The Teachers We Trained

Before I share more about the teacher training program we facilitated in South Africa, I think I'll share with you a little bit about the teachers and the population they have to work with. The majority of them have 15 plus years experience teaching in the schools - some 30 plus years! Keep in mind that they are from and educated in an apartheid society. They then taught for years prior to the end of apartheid. We trained and worked with the literacy group. Most English teachers have about five classes with 50 - 60 students - approximately 300 papers and tests to correct and grade. I'm not sure they give feedback. I think they just grade and you get what you get. These 9th - 12th grade students do not speak English as their first language. Most students speak either Afrikaans or Xhosa at home and were educated in their home language up to grade seven. At that point the curriculum switches to English - cold turkey. The fact that I found most disconcerting was that these English teachers are teaching Shakespeare to grades 9 - 12. Isn't Shakespearean English yet another language?! Teachers complained of 10th grade students having a 3rd grade reading level but did not know whether or not these students were literate on grade level in their home/first language. Another bothersome fact is that no one could answer my questions, "What is a future vision for some of the students?" "What are the goals of the students?" "What do the students hope to achieve?" The only vision for the future I heard was in a first grade, Xhosa (black township), classroom. Our guide told the students, "Stay in school so you can have one of these (a cell phone)."

One of the most profound activities we had the teachers complete was an "I Am From" poem. Please peek into their lives, not as a voyeur, but as one who cares for other human beings and is thankful for our lives here in the United States.

For some reason, I can't seem to format the poems how they were written so I just put periods in where the writer went to the next line. I used their spellings and their language and put my translation in parenthesis.

I am from the era of 1985. Tear gas, batons, hippos (an enormous army tank). The order of the day. You deny me the right to teach. You deny me the right to express myself BUT you will never quell the passion within me to teach. Learning and teaching might seem so simple. yet I am concerned about living and dying. You robbed me of my innocence the day you shot my classmate You stole my zest to learn the day you said, “The doors of learning are closed.” I am from the era 1985. - Hemmie Govender


I am from a wonderful family. I am from a family full of love. I am from a family of unity. I am from a family who knows of poverty. I am from a family used to sharing. I am from a family who knows what loveliness is. I am from a community that is ravaged by death, crime, and pain. I am from a community that strives to survive. I am from the best! By Jean Mfunda

I am From. Known as the ghetto. Feared by many. Surrounded by shacks. I am from the township. We cannot think. We cannot write. We cannot build. We cannot create. I am from the disadvantaged. We drink. We use drugs. We rape. We murder. I am from Mitchell’s Plain. We can love. We can pray. We can hope. We can dream. I am from God. - Lynn Damons

I am from a place unknown. A place without a name. Where secrets lurk. promises broken. A place without a name. The alleys dark. Where pain unfolds. A place of broken dreams. Sunlight shattered. A place with only shame. I am from a place unknown. Dark clouds. Cold days. A place where lightning strikes. And thunder shatters dreams. I am from a place unknown.


I am from a town of dusty roads and potholes. I am from a place where poverty dwells. I am from no dreams and no aspirations. I am from a place where efforts are in vain. I am from pain and suffering and gnashing of teeth. I am from no sunny days but rain. I am from breaking through barriers of red tape. I am from making it against all odds. I am from free from condemnation and shame. I am where I am today. I am a king on the hilltops of fame. Living my dream away from all shame. I am Glenda Ann September rising again and again.

I am from Cape Town City. The number one place. I am from the sea, the mountains and the rivers. I am at peace here. I am from a family of love and sharing and caring. I am a teacher, a father, a husband. I am from curry, rooti and rice. I am from English, Afrikaans and Arabic. I am Abdul Aleem Sparks.

I am from the womb of woman. I am the product of many women. Therefore I am flexible like the cat who always lands on her feet. I am the product of my society. I have suffered and conquered the slings and arrows of many both close and distant. I am from a family who are many and varied. Emotional and cold, passionate and detached. All of this has made an impact on me. And all of this has made me who I am. - Cheryl Charmaine Stevens/Fisher/Bolters