Teaching the most amazing young people in Cape Town

Two lovely Grade 10 girls

I honestly do believe that our learners at the School of Hope have been especially hand picked (by God).  They really are the most amazing bunch of young people.  We have about 60 students at the school that range in age from 14 to 22.  On the surface they are your average bunch of kids from the Cape Flats.  Get to know them better and you realise that they are super special.  They are talented, FUNNY, full of life, and have been through some of the toughest situations you could possibly imagine!  They are at our school because they are youth at risk.  They have been unable to complete their studies elsewhere for various reasons; family situations making it impossible to pass, living in dysfunctional communities where the draw to drop out is stronger than the draw to finish school, pregnancy, gangsterism, drugs, homelessness.....the list goes on.  (see ACT - Active Compassion Transforms Facebook page http://www.causes.com/causes/188805 to see some of the situations our learners have faced)  www.activecompassiontransforms.org

The other day I was teaching the matrics (final year students) a concept in my subject that most of the learners cannot get their heads around....International time differences.  I was trying to explain about the International date line, the line of longitude that runs down between Alaska and Russia, that if you pass over it on a plane you lose a day or gain a day.  I noticed that one of my students didn't seem to be concentrating.  This young man is a Zimbabwean who doesn't always need things spelling out to him.  He's exceptionally gifted and bright so I don't stress too much if he's not giving 100%.  (It IS frustrating when those that NEED to be listening aren't listening, which is often the case).  Anyway I decided to confront him as despite the fact that he's bright, it is a little rude when someone is clearly doing something other than your work.  I thought he was perhaps writing a letter, or writing notes for another class.....  I was quite amused to find out that he was writing a poem, inspired by the whole concept of the International Date Line.  He gave me his permission to put it on here..

Let me Survive
 

In of my treasure

I wander night and day

In search for a unique border

Where night and day meet

And part their separate ways

Where the dreams of the skies meet

With the nightmares of the seas

There the waves grow sweet

And day is born

New and fresh each day

Again and again

 

There I shall find my youth

Day after day

Like the sun I shall bring some light

To my people

Our four beautiful Matric Girls

Once again I ask you to pray for these 13 young people who are currently writing their final exams.  For young people in England, finishing school is the law.  There are no school fees, transport is (or used to be) paid for, paper and exercise books are provided.  Here, for a young person growing up on the Cape Flats, finishing school is a massive feat.  Children are chased out of school for not paying fees.  On top of fees they must pay for their own transport and stationary.  These are people who are the poorest of the poor, whose families earn less than the minimum wage.  To add to all that, finishing school may be so unusual for someone in a particular community that they may be ostracised, or criticised for doing so....and some of these young people have noone in their immediate family who can help them with their school work.  To finish school in Africa can often mean a young person has climbed over the biggest hurdles to get there.  That is the situation with most of our learners.  THIS is why I ask you to pray for them at this time!!! 

ramblings on a Sunday evening whilst trying to drown out the sound of the party across the road......

Wow, life for me in Cape Town is certainly full of twists and turns and my emotions lately have been shot!  I know that its time for a visit home to the UK and am excited that at exactly this time next month Lee-Anne and I should have just taken off from Cape Town airport, and be looking at what the in flight menu looks like and choosing which movies we're going to watch.  It will be a lovely time in the UK having Lee-Anne with me, but also hard as I'll only be home for 3 weeks and need to spread my time thinly amongst close family and friends.

So, my last blog was a little heart felt plea to people to consider fostering, and I still stand by that plea!  This month even more young people have come across my path who desperately need a lovely family, but sadly they are all late teens and the most difficult age to place!  Its sad because for any child who is in a place where they need to be placed in a new family, they have obviously experienced some kind of trauma or upset in their lives, so therefore will be somewhat needy...which in turn puts people off fostering.  How this plays out will differ from child to child and I am very fortunate that the girls who have lived with me have not been any trouble at all, but that is not usual.  So, to ask a family to foster a teenage boy (for example) who has probably had to fend for himself on the streets, or who has fled through the border of Zimbabwe being chased by soldiers with guns, and has probably experienced or been the victim of crime just for virtue of the fact that they are more vulnerable, or have even gone to the extremes of hiding on a ship for a few days and being found, beaten and thrown off.....(not literally thrown off).  Imagine having been through such things, and these are all things that have been experienced by some of the boys I know. 

Please please pray for decent families in Cape Town to come forward to take in some of these boys, and model family life as God intended it to be. 

Otherwise...life is good, I am blessed.  Lindo is doing well and Ode is having the time of her life over in America.  Lindo's two sisters (Thandiswa and Thandeka) now live with us during the week and are two wonderful young ladies (aged 18 and 19).  They come from a home which is a one room shack, with no electricity or running water.  They share this with their mother in one of the farthest away townships in Cape Town.  Despite these hardships they are sweet, helpful and happy girls who are so eager to learn.  They attend the school that I teach at.   It is great to see them develop in their english skills and computer skills because of living with us.  I remember the first time Thandeka could actually operate facebook on her own, she was so proud of herself!  Thandiswa, the older one has started an online typing course and is flying through the lessons with great enthusiasm. 

I am still loving teaching at the School of Hope.  Tourism is not an easy subject for the kids to master, and on Saturday I was sitting with a grade 10 girl, having to explain what the Waterfront is.  The Waterfront in Cape Town is one of the biggest tourism attractions in the city, with shops, restaurants and entertainment all situated around the harbour.  I was shocked that she had never been, and this is a girl who has lived in Cape Town all her life!  How can these kids even be expected to grasp the concept of tourism when they have never been on holiday in their lives?  I have almost completed a year of teaching and the poor learners of 2010 have really been my guinea pigs.  Many of them will pass my subject, but sadly some will fail, and I have learnt that with these kids, a little one-on-one time makes all the difference.  I hope to have a higher pass rate next year.  The hardest thing is when you do give one-on-one time to them, you become very attached and then you are opening yourself up to that pain that comes with caring for these amazing yet troubled young people.  Phew....not at all possible without God that's for sure!  

Ok, now I'm rambling again.  Well, its Sunday night and time for an early night I think!  God bless you all.