James & Matt in Cape Town, South Africa: Our First Weekend

On Friday night we finally got to meet Erik and Isaac as we all went for a meal along with Ronél. It was a pleasure to meet them both and hear all about their trip to Geneva. Isaac’s heart-warming story really shows just how much the Pearson Foundation is achieving; 4 years ago Isaac couldn’t use a computer and now he’s given a talk to the UN! The atmosphere was great; good food, good chat, good company!

The next day it was time for shark cage diving with Ronél. It truly was an amazing experience. The boat took us 15 minutes away from the shore, close to Hermanus, and then bait was thrown into the sea to attract the sharks. 4 people at a time climb into a cage attached to the side of the boat, so we could go underwater and see the great white sharks up close. Fortunately for us the weather was fantastic and it was like totally an awesome day like!

On Sunday we were up early to climb ‘Lion’s Head’ Mountain with Erik and Ronel. Who’d have thought it would be scarier than shark cage diving! After an hour and a half it sure did feel like an achievement to reach the top and see the breathtaking views. Erik departed for Morocco, however Ronél and ourselves then went to eat in Blouberg and eventually, spontaneously ended up going quad biking! Yet another brilliant experience that we must repeat with Erik. To top the whole weekend off it was then time for ice cream and to lie on the beach at Blouberg in the scorching weather…. and apparently it is meant to be winter here!!

We’re enjoying our time here so much and we’d really like to thank the team for making us feel so welcome and helping us have such a great life changing experience.

James & Matt in Cape Town, South Africa: All Settled In

After our first couple of days we finally got to meet with Mariam, which we’d heard was going to be an experience in itself with her upbeat and positive attitude, and she certainly lived up to our expectations! She made us feel so comfortable and welcome and there was never a dull moment. We met her at ‘Grass Roots’ which is a teaching development centre; it’s a wonderful place which will strongly improve the teaching quality for children. Although we were outnumbered by around 20 eccentric female teachers, they all treated us like one of them and we learned a great deal about how to communicate with the children through puzzles and block building and how to nurture the children’s skills.

The next day we were involved in the computer lessons again which are coming along very well. Nolwazi really is making a difference to their lives and it’s a privilege to be involved with something going towards such a good cause. Later that day we had the opportunity and pleasure of meeting Claudia Regnart, of Pearson Southern Africa. It was fascinating to find out how the business side works and how Pearson Foundations came to be.

In our spare time we’re enjoying the local gym and we went up Table Mountain (in the cable car, we couldn’t survive walking!) which exposed us to some breathtaking views. On the Thursday we got to spend time with the children at Ikaya Labuntu and use our newfound skills courtesy of Mariam. The kids are filled with so much joy and we had loads of fun despite the language barrier, of which we soon found ways of communication. The creches, thanks to Mama Nabunto, the team and the donations, are making a huge difference to the children’s lives.

We’re looking forward to reuniting with Ronel, finally meeting up with Erik, who we already have so much to thank for, and Isaac after their trip to Geneva!

By James Freestone & Matt Johnson.

Erik and Isack with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon

 



















Time to leave Geneva after a really great day for Pearson and the Pearson Foundation. Isack set up a lunch meeting with the Minister of Education for Tanzania and we had a great talk. I also spoke to the Minister of Education for Kenya. Ban Ki-moon came through the booths and basically just shook hands and moved on. But, Isack and I kept him at our booth for a long time! He seemed very interested and we were the only to happy.

PPT: Best practices of Emergent Literacy workshop

Mtwara is one of 25 regions in Tanzania. It is in Southern Tanzania and quite close to the border with Mozambique. Its city centre is close the Indian ocean. Unlike Dar es Salaam, it is a sparsely populated area.

The Pearson Foundation team was in Mtwara facilitating a programme that aimed to integrate best practices of emergent literacy into primary schools.

One of these teachers, Dyonita Kapinga, was born in Mtwara and raised in this rural village. She studied very hard and after finishing school, decided to head to the big city of Dar es Salaam to practise her new profession.

