Sawubona everyone!

Today we visited a Zulu village, homestead and high school. Our game reserve guide Norman is Zulu and has been telling us about his culture and beliefs all week. By the time we arrived at this rural village Jenn and I were both very interested in how the Zulu people live. But we soon found out that this tight-knit, family oriented, and very proud group of people reside on the hillsides, on land owned by their tribal Chief, in complete poverty. These people are really really poor!

Eighty percent of their village is unemployed. We were told that some villagers farm the land and raise milk cows, others find work in the local communities and game reserves. Some have simply left the area entirely to find labor in Joberg. Most of them, even the ones employed, live below the poverty line (for South Africa).

Our guide for the day was one of the village residents, Mdue (pronounced hmmm-due) . Mdue explained that most of the villagers live on government subsidies but its not enough to cover their basic needs. Also, while the government provides minimum medical care for all South African residents, they do not pay for medicine for people with HIV and AIDS. Twenty five percent of the Zulu population has HIV, and no way to get the medicine they need to survive.

So the first thing we did upon our arrival in this rural village was to walk from the central area of the village (there is no town center) to their “general store”. In fact this store was the ONLY store in town and it did not carry much more than flour and corn products, and trinkets for the tourists like us who wander through once in a blue moon. There are no other stores in this town.

Along the walk, Mdue told us that none of the tiny huts in the village have running water (except for one elderly woman) and they do not have electricity.

Later on in the visit, we met the one elderly women (71) who has running water. She lives in a very small homestead with two huts and is raising six grandchildren on her own because the parents have died. Since she is the only one with water in her hut, everyone else must walk 5km to retrieve their water.

Leaving the village, we noticed there was a small fire up on a hillside not far from us. An electrical line had fallen and set alight the grass not too far from the elderly women’s homestead. Since there is no fire department, there was only a few boys up on the hill trying to put the fire out with brooms.

As we departed, I asked Mdue if he ever thought about leaving the village. He told us that yes, his dream was to leave the village and become a Ranger at a game reserve (just as our Game Reserve ranger Norman had done). But his dream was on hold because he did not have a driver’s license, and he did not have the money to pay for one. In South Africa, the government fee for a driver’s license is approximately $90 US. Mdue didn’t have that kind of money. (The average Zulu worker only makes $200 per month.) So he was saving the money he earns as a teacher at a local school, and sometimes tour guide, in the hope he will get his license within the year, and then start on his path to becoming a ranger.

The High School

When we arrived at the high school we were handed over to their biology teacher, who continued our tour. He told us that the high school had 1500 kids total, 14 classrooms, and 60-75 kids in each class. Since they don’t have enough space in each room, the kids sit two to a desk He told us that the land for the school was donated to their village by their tribal Chief, but they had to find the money and resources to actually build the school itself, which still has not been completed because they’ve run out of money.

The kids have to walk 12 km to get to their high school in the morning, and they must carry buckets of water with them because the school does not have any running water. They only have rain water that they can catch off the roof when it rains, but after a few days it becomes very parasitic and nobody is willing to drink it.

The only bathroom for the school is a giant disgusting outhouse that does not have a septic tank. It also has no doors so privacy is out of the question (see picture below). The teachers refuse to use it and the kids do the best they can.

The high school does has a library but there are no books in it. In fact the school does not own one single book outside of a few textbooks that the kids share. They cannot afford to buy book, or even activity workbooks, because neither the Zulu king nor the government gives them any stipends for supplies. The school did have a computer lab but its outdated by at least 10 years.

But the kids were AWESOME… with their boundless energy and a desire to learn, their spirit is inspiring. When we drove up they were outside playing soccer (boys) and singing songs (girls).

The kids loved having us visit and wanted us to take their photos 50,000 times. So we all have a ton of photos to post, and you’ll get to see them all online soon! For now, here is one shot of the kids.

We spent most of our time talking to the teachers on our visit. They seem to really about the kids and it is obvious that education, even without proper resources, is the top priority at this school. But to really educate the students, the teachers have had to come up with some creative solutions as they are outnumbered 75 kids to 1. So these teachers have developed cooperative relationships with the kids to help them learn. As part of this cooperative relationship, the high school kids are called “the Learners” and they are held responsible for educating themselves, usually in groups of students, and use the teachers asssistance when necessary.

The teachers admitted that this teaching method is not the best way for the kids to get an education. But they have no choice. Giving students individual attention in the classroom is almost out of the questions because of the sheer size of each class and total lack of resources.

One more thing before I go… Academics is not the only lessons they teach at this school. Their school flag says “.. For an AIDS Free Life”.

Jenn has come to fetch me for dinner… have a great night!