South Coast Herald & South Coast Fever – July 26th, 2002.

TEACHERS WITHOUT BORDERS – MATHS AND SCIENCE WORKSHOPS – A GREAT SUCCESS

“Nobody cares how much you know until they know how much you care”

With these words, Dr Samson Nyawuza, KZNDEC: Port Shepstone, ended his keynote address at the civic function honouring 76 district teachers of maths and science attending a workshop by Teachers Without Borders at Port Shepstone High School this past week. That such an international, collaborative effort would take place during the July holidays, when no teachers involved were paid for services or attendance was especially meaningful in that their efforts would impact on the lives of more than 15000 students. Master of Ceremonies, Speaker Ravi Pillay noted that the project doubled in size and offerings after last year’s success. In giving the vote of thanks, the project’s Port Shepstone director, Mrs. Pauline Duncan noted that many more organizations and individuals were involved this year and that recognition by the national government was proof that we were on the right track. Mrs. Duncan acknowledged significant sponsorship by the Cassim Peer Trust, Rotary International – Hawaii Dist.5000, Port Shepstone Rotary, Hibuscus Coast Council, and the Department of Education. Maths and Science advisors, Jane Cruickshank, Ronnie Khuzwayo and Bafana Jwara were commended for their support of district teachers. Mayor Shusha thanked the educators from Hawaii ( John Proud, Michael Hu, Will Best and Michael Vogel) and spoke of a son of Port Shepstone, project director Yunus Peer, returning home to give something back to a community he left during the Apartheid years.

According to Yunus, “the stars of the show, our 76 local teachers, spoke for themselves.” During an open-mike session, one after another, teachers talked about how meaningful this week had been for them. Doreen Cele of Mdlangaswa School noted that the workshop material was fresh, focused and relevant to classroom learning for the matric exam. Another teacher requested that accommodation be provided next year so that transport would not be such a hardship for teachers in outlying areas. Yet another commented that one could learn something new no matter how many years experience one had. One of the surprises during the function was the arrival of R80,000 worth of math textbooks, which TWOB teacher Michael Vogel arranged through his former employers, Prentice-Hall in Chicago, USA. Mr. Vogel handed over the gift to Dr. Nyawuza for distribution to district schools. There seem to be many such positive spinoffs from this project, and it appears that plans are underway to triple the number of local educators in attendance next year. ” In two years this project has served 235 teachers in Gauteng and KZN” said Yunus, ” When ordinary people like us put our hearts and minds together, extraordinary things happen”.

TEXAS INSTRUMENTS & TEACHERS WITHOUT BORDERS MAKES GIFT TO DURBAN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

The TWOB – SA Math and Science Project 2002 team have just concluded a week-long workshop with 76 district teachers at Port Shepstone High School. Now in its second year, the project works with South African teachers with a focus on the matric exams in maths and physical science. Two workshops are conducted during the July holidays; the first at the Vaal Triangle Technikon and the second in Port Shepstone. The TWOB team of two maths and two science teachers, led by former Port Shepstone resident Yunus Peer, now teaching at Punahou School in Honolulu, Hawaii, is sponsored by the Cassim Peer Trust, Rotary International and local government. In two years of operation, the project workshops have served 235 teachers in Gauteng and KZN.

Texas Instruments USA entrusted TWOB-SA director, Yunus Peer, to donate a number of Graphing calculators to organisations in South Africa for the sole use of deserving students. These machines are model TI-82’s with college and graduate level applications in maths and engineering. Together with advanced mathematical functions, the TI – 82 stores vast amounts of data; that data is then transferable to a computer hard drive. At the urging of former Port Shepstone mayor Mrs. Pauline Duncan, and current Speaker, Ravi Pillay, on behalf of Texas Instruments and TWOB, Mr.Peer donated 43 TI-82’s (R47,300) to the Durban Institute of Technology . Accepting the gift is Mr. P.R. Dullay, Director of Development for DIT and also a former Port Shepstone resident and teacher. A similar donation of calculators was made to the maths and engineering departments at the Vaal Triangle Technikon in Vanderbijlpark, Gauteng.

(www.teacherswithoutborders.org)