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| Non of these was the tree snake. What could it be? Black zig zags on beige skin |
Thursday 7 April 2011
The Principal and the flag!
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| Mrs Ntema is bottom right. The flag is raised and lowered every day - a special duty |
An Inspector Calls .................
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| The inspector 'Uncle Malo' visits the children to motivate them |
Sunday 27 March 2011
Mubiza Primary School
Mubiza Primary School
It will be fitting to end this tale with some information about the school where I have been working.
From Boma House the journey in the principal’s car takes about fifteen minutes. I wait for the car at the top of the road where the main road out of town heads towards Ngoma and the border with Botswana. Usually I have two bags to carry with me as I take my netbook (which has been invaluable), a file of papers that I’m working on, my Timetable file, fruit for lunch, drink, umbrella, insect bite cream etc.
Since the first day I have had the front passenger seat and there are two other teachers in the back, Chuma the Head of Department and Rosemary the Lower Primary Phase leader. The arrangement of seats is very hierarchical. I jump in and we head off down the road.
There are always people, children (always unsupervised but usually in groups) and adults walking along the road in both directions. The various schools are spread out at intervals of about 10km servicing villages and family compounds. The drive is through scrub / bush and because it is coming to the end of summer, the tall grasses are now turning yellow and brown. There is a wide strip of grass before the trees begin. It is not like a forest but there are trees everywhere (deciduous - so it must look very different in the winter) except where they have been cut down to make rough fields. Maize is the only crop I have seen growing. It does not grow close and lush like in France but spindly and uneven. I think this is because all of the seed is re-cycled so the crop just degenerates. The children learn about keeping the best seed in their agriculture lessons but maybe the adults don’t practise this yet. The other difficulty is irregular rainfall.
When we are about 10km for school we start seeing Mubiza children in groups along the roadside heading for school. Mostly they run. Dorothy always toots her horn and waves at the children. The school uniform is blue shirts and grey trousers or skirts and is worn by everyone except the poorest children. The groups of children look like blue ribbons floating down the road!
School registration is 6.50am (7.20am in the winter) and then lessons begin at 7am. The school is very well organised with Timetables and set numbers of lessons in certain subjects per week. The curriculum is thoroughly written in every subject and for lower primary, is organised thematically. Lower primary do continuous assessment and Upper Primary do exams. Teachers have set proformas on which to plan all of their lessons and these files are collected in weekly to be monitored by the principal, H.O.D. and the Lower Phase Leader. They have class registers and lists to record OVC (orphans and vulnerable children). A child is classed an orphan if one parents has died.
The new pre-primary class has thirteen children and a bright room with a new mat for activities. The Ministry has provided these children with nursery games, equipment, toys and books so in some ways they are the luckiest in the school. They follow a reduced time table and ‘subjects’ last only 30 minutes. They are taught in first language but introduced where appropriate to some words in English. From January they have learned to stand up and say ‘Good morning Madam, how are you?’ when I enter their room!
There are four grades in Lower Primary (1-4) and by Grade 4 all of the teaching is done in English. All children learn two languages from the beginning of school. In Upper Primary the lessons are taught by subject teachers. Grade 5-7 children stay in their class and the teachers move round. Principals are expected to have some teaching commitment. Dorothy teaches Grade 7 Silozi.
The curriculum is composed of Promotional Subjects, those subjects that have exams which have to be passed in order for a child to be promoted to the next grade. These are Silozi, English, Maths, Natural Science, Social Studies and Early Agriculture. Non-promotional subjects include Arts, PE, BIS (basic information studies (library), Religious and Moral Education, and Life Skills. Usually it is these subjects which are missed by teachers. The PE and Arts curriculum suffer in particular from lack of commitment from the teachers.
The school week is thirty nine periods (knock off early on a Friday!); four before break and four after break each day. Break is thirty minutes, 9.40 – 10.10am.
The school is small, only 224 pupils organised into eight classes, so it is fairly quiet and the children generally are very well behaved. The move around the school calmly and wait by themselves in class if their teacher doesn’t turn up. If teachers attend meetings or Workshops (curriculum courses which can last for four days) no-one covers the class. The lessons are just missed and the children wait.
At break the routine would be that Lower Primary would have their porridge and break and then the older children would have their meal at the end of the school day. However, since there is no water at the school as the pump is broken, the feeding programme has stopped as the volunteers who make the food cannot carry the water that is needed. Children go hungry and thirsty. I’m often asked if I have any water.
