International Days once again!

~photo by my colleague, Pete~

What a fabulous celebration we had at Machcoll this past Friday. The weather cooperated so nicely and International Days was even better than last year. Here are some photos...


An energetic group, getting the day started with some good singing.


The Canadian contingent this year was Matthew, our only Canadian student! He's from La Crete, Alberta. It was nice to have a student to take my place as the official Canadian flag bearer.


...so...I got to 'go Masotho'! Since my hair was already done, I borrowed a seshoeshoe from a friend. (Thanks, 'M'e Lerato.) Here I am with three very lovely and traditional gals.


Well, actually, I borrowed two! This second ended up being worn by one of my IB1 students who did a tribute to Lesotho poem. Since she didn't have a seshoeshoe, this just would not do, so thanks a whole bunch for the loan, Sarah. You are a wonderful and generous friend. Your seshoeshoe did double-time on Friday!



Here's Moholi in Sarah's seshoeshoe. Isn't she lovely!


Here are some shots of the crowd and the Parade of Nations. We have almost forty countries represented at our school. It was fabulous to see the variety of national costumes and the flags. For the Parade of Nations, each presenter did a greeting in the language of the country and explained the significance of the colours and patterns on the flag.








Two students in traditional Basotho blankets...



Group shots of my S5 students...
Cool dudes



... and cute gals




One of the highlights of my day was getting my photo with these wonderful fellows that I love teaching so much. These are some of my IB2 students--either my English students or students from my tutor group, plus others. They had just finished presenting a traditional Basotho song...


What I want to do, now, is to get the same guys and do another picture with them in their Machabeng uniforms--just so you can see how I normally see them. Quite a difference! These would be two neat photos, juxtaposed.

The thing I really appreciate about this pictures is that it reminds me of the times I have driven into the rural areas and seen the herd boys and imagined my students as those young boys. When I see herd boys--many who are NOT getting an education, I imagine that they too COULD be my students...



Some of the guys. Isn't the mask great! Yes, those are 'seen' in the rural areas where shepherds often wear masks, especially in winter.


Another thing I loved was when one of these IB2's asked to borrow the camera and away he went. (That's a privilege given ONLY to some very trustworthy IB2's Molemo! Your time will come.) Later I discovered that the guys had gotten together and taken a whole lot of pictures--maybe 200--of themselves in their VERY traditional garb--shepherd clothes and Initiation clothing. Later, as I was able to see the photos, I appreciated the wisdom of this young man for making sure to 'celebrate and commemorate the moment'. Soon these fellows will be finished at Machcoll and will go their separate ways. This is the last Machcoll International Day that they will spend together--this pretty 'tight' group that has led a fine tradition of singing the Basotho songs for International Days.







Here's the wise camera guy with two very lovely young ladies. He is most OBVIOUSLY wise in more ways than one! He knows how to be in the right place for a great camera shot.


Another traditional guy ('Raps') with a Seshoeshoe gal...


As you can see, what a wonderful school I am teaching at! I really enjoy being part of a diverse learning community, both in the students and in the staff. We are an eclectic bunch.

Poetry Club at Machcoll

Each Thursday after school I meet with a great group of students--Fabric of Rythmix/The Poetry Club. I've written about them last year when we did our Poetry Night. Yep, that was a memorable experience in African culture for me! I've had lots of memorable experiences with this band of dreamers, and I continue to marvel at their talents and their passion. I still marvel at the huge number--especially of guys--who just think that writing poetry is great. I love this place!

This year the club has grown exponentially, from a cozy group of about ten last year to around thirty showing up each week; and the new ones have brought vitality and diversity into the mix. It is just so exciting to be there each week and listen to these young artists--once they get down to the art and start doing their poetry, especially the way it's DONE here. Students are really 'into' performance poetry and they bring such expressiveness into their readings. Once it gets flowing I just sit back and soak it in. That was my experience a week ago when after a long and dull business session students actually started reciting the poems they'd been working on.

They inspired me and this is my humble tribute to them...

