"Everyone has rights, every child has rights"

We have almost been in Africa an entire week! Where has the time gone?

Nelson Mandela Stadium - it seats 48,000 people!

This weekend was quite eventful. On Saturday, we were blessed with free tickets to a professional soccer game at Nelson Mandela Stadium here in Port Elizabeth. Bafana Bafana was playing Cote d'Ivoire, and what a game it was! The stadium was full of energy, even two hours before the game! It was very obvious that we were foreigners, we walked around the entire stadium one and a half times before we figured out that we needed to walk outside to get to our seats. Oh well, we were able to see the fans pouring into the stadium and we learned a few chants along the way! I was very excited to watch soccer, it has been a very long time since I had seen a game in person and I have never been to a professional game. By the end of the game our voices were hoarse and I felt like I had pulled my arm out of socket from throwing my hands up in the air so many times. Needless to say, the Bafana Bafana team has now gained 9 more avid fans. The ending score was a tie, but the crowd was not at loss.

With Principal January after the game

Sunday was full of rest, we really needed it! A few of us went to church at Lighthouse Family Church. I cherish the privilege of worshipping in a church in another nation. The people were so welcoming and the worship was passionate and real. I am looking forward to go again next week!

This week at Emafini is going to eye-opening all over again, I know it already. The students will be writing exams, which are similar to EOG's in the states. Students in grade 3 are given a maximum of 1 and a half hours to work on the exam. Here is a schedule of the exams:

• Monday: Xhosa exam. Students will be tested on their knowledge of their native language, which they call their "native tongue." 

• Tuesday: Review day. Reviewing is called revising in South Africa. This was very confusing at first, because I thought that Ms. Vava was asking Lindsey and I to have the students correct a test that they had not taken yet! We decided to revise math, because there were many concepts that the students still did not understand. These concepts include, comparing and ordering numbers, organizing data, and characteristic of geometric shapes. It reminded me of many lessons that I taught in Ms. Redmond's third grade class at Sunset Park. I miss you guys!

• Wednesday: Math exam. Ms. Vava is very concerned about how the students will perform. Keep my students in mind today! I know that they can do well.

• Thursday: English exam. Lindsey and I stapled 196 exams for all of the students in grade 3 today! I got a paper cut on my finger while we were stapling, so Lindsey and I went on a search for a band-aid. (Today was the day that I forgot my first-aid kit at the bed & breakfast.) After confusing many people, and being offered a few rubber bands, we learned that a band-aid is called "plaster" in South Africa. Who knew?

• Friday: Life Skills exam. From what I gathered, the students will be tested on their knowledge of safety skills, recycling, and healthy living.

When Principal January was informing us of the schedule for week, he got very quiet and said that he wanted to remind us of something. "Everyone has rights, every child has rights." Principal January meant that every child has the right to learn.

Principal January believes in his students. 

He believes that they have the right to learn. 

He wants them to have caring teachers. 

He wants them to behave. 

He wants them to succeed. 

He wants to hear from them long after they have left Emafini Primary School. 

While he was speaking, my mind wandered to all of the people that we saw at the soccer game that Principal January knew. One was his sister, another was a police chief, and another was a just a friend who passed by. When I told him that he was a popular man, he humbly responded by shaking his head. "This happens when you are a teacher," he said. He then went on to tell us that the police chief and friend had been students at Emafini. Although they had been gone for many years, they still remembered Principal January and he still remembered their names. He still cared about what they were doing, and he was still so proud of them. 

I am so proud of my students at Sunset Park and how hard they have been working this year. I am also so proud of my students at Emafini, who have displayed such a desire to exercise their right to learn.