A bell (the school burglar alarm) is rung between lessons and to sound the end of the day. If there are no afterschool activities, for example school cleaning (gardening and keeping the sand clear or weeds), then everyone goes home very promptly. The staff have themselves organised. There are three cars and this is enough to get everyone to and fro from Katima where everyone lives. Only occasionally does this lift system break down and then teachers have to go to the main road to the hitching station. There is no public transport as the area is just too rural but drivers do expect a payment if they offer a list. It is N$ 10 to transfer between Mubiza and Katima.
Often Dorothy’s car is the last to leave. Sometimes the teachers are taking home food they have bought from the village butcher or someone has been along selling fish from the lake, sour milk or vegetables grown locally. Everything just gets piled in. We make a slow turn on the deep sand and head slowly out to the road for the hot journey back as the chickens and cattle take over the school site for another night.
Kawanda the Snake Hero - a true story
In the land of Namibia, in the far north territory lived a boy named Kawanda. He was tall and strong with dark, dark hair. His face was serious most of the time. The village he lived in was called Katamba and was only a short distance from his school. Kawanda walked to school every day but his favourite thing was running. He was an excellent athlete, often winning races. When he won he smiled.
Kawanda was trusted in school and worked hard. He would often be called on when teachers needed something special. He could raise the flag in the morning and fold it away carefully as the school closed each day.
Kawanda did not yet know he was a hero.
The school had a beautiful setting with tall trees of many varieties. The earth was fine golden sand. Small evergreen hedges made gardens outside each classroom. The school environment was kept well tended by all of the pupils who worked hard to keep it clear of grass and weeds.
A large group of noisy helmet shrikes had built their nests in the tree nearest to the school office and lilac breasted rollers used the branches to flit across the school yard.
Pumpkin plants with huge green leaves and yellow tendrils were running wild across one of the class gardens, leaves and fruit training, stretching and inter-twining across the sand.
Many secret creatures lived in the school and only came out when everyone was gone; when it was quiet and peaceful; when it was safe!
One night, just before dawn a snake, a very dangerous snake found a very safe place to hide where he could sleep all day, basking in the hot sun until he came out again to hunt. The place was so secret, and his camouflage so clever, that he looked just like the colours of the hollow in the tree he found. The zigzags on his skin matched the shadows and rough texture of the tree bark and he slithered out of sight to rest and wait.
The very next day a happy group of boys and girls came out of school to play before they went home. One sharp-eyed boy saw the secret in the hollow in the tree. He was not scared but knew that snakes can be very dangerous. He thought he would be a hero and took up a short snake and began to prod the sleeping snake.
The children screamed every time he touched the snake and every time he touched the snake he dropped the stick ------ just in case!
A teacher heard the commotion and came out to investigate – a snake, a dangerous snake she thought.
Help is needed – see the secretary – too busy typing
Help is needed – see the cleaner – too frightened to come alone
Help is needed – see the teacher – who shall come
All the children working on, unaware that Kawanda is about to be a hero!
“Step back – here he comes. Step back I say and watch”
Kawanda finds a very long and very sharp stake from the fence nearby. A friend in green comes to look and help.
They peer into the hollow to see the sleeping snake.
“Step back – he is here. Step back I say and watch”
Kawanda takes aim with his spear-stake, tries it out for size; looks again. “Where’s its head?”
With one mighty thrust he swiftly move the stake into the hollow of the tree; into the sleeping venomous creature. He pins the snake and the other friend finishes the slaughter. The children move forward to get a closer view of the wriggling body and severed head. “Is it dead?”
“I have killed many snakes in the village, Puff Adders, Pythons and Cobras but I don’t know the name of the snake I killed today. The Elders always ask me to help – I only killed three last week”.
Who knows where the snakes hide? Will you find them or will they find you?
Kawanda, the brave Kawanda, the skilful snake slayer has saved us, saved the children, saved us all.
Did you know?
Of the approximately 90 varieties of snakes in Namibia, only 11
are known to be able to deliver a lethal bite to a human. These are:
Black Mamba
Cape Cobra
Angolan Cobra
Zebra Snake (Spitting Cobra)
Black Spitting Cobra
Mozambique Spitting Cobra
Boomslang
Twig Snake
Puff Adder
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