CALL

I am standing in the center
Of a very strong core
And all around me
I can hear the winds
Of change blowing
I can feel the spirits
Of my students soaring

Here I am surrounded in this circle
With a very strong core
Their spirits vibrate
With the energy of youth
They speak in words of
Courage and of truth
Of the wisdom they are storing

In this spirit circle that surrounds me
I feel the presence of the past
Holding me--enfolding me
I hear the heartbeat of Moshoeshoe
Coursing through the generations
Calling them to rally
Giving them the challenge of the task

In their vibrant veins is pouring
A passion for their place
A pride that brings a promise
Of a bright tomorrow
That can ride on wings of reason
To find a strong solution
To the challenges they face

Moving in this generation
Is the strength to change this nation
To rise above the ashes
Of the problems of their people
Using their advantage to find the answers …
I can hear a GREATER spirit
Calling forth a stronger nation

Come sit among our circle
And feel the heartbeat of these youth
Feel the passion of their poems
Feel the vital force that’s flowing
Through the minds and spirits of our children
As they seek to find solutions
As they soar like eagles, seeking truth


* * *

As I sit surrounded in this circle
With a very strong core
I am humbled by the presence
Of a spirit that is higher
Of a power that is vaster
Of a wisdom that is greater
God, I thank you for these people and the power you are giving
Grant them strength and grant them wisdom; grant them courage to seek more


~ Wendy ~

Assumptions and Sore Feet!

A few weeks back Benno and I, some friends and some of my IB students did a hike into Ramabanta. Looking towards Thabana Li-‘Mele we knew we wanted to do that seven-hour hike.


Ready to set out with our friends... (We are headed to the top of the left peak in the distance--yes the left nipple--Li-'Mele means breasts. It's a lovely maternal mountain. As we got closer, we could see that this left peak also looks like a mother with a baby on her back--the way babies are carried here.)



Me, Mokletsi (He's a brilliant and 'heart-smart' midwife at B.G.), Bokang and Sarah

It would be a good challenge and I was hoping to take some of the IB students along on that trip; however, my comment to one, after looking down at the school ‘dress’ shoes he’d worn for our short hike was that he’d need better footwear!

* * *
Ah, life’s ironies. Unfortunately I was unable to get the school mini-bus, so I didn’t take any students along when we climbed Thabana Li-‘Mele last weekend.

Instead, we took some friends, and a whole troop of village kids ended up traveling along with us. It’s still weird for me, but white people are some strange oddity here, so the kids wanted to tag along, for whatever purpose.

Tagging along on a seven-hour hike doesn’t sound like something one would just decide to do on the spur of the moment, but then for one thing, I didn’t realize the kids were planning to come all the way. For another thing, it wasn’t really my call. Finally, when I did ask about it I was informed that they do this trip often. Yes, well, this is their turf!

So off we went, and about half way I suddenly looked at the kids—I mean really noticed them—and one of the things that struck me was the crazy irony of their footwear. As I glanced down at their feet I noticed the worn and dusty ‘school shoes’ and began to think about how they’d take them home and clean them off to look neat and as tidy as possible with their school uniforms. I thought of my student with the school shoes… Then I looked further and noticed a pair of rubber boots. Rubber boots for a seven-hour hour hike? Ouch! Then I noticed the little lad—the smallest one (nine years old) with bare feet. Bigger ouch! Ouch in more ways than one. For him--of course! For me, psychically as I thought about my soft First World sensibilities, my soft and easy life, my supportive, expensive hiking boots, my soft expectations of physical and spiritual endurance.



So much for my concerns about students not being able to handle a seven-hour hike, or them not having the ‘correct’ footwear! One look at those little bare feet changed my world view!

How does the human spirit get strong? Maybe the spirit rises and grows from the soles of such feet. Perhaps the spirit blossoms from the blisters on little feet.

When I looked in the shining eyes of this little boy I saw the eyes of some of my brightest students shining back. It is ironic to me that some of my brightest students are those who have come from the distant rural areas, from villages where they might be the first or the second person who has ever gone past Primary school. Some come from families so poor that their families could not afford to keep them; rather, Social Welfare provided their school fees, food and a place to live. Now, here they are at Machabeng! So much depends on their ability to succeed academically that they commit body, mind and soul to achieving academic success for themselves, for their families and for their villages. A lot rests on the strong soles of small children with bare feet.


Our beautiful friend, Bokang. The village we started the journey at--the place all the children who came with us are from--is her home village. These kids are her, minus a few years!



Our wonderful friend, Sarah. She's the midwife who got me in to the delivery room for the birth of our friend's baby!


A stop for sustenance with the village kids enjoying our offerings.