Lucienne Cross

Our first days in Johannesburg have felt very fulfilling and rewarding. Part of the group (Rocky, Kelsey and Carla) taught at Drill Hall, which is a community center in Hillbrow – a part of Johannesburg marked by new immigrants and urban decay. Drill Hall provides a safe and creative space for neighborhood children. Among those taught were dedicated artists and NGO workers. I had the privilege of teaching at Twilight Children’s Center with the rest of the group. Twilight, also in Hillbrow, is a shelter that nourishes “street children” with food, shelter and a loving refuge from the crime and drugs that tirelessly tempt them from the other side of the sliding blue gate.

The first day of teaching the module at Twilight was many of our first times. The day challenged us with obstacles from a broken down bus, to language barriers, and to restless students. After the first day, I felt discouraged. I began to doubt the effectiveness of my teaching and the success of the module. However, on the second day our progress restored my hope, and revealed the Pedagogy of Action’s real purpose. When Rahsaan and I were able to engage our students, by sitting outside in the sun and using interactive examples, they started to understand the information. But what was most exciting for me was how they were able to own the knowledge. It was not just about HIV. It was about watching how with each word and explanation they remembered and understood, they realized that this knowledge was theirs to own, and theirs to do something with. Kids made to feel powerless and intimidated slowly began to feel valuable, not only as integral parts of their community, but as leaders of their communities. They started to understand that they – usually recipients of activism – were also able to act upon their world.

Without even a complete explanation of their responsibility to continue spreading the module they had learned, the boys became excited and animated. “We will ask our friends at school to make the
module into a drama!” they proclaimed. “I will teach this in the HIV shelter I used to live in,” one decided.

All semester at the University of Michigan we talked about theories of empowerment. We read literature such as Paulo Freire’s “The Pedagogy of the Oppressed.” We discussed concepts of uncovering power in a world of injustice and powerlessness. However, this was not theory, it was not literature, and it was not a discussion with a group of dedicated students in an isolated class at the University of Michigan. It was empowerment, but the word “empowerment” looks foolish on paper compared to how it looked at Twilight. It was real empowerment; not only did we witness it, we inspired it.

Day three, however, made me realize that their natural desire to share the knowledge they now owned was not extraordinary. This desire comes from a long tradition of sharing – whether it was sharing their lunch or sharing their dance moves. At the graduation on Day three students from each of our groups presented the module collectively and received certificates of achievement as well as the Pedagogy of Action T-Shirts. Their teachers were taken aback that these boys from the streets had the courage, ability and knowledge to get up and teach an audience. They performed dances as a token of their culture. Rocky and Rahsaan shared some of their writings, and we sang “Hail to the Victors.” The ceremony ended in an open dance, with everyone dancing together as friends. We were wearing the same T-shirts, filling them with the same sentiments and pride. We were dancing the same moves (or trying to), owning the same knowledge and commitment to act – having shared in the process of empowering each other. By accepting me into their community they inspired me to feel that beyond spreading knowledge, that I could also spread hope.

Lucienne Cross – Teammate Pedagogy of Action 2009