Hey everyone, so this is pretty much the most amazing day of work since we have been at Ikamva for the past three weeks. In two days in the field previously, Matt and I were able to visit only four sites. Today alone we visited fifteen. FIFTEEN!!! We might actually be able to accomplish something spectacular here. When we were leaving Ikamva after our long day of work, Matt and I were saying that we truly believe that we can create something special that Ikamva can use going forward in continuing its mission of developing within the townships.
So, as I said, Matt and I visited fifteen different sites in two different townships, the townships of Wallacedeen and then Bloekompos. We finished all of the crèches/preschools in Wallacedeen and got a great start in Bloekompos. We worked today with former “foot soldiers” Martha and Notemba. There is something humbling about being in a car with two friends who speak a different language and know that they are making fun of you, haha. We know this because we learned some Cosa and Matt and I both heard some words that we know were directed at us.
After we had lunch at KFC (which are EVERYWHERE here) with them, they warmed to us. We told them about us, our life stories, and they told us there. For instance, Martha has been working with Ikamva since 1992, working as a footsoldier, as well as maintaining her own two crèches. She told us that she has three children, and one grandchild.
Notemba is also a former footsoldier who runs her own crèche. She has been with Ikamva since 1993. Notemba has had three children, but one of them died. He died while as a student at the University of Cape Town. He was studying graphic design. She also has a daughter who is a teacher at her crèche. She has four grand children.
As I said, they really opened up to us when we told them our life stories. They especially enjoyed hearing that both of my parents are former teachers, and that my girlfriend is going to be a teacher. They were stunned when I told them how hot it gets in Arkansas. I’m not sure if they understood that I was talking about Fahrenheit and not Celsius when I said it would get over 100. I’m going to assume that they did, but the way they reacted was quite interesting.
Anyway, back to the original story. We went to fifteen different crèches. Some of these sites were amazing and some were very sad. Not sad as in I look down on the people who run them, but sad that this is where children must go because this is all that is available. Some of these sites are structures constructed out of plywood, and some even cardboard, and all had leaks. They are more day cares than schools, which is no slight to the women who run them. They are providing a great service to the townships, but the education curriculum is devastatingly lacking. I think this is what makes me the saddest about the townships; in my opinion, education is the great equalizer and these children are given NO chance to compete with an ever-globalizing world and economy. It is truly sad.
Sorry, mini-rant. Now we are back to the original story. As I was saying, with regards to our project, the day was fantastic. We are finally getting going, and we are hitting it hard. If we can average 10 sites a day even, we believe that we will really create a very useful and detailed database of the over 300 sites that Ikamva is invested in. We got the plot maps today and the Access database is completed, so we are now going full throttle with project. Thank you everyone! Good night!
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