What's Ahead-Zulu Tutor and His Challenges

We are now on the downward half of our two years of service; around July 2007 we will be heading home to resume our lives in Palos Verdes. The next year we will be making plans for our future lives-Will we go back to work? Will we find meaning in middle class life? Can we relearn how to drive on the right and look left when crossing the street? Will we get lost in our suburban house? Has the neighborhood changed? More important than our readjustment back to American is the sustainability of the work we have done. Will the hospital continue with the Occupational Therapy program? Are additional camps for AIDS orphans and vulnerable children in the wings for this beautiful site? Many returned Peace Corps volunteers say that as soon as they left their host country, their projects withered on the vine.
In that effort, thoughts are directed toward how the occupational therapy program can continue and flourish after our service is complete. One step has been accomplished to assist in the task- an assistant occupational therapy organizer came to work as a volunteer this month. Since the program started last Dec. I have been looking for someone to help with the daily program, learn to teach the beading, sewing and shoemaking skills and later manage the program. An added plus is that the volunteer assistant is a sorely needed job in this community. After talking with many candidates who showed initial interest but did not come to work, a 27 year old man came forward and is up to the task. He helps me set up the daily activities with Monday sewing projects, Tuesday bingo, Wednesday beading, Thursday shoemaking and leather work and Friday cooking instruction. He is also very good with the patients and is learning all of the skills. Plus he can translate when hand motions and pointing are not effective.
The plan for sustainability arose from the requests and demands from the patients for fleece hats and scarves. Initially the Jabule (happiness and blessings) Occupational Therapy drew mainly women together to sew and have a time of sharing. As soon as the weather turned cold, I introduced patterned fleece (plaids, geometrics, Ferrari cars) that could be sewn into hats and slippers. The fleece was a big hit with the women and each sewing day the fleece was the first fabric to run out. One morning 8 male patients came to the business office and requested that they be given fleece to sew warm hats. Thus their program began in earnest with the men meeting together before the women. One enterprising man asked to make a fringed scarf out of the fleece. After that almost every ambulatory male arrived requesting fleece to sew into hats and scarves. A meter of fleece can make 9 hats or 6 scarves. Thus the idea has taken hold that before next winter hats and scarves could be made in bulk and sold in local towns and at pension points. The profits could then be channeled into a stipend for the volunteer manager and purchase of materials to keep the program going.
Even if our projects are not sustainable, a few people will remember us after we go, namely our Zulu teach Gobese. For six months after we arrived at Mountain High we sought a Zulu teacher to improve our effectiveness. Teachers at the local high school and primary school were approached but they could not be motivated by the wage of $1.50 per hour and the difficulty of dealing with foreigners. Nurses and staff were approached but there were no takers. Finally while waiting for the bus to our shopping town I approached a high school student who had a big smile, confidence and perfect English. He agreed to teach us Zulu but like the others, did not arrive on the appointed day. (He later said he thought we were kidding and that hospital managers from America did not usually want a high school student to teach them English). I saw him on the road several weeks later and told him we were serious about learning Zulu and that he could help us. So in February we began tutoring sessions with an 11th grade high school student. He comes to our flat two days a week and teaches, cajoles, teases, jokes, reprimands, charms, entertains and goes to the utmost extremes to drive the Zulu into the heads of two old people. He doesn’t understand that repetition is the name of the game and tries to introduce new vocabulary and scenarios to students that promptly forgot the previous lesson. Zulu has 16 noun classes; all verbs, adjectives and pronouns must be in concord with the noun. Progress is very slow but he never gives up. He started bringing his chemistry homework for assistance and the reality of education in South Africa hit us hard. (Ironically the local high school is one of the best with 100% passing rate). He does not have a text book, only a worksheet for chemistry lab. However there is no chemistry lab (nor library nor computers/internet) so the results of the lab sheet must be worked out on paper (we used to call this dry labbing). He never gets discouraged at the lack of resources-he just plunges ahead, tried his best and asks for help from any resource. He was the star on the debate team but had to research his topic by asking questions and opinions of those around him. These new ambitious and energetic students are the hope for South Africa. They have seen the destruction of AIDS and apartheid in their parents lives and they are determined to have better lives and build this new nation.