Brainstorm with me!

So as I wrote about before, my job here in South Africa is working primarily with the 10^th graders in a township setting.  The school in which I am placed is particularly difficult because it is the “last resort” school for the students who either couldn’t or didn’t make it elsewhere.  Pair this blow to a 17 year old self-esteem with the mentality that there is no future outside of the life you know in the township. Oh, and throw in extreme poverty, unemployment, violence, and a terrible education system.  Its daunting.. So, this year Masinyusane is slightly shifting gears, and I get to help facilitate!  While my students certainly need remedial academic help, my focus this year will be other facets of personal development.  I am BEYOND excited about this, right up my alley! J 

My goal is to empower these kids to believe in themselves.  That sounds trite, but basic leadership skills and self-worth is lacking because it is so easy to get bogged down with all of the negative influences that are constantly pulling at them.  Many of the social skills that I take for granted have never been instilled, but these kids have huge potential!  Seriously, ALL of them want to make it, but they all need a boost.  Ok, worldly people with far more experience than I: brainstorm with me!

It is winter break here now, and the students have almost no productive activities that they can do.  I have been trying to just hang out with them in small groups and get them out of the out of the Location (another word for shanty settlement). We have gone to the beach, an elephant park, hiking and today I think I will take some girls to the university for a tour. It’s going excellent, I must say!

Once school is back in session, I will only have them for an hour every day.  Here is the thing; their schooling is crap, and the last thing that they need is a white board lecture from me.  I need creative and ENGAGING ways to work of things like leadership skills, goal setting, and self-esteem.  For example, last year the kids made “dream boards” where they used magazine photos to make a collage of all of their hopes and dreams for themselves.  I guess some well-to-do psychologist has concluded that visualizing your dreams daily in an artistic will help you achieve them.  The kids then took home their “dream board” and were told to look at it each morning to reinforce what they saw themselves achieving.

NOW I NEED YOUR BRAINPOWER AND CREATIVITY!  I know a lot of you are teachers, of some form or another!  Does anybody have any ideas or resources about other activities that would be helpful for these guys?  Even the smallest idea could turn into a world of inspiration! J Help a sister out; I can use all the help that I can get!

If you do come up with something brilliant, I will be forever in your debt!  Email or FB me at danikalindquist@gmail.com

 

THANKS WORLD.

 

 

Oh, and here is some inspiration:

These are some of my boys on our hike: Neo, Brezzy, Me, Simon and Madoda

 

 

All kinds of social!

Well week three is coming to a close, and I am pleased to say that I have made some progress in the social department!  Well, some is a relative term..

First of all to my CSBSJU-PE family, our two friends still want to be my friend!  On Thursday, I went to Captains with Anga, and listened to horrible, horrible karaoke.  And I did that.. too many times. Juhhhh.  Yesterday I went to Barney’s with Noel, and just as I remember, it was filled with man thigh and really terrible mullets.  Such different worlds..

But I really have made some progress!  I now have mastered the greeting!  I previously wrote about the awkward hug, and occasional kiss that happens when you see someone.  I was doing it all wrong! What you need to do is a silent kiss.. no pucker required! I couldn’t figure out why everyone gave me a funny look, but it was because I was hesitating and then going in for the kill!  Only about 50 kisses later do I really have it down.  Feeling good about that one…..

Also, I am feeling good about the amount of forced bonding I have forced on my 10^th graders at Masinyusane.  When I first got here, my goal was to be quiet and observe.  Take it all in; see what worked and why it worked.  Well.. it sounded like a good plan, except I don’t speak their language.  SOooooo that made understanding nearly everything that happens a bit challenging.  Anyway, my new approach has shifted from weaseling my way in, to required bonding techniques.  I think that I am making progress, because they all keep asking me when the next time we are going to get together is!  I was at home the other night, obviously catching up on my candy crushing, and my phone rang three times!  It was my student calling to make sure that I was going to come the next day to watch movies with them. J And that we did…… 6 hours of spider man movies…  I think the next time we have a movie day I will conveniently only bring the harry potter series.

I also am slowly trying to introduce country music to South Africa, but am meeting a lot of resistance.. We drove to Addo Elephant park earlier this week, and I thought it was the perfect time to show them how cultured my music selection is!  I serenaded them to a little Wagon Wheel, and the kid in the back got sick….So far, the only “acceptable” bit of music on my iPod is Eminem.  If Pac, Dr. Dre, or Lil Wayne are not in the song, it’s not worth listening to. .  By the end of the year, I am envisioning a change.  They are all going to be bumpin’ Toby Keith and FGL in the taxis.  I was able to go to a township Jazz concert on Friday, and holy hannah did it redeem this country’s musical inclination!  So so amazing!  It was held at the Red Location Museum, which is a really fascinating and relatively new museum in the township that has rotating exhibits on events that have directly affected PE’s New Brighton Township.  Somehow, we got on the “vip” list, and they shuffled us into this hall and they gorged us with amazing food!

Anywho, life is good. I am so so so greatful that I am in the middle of this amazing opportunity! While I am hoping to be able to be a positive influence for some of these kids, I can’t even believe how much I am learning about people and their grace! 49 more weeks, and I’m going to make the most outta them!

On Monday, we took my 10th graders to the beach for the day.  It involved a whole lot of soccer and some water.

