Reach for the Stars

Happy St. Patrick’s Day! I woke up this morning and I could have sworn I was back in Ireland. I looked out my window and it was cold, damp and miserable. With the sea in the background I thought I might have been in a caravan at Cranfield. Thankfully the day has warmed up a little but there is a definite change in seasons approaching. Whereas you guys at home are maybe experiencing some ‘nicer’ weather as summer approaches, I’ve found myself wearing my sweats in the evenings as the southern hemisphere winter approaches. Still, I don’t think it’s going to be much of a winter! One of the unfortunate side effects of this changing of season is that I have been struck down with a heavy cold for most of the last week so I apologise in advance if there’s not much of note within this entry. I’m on the verge of full recovery now though and just about ready to be let loose on South Africa again!

I’ll begin with my trip to Cape Recife High School last Friday as part of our alternative placement. The school, situated right beside the university, serves children in the entire Eastern Cape who suffer from cerebral palsy or specific learning difficulties. The students at this school are taught from the national curriculum and are given the opportunity to ‘matriculate’, that is to finish school, with the same qualifications as any mainstream child. My first impression of the school was that it was like a giant labyrinth as the corridors seemed to go on and on and on. I later found out that the corridors in the school stretched to 2.6km in total and were all on the one level to accommodate wheelchair usage. I guess that’s one way of making a place disability accessible. I observed a Biology, or Life Sciences, lesson where the children had to provide their own resources for the experiments and talk through every stage of the experiment so as to affirm understanding of the task. I have to say at this stage that I’m really missing teaching Primary School kids. I thought I would easily be able to interact with older kids but I genuinely am finding it something of a barrier. I’ve also found it difficult thinking of activities for secondary children which are exciting but not patronising as I am so used to using activities which are based at children of primary school age. Primary teaching is definitely more fun but I am prepared to work at improving my skills in working with older children and will hope to become more comfortable with teaching them as I progress through my teaching practise after Easter break.

Back to Cape Recife though, which really was the only thing of note to happen in my week! After break we were taken on a tour around the school by one of the teachers and a pupil. The school has facilities for physiotherapy, occupational therapy and speech and language therapy. Although the facilities perhaps don’t look top of the range the staff who were using them seemed to be really passionate about improving the quality of the children’s lives and this was an attitude shared through the teachers in the school who seem to have a genuine passion for their kids. One teacher told us of how she takes one of the boarding kids to our house on some weekends and looks after him, which shows that a teacher’s job stretches way beyond the classroom. I would hope to develop this passion for the children I teach, not only at the beginning of my career but throughout it and until the day I retire. The school also houses a very large swimming pool and a hydrotherapy pool to aid the process of physiotherapy. I was touched by my short time at this school by the desire of the children to succeed, by the passion of the teachers to help their children and even more so by the stories of the children. One boy was placed in a wheelchair at the age of 5 after being struck by a car. He has prevailed against his perceived disability though and is about to matriculate and has gained provincial colours in tennis…a true inspiration in fighting against the odds. I noticed in a school publication that some of the children took inspiration from Natalie du Toit, the South African swimmer who lost her leg in a motorcycling accident in 2001. Not to be out done, Natalie went on to compete not only in the Paralympics but also in the Olympics without the use of a prosthetic leg. Du Toit quotes the following:

‘The tragedy of life does not lie in not reaching your goals;
The tragedy of life lies in not having goals to reach for.
It is not a disgrace not to reach for the stars,
But it is a disgrace not to have stars to reach for.’

The children in Cape Recife refuse to lie down and be branded as failures or as having no hope. They will set goals for themselves and they will work hard with their teachers to achieve those goals and more often than not they will achieve them because of their determination!

In terms of anything else happening in the last 7 days I honestly can’t think of much else that was of note beside my sickness. The Warriors won the Pro20 Cup on Friday night so the city went into jubilation but unfortunately due to the lack of tickets I had to watch from my sofa! I’ve also been selected to play for the NMMU ‘Bangers’ Hockey side which I’m not exactly sure entails. The word ‘Bangers’ doesn’t perhaps auger well but I’m looking forward to playing competitive hockey again no matter what the standard.

That’s about it for action in my life but I have used my time off to read some things and to educate myself. I never realised that wikipedia was such an amazing thing! It has so many interesting articles for reading, and although it may not all be 100% factual, it certainly offers an education. For example, I learnt about this week about who St. Patrick actually was. If anyone hasn’t read his ‘confession’ I suggest they do so because it gives an incredible insight into the man who is indeed our patron saint. (http://www.cin.org/patrick.html). I’ve also learnt a bit more about Unionism in Ireland in preparation for one of my assignments and about Victoria Falls where I hope to visit over Easter break. It’s actually really fun to learn new things and things which aren’t directly related to my prescribed course of study.

So, who would have thought that exactly a year on from my getting swept out to sea at the White Rocks in Portrush that I would be sitting at the other side of the world writing to you on the day when the rest of the world celebrates ‘Irish’ culture. It should be a fun night…I hope I can show them that not all Irish are alcoholics!