Oan de Waal
I had a great experience in the Lowveld! Was a fun experience and I learned a lot. Because I live near where we stayed, it was quite convenient. But even though i live close by, I have never been to that area. Speaking Zulu sure helped me working with our students.
Because these people never worked on computers, we were very limited in what we could teach them, which was, to be honest, frustrating sometimes. Luckily there were about 3 people that already knew computer skills and Microsoft Office. We could give them a brief introduction to programming with a program called Alice.
I have come to the insight that, when you not only teach to learn others, but you teach others and you gain personally from it as well. I have learned to use my patience, and lots of it. Luckily it's something that comes naturally. Another skill which came in handy, which I had to adopt, was to think outside of the box and explain on a different level.
We don't appreciate the things we take for granted, things like running water, flushing toilets, green grass (any grass for that matter) and many more. These people we worked with don't have these luxuries.
Overall, it was a great experience! Would do it again. Not only because is was so fun, but also the fact
that I have learned many things and gained a lot personally.
I have come to the insight that, when you not only teach to learn others, but you teach others and you gain personally from it as well. I have learned to use my patience, and lots of it. Luckily it's something that comes naturally. Another skill which came in handy, which I had to adopt, was to think outside of the box and explain on a different level.
We don't appreciate the things we take for granted, things like running water, flushing toilets, green grass (any grass for that matter) and many more. These people we worked with don't have these luxuries.
Overall, it was a great experience! Would do it again. Not only because is was so fun, but also the fact
that I have learned many things and gained a lot personally.
Niel van der Walt
The laughter of playing children is the most uplifting sound there is. Over the past 2 weeks, I have had the privilege to see the excitement of these kids as they jostled to get space in the computer room to learn about this new world of technology that has been opened up to them.
It was not always easy, to teach youngsters and parents alike something that was completely new to them. There where frustrations at times, like having to repeat oneself at least 20 times to convey a simple instruction like minimising an open window. This is especially significant since there were only 25 learners.
At other times we had to explain the intricacies of the technology that our students where using in order for them to appreciate it. Our efforts were valiant, but I still can’t help but think that I was the only one who learnt anything out of this: specifically the meaning of the term “a blank stare”.
Even though our mandate was to teach these people how to handle computers, I felt the need to impart to our students the correct mindset that they need to face the world of technology. I reminded them that children learn to use computers the fastest not because of some inherent capability granted to them by their age, but simply because kids are adventurous, love to explore new things and aren’t generally concerned with the fear of breaking something by accident. If anyone maintains these characteristics while being taught the world of computers, they will progress an order of magnitude faster than anyone else. I really saw a number of learners take this to heart.
None the less, by the end of the 2 weeks I could see a large improvement in the ability of the students to follow the instructions given to them. I could see their confidence improving greatly in the use of computers, along with the consequent increase in ability to discover how to use computers on their own. When I left Mavimbela Primary School for the last time, I could not help but feel that even through all the difficulties of the 2 weeks, what ultimately made my work worthwhile, was the laughter of the children as they ran home, knowing that their horizons have been infinitely broadened in the knowledge that the world of technology is well within their reach.
Derick Pretorius
I had a wonderful time in the Lowveld. The teachers and children at Suikerland Secondary School were very friendly and we could see that they really tried to make our stay as pleasant as possible. They were willing to learn and there was always someone who wanted to know even more…
We even had the pleasure of having the principle and his wife in one of our groups and were very pleased when we could even teach them a few cool shortcuts and functions.
Some of the kids were very good on the computer and I could really see that with a bit of encouragement and help they might even get in to programming as a career.
The lodge we stayed in was in a league of their own and with great serves and spectacular food, it made the stay even better.
I would like to thank Rio Vista Lodge and the personnel of Suikerland Secondary School for a pleasant stay.
Johan van Staden
Please scroll down for English.
Dit is nie die eerste keer wat ek betrokke is by ‘n gemeenskapsprojek nie. Dit het die gevolg gehad dat ek baie slegter toestande verwag het, aangesien ek nie veel van die area en die skool waarheen ons gestuur is, vooraf geweet het nie. Min het ek ook vooraf geweet dat die twee weke van ons besoek in Malelane een vol van verrassings en oomblikke van verbasing sal wees.
Ek was verbaas om te sien dat die skool waar ons geplaas was eintlik baie netjies is. Tog kon mens ook sien dat die skool nie welaf is nie aangesien die gemeenskap wat die skool voed baie arm is. Dit is daarom baie duidelik dat die geld wat die skool het, baie wys spandeer word.
Ek was weereens verbaas toe die skoliere almal in skooldrag opdaag by hul eerste klas. Hul het die res van die twee weke elke dag met hul skooluniform opgedaag vir klas. My verbasing het nie daar geëindig nie. Die skoliere was uiters goed gedissiplineerd. Ek en Derick het nie een maal nodig gehad om ons stemme dik te maak of te grom nie. Die leerders het dit in werklikheid baie aangenaam gemaak vir my en Derick.
Ek was verras deur die spoed waarteen die skool leerders en die gemeenskapslede geleer het. Verder was ek ook verbaas oor die bereidwilligheid van die mense om te leer!
Die wonderlikste verbasing was dat die mense en veral die skoolleerders elke dag ‘n glimlag op my gesig kon plaas.
Ek het ‘n paar ou filosofieë bevestig in hierdie twee weke:
- Moenie vir iemand vis gee indien jy vir hom ‘n visstok kan gee nie. Nadat mens die visstok vir hom gegee het, leer hom hoe om dit te gebruik ook!
- Waar daar arm en onkundige mense is, daar sal jy ‘n slinkse, skelm sakeman kry wat hierdie mense uitbuit.
- Geen goeie daad sal ongestraf bly nie.
- Maak nie saak wat jou situasie is nie, as mens mooi kyk, lank staar en fyn konsentreer sal jy altyd ‘n rede kan vind om te glimlag.
- Jy kan op verskillende maniere probeer, maar daar is geen manier waarop mens iemand anders by ‘n bult ophelp sonder dat jy nie self ook bo uitkom nie.
Dit was vir my ‘n wonderlike ervaring. Ek hoop om weer in die toekoms betrokke te kan wees by PumaScope.
English version:
It wasn’t the first time that I was part of ‘n community project. This caused me to expect much worse conditions as I didn’t know anything about the school or the area to which we were sent. I also didn’t know that the two weeks in Malelane would hold so many surprises for me.
I was surprised to see that the school was very neat. One can see that money is a problem because the community around the school was very poor. This led to my conclusion that the money the school spends, is spent wisely.
I was surprised when all the school learners arrived dressed in their school uniform every day for the whole two weeks. Another surprise was that the learners was very well disciplined. Derick and I didn’t need to scorn at the learners, not even once. The learners made our experience very pleasant.
I was surprised when I say how fast everyone learned and how willing everyone was to learn.
The most wonderful surprise that I got was that the people, especially the school learners, placed a smile on my face every day.
I confirmed some of my philosophies during these two weeks:
- Don’t give a person fish if you can give him a fishing rod. Remember to teach that person how to use the fishing rod.
- No good deed goes unpunished.
- No matter what the situation, if you look carefully, you will find a reason to smile.
- You can try to do it in different ways, but there is no way you can help someone to reach the top of a hill without reaching the top yourself.
It was a wonderful experience. I hope I can help PumaScope again in future.