She is a mathematics teacher for grade 1-4 at Naliendele Primary School. It has now been more than ten years since her last teaching assignment. As a result, she attended the workshop and offers these insights as the most important issues facing teachers in Tanzania:

- Lack of books in the classroom
- Over-population of students in the classroom
- Difficulty of teaching English when most people speak KiSwahili as the primary language

She sincerely hopes that upon completion of this programme, her life (and the lives of her students) will be much easier.

by Hassan Kassim

James & Matt in Cape Town, South Africa: Our first days

We arrived in Cape Town on Sunday morning for three weeks volunteer work with the Pearson Foundation. It was raining, cold and we’d had no sleep during our eleven hour flight, but what better way to cheer you up than our driver for the next three weeks, Sieraaj. He showed us the sites quickly and then took us to our accommodation. In the afternoon we met the wonderful and very helpful Ronél who introduced us to more of the city.

Matt

James

On our second day we got to visit the Ikaya Labuntu Shelter and Creche. It was an absolute pleasure to meet Mama Nobunto, who runs the shelter and has been doing since it begun. Mama Nobunto is a wonderful lady with a big heart and her story of how the shelter came to be how it is today was both enchanting and awe-inspiring; it is amazing to see what she has achieved. We helped out at the computer teaching classes that are running three times a day, three times a week. The teacher, Nolwazi, is another incredible person to be in the company of; Nolwazi has no experience, but her teaching and enthusiasm came naturally and it was easily clear to see that her presence will greatly improve the skills of those taking part in the computer programme with her calmness, contagious laughter, yet controlled attitude!

So far we could not have asked for a better welcome to South Africa, and we could not be more thankful for such an opportunity to meet so many incredible people!

We can’t wait for the next few weeks and we hope to help the Foundation as much as we can! By James Freestone & Matt Johnson.

Geneva Day One: UN Education and Socio-economic Forum.

Isack and I flew from Cape Town to Paris, then to Geneva. We went to the United Nations Palais des Nations to set up the booth and get ready for the Forum starting the next day. After that we strolled through the lovely old village area and had a bite to eat after scaling the circular stairway up the towers of the cathedral.

This morning, we put on our suits and took the train to the UN. We met Euan and Alice and prepared to speak to delegates about the work both Pearson and the Pearson Foundation are doing globally. Dr. Asha-Rose Migiro was the first to stop by (with the press!) to speak to Isack and Alice. Isack knew her from Tanzania. She was a Ministry official there, but is now Deputy Secretary General of the UN (right under Ban Ki-moon). Isack was great! He greeted her in Swahili and she loved it. He then switched to English so that the press would know what he was saying. He and Alice tag-teamed it and Dr. Migiro was quite impressed. We spent the rest of the day meeting other delegates and talking about our work. A great first day.

by Erik Gregory

Off to Geneva for an Education Summit at the United Nations!

Isack and I are off to Geneva today for an Education Summit at the United Nations! We're going with some of our Pearson colleagues from London and have a lovely booth with flyers about Tinga Tinga Tales, movies about the BridgeIT and Digital Arts programmes, and lots of excitement. Ban Ki-Moon will stop by our booth to chat with us about the Pearson Foundation's work, as well as what Pearson does globally.

This photo shows Isack (in the middle in green) at Gombe National Forest during the week that Andy (next to Isack), Gabriel (next to Andy) and I met him. That was in 2007. Isack wasn't sure where his life was going to take him. At that time, he was selling tomatoes off of his bike. He volunteered for Jane Goodall's Roots and Shoots program, but his father had recently died and as the oldest child, he had to find some way to earn a living. He attended our digital arts programme. After Andy taught him how to use the mouse, Isack quickly mastered high-end editing software, and he'd never used a computer before!

Now Isack facilitates our digital arts programmes across Africa with two of our other Tanzanian students Alex and Hassan, and Rosemary from Kenya. Isack, Alex, and Hassan also have their own film company and make films for the Ministry of Education and NGOs in Tanzania. AND...Isack is off to talk about the Pearson Foundation at the UN in Geneva today!

Look at that young kid in the photo. Isack has changed in so many ways since that visit to meet Jane Goodall's chimps in Gombe, and I'll be sure to post photos of him in Switzerland. We're off to buy him a suit and that is giving all of his friends a great laugh!

Off we go. by Erik Gregory