Tuesday, December 30, 2008

My Farewell and King Makhosonke’s Closing Party



Last week schools here in South Africa officially closed, and while I am happy to be done with lessons and marking for a few weeks, I am also really sad to not see everyone each day, learners and staff.
However, the last days were memorable. With my heading back to the US, they gave me a farewell party – complete with a few speeches, gifts, a braii, and some jiving.
Way back in January when Abram, my principal, introduced me to the staff, he asked them to make me feel at home, and now, I am at home here. I have two homes and families now; I know I am very lucky!
At my closing party, one of the teachers (who I didn’t think liked me very much in the beginning, but now we are nice friends) said that they didn’t see the color of my skin, they just saw a beautiful African woman (they are so nice!!), and it is true – in the beginning, being the only white person for miles and miles, I really felt like I stood out. A few weeks ago, I went out shopping with my teacher friends here and we split up, I asked them where to meet, and they said they would find me – and I replied, but how? (ok, to clarify, I have not become the dumb blonde here, it is just that I totally forget I look different because I have been made to feel so at home here.)
My farewell party was so much fun, and the gifts from the staff were BEAUTIFUL!! An Ndebele beaded necklace, belt, bracelet, ear rings, sandals, keychain, and traditional doll. They were very, very generous, and I have to say I looked great! The party continued with everyone having a photo with me, then my fav foods woors and pap with tomato-onion gravy, and then some jiving.
Though my farewell party was done, the school year was not yet complete. Report cards still had to be written and mounds of paperwork to be completed. In addition, I decided to take on a couple of thank-you and I-will-be-back projects. The librarian and I tackled the scary bookroom; imagine thousands (literally) of books lining the shelves and them covering the floor in heaps at least two feet deep – books everywhere with no rhyme or reason – this was the scary bookroom. It took us two complete workdays to get most of it cleaned up and somewhat organized (hundreds of books had to be trashed because of mold too). This led to my next project – a school library.. The library building was constructed by the Dept of Ed several years ago, but it was never put to use as such and became a storage area for broken desks, pipes, doors, and all other things broken. Over the years, the building itself became somewhat a mess and in need of many repairs. So I used some funds and worked with the School Governing Board (Go Sis Rose and Maja!!) to hire contractors. (I have to say I have heard many stories-- all right, nightmares-- about contractors, but it really wasn’t too bad.) After a week, the library walls were patched and painted, the ceilings was repaired, and a new door and burglars were put into place. [next step, the SGB and school needs to remove the broken storage stuff and have shelves made – then the king Makhosonke Library will be ready. --- just a note to all of you: 1)Moloto (the area where the school is located) is a very economically depressed area and this library would be the first in the Moloto region 2) the library only has about 100 non-textbook books; basically, two sets of old encyclopedias and random books donated by a few organizations – the school has over 1000 learners and the Moloto region thousands of young people – this brings me to a note that I hope and plan to have book drives in the spring when I return to the states to help fill the shelves of King Makhosonke’s new library.
Last, the end had come – the final day of school was Tuesday, December 9th. Lots of last minute paperwork, handing out report cards to my advisory (40 learners), closing the lab for the last time, one last look at the library and newly painted 8 and 9th grade classrooms (another mini-project with some learners doing the painting – go Aubrey and friends!), and quite a few tears on my part. About noon, we knocked off and about 15 staff (myself included) hired a transport and headed to Hartesbeesport Dam for a closing party. One thing about trips here – the journey is half the fun - lots of music and laughter and some dancing along the way. We took quite a roundabout route, but the park was lovely with the Dam, waterfall, and river flowing by us. They sang and taught me a South African song (which I will try to remember); the song is a bit naughty, basically saying , “Hey, its just the two of us here (meaning no other spouses around), so turn out the lights.” Between singing, dancing, chatting, and eating, everyone had a great time – we didn’t get home till 11pm (which to NYC people may sound early, but let me tell ya, 8pm is considered “late” where I live here). Bye to everyone at KMSS – but I will be back to visit, I promise!

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