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Teachers/leaders from
the Bridgeport Public
Schools
and teachers/leaders from
South
Africa, hailing from the
Royal Bafokeng Nation near Rustenburg and
outside of Johannesburg,
were invited to take part in a video conference
at the United Nations Headquarters in New
York on Wednesday, March
23rd.
The event, part of the fourth annual observance
of the International Day of Remembrance of the
Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave
Trade, is a one-day global video conference for
teachers, curriculum supervisors and
administrators of both primary and secondary
schools from countries that have been affected
by the transatlantic slave trade, including the
regions of Africa, the Caribbean, Europe and
North America.
In
a three week partnership, BPS teachers travelled
to South
Africa last month to share
their teaching practices and now teachers from
South
Africa are here
to learn. The invitation came from Amistad
America,
through their relations with the district's
Director of Communication. Amistad
America
is an organization dedicated to shedding light
on the history and legacy of the Transatlantic
Slave Trade.
Donna
Thompson-Bennett, parent leader and
the Executive Coordinator of  Bridgeport’s
PLTI, travelled to South
Africa, thanks
to our partnership with local Rotarians, the
school system and the United
Way. During the
journey, teachers/leaders from Bridgeport exchanged their
teaching practices with teachers from
South
Africa. Ms.
Thompson-Bennett looks forward to Bridgeport
teachers taking part in this valuable
opportunity.
“This
is going to be amazing in setting the context of
the American story and their story of
Apartheid,” she states. “I am excited that they
will get to see the back drop of our country and
this is a great opportunity to get a context of
American History as well as World history and
the impact of slavery on the
world.”
In an interactive discussion, teachers from at
least six countries will be given the
opportunity to discuss with their peers and
share with others what they have learned about
this event and how it has shaped the society
locally and globally. Historical experts
well-acquainted with the history of the
transatlantic slave trade will be featured at
the conference and will facilitate this
discussion.
Our
visitors from South
Africa
include:
BOE
Staff and Leaders who travelled to
South
Africa and/or
attended the conference at the
UN:
The
photos below showcase our visitors from
South
Africa as they
visit various locations in the
school district.
Just
a Glimpse of Donna
Thompson-Bennett’s
Journey
to South
Africa
My
journey began and continues in gratitude to God,
my husband, family, and sister friends,
Bridgeport Parent Leadership Training Institute
(PLTI), Bridgeport Alliance for Young Children
(BAYC), and The Rotary Foundation who made this
amazing opportunity possible.
The
Rotary Foundation awarded a $75,000 grant to
examine and explore enhancement of Early
Childhood Education and Development in the
United
States and
South
Africa.
In Association with Rotary Districts 7980 and
9400 Bridgeport,
Connecticut and
the Royal Bafokeng Nation located near
Rustenburg,
South
Africa were
chosen as the focal areas. It was an honor to be
selected as a member of the Rotary District 7980
Team to represent Bridgeport’s
work in Early Childhood Education, Literacy
Development and the role of Parent Leadership
and Engagement. As Executive Coordinator for
Bridgeport PLTI including a literacy based
Children’s Leadership Institute and mom to a
soon to be 4yr old, I understand the value of
early healthy development and education for
children to thrive and am passionate about the
role o f parents as leaders and partners in
achieving these goals. A great joy was to
be a part of a diverse team who shared the
common belief that quality early childhood
development and education can and should happen
for all children. My
fellow team members
included:
Tim Bartlett,
Rotarian and Executive Director of the Bridgeport YMCA
who has worked with many family programs
including pre-schools, early literacy projects
with parents and after school programs. Lindsey
Davis, a K-1 teacher at Wilbur Cross School in
Bridgeport has worked in school leadership,
parent involvement, is fluent in Spanish and
certified in Special Education and Remedial
Reading.
Heather Ferguson, a Speech and Language
Pathologist for Bridgeport Schools, is an expert
in assessing, diagnosing and developing
therapeutic programs for pre-K and young
children with speech, language and/or auditory
impairments. Laurie Noe, Professor and
Coordinator of the Early Childhood Education
Program at Housatonic Community College focusing
on pre-service and in-service early childhood
educators, is active in early reading and
literacy programs for parents of pre-schoolers
and has lots of experience in setting up early
childhood projects. Barbara Welles-Nystrom,
Fairfield University Professor at the Graduate
School of Education and Allied Professions and
Rotarian Team leader has over 20 years of
research study experience primarily in the area
of reproductive health in Sweden, USA and
India.
