From tribes to schools...Getting a first hand look!

In the morning we ate our breakfast, downed multiple cups of coffee and headed back into the classroom to listen to Dr. Andy Chebanne present the history of tribes in Botswana. 

In a powerful presentation Dr. Chebanne covered the history as well as the present day plight of the people, sharing the various languages spoken throughout the country. He also shared that the tribes have become endangered with languages slowly disappearing due to a lack of use and limited populations to continue carrying forward the rich culture.

Our next stop was the Madikwe Secondary School, in the village of Mmathubudukwane, where we were able to meet the entire staff, speak with the Head of the School and receive a tour of the buildings, kitchen and classrooms. 

The teaching staff with the the MSU group

 Alisha and Kayla talking with a couple of the students and getting to know them. 

A typical classroom

 

The kitchen and the cafeteria. Two of the most important locations, where meals are prepared for over 500 students.

 Some of the secondary students coming to say goodbye as we head off to our next school visit a primary school on the border of South Africa. 

 This long term vision was prominently displayed on the side of the building as we entered the school's campus and it was visible within all of the classrooms. 

During our time we were able to enter into the classrooms, talk with the teachers and greet the students. All of the students were extremely excited to meet us and came out into the court yard to say hello. They were kind, soft spoken, welcoming and very polite for primary children. 

After a long day filled with amazing experiences its as time to head home and begin preparing for the upcoming adventures. In two days we will be leaving for Maun where we will be donating gently used soccer cleats to a youth team. Tonight we began preparing by unpacking the cleats, inspecting them, and cleaning off any mud so they were ready to go.

Day two: Visit to primary and secondary schools in a rural village

We got a good look at two typical village schools today, in the village of Mmathubudukwane, which is on southeastern border between Botswana and South Africa. First, we visited with nearly the entire staff of the Madikwe secondary school to discuss some of the issues that are faced by educators in rural Botswana. Each party asked many questions to better understand the issues involved in education in both Botswana and the United States. After many questions, it was interesting to see that we shared some of the same problems of keeping parents involved and meeting national (and/or state) standards.

Our second visit was to the Letsebe primary school. We toured a few classrooms and got to see the reading and linguistic programming used by primary education teachers. Children learn Setswana (the native language for Botswana) but also begin to learn English. Many students spoke to us in English, to ask questions like, "What is your name and surname?" or "How are you doing?" The children assembled and sang for us (see the video below).

One thing that struck me was trying to provide simple answers to questions that we got about the educational system of the United States. For instance, Alan Hastings attempted to explain why we have 50 different state educational systems as opposed to a centralized system of education in the USA. Where do you even start? In another conversation, I attempted to explain the "exceptions" that are given to elite athletes who are still of school age -- do they still attend school, or do they become full-time athletes? Where could I even start to explain the nuances and history of NCAA eligibility?

The long day concluded with an outdoor lunch under sunny skies at the Rasesa Lodge near Mochudi, with excellent food and four cats that finished off our left-overs.

One other observation... it's winter here in Botswana, and we are all dressed for spring in Michigan. It's interesting to see so many of the local people wearing nice winter coats, dressed to the nines. The weather has been beautiful, low 40s at night, high 70s in the day.