Let's Get
Creative (Article by Robin)
In March, I facilitated a lesson with Grade 10 and Grade 11 students
at our high school regarding a creative story writing assignment. At
the beginning of the lesson, I talked about how to introduce
characters and the setting. I discussed the three main points of
view (1st, 2nd, and 3rd person) and the 5 parts of a story. I gave
them a brief overview of how to write a story. Then I handed out a
worksheet to help the students write an outline or skeleton of their
story. I also gave them each a picture from a magazine and asked
them to use that as a starting point. The people in the pictures
became their characters which they had to name and the background in
the photo became their initial setting. I know that many people have
trouble just coming up with a story on their own. So the idea was to
use the magazine pictures as a starting point. We started with story
outlines, then I had them write a rough draft, then lastly the final
drafts of their creative stories. The goal of this project was to
try and develop the learners imaginative abilities, help them learn
and apply knowledge of the writing process, and especially help them
practice their English writing skills.
In the end, I got some great stories including a story about Captain
Masiya who is a captain of a ship who sails to a place where birds
will sing for you. But his two crewmen named Vincent and Reckson
were fighting to the death until Vincent killed Reckson and the ship
sank. Vincent then had to tell the tale of the ship's woes from
prison.
We also had a story titled “The Unusual Wedding” about a
beautiful wedding that took place on a ship in the middle of the
ocean. It was the wedding of Elizabeth and John. Everything ran
smoothly during the wedding until suddenly a storm came and shook the
boat and John fell overboard. Elizabeth then jumped into the water
and swam to save her love John. She carried him on her shoulders
back to shore and the couple lived happily ever after.
Another story was about a teenage girl who saves an entire village of
people who are suffering from heart disease by getting the whole town
to exercise. She called a town meeting and encouraged people to
exercise thereby saving people's lives.
We also had some sad stories including one about a teenage village
girl who is tricked by her school friends into going to the mall in
the big city and who then force her into having a “date” with an
older man who locks her in his car and rapes her. But then the girl
goes home and tells her mother what happened and they go to the
police who finds the man and puts him in jail for 50 years.
Speaking of stories, here is another short story written last year by
a grade 7 student who was attending Woody's computer classes. A few
of the Art Club boys came to the computer lab after school and Woody
taught them how to use the Paint program. In addition to drawing
pictures on the computer, he asked them to write a short story to go
along with the picture. The story is titled:
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| 3 Rooms by Isaac |
MY MOTHER'S
HOUSE
This room is divided in to 3 ROOMS.
The first room is for me and my brother.
The next room is for my two sisters.
The last room is for my father and my mother.
There is no shower but there is a bath room.
Where we bath in when it is cold.
There is swimming pool where we swim here when it is hot.
MY father keep our family BEAUTIFUL by planting trees (and) green
grass.
There are many trees that give us shadow.
When it is a time of fruits we eat more fruits like
Paw paws (papaya), mangoes, bananas and apples.
Story and picture by ISAAC (grade 7)
Show Me and I
May Remember (Article by Robin)
“Read the
directions and directly you will be directed in the right direction.”
~ Doorknob (Lewis Carroll,
Alice in Wonderland)
One observation that we have made while teaching here in South Africa
is that regardless of their literacy level and educational
background, many people are often more visual learners. People tend
to need to be shown rather than told how to do things. For example,
when we share an American food item with our host mom she often wants
to know how it was made. Once we baked her banana bread and she
loved it. So, she asked me how to make it and I wrote out the
recipe, read over it with her, and gave her the baking instructions.
But she still insisted that I come into her house that day and give
her a cooking demonstration on how to make it – never mind that it
was actually Woody and not me who made the bread. Also, while
teaching sewing classes, I've noticed that my students prefer that I
demonstrate something rather then give them the pattern instructions.
Once I was helping one of the students use the school's industrial
sewing machine. Since it is an industrial machine, I wasn't familiar
with how it needed to be threaded. So, while my student immediately
tried to thread the machine incorrectly, realizing that it wasn't
right, I took out the manual to see how it should be done while my
student stared in amazement that I would actually read the manual for
instructions. Also, although Woody has repeatedly tried to show
people how to use the 'Help' menu in Word or Excel, they still often
have trouble understanding how to do things just by reading the
instructions. So, he is left having to give a demonstration of how
to do something even though the person he is helping just finished
reading the step-by-step instructions in the Help menu. This also
might explain why the 'Self Help' section of the school libraries are
generally left untouched.
Having knowledge or knowing how to do something is highly prized here
in South Africa. In America and the 'West' in general, it's common
for people to freely give other people information. But that's not
always the case in Africa. People tend to guard their knowledge in
the same way that Americans might guard their personal items.
Knowledge is an expensive commodity here. So, taking the time to
show someone how to do something is highly revered. It shows that
you care enough about someone to share with them.