Our
team’s primary assignment in South
Africa was to
observe, exchange ideas, and learn from the
Early Childhood Education & Literacy
Development leaders and teachers particularly in
the Royal Bafokeng Nation. This 300,000
strong nation is a rural 540 sq mile section of
South
Africa’s Northwest
Province near the city
of Rustenburg. It
has a unique 260 year history of hereditary
leadership that has found away to successfully
merge with South
Africa’s
governance structures. Kgosi Leruo
Molotlegi is their 43 year old king/chief
executive of the Bafokeng Nation. He has a
vision that builds upon the wisdom of their
ancestors who secured the legal rights to their
land and the natural resource of platinum that
lies beneath. This was masterfully done in
the midst of an Apartheid Gove rnment that
labeled blacks as the lowest level of their
caste system. (Yes there is a story that I will
have to share at another time of how it was
done.) South
Africa’s soil
is home to 80% of the world’s known platinum
reserves and the Bafokeng are key
stakeholders. Kgosi Leruo’s vision
includes a commitment to use their $4.2 billion
portfolio to overhaul education, clean up the
environment and diversify the economy. He has
stated that “our ancestors achieved
extraordinary things that continue to inspire us
to imagine an extraordinary future. I’ve
gathered a committed, competent team to tackle
an ambitious agenda.” We were fortunate to work
with some of the key members of his team in the
area of education. My heart and face smile as I
think about the leaders and educators of the
Royal Bafokeng Institute(RBI), Lebone II College
and the pre-schools throughout their nation who
share the king’s vision of excellence for
all stu dents, parents, grandparents,
traditional leaders and educators who live and
or work in the Bafokeng. I
must acknowledge Sean, Elaine, Mapitso, Bertha,
Obakeng Maria, Elias, Bongani, Dave, Murray, Anton,
George and their dedicated staff and
co-workers. They were
the bridge to our team understanding and getting
an up close view of their best practices, worst
challenges, state of the art, home grown,
inspired, creative, dull, innovative, parent and
community engagement, learning and teaching
strategies. The lasting impression that I
walked away with was despite the worst
challenges including lack of or no financial
resources, there are people committed to
building an infrastructure and system that will
sustain high quality early education as well as
primary and secondary centers of excellence in
learning. They recognize the value
of doing this through a cultural lens that
honors one’s mother/first language, which is
Setswana and family traditions. They
intend for every child to be at
least bilingual with
English as the second language.
South
Africa is a
country with 11 official
languages.
The
lessons observed at the preschools where Maria
Semenya, Obakeng Khunou and Bertha Mohube teach
revealed their committed passion and creativity
as vessels to inspire learning through music,
movement, art, storytelling, outdoor /in door
play and literacy activities. I witnessed
2-5 year old children using coordinated gross
and fine motor skills, showing understanding of
a story, drawing and painting to represent their
own ideas, caring for themselves independently,
self directing play, managing transitions,
interacting cooperatively with peers and working
out peer conflicts. This is just a
sampling of performance standards from our
Connecticut Framework that assesses the
age/stage development of preschoolers. What is
not on the standards that was evident in most of
the children was a pure joy as they were engaged
in learning. As a mom of a
preschooler, who believes my son has three of
the best teachers in CT, I would place these
three women in the same category. Sean
Tunmer and Elaine Serekwane are truly early
education and development champions who are
turning best practices and policy into hands on
teaching tools, literacy and feeding initiatives
for the 15 pre-schools that they believe with
parent and community engagement can be
transformed into centers of excellence. Their
“by any means necessary” spirit and dedication
makes me a believer and I would love to have
them involved with our education reform
movement. I am excited that some of you
will get to meet them as well as their team
leader Peter van Den Elshout, retired principal
and a Science and Math Educator as they visit us
here in Bridgeport.
