South Africa Reflection

Heather Taylor

Before going to South Africa, I really didn’t have any expectations. This was partly because I didn’t want to have unreasonable expectations and then be disappointed, and partly because I really didn’t know what I was getting myself into. I knew it was going to be an amazing experience, but I didn’t know how it was going to impact me. I think I am still trying to analyze how it influenced me—maybe that is why it has taken me so long to write this. And maybe through writing this, it will help me interpret my experience.

South Africa is an amazing place with amazing people. It is a gorgeous country, and the people are unbelievably warm and giving and happy, despite hard conditions in the rural areas. Thus, the overwhelming feeling I was left with was one of inadequacy. The teachers we worked with were so thankful for what we were doing, yet I felt like we were doing so little—I wish I could have offered more. For example, since there were three math teachers leading workshops, we each met with the teachers for a total of about six hours in the four day long workshops. This gave me time to have the teachers do about half of the activities I had prepared. And although I gave them worksheets and instructions, they walked away with about 12 ideas of activities they could use in their classes. So what about all of the other school days? And they would be trying to do these activities with classes of 80-100 kids—how you keep that many kids on task is impossible to imagine. Regardless of the hardships these teachers face—limited supplies, large classes, limited support, language issues—these teachers were so dedicated and enthusiastic, it really made me feel humbled. I wanted to help so much more than I could.

Then I started thinking about the bigger picture. Although these teachers wanted to learn about hands-on ways to teach math and science, they are also teaching the future leaders of their country and our world, which requires knowing more that than just math and science. The world today can seem so fragmented—so many people at war, fighting about so many different things. South Africa is a new country—they are in the process of inventing themselves—their future will be determined by the students that are currently in school. I hope that the future of our world is more connected and cooperative, and I think that going to South Africa sends a message that this can be a reality. Countries don’t have to be at war; we can and have to help each other to make the world a better place.

So this is just the beginning—a few teachers from HI, working with a few hundred teachers in South Africa. It has to start somewhere, and then it grows from there. It makes sense that I felt inadequate—we did not accomplish all that needs to be accomplished, but we’ve started something. So the key is to keep it going. Teachers Without Borders is a perfect example of how a few people really can make a difference. This is important to keep in mind, especially in a world where it seems like there is so much to be done. It is easy to get discouraged and to think that one person can’t make a difference, but if everyone thought that way, then nothing would ever change for the better. I am thankful that there are people who want to make a difference, and that I got to play a small part.