Experience South Africa With Mrs. Ketchum: Day 6 and 7 Schools

Molweni! This is like saying Hey Yall!

Alright so our internet was down here at Abalone Guest House last night. We had used all of the data so they had to go add some on. Imagine that you pay for your wifi over here by purchasing a certain amount of data. That is certainly something new I have learned.

Day 6 - July 21 Happy Birthday form Africa to my baby girl Paige!
Today we visited Solomon Mahlangu High School and were given a presentation from their YCAP Team. This team consists of 5 members in 10th grade that not only help their school and advocate for their school but work endless hours in the community. For example, they advocated for a free breakfast to be served to students who were not able to eat in the mornings before school. This free breakfast would provide nourishment for these students so that they were able to focus in their classrooms.

This is the YCAP team: Phelisa, Sinokhanyo, Siphselhu, Lubabalo, and Kamralethu.

Eagle Spirit in South Africa!

They wanted to take a selfie :)

Day 7 Emafini at last!

Today we went to Emafini. This is the primary school that we will be working at for the duration of this trip. (Besides the occasional lectures, language classes and adventures) The Grade R (kindergarten) through Grade 2 (second grade) teacher were off campus today for a workshop. Yes they have them also! So I was placed in grade 6 (have you figured out that is 6th grade?) to observe. WOW! is about all I can say. They were learning about open and closed circuits. It has been a long time since I learned about circuits. Anyway, this classroom had 50 students in it and one teacher. They were working in an interactive notebook drawing the circuits. I could not tell by observing and seeing their completed work if they truly understood but they worked hard and seemed to be engaged. Students had to write with blue ink pens and correct their work with red pens, glue their papers in and use rulers to draw lines. It was amazing to see how they shared their items, If one child idd not have a red pen when another child finished with theirs they just handed theirs over for them to use. Such teamwork! For lunch they had maze and a stew. The cafeteria provides a free lunch for all students. There is a small metal bowl for younger students and a larger plastic bowl for older students. There are not choices and they eat the same thing daily. The soup is made fresh everyday and vegetables are hand cut. It smelled so good. If there is enough I might see if I can purchase some one day. We will go back to Emafini on Monday and I am hoping to see some Grade R students (I mean learners - that is what they call them and I really like that.) They will for sure test my Xhosa language since they have not learned to speak English yet.