My
heart is filled with thanksgiving as I pause to
reflect on all the Beautiful People of South
Africa who opened their homes, hearts, minds,
and at times souls for me and my fellow team
members to catch a glimpse of the triumphs,
tragedies, challenges and miracles of a “Post
Apartheid” South
Africa. I give
thanks for my Rotarian host families Andre &
Lee and their sons Ernst, Ruben, Gustav and
their daughter Abby of Middleburg, Val &
Riana and their son Luke of Bela Bela, Alan
& Dia and Chris & Lucia and their
daughter Louisa of Rustenburg South Africa who
so graciously and generously provided me a home
away from home, family fellowship, church and
cultural experiences, computer and/or phone
access to reach my family. I extend a
special thank you to all of the Rotarian leaders
and members who hosted group dinners, lunches,
trips, and gatherings for us.
Each
town or community provided us with a unique
backdrop and insights into that corner of
South
Africa and the
great service work of Rotarians and others. We
witnessed the Rotarian Clubs of Middleburg
addressing one of the challenges by
collaborating with others to sustain Care Village a
residential campus for hundreds of orphaned and
abused children. Hope was also found in the
township of
Mhulzi
where Eunice and her team of preschool teachers
and volunteers educate young children and feed
over 600 people daily. Based on the resources
this is a daily miracle. We experienced a slice
of the rich culture, hospitality and business
savvy of the Ndebele people of
South
Africa at
Sarah’s shop and café Something Out of
Nothing.
The remnants of
Apartheid and the world’s economic down turn
cause many of the people of South
Africa to be
challenged to make something out of nothing each
day. This was most evident in informal
settlements-“shanty towns” dotted throughout
South
Africa.
In Bela Bela, a visit to the Rotarian project
Talje, an orphanage for children with severe
disabilities is a testament of the importance of
providing loving care to those who are abandoned
or neglected because of difference. My heart
moved through a rollercoaster of emotions
through sadness, anger and ended at joy based
upon the resiliency of the children and their
caregivers to engage in spite of their physical
limitations. The Spa Park School in
this same area is a Rotarian Project where
Principal Johann Adams, a Rotarian has developed
this primary school from 60 to1000 young people
from pre-school to 8th grade. I and fellow
team members were moved when we arrived there to
find most of these children waiting in the hot
sun to welcome us with morning greetings, prayer
and praise, and their national anthem.
There were classrooms with 40 + students
and it seemed as though both effective teaching
and learning were being achieved. Mr. Adams and
his diverse staff and parents are pulling their
talents, skills, and resources together to offer
these children the best that they can, knowing
that there is so much more they would like to
make available to them. One of the long
term projects of the Rustenburg Rotarians is the
Crèche- early childhood learning center at Groot
Marico. The Rotarians have invested in
bricks and mortar to expand the center from a
small one room house into a multi room facility
with a full kitchen and computer center as well
as musical instruments. We were greeted by
the sound of music and invited to join in the
Hallelujah line which I did in honor of two of
the beautiful people in my life My Aunt
Loria and Kevin Hanks whose great spirits
passed to the other side of life and were being
celebrated back home on the same
day. Finally, the Tapologo Hospice
that sits on the edge of the Bafokeng Nation
providing a prevention and intervention
movement, healing and sacred space for those
affected and infected by HIV & AIDS.
Dr. Neil, Steve, Rosalie, Marie and Bishop
Kevin Dowley are clearly doing God’s work to
address the devastating effects of HIV/Aids in
that particular region of South
Africa.
Note that it is reported in South
Africa that a
generation of parents have been lost to HIV/AIDS
related illnesses leaving too many children
vulnerable and orphaned. The Tapologo
Center is
trying to save a generation and beyond with
their work.
In
retrospect, one of the most remarkable threads
woven throughout my experience was my
perspective as a Christian, woman, wife, mother
and leader of change. As an
African-American woman who has benefited from
the sacrifices and triumphs of the Civil Rights
Movement and over 20 years ago participated in
the Anti -Apartheid Movement here in the United
States, I realize and rejoice in how far we have
come yet recognize how far both nations have to
go to provide equal access to high quality
education, financial stability, health and
safety for all children and families regardless
of race, gender, culture and socio-economic
status. In the words of the great South African
singer Miriam Makeba- “the struggle continues.”
This journey inspires me to stay on course and
do my part no matter how small to ach ieve these
outcomes in both nations.
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