Day 11 (Part 3) – Dinner with South African novelist and poet Patricia Schonstein

The third part of our VERY busy day commenced after our time at LEAP. We went back to our rooms for a rare two hour break, and then headed out to a residential section of Cape Town. Here, our entire tour group spent the evening at the home of South African novelist and poet Patricia Schonstein and her husband Don Pinnock.

Ms. Schonstein began the evening by relating her transition from a South African resident to a published writer. In the early 1980s, with two small children of her own, Ms. Schonstein opened a preschool that allowed families of all races and backgrounds to attend. With racial violence present in the Eastern Cape at this time, it was a risky undertaking. However, she explained how well all the children – and families – got along and formed a real community around the school. From her experiences with this school and her interactions with the children, she realized the need to get books in the hands of township children. This was even more apparent, she told us, because the local public library was not open to all races. Thus began her writing career, where she crafted stories and poetry with African characters and themes. To date, she has about 15 published works, spanning children’s literature, poetry, novels and even a pictorial grammar book for Xhosa!

Don Pinnock entertained us with a few stories of what life was like living in South Africa during Apartheid. Don related one memorable story in which his actions advocating for a more equal South Africa put him on the police’s “watch” list. At one point, he was apprehended as an agitator and brought to a police station with other demonstrators. He contacted Patricia, who arrived at the police station, located Don and said “Let’s go”. In all the noise and bustle, the two of them made their way out of the station and no charges were ever brought for the incident. Don, in a somewhat deadpan delivery, ended the story by saying “Of course, we had to go into hiding for a while after that, but…”

Ms. Schonstein and Don had dinner prepared for us, and we continued our conversation over a delicious quiche, salad, vegetables and South African wine. Patricia was excited to tell us about her current project, a collection of poetry and verse called Africa! My Africa! An Anthology of verse.  The book is in its final edits and its first printing will be signed and numbered copies. Proceeds from these versions will be used to fund Ms. Schonstein’s Seed Readers program. This is a program that brings children’s books to children who cannot afford them. She explained that she was close to securing 1000 orders for this book, at which time the first printing will begin. Always eager to help, our group purchased 10-12 copies among ourselves!

I must admit I was initially nervous when I learned we would be spending time at the home of an author. I didn’t really know what to expect – perhaps something rather stuffy and formal. What we got was a lovely, relaxed evening that made me feel like we had all known each other for a long time. After our intense seven-hour experiences, it was the perfect way to conclude our day.

Our tour group with Patricia Schonstein (bottom row, left)

To learn more about Ms. Schonstein, please visit her website. There is information about her writings, as well as her Seed Reader initiative and how to order copies of Africa! My Africa!

Day 11 (cont'd) – LEAP Science and Math School & Langa Township

Right after our visit to the District Six Museum, we headed east for about 15 minutes to a section of Cape Town called Pinelands. Here, we arrived at the campus of LEAP Science and Maths School.

The LEAP education model includes offering extended school days and free education to students from high-need communities. The idea for the LEAP model started in 1990, when John Gilmour of Pinelands High School began offering three 90-minute academic sessions to 100 students from the Langa township. (Langa is an area created in the 1920s to house black Africans who were forced to move to black-only locations.) The success of this program in Langa resulted in the creation of an educational facility in Langa, with teachers from were being brought in for the academic sessions. The gains made by this first LEAP School (now called LEAP1) spurred other programs to start across South Africa. LEAP stands for Langa Educational Assistance Program. Today there are six LEAP programs, including the one in Pinelands (called LEAP2), which we were visiting today.

When we arrived, we were greeted by a member in LEAP’s Future Leaders program. This initiative takes LEAP graduates and prepares them to be prepared and effective teachers. From the description on the LEAP website, this program provides vital teacher support, such as classroom training, mentoring and internships. Three current LEAP students, Nosipho, Shelly and Solly, were assigned to us as tour guides for our visit.

Our tour guides: Nosipho, Shelly and Solly

My tour was led by Solly, who showed us a few classrooms and was very knowledgeable about the structure and operation of LEAP. For example, Solly explained that LEAP tries to work with manageable class sizes. There are currently about 50 students in each grade (8 through 12). With two classes per grade, this translates into no more than 25 students per class.

The academic schedule is unique to LEAP, with classes running from 8:15am to 5:15 pm five days a week, and a session on Saturday from 9am to 12pm! This additional instructional time, as well as requiring students to take some form of math and science every year is showing results. LEAP boasts a 95% pass rate for its grade 12 students. Seventy-five percent of their graduating students go on to post-secondary studies in colleges or universities. When you consider that most of these students come from very disadvantaged backgrounds, this level of success becomes even more impressive.

