Events and More Events

We have spent a lot of time this past week attending special events at our schools and in our community.

The Catholic primary school experienced a tragedy last week when one of the sixth grade teachers died very suddenly. We went to a two-hour memorial service Thursday at the church. It was an uplifting ceremony. Students from the high school and primary schools sang and sang. Primary school learners played recorders and African drums. One of the teachers said after the service that one way Africans deal with their grief is to sing. Whatever motivates the singing, they do it beautifully.They sing in parts, in tune, and in time in a way that few American congregations can manage. Any gathering will include a lot of beautiful singing.

Several of the teachers and students and relatives got up and spoke about the departed teacher and the Father gave a short and fitting homily about being prepared when God calls us home. The children were incredibly well behaved. We probably fidgeted more than they did.

We Monitor an Election

We had been asked to observe a special voting day at one of our primary schools and we weren′t sure what that meant. On Thursday afternoon we walked over to the school (it was really hot – we wonder if we′ll be able to make it when summer really comes) and found out.

We arrived just as the learners were starting to vote. It was impressive. They registered, voted, turned in their ballots and then a group of learners helped count the results. The learners all brought their chairs outside and sat through the process even though it was brutally hot. We took some pictures with our cameras and the children went crazy wanting us to take their pictures.

The learners were voting on candidates for “The World’s Children’s Prize for the Rights of the Child.” Nkosi Johnson was the winning candidate our school – he was a South African child born with AIDS, who in the 12 years of his life advocated for mothers and children with AIDS (he died in 2001). Nelson Mandela and his wife Graca Machel were also on the ballot, as were 12 other people from countries around the world. The voting takes place at participating schools all over the world. The idea is to promote unity and democracy among the world’s young learners as well as instill in them the importance of voting. The worldwide winner will be given money to use in his or her children’s rights programs. Queen Silvia of Sweden will officiate.

We met the young people who manage the program in Northwest Province and they seem very dedicated. We were given a copy of “The Globe,” a magazine used in the schools as curriculum material, that describes the program and includes stories about children and their rights. Some of them are heartbreaking narratives of children sold into slavery. One of the program guys was saying how much better things are in South Africa where children are treated better than other places in Africa and Asia.

We Attend a Graduation

Friday morning we spent five hours at the Catholic Church. The first two hours were a mass for the graduating -- or “matric” -- students at our Catholic high school. (Here you don′t graduate, you matric.) Then after a short break, we went back to the church for a three hour awards program.


There was singing again, and some of it was simply outstanding. The 11th-graders did the choral part of the mass, and the awards program included several smaller groups -- a quartet of three girls and a boy were amazing.

The program was a lot a high school baccalaureate and graduation combined – only longer. Much longer. There were motivational speeches. One of the students who gave a short, impressive speech got the majority of academic awards. And awards were given out. It seemed that 12th grader was a winner at least once – if not for academic excellence, that at least for attendance, wearing the school uniform correctly, or cooperation in class.

A Birthday Party for the Chief

Saturday was our friend the chief’s 70th birthday and he had quite a nice party. About 12:30 PM we walked down to the chief’s house. The party was supposed to have begun at 11:30, then it was changed to 12:30 and it actually started about 1:30. One of the Catholic priests had been asked to give the opening prayer and he had an appointment in Ga-Rankuwa at 2, so he was getting a little nervous.

It was a gala affair in a tent. The chief entered accompanied by a group of singing and dancing older women. Later his wife, beautifully dressed, came with attendants. Many nice speeches were made (though we understood little, because they were in Setswana), and songs were sung, including one that sounded like the clan′s fight song. There were some darling children from one of our primary schools who performed traditional dances. We sat down about 1:45, and lunch was served about 4:15. This is what is meant by ″Africa time.″

The Boss Comes to Lunch

After church today we had a visit from the new Director of the Peace Corps, Aaron Williams. Williams is brand-new – was sworn in in Washington Sept. 17, the same day we were sworn in as volunteers. He is in South Africa for a conference of Country Directors (the Peace Corps is active in 30 or so countries in Africa) and his visit was part of a brief getting-to-know-you tour.

He arrived at our door with our boss, South Africa Country Director McGrath Thomas, and a crew of about eight others from Washington and the Pretoria office. Mr. Williams is an impressive guy – a former Peace Corps volunteer himself (Dominican Republic, 1967-70) he has had a long career in global development. He′s lived and worked in several countries including South Africa during the transition years after 1994, and know the issues.

He quizzed us about our experience as volunteers, and we did our best to advocate for older volunteers. McGrath had organized a nice brunch, so we didn′t have to strain the resources of the Ga-Rankuwa Shoprite (or our Peace Corps stipend), and we sat out in the yard under the canopy and had brunch and talked to Mr. Williams and the others.

Our baboons provided a floor show – they were out in full force and we had to chase them away a couple of times. They do provide a kind of perverse entertainment, but they were very bad today and got into the priests′ garden and ate some of the produce. The visitors were fascinated, though, and filled much space on digital camera cards with photos. We really should find a way to book the monkeys to show up for sure when we know we′re having visitors.