A transformation: Volunteer->Tutor->Teacher->Friend.

Since the beginning of August, I volunteer with SHAWCO, a student run organization at UCT that facilitates tutoring for elementary, middle, and high school students in townships around Cape Town. I work with eighth graders, teaching a group of 6-8 students through a “Life Orientation Skills” curriculum on a weekly basis. Without a doubt, my Thursday afternoons with Onwaba, Sizwe, Luvo, Lisa, Bubele, and Nkosinathi are the highlight of each week, and my time with them has been transformative. One thing is for sure--through this whole experience, my respect and appreciation for teachers has deepened tremendously!

For first tutoring sessions, I came prepared with lessons straight from the “Life Skills” curriculum that SHAWCO provided, and I attempted to direct our conversations in light of the detailed plan that I had created for the topic. However, a couple weeks after I started working with the students, I decided to try something different—I would let the students lead the direction of the lesson so that I could not only learn more about them, but they would feel more like partners and friends instead of tutorees in this situation.

So the next week, after we had settled down at table in the community center, I asked each one of them to tell me about what they were passionate about. “What are you excited about? What are you interested in? What do you care about?” Eight blank faces stared back at me. In silence. Hmm. Okay. Attempt number two: “What is your favorite subject in school? What are some of your hobbies or extracurricular activities? What kind of music do you like? What sports do you play? What do you like to do with your friends?” Mostly silence…besides a few “I like rap and play soccer with my friends” responses. Alrighty. I’m not asking the right questions. Something more concrete to get conversation flowing. How about… “Tell me about your families. How many brothers and sisters do you have? Do you live with one or both of your parents?” A few responded about the number of siblings they have…and one student said they he didn’t live with either one of his parents—just his grandma… but that was the extent of the replies.

I decided to try something else. I pulled out my laptop and began to show the students pictures of my family members, my boyfriend, and my friends, explaining why each person in the pictures I showed them was important to me. They had LOTS of questions—and wanted to know everything from the ages of each person in my family to why my boyfriend is so much bigger than me and what my dog’s name is (which happens to be Gracie)…Nkosinathi even said that he wanted to be Gracie’s veterinarian some day! This led to the other students talking about what they want to be when they grow up: a social worker, scientist, meteorologist, historian, journalist, and more! Siwe asked me if I could find out how he could become a meteorologist, which sparked the rest of the students to ask for help in achieving their career dreams as well. Thus, for the subsequent lessons, I brought each one of them an article of choice: each student could chose one topic that they wanted more information about, and I would print out an article or online information and bring it to them each Thursday. In the more recent lessons, I’ve continued to step out of the “tutor/teacher role” let the students be the facilitators of the dialogue and learning—bringing a set of questions to get them going, but then letting each of them have a space to express what is on their minds. Thursday afternoons have transformed into a time and space of mutual sharing and learning, where all nine of us around the table share our thoughts on both the positive and negative realities of the world that we live in. I am AMAZED by all the students that I now call my friends—challenged by their heartfelt questions and stories, inspired by their revelations and ideas. I cherish my afternoons with my friends in Khayelitscha, and my heart is already beginning to ache about leaving them in a few weeks!!

P.S. A few weeks ago, I decided to give the “What issues are you passionate about? What do you care about?” questions another try, and this time, I couldn’t write down their responses fast enough:

the environment, human rights, education, teenage pregnancy, HIV/AIDS prevention, political corruption, drug and alcohol abuse, health, and more!

It has been beautiful to watch each boy and girl explore their own passions over the past several weeks, to talk about the ways that their interests intersect with their desired careers, to see them challenge each other’s opinions, to share pieces of my life with them while hearing parts of theirs, and to encourage each one of them to pursue the dreams that they have for the future.