Let me know what you think!

One thing I haven't talked much about is my volunteer work. I work with a group of 6 9th graders from Khayelitsha, a township in Cape Town. I teach them English and Life Skills (which is an actual school subject here), and it is difficult. I'm trying, but I think that I need to accept the fact that I am just a horrible teacher. I think they learn more when we just sit and talk about things than when go by the prescribed curriculum. The lesson plans that they give us are pretty rough to teach. I wasn't really given any sort of training or direction, just plopped down in the middle of this kids and expected to positively impact their lives. And I expect that of myself as well, but I don't have much experience in this field so I'm not exactly sure what I should be doing.

Classroom where I teach

It's difficult because I've talked to people who grew up in townships, and they say that when people like me came and tried to teach them, they looked at the person and thought "this person is rich. this person is white. this person is smart. this person had all the opportunities that I will never have. this person has nothing in common with me" and then tuned them out. I'm not saying that this is what all the kids do, but I would probably look at me in a judgmental way if I were them as well. I try to teach in a way that takes their background into account.


Last week, we drove all the way from university to Khayelitsha, only to be turned away by the police. The people in the townships get electricity by hooking up wires to the main power lines so that they don't have to pay for electricity. The government shut one of the main wires down, and there were riots, so it would have been dangerous for us to go in. That was really strange for us. I felt horrible because the kids were probably waiting for us to come, and we never showed up.


This past Thursday we did a unit on poetry. I read them a few poems, and explained to them what poetry was, and then I had them write some.


For the first one, I had them each write one line on a piece of paper and pass it to the next person. This is what came out of it:


Life is a challenge,
Live it to the fullest.
Life is an opportunity,
Take it with both hands.


That's a lie. 
Full of blue panties. In the days of the dinosaurs. 
No matter what has happened to your past
You must hold on.
You must be strong for your tomorrow. 


I made the boy who wrote full of blue panties cross it out. But how incredible is that. I had 9 kids this week because I had to take on a couple of extras, but they each wrote one line. With the exception of the blue panties line, isn't that beautiful? It reminds me of one of Mother Theresa's poems:


Life is an opportunity, benefit from it.
Life is beauty, admire it.
Life is bliss, taste it.
Life is a dream, realize it.
Life is a challenge, meet it.
Life is a duty, complete it.
Life is a game, play it.
Life is a promise, fulfill it.
Life is sorrow, overcome it.
Life is a song, sing it.
Life is a struggle, accept it.
Life is a tragedy, confront it.
Life is an adventure, dare it.
Life is luck, make it.
Life is too precious, do not destroy it.
Life is life, fight for it.


After that, I had them each write their own poem. Here's a couple: 


My name is Sex
My surname is condom. 
I'm aids years old
and if you do my 
name without my
surname
you will get my age. 


Another:


Money
Money is important
Money talks
Money can kill you
It can get you out of poverty.


One more:


Life
Life is difficult
Life extant everyday
Life comes with hard
No one who knows what your life will be.
Keep going with your life
do hard, do your opportunities that your life
No judge about your life
Don't your friend play about future and your life. 


And another:


Life is a challenge
Life is a journey
In life there are many ups and downs
You must choose the right from wrong
Mind your self
Mind your steps
Learn from your mistakes
You must choose from right and wrong
Don't forget who you are and what you want
Don't forget to be there
Where you want to be
Or your life looks impossible.


One last one:


Poem:
Brothers and sisters
The children of their mother
look at them when they are together
look at them when they smile to each other
they joint a hard to beat combination


to see them not fighting each other is a blessing
to see them softly chatting is a blessing


but why are you doing this to your brother? 
Why are you doing this to your sister?
Don't you know that he's your flesh?
Don't you know that your blood is running through her veins?


Think of the pain your mother must be feeling
She tried all her best to make you who you are


Is this the way of saying thanks to her?
Or is this the punishment you are giving her for letting u here?
Oh! What a cruel punishment. 

Brothers and sisters, lets stop killing each other.
And start protect each other.


TOGETHER we stand.
DIVIDED we fall. 


I'm speechless. They are unbelievable. 


If anyone has anything to say about the poems, or has suggestions for things I can do to help teach these 9th graders who live in a township, please let me know. I'd love some help!