the USA in their issues with obesity. There was also an article on teaching being an “essential service” which would make it illegal for teachers to strike. Their argument is the educational system is struggling (they just changed the pass matric/high school pass rate to 39%, then publicized an increase of students passing matric) and when teachers are not at work, students are missing out on their education. The unions are of course against this...but there is power in politics.

 

I had scheduled interviews and a school visit for today but found out I need to get permission from the Gauteng Education Department to go into schools and from the Ethics board at UJ to work with their students. I filed both documents today…basically, mini-Institutional Review Board applications.

For dinner, Ronnel and her boyfriend picked me up and took me to sushi in Melville. There are both in retail (upper management) and new to the area. It was nice to step outside of the education box for the night.

February 8- I picked up the car I will be borrowing this month. I have waited until I felt more comfortable with the driving on the left side of the road…as you can imagine, the rear view mirror is on the other side too. I am happy the car is an automatic and there is a GPS inside so I don’t have cognitive overload while driving. In the morning, I met a lecturer who is working at training teachers and schools in inclusive practices. We got to talking and the interview could have taken hours except I had to get to the university to teach the class on how to write a five chapter research paper (basically a mini-thesis).  

After work, I ventured to the Cresta shopping mall and picked up my tickets to the Africa Cup soccer game at the grocery store. I got home just before the hail storm started. Later on, Agata and I went to a restaurant and had a gluttonous meal. I fell into bed that night.

Steak with bacon and blue
cheese on top...over mashed
potatoes!

looks like snow

 

February 9- I was able to observe/audit an honor’s class on inclusive education today. The professor introduced the topic with stories of his personal journey in education and the successes he has had over the years. He questioned the students on inclusive practices, special education labels, and why we need to support diverse learners. I spoke about the difference between the US and SA special education practices.

After the class, I drove to a luncheon being held for Edwige and Mas. The same group (with a few additions) from the party they hosted for me when I first arrived was there. The women sat together telling stories and laughing. By the end of the night, we decided to try to plan a trip to Kruger, Mozambique, Soweto Tour, and a girls' night. I hope a few of these trips come to fruition. Sitting in the room with these ladies, I felt blessed and surrounded with amazing energy. Another great week in Jo’Burg.

A few of the wonderful ladies!

Week Four- "Social Work-Worms-Book Reviews"

January 27- This weekend I read, Diamonds in the Dust  by Shirley Mowat Tucker. It is a book about a widower named Ida who comes across a homeless runaway and ends up taking in 9 children whose parents have died of AIDS. There is a lot more to the book, it is a quick read and brings up interesting social issues (racism, social justice, welfare system, family, etc). One quote I liked from the book was, “Life is not a battle,” she would say. “It’s a choice. Make the right choices and the battle becomes a challenge you can overcome.”

There is a part in the book that speaks about the lack of social workers, so of course, I did a little internet search to see if it was correct. This is what I found (Department of Labour, South Africa, 2008):

• 63% of Child Welfare social workers have caseloads of more than 60, while 36% have caseloads of more than 100. Within other NGOs, some social workers have caseloads in excess of 300. In such circumstances, negligence is almost unavoidable. (Sowetan, 28 October 2005)

• Of the estimated 1.2 million orphaned and vulnerable children in South Africa (due mostly to the impact of HIV and AIDS), NGO and government welfare services together are currently only able to reach and deal with around 200,000 - leaving 1 million to fend for themselves. The backlog of processing foster care grants, which can take up to 2 years, is blamed largely on the fact that there are insufficient numbers of social workers and magistrates to deal with applications, with the consequence that the thousands of poor families who are forced to take in these children are increasingly unable to carry the cost burden of the extra mouth to feed over such an extended period of time. (Pretoria News, 30 September 2006)

• The need for social workers is greater today than ever before due to the alarming

rate at which the HIV and AIDS epidemic is destroying the social fabric that holds families and communities together. Social workers are needed to protect the rights of, and bring healing to, South Africa’s most vulnerable citizens through counseling and case management. (The Herald, 04 December 2006)

• In the Western Cape, a program that trains volunteers to provide therapeutic

counseling to sexually abused children has been put in place due to the severe

shortages in accessing qualified social workers and counselors. The measures are

seen as temporary but necessary to deal with the escalating problem. (Cape Argus, 14 December 2006)

• Ashley Theron, the first ever black, male national executive director of Child Welfare South Africa, states that there is no point to being able to identify vulnerable children if there aren’t the social workers and financial resources to assist them. (Star, 25 January 2007)

• According to the Minister of Social Development, Zola Skweyiya, who has been

instrumental in having the social work profession declared a ‘scarce skill’, the

serious shortage of social workers is one of the key reasons for under-implementation of state welfare services in South Africa and for the shortfalls in the delivery of services to large numbers of people living in communities impacted on by HIV and AIDS.  (City Press, 18 February 2007)

After finishing the book I took a walk to 7^th Street…it is across the main road and up a small incline (about 1km or .7miles). I figured there must be something going on up there (lots of restaurants, shops, and bars). And there was. As I was meandering down the street, I heard some fantastic jamming going on, I crossed, ordered a beer, and leaned against the wall listening. After they were done with their set, they told the audience to vote for them on South African Idol (equivalent to American Idol). As I was altering the picture and posting on instagram, a guy came up and asked if I was alone and wanted to join him and his friends. I figured why not. I met Tony, Mpho, and Jo Van. Tony is a doctoral student from England here for 2 weeks, Mpho is an ANC commander turned businessman, and Jo Van is a Swiss doctor for a pharmaceutical who also does a type of therapy called Bio-Resonance. We were able to sit in and chat until the sun began to set and I had to head home (like Cinderella).

