Friday night, as
I prepared my peanut butter and banana sandwich and slipped it into my freshly
washed Ziploc baggie (in which Tumelo later made me transfer to a Tupperware
since he said people would think I was “somehow” if I showed up with my
sandwich in a plastic baggie) I felt like a young school kid. Even Saturday morning, as the sound of my
wristwatch alarm beeped into my ear at 20 minutes to 6, I was excited. I was headed on my first school trip in South
Africa with one of my primary schools.
We were traveling to another village for a soccer and netball
tournament. One of the teachers called
my ever-so functioning phone (I dropped it into my bucket last week…not my
proudest moment so far…) and told me that he would be by to pick me up
shortly. To my surprise, and to the
great upset of African time, he rolled up 3 minutes early.
As
we entered the school ground, I suddenly felt underdressed. Here I was, clad in jeans, my BU sweatshirt
(remember, it’s now “winter” here), my Nike baseball cap, and my pair of TOMS
that I should reserve only for Sundays as they have become ever so holey. Meanwhile, my students were dressed in their
very best, which I can’t blame them since they do have to wear their school
uniform every Monday-Friday. Girls had
new hairdos, donned more bling than my sisters and I combined have ever owned,
and were powdered in makeup. The boys
had fly caps, nice tekkies, and sported sunglasses despite the fact that the
sun was still seemingly fighting its own alarm clock. When our bus (The Great North Transport)
drove up, all of the learners piled in with their blow horns, athletic
uniforms, and bags. We were off.
Prior
to reaching our destination, we stopped at the SPAR in Giyani (SPAR is like
Giant or Shaw’s). Nice, but definitely
not yet reaching Wegman’s or Trader Joe’s quality. We were stopping so that the kids could buy
food. I had assumed I’d be home by
12:30, or 1 at the latest. When I told
Maggie and Tumelo this, they laughed, telling me to pack food just in
case. Maggie told me I wouldn’t be home
until maybe 3, while Tumelo joked saying I’d be home at 8:30. Although I didn’t need to buy anything, I went
in to greet my favorite SPAR employees (this is where I do all of my food shopping
so they know me and the other PCVs now) and to use the toilet. Once I was done, I waited by the cash
registers to keep an eye on the kids. I
couldn’t help but smile when I saw the kids’ baskets filled with more
sugar-filled items than is likely healthy for a family of four for an entire
year. One of the learners tried to buy
5kg of ice cream, but thankfully the cashier advised him to put it back,
knowing it would melt within minutes. I
swear the kids tried to buy out the SPAR, buying cakes meant for momentous
celebrations like birthdays and weddings, lollipops, yogurt drinks, Zimba
chips, and more. You see, when these
learners go on a trip, their parents treat them, giving them R40 or even R50
(this equates to about $6 or $7). On any
given day, the most these kids see is R5.
With this much money, they go hog wild, splurging at everything in
sight. Unfortunately, some of the
younger ones still haven’t quite mastered the art of adding/reading, so there
were quite a few times when items had to be put back, and kids couldn’t buy
everything that they wanted. There were
even a few times that the Manager had to be called over to void orders. Before we left SPAR, one of the teachers, a
real go-getter, sweet-talked the manager into giving all of the teachers/chaperones
free cold drink and a DVD to one of the learners for the business that our
school brought in that morning. As
obliging as the manager was, I couldn’t help but to feel a little awkward
taking the cold drink.
Before
long, we arrived at the school where the competitions would take place. It took a little under 2 hours from our
starting destination, which isn’t terrible as we traveled using mostly gravel
roads. I assumed that the games would
begin immediately, but as always, I had assumed wrong. When we pulled in, we were all ushered to be
properly welcomed (South Africa is huge on making sure people feel welcome and
at home…Ubuntu). After a few minutes,
the teachers and I were taken to the staff room where we were presented with
scones, muffins, and of course, cold drink.
