On Friday, Andrea and I went with Gail to her school, Windermere High School. It is located in a very disadvantaged area and has about 650 students in grades 7-12 and only about 20 teachers. Funding for the school comes from student fees which are R700 per year (about $106). By comparison, the fees at a more affluent school nearby are R17,000 (about $2,575). Gail teaches multiple subjects and multiple grade levels. Classes are much larger than what we are used to, with some teachers having as many as 64 students in one class. Lessons after third grade are all taught in English, even though for most of the kids English is their second, third, or fourth language. After 12th grade, all students have to take the "matric," an exit exam that must be passed to go on to University or for certain jobs, and that test is only given in English.
These boys wanted to have their picture taken with me.
Security is an issue, so the school grounds are enclosed by fences topped with razor wire. Many houses or subdivisions are also behind such fences and/or gates.
Inside the school, many halls and rooms also have bars.
After touring the school and talking to several classes, Gail took us to an outbuilding to meet with her student ambassadors, a special group of kids that she works with, along with Runaldo from the local Adopt-A-Pet organization. They take the kids and some rescued animals to visit a center for the disabled. It is a very positive experience for the residents and also for the kids.
The kids decided they wanted to sing something for us, so they quickly put this together.
Before we left, every single one of those kids hugged us and thanked us for coming. It was very touching.
The fourth grade class had 48 students.
We spent some time visiting with the principal, Professor Isaacs. The Professor was a prisoner for 13 years on Robben Island where he was known as "the teacher" because he taught the other inmates.
Here I am with Andrea, Professor Isaacs, Paul, and Paul's wife.
From there, we drove to Adopt-A-Pet, a no-kill shelter for dogs and cats, but they also treat horses there.
We visited lots of rescued dogs and cats.
We also watched Runaldo and an assistant putting a microchip into a dog being adopted. (This puppy reminded me of our old dog, Josie.)
We had to go back to Kirstenbosch in the afternoon to share our experiences, but we were running late and still needed to eat lunch, so to save time we went through the drive-up window at McDonald's. It was really weird to hear Gail order a Big Mac, and then to eat a Quarter Pounder with Cheese in the back seat of a '94 Toyota Corolla hurtling across Cape Town.
After our debrief, each pair of U.S. teachers went home with a local teacher for dinner. Gail's friend, Kevin, also a teacher, drove us around all day, and we actually went to his home for a braai (barbeque). When we went in the front door, we found an elderly lady standing there with a stick held up over her head. It was a little disconcerting, but it turned out that she was Kevin's 79-year-old mother, and she wasn't trying to hit us; she had just used the stick to help her close the curtains.
We were made to feel at home right away and put to work in the kitchen. Kevin's mom directed Andrea in the making of beer bread. While it was baking, Gail helped me make koeksisters, fried dough dipped in a simple syrup and coated with coconut. They were delicious! AND we got to eat them before we ate dinner!
During the evening, various family members came by. Here we are with Gail, her mom, her son, and her brother.
Gail was happy with the t-shirt and backpack I brought her from my school.
When it was time to leave, Kevin discovered his car battery had died, so he needed a push to get a jump from Paul's car.
It was sad to say goodbye to our new friends, but I hope to keep in touch. They are all very special people.