On Wednesday, we took Blake's (the other Masinyusane volunteer) 9th graders to the Addo Elephant Park.  I was driving (YES!!! I WAS DRIVING THROUGH AN ELEPHANT PARK IN MY SHIFTER CAR!!) so I handed my camera off to one of the boys in my car, Siya who took a whole lot of selfies, and a few really good shots like this one!

So really though, this happened!  My car was busy making a talk show out of the elephant's actions.  It got quite interesting when one alpha male got angry at another for coming too close to his girl!

Here was our touristy group!  On the left is Blake, the Canadian volunteer who I get along well with.  In the middle is Jim, and in the yellow is Fiks.  The two of them are the heart and soul of Masinyusane, and are very empowering people!  It is so great to be surrounded with such selfless guys everyday! The shorter girl in front is an old youth leader who is now away at University.  The rest of the kids are grade 9 learners at Lawandlkazi High.

SA lingo

For all of you amazing people who are coming to visit me, here are some words/actions that you should familiarize yourself with before you get here.  Learn from my mistakes..

 

 

 

Hugs- Anyone who knows me in the slightest, knows that I am highly awkward when it comes to physical contact.  Anytime you see ANYONE, you give a hug.  There are several types of hugs: The hug to each side, the one handed, the prolonged squeeze, and the goodbye. I am getting less awkward, but sometimes there is a kiss that comes with the hug. Holy, I really fumble on that one…….

Don’t confuse the two types of handshakes.  There is one lengthy
version (involving some clapping and snapping and swishing) and there
is the regular, firm hand shake.  Please note that you should, under
no circumstances, use the township handshake with the acting Catholic
Bishop… Like my hesitant kisses, it makes for an awkward recovery.

Terms to know:

Bru is similar to bro or dude, but only to be used in a positive context.

Shame is an exclamation, similar to “ohhhhh shoot!” Used a lot while watching the news.

Cock means deep shit (also used while watching the news)

Must I fetch?- should I go pick up…

A robot is a street light, but they often are missing the colored bulbs.

Wors is a type of sausage.

Girkins are sort of like pickles.

Mince means meat.

 

 

 

New Brighton Tour

 

 

Job and such

One week down, and big girl life is underway!  Here are some highlights:

I have started both of my jobs, and I sort of know what they entail!  I am working for a Mater Dei Catholic Church as the youth worker which means that I am in charge of the high school catechetic program, as well as encouraging more teens to come to church.  The parish is primarily white and colored families.  Mater Dei uses the “Life Teen” program which has great curriculum, but my job is to make it engaging.  We have had one “life night” so far, and as it is exam week here, it was themed ‘Stressed out.’ I have a great group of teens, and a very supportive group of helpers (called the core team).  It should be an exciting (and challenging) adventure!

My second job is to assist with Masinyusane Development Organization in the New Brighton Township.   Once school is back in session, I will be teaching the 10^th grade English class, as well as do my best to assist with homework help at night.  As this week has been exam week, I have spent most of my time helping students study and giving the buildings a fresh coat of paint.  I have also failed miserably at my first Xhosa (language) lesson, though I am practicing!! 

I officially am not good at driving.  My little car is a champ for putting up with me!  I can make it to work no problem as it is all downhill, but coming home is a bit more challenging…  This morning I met some friends for breakfast at a café and spent 10 minutes inching myself into the graded parking space. Put it in gear, kill it.  Repeat.  The 100 yards of traffic that was waiting for me was not too pleased, and wasn’t shy with their horns..

Despite all of the warnings, I absolutely did not pack the right things.  It is cold, and my frantic throwing out my 20 pounds of extra weight in the airport resulted in ditching everything that could keep me warm.  Once I can master a parking lot, I will have to make a trip to the mall. Shame!

Moral of the story: life is pretty great!  That’s it for now, but in my nonexistent spare time, I promise to share more.

Wheels Down

32 hours of travel later, I made it to PE and to my new home! I’ve been here a day, and I already know that this is going to be a very different experience than I had last year.  I had a fabulous few months and was exposed to things that have really shaped my outlook, but I can already tell that this is going to push me in a whole new direction. 

I am presently living in a suburb of Port Elizabeth with a white parishioner family of Mater Dei. Beyond being fabulously accommodating and hospitable, they are fascinating bunch of people!  They are both very well versed on the social and economic issues that face the future of this country, and feel that there is a world of potential waiting… I think I will be doing a lot of listening and absorbing!  The home is lovely, and I have a flat to myself.

A bit of our dinner conversation was about a brand new township that is forming across town: a white’s only township.  Lewis spoke of the decimated opportunity for white skilled and semi-skilled laborer jobs in the past few years, and so this flux of families have erected a few hundred shacks and created a township.  I vaguely remember the occasional white beggar, but I had no idea that there was a whole community of people that don’t get a whole lot of consideration.

My biggest first world problem at the moment is learning to drive…..  I have forgotten how hilly this city is.   I know that people use the horn more that we are used to in the states, but holy, do I get tooted at! I have the cutest little matchbox car, a florescent blue two door Citron coup, that my post-tamsak, 5’10’’ body looks absolutely boss in. J 

I met a very lively group of people that I will be working with for the coming year, and I must say, they are a hoot.  I start work on tomorrow, train for week, and then have a holiday for a month!  Talk about Africa time.. Hope to have more to say next time!