He was ever precise in promise-keeping

My start to Cape Town has been an absolute amazing experience. One of those experiences that you try to tell your friends/family/kids/grandkids/strangers on the street and they just wave you off. I know that in the end it will only mean something to me, but at the moment that's more than enough. So on Saturday I went to a pool party at my friend Thibault's house/my future house. The weather was beautiful, the people were friendly, the drinks were cold, and the braii was delicious. After that we made the excellent decision to go to downtown Cape Town. We went to a club called "Assembly", and after a very mediocre band got off the stage (Someone might have yelled for their heads) a decent enough DJ got on the turntables and took to a 80's/90's heaven. Needless to say the song selection can be best shown by:

All in a Cape Town day.

However, most of my time has been spent going to work/taking and doing my work at home/worrying about work/or worrying about worrying about work. I don't mind the time it takes, it is both a needed endeavor and I love what I do. We gave a math test last week to eighth and ninth graders that have been in the program, and the results are staggering and enlightening. First, by getting a 30% a learner (student) passes that test/quiz/grade/term. Coming from America, where anything below a 70% is often looked at with derision, it is a staggering 180. While the overall average was around a 30%, acknowledging that these kids need help on a remedial level (which we knew), it also highlighted two other things. First, that there is a discrepancy between their skills and what they are taught. The test was a general knowledge test that ranged from strict addition to basic geometry. These kids in class however are being taught and expected to perform skills such as the Pythagorean Theorem, how to solve for the area of a triangle (p.s.-its 1/2Base*Height), and other rather complex ideas. The interesting aspect is is that they (generally) understand it. While their remedial math can at times be considered sub-par, there ability to cope and perform is amazing. That being said, they are all very smart and clever children that have a thirst for knowledge and a desire to better themselves. Some of them also don't need the remedial help but don't want to be denied any extra help they can get.

As evidenced by this perfect score, he asked for McDonald's as a reward!

The children are amazing people, and everyone of them have the tools to make something of themselves. I am truly privileged to both help them and be witness to their understanding of their own strength.

As I said, I have two new bloggers that will (hopefully!) be featuring extensively in both this and the EwB blogs in the comings days, weeks, months, years. I asked both of them to write a mini-bio about themselves. This is what they said (Pictures to come):

Lusanda Ngqose

I am Lusanda and I love math's although I am struggling a little bit
I am a girl who is friendly with others
I am a girl who likes to adore people like Joy, Mrs. Ngqwoukane and also Vimbai
I am a girl who does not swear or make fun of the others
I am a girl who doesn't like people who makes fun of the others
I am very sensitive
I am a girl who wants to become a climatologist
I am a girl who loves science and maths and I also love speaking English

I Am Amanda Zondani

I am quick minded ( I can catch up really easily)
I am fun (I am happy, friendly, funny person)
I am focused (I know when to laugh and when to be focused)
I am honest (I lie only when I write a folk story or tell a fairy tale)
I am humble
I am obedient


You can tell that both of these girls are engaging, smart, hard working, and are genuine. Those are qualities that are incredibly hard to find today, especially where they come from. I am excited to see what they have to say in the coming blogs and we should all be lucky to have them writing.