Dispatches:
Sahana Prasad
Michael Williams
Jasmyne Jackson
Zakiyah Sayyed
Rocky Block
Mansi Goyal
▸ Noelle Sanford
Porscha Kazmierczak
Raina LaGrand
Randy Dowding
Ann O’Neill
Sithembiso Nkosi
Jasmine Ishmael
Carson Phillips
Simisola Oyeleye
Rocky Block with Fazela Haniff
Dr. Nesha Haniff Conclusion
Our fourth dispatch is written by Raina LaGrand, who just graduated with a degree in Women’s Studies, Sociology and Anthropology.she is a returning POAer. Noelle Sanford also graduated in Women’s Studies and Porscha Kazmierczak also recently graduated with a degree in Theatre Directing. They all write about their experiences in teaching the children at Charles Hugo Primary School. In this video you get a glimpse of the teaching process with the Primary school students teaching back in front of the whole school. Of Interest is the hilarioous translation between two Jabulo and Lindo from zulu to English a requirement of the process.
Enjoy, Nesha Z. Haniff
Learning the True Meaning of Trust and Generosity
May 23, 2012 marked our final day at Charles Hugo Primary School in Durban, South Africa. As the POA team finished our closing performance, consisting of a Motown medley, a rhythm of steps, and the Wobble line dance, we were embraced with warm hugs, thoughtful goodbyes, and poignant tears. The last four days spent with the staff and students truly left an indelible impact on all of our hearts. From the first day we walked through the school’s double doors we were welcomed with benevolent smiles by the 1,200 students enrolled at the school. The first day was spent becoming acquainted with the sixth grade level students selected to learn the module. We played games from our primary school days including “Sharks and Minnows” and “I, I Captain”. We also played new games, introduced by the students, including- “Poison Letter A” and a variety of circle hand games. We left that day admiring their multiple talents: acrobatics, dancing, singing, and rapping. We also learned their future aspirations of becoming lawyers, doctors, engineers, and their passion for knowledge. The next two days were spent teaching the module. The students had an impressive amount of background knowledge about the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Therefore, the module served as a mechanism to enhance their information of HIV/AIDS and provide their young minds with the tools to make their future goals a reality.
As previously mentioned, our group was filled with remarkable adolescents, but Tanya Reddy was an immediate standout. She won the POA Team Members’ attention with her hip-hop rendition of Drake’s hit single The Motto. She learned the module the quickest in her group and willingly helped her classmates sustain the material. She even offered new interactive ideas for the lesson including composing a song about HIV/AIDS transmission, prevention, and management in the community. Though we were not with the children long enough to arrange the song, I was inspired by Tanya’s generosity for her community of classmates, and for me. Every break, she would ensure I, as well as the other POA members in the group, were fed biscuits that were sold in the school’s snack line. She also encouraged her fellow colleagues in icebreakers, and with the module. As we prepared for the final teach back of the module Tanya began to cry. During the break, she dropped her lunch which she informed us was her only meal since the previous afternoon. This startled me because I was not aware of the tenuousness of Tanya’s meals . She always came to school eager to learn with an optimistic demeanor. Luckily, the school was serving soup later on in the day for the students, including Tanya. From Tanya, I learned the meaning of trust and generosity. With her trust she welcomed me, a complete stranger, into her life, and her heart. As a young adult, I have difficulties placing my trust in others. Through Tanya’s innocence, I now understand trust is inevitable in order to empower communities. I also now understand the power of generosity and the desire to help others, with the objective of alleviating social injustice. Every day since Tanya has been a rewarding one because I am now able to appreciate the positives while recognizing the negatives with a smile.
“True generosity lies in striving so that these hands – whether of individuals or entire peoples – need be extended less and less in supplication, so that more and more they become human hands which work and, working, transform the world.” –Paulo Freire
Noélle E. Sanford
Pedagogy of Action Team Member 2012
This is a short clip of the teaching process conducted at Charles Hugo Primary in Durban, South Africa. It shows the POA team teaching the students followed by the students teaching back in English, Zulu and then a final teach back in both languages in front of the entire school.