I guess my peanut butter and banana sandwich would just have to
wait. The muffins were delicious! Once we finished, we were taken back outside
in order to continue with the welcoming ceremonies. The principal and the deputy principal
thanked us for traveling and coming (all in Xitsonga). Following their speeches, some of the girls
danced Cibalani (the traditional Xitsonga dance which I love, but cannot do for
the life of me) and some of the boys did their traditional dance.
The
girls (JV as we would term back home) Netball team kicked off the games. They started things off on the right foot for
our school as they crushed the other team, winning an impressive 7-1. It didn’t hurt that the scorer on the team,
one of my Grade 7 girls, is almost as tall as the net. This was quickly followed by the start of the
boys (again, JV) soccer game. The boys
also fared well, tying in a 1-1 game.
Although a penalty kick was considered, all involved decided that
“friendly games” do not include penalty kicks, which I thought was fair. Next came the girls (Varsity) Netball
team. I thought the first game was
exciting, but this one was crazy! For
this one, our girls outdid them in what I think was a final score of 15-1. I almost felt bad for the other team…
By now it was a
little after two, and I was feeling quite glad that I had brought a baseball
cap as it no longer felt like the “winter” of the early hours. The kids and I were shepherded to the school
yard for celebratory pictures. I gladly
posed, very excited for the kids’ win.
Strangely enough, I was asked to pose for the opposing team’s pictures
as well…I obliged. Just as I thought we
were ready to board the bus, all of the teachers were again called to the staff
room. This time, we were presented with
pap, 3 different types of chicken (fried, cooked, and chicken parts), cabbage,
salad, sauce, and cold drink. It now
dawned on me why my fellow teachers hadn’t come prepared with food…they knew we
would be taken care of and I’m not sure why I haven’t realized this yet. Everywhere you go in South Africa, people
give their very best to make sure that you are content. My poor peanut butter and banana sandwich
took the backseat once again.
Following our
lunch, and feeling quite food comatose, I headed over to cheer on our boys
(Varsity) soccer team. I watched in awe
as these boys played soccer barefoot, taking no notice to the rocks or prickles
in the field. The other team was HUGE,
and my fellow teachers and I agreed that some of them had to be borrowed from
the high school. Despite their height
advantage to our boys, our school again proved victorious in a final score of
2-0.
At lunch I had
commented to the HOD of the school we were visiting (who also turned out to have
taught the principal I work with when he was in primary school) how much I
enjoyed the dances earlier in the day, saying that he should be very proud of
his learners. As I am sure I have
mentioned in at least one previous blog, I really, really need to zip my lips
sometimes. Wanting only to make me
happy, all of the sound equipment was taken back outside and the learners
performed yet again. More speeches were
made, and at last we boarded the bus to make our trek back home. Accidentally, we left one of our teachers, so
after about 5 minutes we had to turn back around. Luckily he was very forgiving of our mistake.
During the trip
back home, as I watched the sun set (nothing quite like an African sunset), I
realized how proud I was to be a part of this school family, a part of the
staff, and a part of these learners’ lives.
I thought about how each and every one of them, against all of the odds
that they face on a daily basis, is a winner in every sense of the term. Despite the fact that they live in a rural
and impoverished village, despite the fact that many of them don’t have one or
both parents, despite the fact that water and food is far and few between at
times they all show up to school every day willing and eager to learn. I have never once heard any of these kids
complain, and I only ever see them smiling.
Maybe they needed this day and these wins to feel like winners (because,
hey, we all can use a win every once and a while, right?). But to me, this day just reinforced what
awesome kids they are.
My reflection
time was soon interrupted as we stopped on the side of the road less than 10
minutes away from the school. The kids
stormed out of the bus, nearly trampling one another. It took me a minute to realize what was
happening, but then it came to me that they must have had a whole lot of cold
drink before getting on the bus…kids will be kids.
When I got home
at 8:30 (Tumelo, to his delight, was right), and after I greeted my family, I
was exhausted and thankful for silence.
I was also appreciative that Maggie has a spare key since I locked my
key in my house earlier that day (I was quite frazzled by the early arrival of
my teacher). More than anything, though,
I was quite pleased that I still had my peanut butter and banana sandwich since
I was far too tired to cook.
Le Rata (With Love),
Meg J
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