If You're Happy and You Know It

There’s nothing quite like a performance of 17 toddlers singing, dancing and clapping to put you in a good mood and bring you back to appreciate the simple joys in life. We returned to Kayamandi yesterday to purchase a fire extinguisher, first aid kit and mattress for Zukelwa’s crèche and received a warm greeting of “TEACHERS!” as we walked in the door. It wasn’t long before each member of our group was on the ground, surrounded by a swarm of kids who were fascinated with every piece of jewelry, strand of hair and facial body part (they were somehow convinced my nose is a detachable object and I couldn’t help feeling like a Mr. Potato Head doll).

Although the kids didn’t know any conversational English (Kayamandi is predominantly isiXhosa speaking), Zukelwa led them in a song and dance performance. There was something beautiful about watching the physical expression of joy through hand clapping, foot stomping and jumping around that gave me a new perspective of my community development work both in Kayamandi and Lynedoch. It’s important to remember –like our 8-hour car ride along the Garden Route –that the learning process is about the journey rather than the destination. It’s so easy to get caught up in lesson planning and documentation of our work that I forget our main goal is to interact and engage with the community members. I also realize how goal-oriented I am in my work ethic and although this is great for motivation, often times in community work, there isn’t always a clear and tangible end to aim for. With end goals of enabling empowerment and inspiring confidence in our students, it’s hard to measure our success and when we come up against obstacles like late trains, absent teachers, and limited funding and resources, it can become discouraging when challenges are apparent but the progress isn’t.

This week was my three-month mark of arriving in South Africa, which means there is just under a month of classes and community work left at Lynedoch. I’d like to say I’ve seen a change among our students with the work that we’ve put in –without a doubt, we’ve been able to develop relationships and get to know some of them personally. But it’s also been a challenge of how much we’re realistically able to accomplish. Three American university students with little or no education experience tackle a class of 40 Afrikaans-speaking seventh-graders? How do you measure success? While I don’t expect them to remember every lesson on Martin Luther King Jr. or how to write a haiku poem, I hope that simply our presence in the school has added something to their time at Lynedoch, just as working in their community has changed my own perceptions.

So with this in mind, I embark on the home-stretch portion of the semester. There will inevitably be more challenges and obstacles we face but also more singing and dancing to Justin Beiber, homemade birthday crowns, yogurt facials and green glitter moustaches. And I will remember to follow the advice: if you’re happy and you know it –show it!