Empowering the school

Starting the second half of my stay in Hluhluwe, I feel home now. I know enough to feel confident.

Being a child of the sixties – some know what that means – I have the intention of empowering the school. This means I will try to initiate a process of collaboration and discussion, so that the school could grow to self-support, to independency, to self-confidence and pride.

The first step in this process is self-reflection to create awareness. Throughout this process the school will develop its skills. Until they clearly know what their needs are and how they can fulfil them themselves. Future need for charity should be eliminated.

The process of empowering should take place on different levels:

-       The school as an organization // characteristics on a good organization

-       The management of the school // characteristics  of good management

-       The teachers // vision on teaching, pedagogical and didactic principles (contents, methods)

-       The learners // characteristics of a good learner // final goals

-       The parents // mainly support for the learner = motivation to attend the school and fulfil the duties

-       ....

Today we have the opportunity to attend a performance by the children of the school and produced by 'Star for life'. This South African organization works on prevention of aids, still a huge problem in this country. It also provides schools with computers f.e. 
Mainly Swedish firms are sponsoring the project and a Swedish delegation will be present tomorrow. 

I saw the children rehearse and being fond of dancing, I am really eager to see the performance. Moving, dancing, visual and auditive things, they are strong in it, these Zulu-children. We can only look at it with a kind of nostalgia, as many of us have lost this refined use of the senses. 

And we go on working, Melissa, Elton and me.