January 28- Dr. Luneta picked me up for work today. His daughter attends university at the APK campus and is cheerleader, so he had to get her to practice early. We had a staff meeting to discuss the 4^th year students. This is the 4^th year of their program so they are still fine-tuning the program. One of the requirements is to write a research paper. I offered to teach some seminars on researching a topic, organizing research, and using research to guide a research paper. I have been able to use the materials from the class I teach at San Jose State University. I will be presenting my PowerPoint on a 5-chapter academic research paper next week (a mini-thesis).

One of the issues the faculty discussed students encounter, is that they complete their student teaching in a wide variety of classrooms (spoken about in Week 3 post). The team decided to create debriefing sessions for the students so as to support their understanding of best practice and learn from each other. I recommended they provide critical thinking guide to help students know what to look for and think about when they are in classrooms…and then I created the sheet (and powerpoint to go with it). I will be presenting the powerpoint at the first class next week.

One big positive for the day, I bought two tickets to the final Africa Cup. I am in section 532…we will see how much I see (I promise to bring my glasses).

January 29 I took the shuttle from the APK campus to the Soweto campus this morning. This week, the students are not in session so the wait was about 30 minutes and the ride was less than 30 minutes.

The email I received about the shuttle service. :)

January 30 For my Fulbright project in South Africa, I am interviewing educators about how well they are able to support different learners in the classroom and how I can support their practice. By different learners, I mean students with language issues, disabilities, and other personal challenges that keep them from being successful at school. This week I was able to meet with four of the Childhood Education lecturers at UJ. Based on the information I collect, I will be able to create more specific professional development seminars for the university preservice teachers and local schools. Research is exciting! Here is the flyer for the Storytelling Festival (a service learning project for preservice teachers).

After taking the shuttle home I was very tired, but I had made plans with one of the women living in the guesthouse to go see some Jazz. We headed to 7^th street to a restaurant called Sophiatown (pronounced So-Fie-Uh-Town) playing latin jazz. She ordered calamari, and as I was perusing the menu, I noticed worms on the menu. I asked about them and was told, “Oh, yes, worms, like caterpillars, they’re nice.” So I ordered them. When Ronnel returned from the phone call she had made after ordering I told her about my order…she said she grew up in Cape Town and they didn’t eat things like worms. I asked her to at least try one. She agreed. The caterpillars (short, fat, and black) were fried then added to a red sauce with a piece of white bread on the side. They tasted…smokey. Not the best thing I have ever eaten, but not the worst either.

Fried Worms

January 31 After coming home from campus, I went on a walk to pick up some Epsom salt (best addition to baths ever). I had noticed this restaurant called Nando’s Chicken and because I had missed lunch I decided to go in for a snack. It was delicious and reminded me of my dad’s grilled chicken during a summer bbq. I quickly checked the internet to find out how unhealthy this chicken was seeing they were advertising “healthy” chicken all over their restaurant. I was excited to find out there were no MSG, preservatives, flavors, or colors. Just spicy peri peri sauce. Peri peri is a chili sauce created when the Portuguese and Mozambique cuisines were combined. Unfortunately, I also looked at the salt content of what I ate…I am not sure if I can justify going back for a while.  

That evening Agata, the Sicilian post-doctoral student, invited me for dinner. She made bruchetta with sundried tomatoes and pasta with pesto sauce and ham. I added the salad (which of course came at the end of the meal). We invited Maxim, my French neighbor to join us. He was very happy with the invitation…as he put it I was so hungry after school I ordered the pizza and it wasn’t very good.  

February 1, 2013 During the day I worked on my seminar and analyzing the interviews. Then, Michelle and Kai picked me up to go to China Mall and have lunch. China Mall is exactly as it sounds. Store after store of Chinese knock-offs, trinkets, and electronics. The shuttle passes it on the way to Soweto so I was excited to actually see what was inside.

Dustin (Michelle’s older son) told me about a book he was reading in school called No Turning Back: A Novel of South Africa by Beverly Naidoo. My students at Ida B. Wells read another book of Ms. Naidoo before I left on this trip, so I was interested in seeing what this book was about. An excellent read about a boy who runs away from home and ends up on the streets of Johannesburg. The book does a wonderful job describing what it is like for these youth. Here is an example of her writing: “Sipho’s heart was thumping against his chest. It had been screwed up for the last few days, like the rest of his insides, as tight as a fist. But now it was going to be wild like the tail of a puppy just let out of a cage. He would have to get it under control before he got to the taxi rank.”

How could I not love these boys? (Kai, Me, and Dustin)

February 2. 2013 I woke up early and did yoga by the pool. The pool is about the size of a king size bed (I am exaggerating a little), so laps are impossible but having it there for stretches is nice. That afternoon I was reading facebook and someone posted this quote I liked by Mother Theresa:

"People are often unreasonable and self-centered. Forgive them anyway

If you are kind, people may accuse you of all ulterior motives. Be kind anyway.

If you're honest, people may cheat you. Be honest anyway.

If you find happiness, people may be jealous. Be happy anyway.

The good you do today may be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway.

Give the world the best you have it may never be enough. Give your best anyway

For you see, in the end, it is between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway." (Mother Teresa)

Later that night I took a taxi to my friend Niki’s. He was having a braai (bbq) and invited me over. I took a picture of the amount of meat that was prepared for four people.