Cranford Review 2010-2011 (Annual edition 2011)

Teaching in a little village in Swaziland
Volunteering at a School and Orphanage in India
One of the highlights of my visit was the way I had to get around.
Mr Gutierrez who has been teaching in a little village in Malawi,
took 2 days by road to get to Swaziland (that included a 24 hour bus,
a lift on a massive trailer and also travelling on the back of a pickup
truck). I, on the other hand flew to Johannesburg from London,
but not in style, as the hand luggage compartments
in the plane kept randomly opening and the crew
kept telling me to go help myself in the kitchen
if I wanted more water. Once in Johannesburg
I took a bus to Manzini in Swaziland which
took 8 hours.
Mr G and I spent the night at Michelle Brear’s
house. Michelle is an old Australian
university friend of mine who has
been living in Swaziland for the last
5 years. She helped the little village in
Kaphunga to start Matjana Pre-school
back in 2007. She taught there until last
year and now she has been focussing on the
fundraising side of things.
The next day we made our way to Kaphunga. Again it
was a healthy combination of a bus and hitching a ride
with whoever drove by. We noticed that these are the same
options that the local kids have to get to school. Later we
were told that just in case no cars drive past some students
leave home 2 hours before school to make sure they get to
school on time. I think I might stop complaining about the
105 bus being late.
The next
morning, with
my backpack full of
donations from Cranford we
were finally walking towards Matjana
pre-school. We encountered some kids on the
way, so Mr G and I practised our Siswati: “Sabona
bhutti/sisi” (Hi brother/sister)… in return, they practised
their English with us: “Hello, my name is Mgoni, I am a boy, I am
5 years old.” We were outdone by 5 year olds.
Matjana pre-school has only one building, with 4 tables that seat
about 6 kids each: two tables of 3 year olds, one of 4 year olds and
one of 5 year olds. They welcomed us by introducing each other,
singing a few songs and then we presented the donated stationery
to them. Most of them had not used a marker pen nor coloured
paper before, equipment that young kids in first world
countries just take for granted.
The building that the pre-school uses at
the moment is borrowed from an unused
backpacker ’s site. Construction has
started towards the new building. The
walls and floor were in place when we
visited, the fence around the ground was
being prepared by the parents, and the
cash donations I received from Cranford
teachers were put towards the materials
needed for the roof.
Sadly most of the children in the preschool
are HIV positive, they do not have
contact with anyone outside Kaphunga,
have no access to electricity and
they have no access to any other
recreational activities outside
school. Nutrition-wise, their
main staple food is made
out of ground maize which
is very low on nutrients.
It is very clear that they
need plenty of support;
simple things such as
stationery can make a lot of
difference in their lives.
OLD SCHOOL
Mr G. and I had one of
the best experiences
possible, and are glad
that with the help
of some Cranford
students and teachers
we were able to make
a little difference.
NEW SCHOOL
If you are interested in supporting this little
pre-school please contact me.
42 degrees, a bumpy ride and 24 hours later, I arrived in the tranquil and sleeping town of Dwarka. I was greeted
by students with striking smiles, a perfect way for them to welcome me into their lives. It wasn’t long before
introductions had taken place and we were all playing ice breaker activities. It was nice to put my native language
Gujarati into good use. The kids were fascinated by the English language and eavesdropped on every single word
I spoke and even attempted to mimic me when my back was turned. The grounds of the school and orphanage were
really big, there were 16 dormitories and each room had 6 beds. It has its own farm so that the school doesn’t have
to purchase milk from anywhere else; this is a great way to save money in the school and cows are considered
to be an auspicious god. The school’s kitchens used wood as they don’t have a stove and many of the facilities
are very basic. The students have to pull water out of a well to have a shower as there is no running water.
A day into my trip I went on the hunt for equipment that I could use with the activities I had prepared. After
searching for some time I came to the conclusion that there were none. After speaking to the students I learned
that they only used a pen and a book in their classes. It was shocking to hear that the youngsters, who ranged
from 6 to 18, had never used a colouring pencil, a felt-tip pen or even a normal pencil. I ran a hygiene promoting
activity where the students had to design a poster about keeping clean. The activity went really well and they
showed that they had a good understanding. All of them presented their work to everybody else and then we
all displayed them around the school. While I was there I held 2 folk dancing programmes and also went on 3
different visits to student’s homes.
By Luisa Ara (Maths teacher)
20 Cranford Review 2010/2011
Excellence in all areas 21
One student, Anand, lived about two hours away from the
school. The journey took one hour in a bus to the nearest
village and then another hour on a dirt track road in a
‘chakra’ (motorbike with a trailer mounted on top). The
roads are too small for the buses and the areas too remote.
We were nearing his house when he pointed to a field; he
said with excitement ‘that is my house’. All that could be
seen was deserted land and a little tent like structure, a
polythene sheet held up by tree logs. There was no running
water or electricity, no sign of life, just the sun showing
its presence on the dry parched land. Anand was proud
to show us his father’s field; I took some presents for
his brother and sister too. It was quite shocking to see
the circumstances that Anand’s family endured but also
I contemplated how tranquil and surreal the place was.
There was a calf which provided milk for the family; their
last cow had died because it had been bitten by a snake.
Anand’s granny was happy to invite us onto their farm.
She longed to see Anand get an education and tears welled
up in her eyes in appreciation of the time and effort I took
to see and visit Anand’s field.
I could write endlessly about the tales of my
adventure, a trip that will be remembered for
a life time. Teaching the students of Dwarka
who were deprived of a creative, interesting
and dynamic education was very rewarding.
I hope to accept
their invitation, to
return back again
soon.
By Mahavir Ladva
(Learning Resource
Centre Assistant)