Nonetheless, visual learning is definitely not a bad thing. It just
means that we have to be more conscious of it when we are teaching
people here in South Africa. I know that I myself have certainly
gotten frustrated many times with sewing instructions that don't have
good pictures to better explain what to do and how to do it. And I
also have a funny story about Woody and a new washing machine when
once he didn't read the directions.
The Birthday
Race (Article by Robin)
What's
the best way to prove to yourself on your birthday that you are not
getting old? Why complete a marathon, of course... This year, the
Longtom marathon happened to land on my birthday. Again like
last year, Woody ran the 56K
ultra marathon and this time I walked the half marathon. So, I spent
my birthday walking my ass off until my hips were sore, my legs were
sore, and my feet had blisters. Um, what the hell was I thinking
doing this anyway??
 |
| Cold and foggy morning of the race |
We started the 21K at 7 AM in Mauchsberg at 2,150 m above sea level
at the top of a section of the Drakensberg mountains. It was quite
chilly that morning when we started the race due to the thick layer
of fog in the air. Typical me, not being dressed properly – I was
freezing since I was dressed for the heat in a short sleeved shirt.
Luckily I had brought along my trusty MP3 player which I didn't use
to listen to music – but instead to keep my inner ears warm as I
tend to get ear aches in cold windy weather. At the start of the
race, my race companions and I started out running mostly just to
keep warm. After we got our blood flowing again, we slowed down to a
brisk walking pace.
 |
| Me and one of my walking partners |
A
few kilometers in, we got to the first well equipped waterpoint where
people handed us water, soda, candy, bananas, and other high calorie
energy goodies. Which helped to keep my spirits up but didn't do me
much good for trying to burn calories off. Instead of burning
calories, I was consuming them. But damn, they were good! I guess
there should be some type of payoff for putting yourself through this
kind of grueling exercise. Anytime I was starting to get tired, at
least I knew that there was another waterstation coming up soon which
meant that I would get candy!
 |
| Woody coming in toward the finish line |
As the fog started to clear off, a beautiful view began to emerge.
We could finally look around us and saw a picturesque view of the
valley below and the surrounding mountains. As we descended down the
mountain, we eventually reached the town of Lydenburg. As we got to
the town, cars were literally running us off the road. By the time
my walking companions and I got about 13 or 14K into the race, there
were several of the faster 56K ultra people who were starting to pass
us. However, one cool part was when we got to see the first female
56K runner coming in to the finish line. Additionally, the one
female PCV in our group who ran the ultra marathon was the second
female to finish the ultra race and the first PCV ultra runner to
cross the finish line. It was great to see all these iron women. It
definitely made me wish that I had gotten my grandfather's marathon
running gene. Aaargh, why didn't I get that gene??
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| Woody and Robin at the finish line |
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| African Jackass Penguin |
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| A rock Hyrax ("dassie") at Table Mountain |
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| Woody and Robin at Cape Point |
Books for Africa (Article by Robin and Woody)
“We live in a world in which we need to share responsibility. It's easy to say "It's not my child, not my community, not my world, not my problem." Then there are those who see the need and respond. I consider those people my heroes." ~Fred Rogers
The progress on the new library at the high school is coming along well. The masonry work is finished and the roof is going up. Next we just need the electrical work and a few coats of paint. And of course books! We want to thank all of you who have donated to our Books for Africa project:
Helen Al-haddad
Rhoda & Ben Hill
Cely & Joe Alhaddad
Marla & Mohammad Al-Sulaihim
Tim Branaman
Kearstin Brewer
Jennifer Hill & Aaron Martin
Gillian Grant
Natalie Eckberg
The response we have received so far has been hugely positive, but a large gap remains between the money we have raised and our funding target. So far, our group of 10 PCVs have received donations totaling $8,475, about 53% of our total goal of USD $16,000. Clearly, we still have a lot of ground to cover and we won’t be able to do it without your support.
Please help us and take five minutes to follow the link to our project titled “We Succeed – Siphumelela”: https://www.booksforafrica.org/donate/to-project.html?projectId=98
1. Scroll down to the green “Donate Now” icon above the project description.
2. Fill out all the necessary information.
3. Under the “Additional Information” field on the donation form, please be sure to write the name of the US Peace Corps volunteer who you are sponsoring. For example please indicate: “Robin Alhaddad” as the name of the person who told you about Books for Africa.
4. Click “Next” and you’re done!
Method 2: Check
To pay by check:
1. Make out a check payable to: Books for Africa
2. Either add a post-it note or indicate on the memo section of the check that you are sponsoring “South Africa – We Succeed-SIPHUMELELA, Robin Alhaddad”
3. Mail the check to:
Books for Africa
253 East 4th St., Ste. 200
St. Paul, MN 55101 USA
Thank you so much for your contribution and for helping to make our kids futures just a little bit brighter!