Another day dawns

More Whizz Kidz

I had another wonderful & very interesting day yesterday at the centre yesterday. It is funny that in this type of place the world over – that there are some staff who are initially a little wary – slightly standoffish? On my first day a couple of staff although perfectly pleasant – were visibly cautions. So yesterday – I sat back – observed & waited. And what do you know. Slowly they came to me.

“Please Kate can you help me to understand how I can get “X” or “Y” to pay attention or to learn more”. Then – I knew I had been accepted. Now it was quite a challenge to explain things to some of these people. Their first language is Zulu – not English & their comprehension is not what it may seem. Couple that with my Irish accent & the way I tend to talk quite quickly & not a brilliant start. Anyway – I managed it & with a lot of simple explanation & some demonstration – they got it. It really was heartening & something I will never forget.

I spent some time in the class with the younger children. One little boy who had recently had a brain operation to control his epilepsy – had previously had quite a lot of speech. Now he struggles to speak & has only a few words that can be understood & a number of words that are difficult to decipher. He got so frustrated trying to name things or say what he wanted & so kept bursting into floods of tears. He needs Speech & Language Therapy – but his family can not afford to pay. One word he can say is please – which he does frequently while holding his arms out to be picked up & cuddled. How can a person resist – although a sponsor for his therapy would be more useful I guess.

Sarah – the tutor who is really eager to learn made a point of finding me & asking, “What can you teach me today”. So I spoke to the principal – got her duties covered for a couple of hours & did a one on one session on how to devise common sense proactive & reactive behaviour management plans. She soaked it up like a sponge & by the end of the session – with a little guidance – she had devised a plan for a child in her group. Even Blessed – the tea lady kept bringing me cups of coffee every half an hour. That’s what I call progress.

And the politics / dynamics – well – there is unrest everywhere it would seem. Some members of staff don’t get along or seemingly can’t work together – so moving people around to maximise on skill development is not easy. And promotion from group assistant to group tutor – (while it is not written anywhere) is based upon length of service rather than suitability for the job. But the new principal is working on it – though she will have anarchy if she changes things too much or too quickly.

I had drinks with my neighbours last night – they supply vegetables to 80% of the supermarkets in South Africa. They were really interested in my experiences & are totally genuine giving people. Consequently they have not only offered to supply each child with a free box of vegetables every day to take home. (Many of the kids have very poor diets) But have also offered to look at any funding proposals for potential sponsorship of children & to pass funding proposals to other business contacts. Even with the vegetable donation alone – the gratitude shown to me was immense. I was hailed at a hero & an ace fund raiser!

For every child that the centre caters for there are many many more that are out of school - who would benefit form the service – but whose families can not afford the fees. The centre has assessed a number of children who are suitable – but have yet to start because sponsors have not been found. The cost per year is 15.000 rands a year - just over £1.000. Doesn’t sound a lot - but is a lot of money to the local people. I feel a “direct debit” coming on!

All in all I had another awesome day. And there is something quite refreshing in “getting back to basics”. I had planned to give myself a week off next week – but will do a couple more days at the centre – in between going on Safari. Sitting on the beach while nice – pales into insignificance by comparison.

I was given allegedly better directions to get back yesterday. Given that I am getting quite blaze about my navigation abilities – I decide to disregard my known route & go back the “much easier” route that had been described to me. Oh my God! What a hairy scary experience. I am not sure if I made a mistake (quite likely) of if the directions were wrong. But I didn’t pick up the freeway & ended up driving through the worst area in Durban city. The traffic was at a standstill – there were hawkers everywhere. People coming up to the window of the car & trying to sell you stuff. My neighbours the day before – had told me to “never drive there”. They said that it is not unusual for the guys selling stuff to have a knife of a gun & to rob you right there in the middle of the city. I locked the door & decided that rather than look like a tourist – I would look mean. So I made my best / meanest “Belfast Bitch” face – stared them down & despite their persistence in attracting my attention & trying to sell me crap – I was having none of it. I still didn’t manage to find the N2 – the main freeway north – but found my way back regardless. Frightening – but strangely liberating also. Although – I will do my best to avoid doing that again!!


I may not have time to update the blog again until the end of next week. But rest assured – I will be having a great time. I want to say a huge thank you to all who read the blog & who have left comments. Knowing that my friends & family on the other side of the world are following my adventure – is good for my soul.