We have had a busy 6 weeks here in Africa. There’s been a
general election, we’ve delved further into South African history, and burst
onto the sporting scene as a family. Grandma has visited from the UK spending a
lovely 2 weeks with us, and teaching at the township school is going well, as we reach mid-year
and the end of Term 2.
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| Grandma Carol, visiting from the UK. |
South African elections took place in May but realistically only ever have one winner, the African National Congress (ANC), the party formerly
run by Nelson Mandela. It has a tall mountain to climb and has been marred with
corruption in the last decade, but it does however have a good leader in Cyril
Ramaphosa. There are those who are apathetic, those who are frustrated and those
who are hopeful about politics and the future of South Africa. Election day is
a public holiday here. Whilst we decided to go on safari for the day, people
queued at polling stations to cast their vote. In South Africa, you can turn up
at any polling station in the country to vote so the verification process for
each person is quite lengthy. Everyone is marked with a black line on their
thumb nail so that they cannot go to a different polling station to vote again.
And social media is awash with photos of voting thumbs as people proudly state
that they voted and encourage others to do so.
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Propaganda from the biggest 3 parties.
The yellow poster is the ANC. |
The ANC, who gained a majority in this year’s general
election and who have been ruling for the last 25 years since the end of Apartheid,
have an incredible history. Mum and I went to a suburb called Rivonia, which is
5 minutes from where we live in Lonehill, where a museum now stands on the
property of an old farm called Lilieslief. Rivonia back in the early 60’s was a
rural area occupied by only whites. The ANC, who had been driven underground by
the ruling Afrikaans party, secretly bought the farm and covertly ran their
head quarters from it. A white family lived in the farmhouse so as not to raise
suspicions, and Nelson Mandela worked as Thomas, a farm helper. The ANC had
tried for many years by passive means to bring about change in South Africa, but, as the rights for black people were withdrawn, the ANC felt the only way to
make the Afrikaans party listen was by force. It was during a meeting where they
were plotting to overthrow the government, that an unassuming dry-cleaning van
pulled up at the farm. Out jumped the special forces, and the covert operation was over.
‘The Rivonia 10’, both black and white men, faced trial and it was from here
that Nelson Mandela spent 27 years in prison, mostly on Robben Island. To top off what
was an incredible morning, we sat chatting with a gentleman at the museum who
told us that he himself had been imprisoned on Robben Island with Nelson
Mandela for 6 years and that Mandela had taught him, with some resistance, that
he must befriend ‘the enemy’, the whites, as they were also trapped in the
system of Apartheid. A truly amazing story.
Luckily, the one thing that seems to subvert politics is
sport and we have thoroughly immersed ourselves in it. Amelie has taken up
netball with the girls at school, and after a few lessons in the garden, is
absolutely flying, playing both attacking and defensive positions.
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| Amelie after her 1st netball match. |
Elowen was
quite adamant that she wanted to play soccer with the boys. I was surprisingly
reluctant to let her, as I had travelled that same path at her age and know the
heartache that comes with being different. But she wasn’t fooled by my subtle
coercion, and now stands proudly on the soccer pitch shoulder to shoulder (or shoulder to elbow, she’s
tiny) with the boys. Go Elowen!
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| Elowen getting stuck in at a soccer tournament. |
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| With Grandma and Joel after a soccer match. |
All 3 children are playing hockey for our local
hockey club at Morningside Country Club. The girls have picked it up quickly
and while Joel is happy to go along, he would rather stand with the stick up
his top and with his back to the ball. Maybe he’ll be more inclined next year…
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| Amelie, Elowen and Joel at a hockey tournament. |
I have also started playing hockey again after a few years out, both with the
same club as the children and with a Masters’ team (I qualify as a senior in
sport!). The former is quite serious with training and a coach, the latter is
more relaxed with drinks of the alcoholic variety consumed before, during
and after the games. I’m not a drinker myself but it seems to work as we are on
a winning streak!
At Riversands Primary School, which is where I teach twice a
week, the children are making huge strides in their understanding of English
and with their reading and writing. Little Naledi *, who started out this year with
very little spoken English has made great progress. She not only knows the
sounds of letters but can blend them together and reads 3 letter words
beautifully. Her vocabulary has grown, and we have lots of chats about home and
what she is learning.
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| With little Naledi |
Nkosi* however is harder work. He has a very good command
of the English language but is really struggling to be able to blend sounds
together. After speaking to my sister, Hannah, who is a Special Educational Needs
Coordinator in the UK, I am now armed with some tools to help him and make
learning fun. We are progressing, just at a slower rate. I’m sure we will get
there.
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| Practising drawing letters in the sand with Nkosi |
The charity which runs the reading and writing program, The
Link, have 2 buildings on the school property. And sadly, they have both been
broken into this past month, twice. The jacks supporting the portacabin have
been stolen, and all the cables out of the second building were taken both
times, along with our tea urn. It makes you realise what poverty is up against
in this township school. Our buildings are now alarmed so hopefully it won’t
happen again.
And talking of breaking in… When it starts getting cold
outside here, the ants find a way of getting inside the house and become quite
a problem. Like us humans they head straight for the sweets cupboard and start
living their best life on the honey or in the sugar. I have found that white
vinegar seems to disrupt the party, and so it has become my cleaning product of
choice. As it begins to warm up again in September, hopefully they will
disappear back outside. Until next year…
I hope you are all enjoying the warm summer days and long
evenings. We are evermore aware of the incredible history of this country, the
lasting effects on society, and all the wonderful sporting opportunities
afforded to us out here. Even if it is chilly by night.
Lots of love, Jess xxx
* The children's names have been changed to protect their identity.
