Sowing the seeds of hope in Soweto
As the election furore in Zimbabwe continues, South Africa is undoubtedly facing a milestone in its struggles for a democratic and humane future. However, travellers are out there reporting on initiatives going on elsewhere in the country which are making a positive difference.
Athena is blogging about her experiences in SA with People to People Citizens Ambassadors in the hope that ‘with modern technology, you can explore with me, learn about the unfamiliar, and open your mind to new places and new approaches to life’. First she visited a rural school in Johannesburg and met with officials from the Department of Education, and her blog entry has some sobering statistics and details about the region’s historic problems and triumphs.
Recently she moved on Mdelwa-Hlongwane school in Soweto which is backed by the non-profit Molento Project, promoting literary and the uptake of English in primary schools. Delighted by her welcome and the ‘well-behaved and happy’ kids, she reports that she is inspired by:
their passion and intense desire to take their school in a direction that would help the students both preserve their home language and culture while at the same time, acculturate to the dominant culture so that they have more opportunities as they become adults themselves.
Visit her TravelBlog journal for the full story.
