When finally having it confirmed that I was going to live in Africa for four months, I found myself not knowing what to expect. Thoughts of dry desert land, serious crime, dirt roads, a basic university and schools with no electricity were just a few. Obviously from the moment I arrived into Port Elizabeth, I was met by a lifestyle completely different to the one many people had prepared me for. Having now been here for six weeks, it has struck me just how important it is to travel and see the world, to break down any misconceptions or false reputation of countries, had I not been given the opportunity to see South Africa in the way I have so far, I would still be holding onto those misconceptions so many people believe to be true. I have yet to even come across any form of crime, and despite the obvious areas of poverty, there are also many wealthy areas, which I did not expect.
Something I was completely unsure of what to expect was the work I would be doing in university and the assessments I would be carrying out. This week brought our first assessed piece of work for our ‘Barriers to inclusive learning’ module, bringing also our first week of real work since we got here. For the assignment we had to get into groups of four and present a power-point on a specific learning disability. I was surprised at how similar this assignment was to ones that we are asked to complete for Stranmillis, and as we watched each of the presentations I couldn’t help but be surprised at the difference in support for teachers teaching children with disabilities here in South Africa and at home in Northern Ireland. In South Africa there are very few schools that provide teaching assistants within classes of children who have special educational needs, and so the teachers are expected to look after a classroom of around twenty children, all of which have some form of Special Educational Need. Although my initial expectations were of very basic schools, I found it hard to believe that even the specific Special Educational Needs schools followed that trend.During our presentation, it became clear to us for the first time that our accents cause great difficulty for some of the students in our class. (A good indication was when they stared at us with a confused and panicked look on their face, very off putting!) We quickly realised that there is a need to slow down our speech a lot when talking to many of the students, and pronounce our words much clearer, which has now become a way of my speech in every day conversations and is making conversation much easier and less awkward! We realise this will also be essential when teaching in our placement school after Easter, and may be one of our greatest challenges.
It has been a great source of entertainment talking to the Americans about their expectations of South Africa, many of which expected lions and elephants to be roaming around in the fields behind our accommodation. Sadly, this was not the case, however, this week a group of us had the privilege to visit a nearby elephant sanctuary. I think this has been the most surreal experience so far for me, as myself and four American girls got to ride the elephants through a game park and then feed the elephants by hand. Despite the rain, the five of us came home buzzing about our trip. The sheer size yet gentleness of the elephants was more than I ever expected. Being able to place the meal in their trunks and in their mouths was something I will never forget, and has quickly moved the elephants up to my favourite African animal. Showing off, the elephants performed for us, following simple instructions such as left turn, sit, walk in a circle, and we just watched amazed as these incredible animals demonstrated their intelligence. Interaction with these animals made it real to us that we are in Africa, and the amount of incredible wild animals the continent of Africa have.
Other than that our week has been pretty quiet, we have spent a lot more time on the beach and by the pool, making the most of the sun as the locals keep telling us it will soon get cold. Being here and having so few commitments has been very refreshing for me as it has given me a chance to do things that we want to do and relax, yet there is always something to do or somewhere to go, something I didn’t expect when I first arrived here. However, I am also looking forward to returning to my commitments when I return, refreshed and ready to contribute from a new angle having lived here for four months.On Sunday night we all headed to the local Irish pub for a meal so we could watch the Ireland match! Glenn and I somehow ended up the centre of attention as we were 'the Irish kids', and with it being such a tight match with France, there was a great atmosphere in the pub, despite the final score resulting in a draw. Being away from home seems to give me more interest in Irish Rugby, and it was a lot of fun supporting them with Americans, South Africans and Norwegians.
Next week bring St Patrick’s day, and it seems to be mine and Glenn’s responsibility to organise a party as we are the only Irish that we know of here, so that is guaranteed to be an interesting weekend ahead. Hope everyone is well at home and teaching practice is going well for all the Stran folk out there.
Lynsey
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