If I dont get another blog in soon, I apologize but TIA.
Joey
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Hello to everyone reading our blog. This is my first time so I dont really know what I am doing. I am working at Driehook with David, Erin, and Joe D. My first few thoughts are 1. Africa is amazing, and 2. thank you to the teacheres of the world. My appreciation grows for the work that you do daily. The language barrier is difficult as was expected, but we are able to communicate via "computer and 'XO' language. The kids are amazing and eager to learn. Our first day teaching was simply amazing, it is almost unbeliavable how we can put something in their hands that most of them probably have never seen before and certainly know nothing about, and by the end of a school day they were able to say parts of the computer, open and close programs, turn on the computer.
Its hard to put into words the progress the kids have made. We start off with something they haven't seen before. Thekidseitherdidntputspacesbetweenthewords or too many spaces were used. Punctuation and capitalization were after thoughts. However, but by the end of the first week the kids are capitalizing words and knowing when to use them, names, start of sentences, etc. They have been able to put sentences in B, I, and Underline.
The best part is when a kid masters a task and we can show them shortcuts with the keys. For example, we showed them how to use bold type, but when they forgot to make a sentence bold they would erase the sentence. I showed one of our kids, Johannes, how to highlight sentences and change the font after he had typed it. One the tools we have been using to practice typing is by typing sentences 5x each. Near the end of the day after he had mastered nearly every tool in the Write Activity (similar to microsoft word), I showed him how to copy and paste....you should have seen the look in his eyes!!
At the beginning of this blog i mentioned my deepened respect for teachers. I want to extend that to everyone that volunteers their time because I have seen first hand the hard work of the people around me do wonders for some kids who just need the opportunity. Thank you to everyone that has donated time, money, and other resources to our cause. Hello to all the OHOTers at Indiana who are not here and to the ones across the nation. I especially want to thank my Mom, Dad, and the rest of my family.
Joey
Its hard to put into words the progress the kids have made. We start off with something they haven't seen before. Thekidseitherdidntputspacesbetweenthewords or too many spaces were used. Punctuation and capitalization were after thoughts. However, but by the end of the first week the kids are capitalizing words and knowing when to use them, names, start of sentences, etc. They have been able to put sentences in B, I, and Underline.
The best part is when a kid masters a task and we can show them shortcuts with the keys. For example, we showed them how to use bold type, but when they forgot to make a sentence bold they would erase the sentence. I showed one of our kids, Johannes, how to highlight sentences and change the font after he had typed it. One the tools we have been using to practice typing is by typing sentences 5x each. Near the end of the day after he had mastered nearly every tool in the Write Activity (similar to microsoft word), I showed him how to copy and paste....you should have seen the look in his eyes!!
At the beginning of this blog i mentioned my deepened respect for teachers. I want to extend that to everyone that volunteers their time because I have seen first hand the hard work of the people around me do wonders for some kids who just need the opportunity. Thank you to everyone that has donated time, money, and other resources to our cause. Hello to all the OHOTers at Indiana who are not here and to the ones across the nation. I especially want to thank my Mom, Dad, and the rest of my family.
Joey
Today was "Testing Day" at Driehoek. We took the kids into another room 4 at a time to test about all the parts of a computer, the write activity, the paint activity, and taking photos for the XO laptop. The reason we are having the tests is so that the kids have a sense of accomplishment when we leave them with the computers.
The testing went really well... We only had 3 people score just barely below the passing grade, and we will be retesting them tomorrow in class before our ceremony. While Joey and Joe were testing, Carter and I were reviewing and teaching the other kids. It was going really well until Carter left me to film at another school! The students were doing so great, so I gave them some free time to play with the computers. For some reason every kid loves "Story Builder" even though it is the worst program on the computer!! Every kid opened "Story Builder" and it was complete chaos! All the kids love that one because it is so louuuddd, but it is the worst program ever, especially because you can't really use it without the internet. Finally Joe saved the class by taking that program off of their computers for the day.
The rest of the day went much smoother... the kids learned the memorize program, took pictures of themselves and drew on them in paint, and then finished it off with some "heads up 7 up" and "Peter Says...".
The testing went really well... We only had 3 people score just barely below the passing grade, and we will be retesting them tomorrow in class before our ceremony. While Joey and Joe were testing, Carter and I were reviewing and teaching the other kids. It was going really well until Carter left me to film at another school! The students were doing so great, so I gave them some free time to play with the computers. For some reason every kid loves "Story Builder" even though it is the worst program on the computer!! Every kid opened "Story Builder" and it was complete chaos! All the kids love that one because it is so louuuddd, but it is the worst program ever, especially because you can't really use it without the internet. Finally Joe saved the class by taking that program off of their computers for the day.
