Today was a long, full day. We began with a quick drive to Diepsloot to help proctor examinations for potential LEAP 4 students.
Afterwards, we drove 2 hours to Cullinan, a little spot off in Pretoria east. LEAP 3 hosted a study camp for their matric students as they prepare for exams. We only stayed with them for a few hours in the afternoon, and only had a few opportunities to engage with the students.
For me, this proved to be challenging. I have struggled to engage with new students, again and again, and remember that my time here is limited. I don’t have time to just sit on the outside and observe. I must begin straight away to participate. But I am intimidated by language barriers, and also, by a sort of subconscious inclination to just stay to the side.
We had an opportunity to reflect with the students, discussing, What was I like when I came to LEAP, and how have I changed? We were instructed to find two natural items that resembled our experience. I also shared with them part of my own struggle of how I came to LEAP, and how I feel that I have changed. The natural item that I selected was a bit of dirt from the ground. This represents how I came here sort of on shifting grounds, because of the tragic circumstances of the week that I left. I didn’t know how to stand, where to place my feet, what was my foundation. The item I selected for where I am now was a stick that branched off in two directions, symbolizing the opportunity I have to choose how I will move forward from now.
After our reflections, we talked generally about the United States, and how our cultures are different. I honestly don’t know what good my sharing was. I don’t know how four or five hours with them this afternoon could have made any difference at all, but I shared openly and honestly, and so I guess that’s about as good as it gets, neh? This was a very full Saturday. I am wishing for a weekend.
its great to have u in our school and ur da est teacher one could ask for and hope that u'll tell ur learners back in the u.s abt us and ur experience in diepsloot and africa we will deeply miss u wen u leave bt u will always be in our minds and heart, love u by bryhton from leap 4
ReplyDeletei know that desire to sit on the side and watch a bit before stepping in. in a classroom, when we're the teacher, we don't have that luxury. getting to know students is fabulous; it's simultaneously exhilarating and exhausting.
ReplyDeletei think it would be hard when you know you'll likely never see the students again.
i love what you are doing, how you are risking, how the risking leads you into healing.
on my part, i love my little class of recent high school grads, and i will miss them after the five-week session.
You have to learn to approach each situation with the knowledge that we all feel the same and we all have the feeling that we are not sure what we have that is important, however, we leave impressions, seeds everywhere we go, we may not see them grow but we can put ourselves out there honestly and hope that we did something positive in the world. I know you are doing this Kay, keep up the great work! I loved your comparisons to soil and limb, very strong and powerful, Deb
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