Well, beforehand I would like to tell you about the Thembimfundo Special School in general and the way I learnt about it. Secondly, I am going to report on experiences at the school and the everyday life in this particular rural area.
The Thembimfundo School is located in a village called Mbongolwane, a hilly area, which is about 200km north of Durban. It is a school for mentally and physically retarded kids and youngster.
The name of the school "Thembimfundo" means to obtain chances of education - in other words: Even the poor and neglected children should be entitled to have access to education (equal opportunities). The school has been established through private donations from Germany in Mai 2002. In order to provide financial support to the project, friends from Dringenberg (village in North-Rhein-Westphalia/Germany) have found the "Yebo Zululand Initiative e.V." For more information on the school and the initiative you can visit its website: http://www.yebo-initiative.de/.
Before I left Germany for South Africa on the 8th of August I got to know Mrs Parensen, an active member (kind of the chairwoman) of the initiative and she introduced me into the project by showing pictures and telling me stories. Eventually, she inspired me to visit the school during my stay in South Africa. So I considered it as one of my major trips in South Africa.
In the middle of September I headed for Mbwongolwane from Durban accompanied by a black guy who is grown up in this area and was willing to help me. I got in touch with him thanks to Mrs Parensen who knows him quiet well by having seen him in the recent years. We got to know each other better and ultimately become good friends. Here is one picture of the two of us at the school.
Anyway during my visit I was accomodated at a mission of the "Oberzeller Franzikanerinen" and slept by myself in a roomy guesthouse. The hospitality was great and i could make myself comfortable. From the accomodation to the school it was about 3km one way. Every morning after breakfast Mrs Parensen and I set off to the school. I still do remember exactly my first day.After arriving at the school I was introduced to the main supervisor and all the staffmembers. Shortly after this, Mrs Parensen showed me the different buildings for instance the classroom and the dormitory. After all it was time to introduce me to the kids, said Mrs Parensen along the way whilst showing me around as they were curiously looking at me, trying to figure out who the new guy might be. Everyone was gathered in the classroom and all the children did sing a couple of songs. I really enjoyed listening to them.
Afterwards it was question-answer time :). The children asked me questions about my family, myself and Germany and I happily answered all of them. It was something special for the kids and for me as well. After lunchtime the children are usually allowed to play and have some fun. I joined them for a soccergame and some boardgames. It was amazing to see how single handed they are. They organized themself whilst playing and considered everyone. The teacher did not have to get involved. Even though these kids are disadvantaged, either mentally or physically, they still do express such a vitality, which impressed me totally.
Let me tell you about this guy in the picture on the left hand side. His handicap is that he is deaf-mute, in other words he is not able to speak and to hear which is sad. I got to know him and I think he has got a lot of potential. His disability does not prevent him from being happy and spreading positive vibes allover the place. Whenever we took out a soccer ball he was there first to join us. Besides, he is quiet curious about news things. One guy who helps out at the school at times brought his harmonica. As he saw the harmonica he wanted to play on it. We all listened to him .He did well and has quiet a good persistence, that is for sure :). Basically most of the children are smart in a way. Despite the fact that they can never lead an ordinary life due to their handicap, they try to enjoy it to the fullest. I think nearly all of them are perceptive, curious and inquisitve. There is one story that proves this fact downright. One day Mrs Parensen asked me whether I could teach the children some gymnastic exercies that were illustrated on some papers. The guy that came with me from Durban and I made an effort to teach to them various positions. But long exercises were not necessary. Once they have seen it, they knew how to carry out a particular position. They even figured it out on their own subsquently. A couple of days later the teachers decided to let them perform what they have learnt and to see if they still remember. The performance was a huge sucess. All the viewers were totally blown away. They managed everything on their own - including self-organization.
Generally the tasks of the teacher are mainly tutoring and looking after the children properly. Those kids need devoted people wo give them love and hope. It takes up patience and energy working with such kids. I was quiet strange for me at the beginning but after a short while I got used to it. I tried to make the most of my visit and make it a memorable experience and I am sure i did. Basically, it made an impact on me since i have never worked with retarted kids before. In my eyes it is precious to experience the work with such kids. It makes you understand their way of living and thinking. It is definetly worth it visiting the school.
the kids and mrs Parensen playing boardgames
cute picture of the little ones
As for the everyday life in this specific area of South Africa: The people in the village do not live next to each other as we are used to it in our neigbhourhood. Basically the whole village is a settlement with scattered buildings. The Zululand is known for its hilly areas. It is also called "the land of the 1000 hills". Long distances have to be walked every single day. Furthermore nearly all the houses are not connected to the power supply system as it would be too expensive to get the connection over quiet big distances. Consequently there is only light available through candles. Food has to be cooked by wood on a fireplace. The wood has to be collected every day. This type of work is normally done by the women of a family. The people living in this rural area are very poor and often struggle to make ends meet. Many are affected by unemployment and HIV. A lot of young people try their luck in bigger cities such as Durban. However, it is quiet complicated as the old generations of the family need the support of the young ones. The strong company in an ordinary family is amazing. This consequently however prevents the young people from moving on with their on life.
If you are interested in the project,feel free to get in touch with me anytime!
Mountain of Zululand in the background