The rest of the day went much smoother... the kids learned the memorize program, took pictures of themselves and drew on them in paint, and then finished it off with some "heads up 7 up" and "Peter Says...".
Whew!! Is all that I can say after 2 weeks of being away from home ...meeting new friends and waking up to cold mornings in the mountains. Let me start by giving a background...I come from Soweto and I am also member of the Kliptown Youth Program. KYP is an organisation that is run entirely by the youth in Kliptown. I don't know if you can call me a Linux pro but I can get around it very well...I came to Limpopo with Sipho Dladla who is one of the founder members from the youth organisation. KYP received XO laptops donated by The Webber family and these were distributed across all ages in our club ...in summary they were given to children in all the Grades at our club so practically you have the youth across all ages using the XOs. Since then I have been playing around with the Fedora distro and the XS so I can say that I in terms of the technical aspect of things, I am hands on.
For starters I think the XS software is straight forward to install and configure but there are always challenging factors like infrastructure constraints, power surges and new hardware that need to be configured /installed so that the XO's can function the way that they are supposed to. Our challenges here have been that 3 of the servers power supplies were damaged by the power surges( thanks to Stanford College we had these PS replaced free of charge)...the active antenna's which I thought were going to be shipped with the XO's are not going to be... and now we need to look for alternatives (D-LINK AP's). I don't think we will have much of a problem installing these but we have not even received them even when they were purchased Last week Thursday. I feel so stupid not having thought of this even before we left Johannesburg, cause I was aware that somthing like this could happen. The most recent challenge is to install a Desktop environment on the server so that it can be used also as a Desktop by the school because they did not have a single PC at 2 of of the schools. Should this be properly installed then we can install a printer on the server and the entire system could be running on full throttle..."talk about maximising resources".
- Neo
For starters I think the XS software is straight forward to install and configure but there are always challenging factors like infrastructure constraints, power surges and new hardware that need to be configured /installed so that the XO's can function the way that they are supposed to. Our challenges here have been that 3 of the servers power supplies were damaged by the power surges( thanks to Stanford College we had these PS replaced free of charge)...the active antenna's which I thought were going to be shipped with the XO's are not going to be... and now we need to look for alternatives (D-LINK AP's). I don't think we will have much of a problem installing these but we have not even received them even when they were purchased Last week Thursday. I feel so stupid not having thought of this even before we left Johannesburg, cause I was aware that somthing like this could happen. The most recent challenge is to install a Desktop environment on the server so that it can be used also as a Desktop by the school because they did not have a single PC at 2 of of the schools. Should this be properly installed then we can install a printer on the server and the entire system could be running on full throttle..."talk about maximising resources".
- Neo
Thabang is the man.
While teaching at Katane, I have had the pleasure of working with a kid that completely amazes me every day. His name is- Thabang Makwela. He is by far the smartest kid in the fifth grade. He is the student that helps everyone learn with ease. It is much easier for him to explain something to the class than for any of us. He speaks English well, he listens and participates, and he understands information about the laptops better than everyone else. From day one, everyone saw promise in Thabang. Since then, he has continued to improve, so much, in fact, that we wanted to do something to help him continue with school and get an even better education.
Today, Joe and I met with his father about Thabang's schooling and what we could do to help him. I mean, none of us have a lot of money, but to go to Katane for one year is about 50 rand or about $7-8. Being such a small sacrifice, we, as a group, decided to send to Thabang to school for the next two years. After that, if all goes well, it is our hope to send him to a private school in the area. The private school is more expensive but I feel that it's crucial for him. His father seemed extremely gracious and really looked like a load was lifted off of his shoulders. Thabang has three brothers and sisters that are being sent to school as well. His father said that he was self-employed and struggles to make ends meet. It would be a tragedy for money to be the reason why Thabang could not further his education. I certainly don't want that to be the case. Hopefully, after talking to my dad about this, he'll want to help, which I'm sure he will. This is too good of an opportunity to pass up.
I'm really looking forward to see where Thabang goes in life, but it is very important that he continues with the laptop and keeps receiving an education which will lead to a higher education.
Today, Joe and I met with his father about Thabang's schooling and what we could do to help him. I mean, none of us have a lot of money, but to go to Katane for one year is about 50 rand or about $7-8. Being such a small sacrifice, we, as a group, decided to send to Thabang to school for the next two years. After that, if all goes well, it is our hope to send him to a private school in the area. The private school is more expensive but I feel that it's crucial for him. His father seemed extremely gracious and really looked like a load was lifted off of his shoulders. Thabang has three brothers and sisters that are being sent to school as well. His father said that he was self-employed and struggles to make ends meet. It would be a tragedy for money to be the reason why Thabang could not further his education. I certainly don't want that to be the case. Hopefully, after talking to my dad about this, he'll want to help, which I'm sure he will. This is too good of an opportunity to pass up.
