The Day of the African Child

So last Friday there was a wonderful event at my school celebrating the Day of the African Child. This day commemorates the Soweto Uprising in South Africa, when students protested the teaching of Afrikaans in schools and the terrible education system in general, and were attacked by the Army, who killed many students. It has been turned into a day to celebrate African Children in general, and to remind adults that they should not be mistreated or abused.

I know we have a Children's Day in the states, but no one really takes it seriously, so I wasn't sure what to make of this one. On Wednesday a group of my tenth graders seemed very happy, so I asked them why. The reply was "Because Friday is our day" and I thought, for people who don't have a lot in life it must be really nice to have a whole day devoted to you and for people to take that seriously.

On Friday classes ended at noon, and then we had a big assembly where the principal explained the history of the day (in Oshiwambo, so my introduction is based on just a short translation), and then learners from each class got up and performed a play, or read a poem, or sang a song. The tenth graders dramatised the events of the Soweto uprising, and I thought my normally shy students did a great job of acting it out. The poems were also great- one from a seventh grader asked a lot of pointed questions about why the government was not doing more about child abuse. I was very impressed since my seventh grade classes are usually too shy to talk to me.

It was also a lot of fun to see the lower primary learners (grades 1-4) who I don't usually see because they are at another building about 200 meters away. A lot of them were very excited to see me because they haven't seen many (or any) white people before. The principal brought one girl to see me because she was afraid. I shook her hand, and I think after that all of her classmates thought she was really special. The younger learners were especially enthusiastic and sang their songs very loudly. One class of 3rd graders sang "If You're Happy and You Know It"- overall they could sing in English well, though I don't know if they knew what they were singing.

The principal said at the beginning of the day that on this day his big stick was only for decoration and that he wouldn't touch any learners with it. It's kind of sad that it takes a special day to stop teacher's hitting learners, but corporal punishment is very deeply ingrained here. At another volunteer's school they told the learners that it was their fault they were beaten was because their bad behavior was inviting punishment. Everyone knows it is illegal to beat learners, but at the same time everyone believes it is the only way to control them. Its a sad state of affairs, but at least they have a day where they are talking about treating kids right.