Summer in South Africa
Last spring, while my friends were frantically trying to secure summer internships, I was relaxing (well as much as any Vandy student can relax…). I had decided to spend my summer in South Africa with the VISAGE program.
The VISAGE program is unique to Vanderbilt and offers students the chance to participate in a combined service and study abroad experience over the summer. The Vanderbilt Global Education Office (GEO) offers in Costa Rica, Ireland, Guatemala and South Africa. I had always dreamed of going to South Africa, so for me, the choice was easy.
There were two components of the experience. We took classes in the morning about the politics, economics and social problems in South Africa. In the afternoon, we participated in the service component. For the first two weeks of the program, we taught adults in Manenberg (a poverty stricken township of Cape Town) IT skills in the hope they could use them to get a job. A shocking 60% of Manenberg residents are currently unemployed. I was assigned to work with Patricia and Pamela (a mother and daughter). Pamela is a 75 year old pensioner who wants to learn computer skills so she can get a job again (she used to be a tea lady at a factory before it closed down). Patricia is her 40 year old daughter who works as a security guard at the local elementary school. She wants to learn how to use the computer so she can teach her 4 year old daughter, Genevieve. She dreams that one day Genevieve will be able to leave Manenburg and attend “Uni.” They were two of the friendliest people I have ever met and their desire to learn was obvious. Teaching them was both very frustrating and a very rewarding experience. Throughout the course, I was supposed to teach them how to use Microsoft Word, send emails and surf the internet. However, by the end of the two weeks, we were still perfecting the most basic Word commands such as putting spaces between words and capitalizing letters. While it was frustrating at times to see other people in our group helping their “learners” with more advanced computer programs, Patricia and Pamela worked extremely hard and I was very proud of their progress.
For the second two weeks of the program, we tutored sixth and seventh graders from Manenberg Primary. I worked primarily with two students, Winsito and Shimone. Although my students were fairly quick learners, many of the other VISAGE participants were very taken aback at how far behind their students were. For example, some of the seventh graders still did not know their alphabet. This demonstrates one of the primary problems with the South African education system. Students are passed on to the next grade without mastering the basic material appropriate for their age group because of overcrowding. For example, we learned in lecture that many classrooms in the poorer townships have just one teacher for up to 60 students. Struggling students do not receive the individual attention to successfully learn the material. Therefore, we all created individual goals for our students. For example, my students focused on learning their multiplication tables being able to correctly punctuate a paragraph of text. We only had two weeks total with our “learners”, so the best goals were small, but specific, as these offered the greatest chance of success.
Apart from participating in the service, the best part of the trip was getting to experience all that Cape Town had to offer. I can confidently say that it was the most beautiful place I have ever seen. There are mountains all around the city and crystal blue water on the coast, perfect for hiking and exploring. The University of Cape Town, where we took classes, had a beautiful campus and engaging professors. There are also so many interesting cultural activities that we got to participate in, which allowed us to learn first hand about the heritage and lives of Cape Town residents.
Although this experience had its trials and tribulations, overall I am extremely thankful for the opportunity. I got to experience the beauty of Cape Town while hopefully making a difference. Additionally, I came back to Vandy this fall with 16 new friends, as we had all shared a unique and moving experience. I would not have traded this experience for anything, and I highly recommend that any Vandy students look into the VISAGE program.