I'm really looking forward to see where Thabang goes in life, but it is very important that he continues with the laptop and keeps receiving an education which will lead to a higher education.
Katane
Well, I've been working at Katane Primary School for about a week and a half now. I have never quite been tested to my limits the way that I have been here in South Africa. I knew what I was getting myself into, but I guess you never REALLY know until you experience it first hand. First off, Katane is the biggest of the three schools that we have given the laptops to. Second, the children and teachers at Katane know the least amount of English. So basically, I was ready for all of that...
All of the children seemed so excited to receive the laptops and it was a very heartwarming experience for me to see the look on their faces. I was really taken back by how something so small (the laptop) could potentially have such a huge impact on their lives. It's still hard to believe that I'm a part of something so big.
Throughout the last week or so, the biggest challenge that I've had to deal with is the lack of teacher involvement. One of the teachers though, Welhemina Mafora, kept my spirits up by her amazing zest for life and her desire for the children to succeed. A lot of the teachers have restored my faith recently though. I guess I have to realize that using something that some of them have never seen before must be very difficult.
The language barrier was really taking a toll on everyone. THANK GOD for the people that came to help us from the Kliptown project. They have been so amazing and the children are really starting to understand the computers and all they can do with them.
With only a few days left I'm left to reflect on my trip. Maybe everything didn't go exactly how I planned it or thought it should be, but when it's all said and done, I know I gave these kids 100%. I see so much promise in so many of the kids and I can only pray that they will reach their full potential.
Many lives will change because of these laptops and I'm so happy to be here to see it start .
All of the children seemed so excited to receive the laptops and it was a very heartwarming experience for me to see the look on their faces. I was really taken back by how something so small (the laptop) could potentially have such a huge impact on their lives. It's still hard to believe that I'm a part of something so big.
Throughout the last week or so, the biggest challenge that I've had to deal with is the lack of teacher involvement. One of the teachers though, Welhemina Mafora, kept my spirits up by her amazing zest for life and her desire for the children to succeed. A lot of the teachers have restored my faith recently though. I guess I have to realize that using something that some of them have never seen before must be very difficult.
The language barrier was really taking a toll on everyone. THANK GOD for the people that came to help us from the Kliptown project. They have been so amazing and the children are really starting to understand the computers and all they can do with them.
With only a few days left I'm left to reflect on my trip. Maybe everything didn't go exactly how I planned it or thought it should be, but when it's all said and done, I know I gave these kids 100%. I see so much promise in so many of the kids and I can only pray that they will reach their full potential.
Many lives will change because of these laptops and I'm so happy to be here to see it start .
My experience at Katane...
The students are moving along quite nicely. There is a terrible language barrier here at Katane. The students do not speak English very well which is making it difficult to explain the activities and programs to them. The other school are much farther ahead with the activities. Even though it has been difficult to teach these children, it has been a very rewarding experience. The challenge of teaching at the largest school with the largest language barrier has taught me a lot of patience. The students are always so excited to see us each morning. Seeing their smiling faces is the reason that I am so excited to come to school everyday.
The teachers have proven to be a little more of a challenge than the learners. I know that change is always a difficult thing, so I understand that learning about a type of technology when you've never dealt with it before can be quite difficult.The teacher workshops have been helpful but not very much has been accomplished. The teachers have set up gmail accounts, but we have not had the chance to explain sending, receiving, and forwarding emails. Hopefully this will be done before we leave so the teachers can explain this to the learners.
Overall, I feel like this trip has been a successful one. We have changed an entire community and possibly given hope where there was none before. A hope to make it in the world when no one else in your community has before. A hope to become a doctor or lawyer when your parents work in a mine or at a fruit stand. We are giving these children and these communities that hope and that is one of the best feelings in the entire world.
The teachers have proven to be a little more of a challenge than the learners. I know that change is always a difficult thing, so I understand that learning about a type of technology when you've never dealt with it before can be quite difficult.The teacher workshops have been helpful but not very much has been accomplished. The teachers have set up gmail accounts, but we have not had the chance to explain sending, receiving, and forwarding emails. Hopefully this will be done before we leave so the teachers can explain this to the learners.
Overall, I feel like this trip has been a successful one. We have changed an entire community and possibly given hope where there was none before. A hope to make it in the world when no one else in your community has before. A hope to become a doctor or lawyer when your parents work in a mine or at a fruit stand. We are giving these children and these communities that hope and that is one of the best feelings in the entire world.
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