Top Row: Bernard Luvhimbi, Thabo Chuma, Michael Mashabane, Eulenda Masingi, Macdonald Ngobeni
Middle Row: Rosina Nkuna, Letticia Tshabalala, Tsakane Kubayi, Tinyeko Masingi, and Me
Bottom Row: Wilson Hlangwini, Lizzy Mathobela, Benjamin Baloyi, Dikeledi Matjabela, Iris Nyalungu
Quite possibly the most personally satisfying thing I have done in South Africa has been my Life Skills group. In a previous entry, I mentioned that I'd been planning an after-school group with local high school kids. Planning the thing was a lot more work than I had planned!
First I had to create a schedule for my group; I created this using the Peace Corps Life Skills Manual, and I brought it to my meetings. My plan was as follows: there are two high schools in my village. I wanted to work with a small group of committed 10th and 11th graders from both high schools. So first I went to Somavugha High School and met with the principal. Once I had his permission, I was able to meet with the Grade 10/11 teachers and present my plan to them. Then I had them select a list of their best male and female students, and I arranged to speak with these students. I invited the students to my first session. Finally, I arranged to have access to a classroom after school, from 3-5pm, Mondays and Thursdays, with chalk and a "duster." Then, I went to Ben Hlongwane High School and did the exact same thing.
The entire planning process took weeks, and it kept me occupied for most of August. I often had to schedule meetings when both I and the other parties were available, which wasn't always easy. Sometimes, unexpected events like dying students caused other delays (here, they refer to that as a "death case")
Eventually, in early September, I had my first Life Skills session, on a Thursday, from 3-5pm, at Ben Hlongwane High School. A total of 28 students from both schools showed up, out of the 40 I'd invited.
And so we began the Life Skills training. It took 17 sessions over the course of 9 weeks for a total of 34 after-school hours. It was a lot of fun, but took a lot of planning and preparation. Over the course of those 9 weeks, the 28 students shrank to 14, but those final 14 who finished my training are great kids, dedicated, and just a pleasure to work with. (Other kids dropped out due to a variety of circumstances; for example, one of my favorite students dropped out because she got pregnant. I guess she was missing some crucial life skills! Other students couldn't follow my no-unexcused-absence policy, and after 3 unexcused absences, I kicked them out)
The sessions themselves were great. There were skits, role-plays, dramatizations, games, contests, etc. There were condom demonstrations with bananas. There were lots of group activities, lots of discussions, and a lot of debate and disagreements. I introduced a lot of new concepts to these kids, but i didn't come with all of the answers. They had to figure things out for themselves.
We discused our role models, alcohol and drug abuse, a lot of HIV/AIDS topics (facts and myths, effects on the immune system, transmission, prevention, and disease progression). We had a lot of lively discussions around the topic of gender and culture, especially when related to the spread of HIV in South Africa. We discussed risky behavior, communication skills, assertiveness, peer pressue, and self esteem. The purpose of the whole Life Skills training was to turn these kids into community peer educators, and so we ended our training with sessions on how to support responsible behavior, and how to deal with problems when facilitating group discussions.
I set out to empower a small group of kids to become peer educators and to in turn empower others in the community, and in that respect, I think that the training was a huge success. These kids, the 14 who finished, are incredibly bright and dedicated, and some of their plans for how to assist the community are really ambitious. First up: they will start mentoring 5th, 6th, and 7th graders in the primary schools, who are a very high-risk age-group. ("So young?" you ask. Well, sexual activity does begin earlier here)
These kids will stick by their beliefs and serve as role models; at our last session I told them that World AIDS Day is approaching; I would like to go and get tested with anyone who would like to join me. I was pleased when EVERY SINGLE STUDENT raised his or her hand. We'll see if it actually happens on 1 December, but if past behavior is any indication, then they will all keep their word and be there with me. I really hope it works; the stigma of getting tested is still huge here. If you go to get tested, it's obviously assumed that you have AIDS. But if "the American" and some of the best kids in the village get tested....well, maybe some minds will change.
In summary, this was about them, not me. I'd like to thank each of them. So....to Macdonald Ngobeni, Dikeledi Matjabela, Bernard Luvhimbi, Wilson Hlangwini, Lizzy Mathobela, Michael Mashabane, Tinyeko Masingi, Tsakane Kubayi, Benjamin Baloyi, Eulenda Masingi, Thabo Chuma, Letticia Tshabalala, Rosina Nkuna, and Iris Nyalungu....thank you.
For me, though, the best part of any training is always the chance to reconnect with my friends, and MST was great. It was held in Rustenberg, at a nice resort called the Oasis. It had 18 holes of mini-golf, squash and racquetball courts, a trampoline, tennis courts, and a pool with a waterslide. Needless to say, we all enjoyed ourselves! And the food was amazing as well.
Since MST happened to (nearly) coincide with Halloween, we all held a Halloween party during the last night of MST. I organized it with my friend Tom, and it was a success! There were a lot of very interesting costumes. For my own costume, I decided to go as "white trash." I was thinking of portraying a Southern redneck, so I had my friend Cort cut off my hair (which I'd been growing for 11 months into a very impressive 'fro---I was very sad to see the hair go) and shave off my beard into a moustache. My hair was cut into the most ridiculous mullet we could think of. I put on a WWE t-shirt with the sleeves cut off and some very short denim shorts, aviator sunglasses, fake tattoos...and voila! I was "Billy Ray." Although once the transformation was complete, I was told that I looked like an Italian from New Jersey. Ah well.......
