Merger update and other tidbits

Hey All,



I know that it's been a long time and that I sort of dropped a bombshell on the last post. Sorry about that. As it turns out, it is not the end of the world. The DoE is screwed up and said they made a mistake. The two primary schools that we work with are not going to merge. Oops! Instead of saying that Mafale PS, Mmatope PS, and Tsogwe PS are going to merge into one Primary School, they meant that Tsogwe was going to dissolve and the learners from that primary school were going to be divided among Mafale and Mmatope. So that explains that. Unfortunate for Makopye More MS, they are going forward with the restructuring of the grade levels. Maybe not in January, but probably by Jan 2009, the primary schools will be grades R through 7 and the high schools will be grades 8 through 12. This means that Makopye More is not in the long term plans of the DoE. Also, the merger of the high schools is still going to happen, but again, it may be in a year's time. (I still say that this is a good idea. One high school is very large and a great facility and certainly has enough room for all the learners.)



In other news, I wanted to talk about the tombstone unveiling. I don't remember what I have told you about it, so I'll start from the beginning....



Before Robi and I arrived in Jericho, we were told that our family was going to have an event, a tombstone unveiling, about a week after we arrived. Because of this event, the family was going to need to use some of the house where we would be staying. We figured that this would not be a problem, and for the most part it was nothing big. It was a little more complicated because there is no ceiling and any noise travels very well throughout the house. Additionally, the family needs to use the front room for the food supplies and for storing the traditional beer. The beginning of the week was calm and relaxing (as relaxing as a completely new place can be). Then the end of the week and the mad frenzy to finish everything for the unveiling. We slaughtered a cow. This is traditionally a man's job and women are not allowed to help out. Robi didn't want to partake in the slaughtering, but wanted to see how it was done, at least once. The slaughtering of the cow was an interesting experience that I don't know if I'd like to do again. I know that it is how we get beef, that I really enjoy eating, but is was a little much. I helped a little.



Samuel, the "Uncle" who works at the house most days and takes care of a great many things, got a lasso around the cow's neck. Then the cow, know that this was not good, started to try to get away. This is where I was able to help my little bit. About four men got on the rope and eventually were able to tie the cow to a tree stump in the corral (called kraal). The cow was immobilized and it's head put to the ground. It was slaughtered by simply cutting its neck. Unfortunately, the knife was not very sharp and it was not a quick kill. This was the part that I really did not like. I talk with people after the fact and asked about the process, saying that I know that Kosher cows are slaughtered humanely and quickly, as well as bulls in Spanish bullfights. I wondered if rural South Africa could learn something from them. (Sounds a little funny when I actually put in down on paper.) But I was told that they slaughter the cow in a ritual manner. Everything is done to make sure that the "ancestors" are not angered. A section from the cow's esophagus (I think specifically the Adam's apple) is taken out and hung in a nearby tree as a sacrifice to the "ancestors". (A little background: It is believed that when people die here, they go to heaven (or the sky). Then they are the link between the living and God. So the ancestors have the same faults that we do. Since we can't talk directly to God ourselves, we have to be nice to the ancestors so that they speak nicely of us to God.) After the cow was slaughtered, the blood had to be covered so that they other cows, who were watching the whole time, didn't go crazy at the smell and sight of blood, which they supposedly do. So we then had to drag the slaughtered cow through the fence, into the next section of yard, where we put the cow on to metal and skinned it. Very interesting to see how they used every part of the animal. I would have enjoyed the experience more if there was no killing in the middle. Well...I'm running out of time for now. I will pick this up later.



Next on the list....Brewing traditional beer and the actual event.

Department of Education News

This past week, we have gotten some interesting news. Last Monday, there was a memo sent out by the Provincial Director of the Department of Education stating that two of our school would be merged with a third school just outside of town. Our two schools, Mafale and Mmatope, have 339 and 440 students, respectively. While the DoE has been talking about combining schools for a little while, it was always about merging schools with under 300 students. To make things even more interesting, the merger is to take place in preparation for the new school year, January 1, 2008. That gives the schools 3 months to work out the logistics of the merger, and probably build a few new buildings at Mmatope to house the 900 students that they will have in Grades R through 7. At first, we were in shock, then can to believe that it was not a possibility on such short notice. Everything went back to normal.

Today, I was working at Mokopye More Middle School and came across the continuation of the story...It looks as if the DoE has only 280 students at Mafale, allowing it to be considered for absorption, and there are no less than 20 merger that will take place about our area. The two High Schools will be merged (which is actually a sound decision due to low enrollment in one school which has an enormous building with many used rooms) and they will add Grades 8 & 9. So, the primary schools will be Grades R through 7 and the high school will be Grades 8 through 12. Doing some quick math, I don't see much room for a middle school, do you? Again, this is to be implemented as of Jan 1, 2008. Being selfish, that means that I will be losing both of the schools I was supposed to help, within 4 months of arriving. Not such a great thing. Thinking beyond myself, both principals at Mafale and Mokopye More may be out of a job or relocated. For both of them, this is not good. They are well established members of the community. It would be a big loss for the community and not such a nice thing for them to go through.



With all this happening, the rumors are flying. One I heard was that the North West Provincial Director of Department of Education is getting back at the Principal of Mafale for speaking up in a meeting. Another is that the principal of Mmatope is in on the preparation and has been building new buildings in preparation. Both rumors seem to have no substance. We will see how this plays itself out, but I am worried that it is a big political mess.