Meeting the students

My students' level of dedication is impressive. Contrasted with the attitude of the average Canadian student, it is all the more striking—they want to be here and they want to succeed. They recognize what most of us as students in Canada do not, that education is a blessing and should not be taken for granted. They are well-disciplined, hard-working, and respectful. Yet for all of them, English is their second language, or 'first additional language' as it's called in the South African education system.

Their native language is siSwati. Learning in English is a constant struggle for them and unfortunately it's an uphill swim. The South African education system is certainly not geared towards empowerment: The solution for the poorer performance of impoverished black South Africans has been to constantly lower the passing grade (it now stands at 30%). This, I gather, is easier than improving the quality of teaching which might actually provide students with the means to succeed.

The goal of the Forward Education Program is to improve the student’s education and teach them the skills needed to succeed and gain entry to universities or other institutions of higher learning. This will empower the students, rather than simply push them through the system, and enable them to return to their communities as stronger and better-equipped leaders.

Strengthening a community from within is really the only way to build it up in the long run. By investing in these youth we hope to see a lasting improvement in their lives, the lives of their families, and the community as a whole. It is by small but crucial steps that this can be accomplished. As I would learn later in the week, the Forward Education Program is only one small component of the comprehensive development network known as Masoyi Home-Based Care.

Later that day I went for a drive for the first time out here. This was an interesting experience. Not only do people drive on the left-hand side of the road, but drivers are actually maniacal for the most part. Passing others at astonishingly high speeds on hills or blind corners is commonplace, if not outright expected. One has to drive on the extreme left part of the road, often on the shoulder in fact, in order to avoid being hit by passing automobiles.

Many people don’t possess drivers’ licenses. Most don’t know how to drive. Taxis are the worst—small minibuses, loaded with people, traveling at inappropriately high speeds. The day before I arrived, a taxi rear-ended one of our Kombis (a VW Microbus) being driven by two of my housemates and carrying all of my Forward students. It spun around, flipped over, and landed on the roof in the opposite lane facing backwards. God must have been with them, because not one of them was injured. It was still a traumatic experience.