Partnerships with other schools and communities is also a big component to the LEAP model. As noted on their website: “Each LEAP school is linked to a privileged private partner school for the purpose of promoting integration across cultures and society; sharing science, sports and careers facilities; participating in joint social development work in our communities, as well as sharing teaching and learning practices.”

As we traveled to different classrooms, we noticed that every room had a copy of LEAP’s Code of Conduct. Often, these posters were hand-made by the class. This is just one version that caught my eye:

This idea of community is even evident in the ‘small stuff’, such as referring to their weekly assemblies as “community meetings”.

Finally, LEAP believes that change comes when the students are invested in themselves. To that end, every grade has a Life Orientation (or LO) class that helps students discuss their feelings, and build a sense of community and emotional support with one another.

Later in the tour, when Solly allowed us to sit in out some classes, I had the opportunity to share in a Life Orientation class. Students sat in a circle and the instructor asked them for suggestions on the next activity. This class settled on something called “If you really knew me”. In this activity, students go around the room reciting “If you really knew me, you would know…”, then completing the sentence with something about themselves. The goal is to get students to open up to one another in a safe environment. Yes, there were some who offered up less than ‘meaty’ items (e.g. “If you really knew me, you would know I am hungry right now”), but many were quite thoughtful (and heavy!), with students exposing thoughts of home strife, suicide and fear for their safety.

After the class finished with its first pass of this activity, students took a second turn. I noticed that on the second pass, the level of seriousness went up, with almost every student contributing something that was thoughtful and reflective. It was interesting to consider that this type of class is a LEAP requirement across all grades.

Another facet of the LO class is a daily journal entry. Students are free to write on any topic, but, as the LO instructor pointed out, their entries often gravitated toward personal reflection. The journal was therefore another outlet for students to deal with personal issues in addition to, or in place of, the more public forum in LO class.

When our time in the LO class was over, we had a few minutes to talk with Solly. We asked if she lived far from the LEAP campus and how she found traveling back and forth between home and school. Se said, in a very matter of fact tone, that travel was really her only cause for concern. Although her trip only took about fifty minutes, there had been some incidents of students being robbed. Recently, robbers posing as taxi drivers have lured students into a taxi, then drove off and robbed them – sometimes at gun point! Solly said she had been robbed once herself. She told us “Every day when I get ready to travel back home, I stop and think about strategies for traveling safely.” She said she was worried, but the experience at LEAP was not one that she was ready to give up because of travel issues.

Following our tour and classroom visits, we had lunch with several members of the Future Leaders program. It was impressive to see how many of theme had toured educational settings in other countries. One student related their experiences in Chicago schools, and another spoke of their visit to San Francisco. It was inspiring to watch their excitement as they shared their stories. You could tell they were looking forward to the time when they would have their own classroom.

About mid-afternoon, we were taken on a brief tour of the Langa township.  Our guide was born and raised in this township and was a student in LEAP’s Langa school. We first stopped at the Guga S’thebe Culture & Art Center.  This building had a very ornate entrance as well as a very beautiful mural on the outside wall:

Entrance to Guga S’thebe Center 

Inside, we were brought into the pottery room, where volunteers and community members who were taught the pottery process prepared all types of ceramic items:

Ceramic artists at work

One of the artists here told us that all residents were welcome to come and learn how to make pottery. There was a craft store in the lobby, where visitors can purchase items made right in this Center. Proceeds go back to the Center for materials, etc. I found the artistry on their ceramic items to be bold, bright and alive. I managed to find a vase, cup and small bowl that (I hope) would all fit in my luggage:

(NOTE: For those traveling, have no worry about protecting the pieces you buy: the person who sold me my items did an amazing job covering what I purchased with copious quantities of tape and bubble wrap!)

From the Arts Center, we made our way up and down various streets until we came to the place where it all began, the site of the original educational facility in Langa:

Original LEAP facility in Langa

Inside view of study area

It may not look like much, but this site offered hundreds of Langa students the opportunity for extended academics. Today, LEAP maintains this site as a tutoring center, where local residents can come to study, read or just have a quiet, well-lit place to get work done. LEAP also enhanced this site, adding another modular unit that acts as an ‘internet café’ for residents. Our guide told us that so many people use this resource, funds from this center pay for the staff and equipment, allowing this site to essentially be self-sufficient:

Internet access offered by LEAP

Following our visit to Langa, we returned to the LEAP School in Pinelands. We were privileged to have some time with John Gilmour, LEAP’s Executive Director and the man who started this whole concept over 20 years ago. John was a very soft-spoken man, but he had a lot to say regarding the state of education in South Africa. He quickly explained that it will be up to the youth of this country to make real changes (in education and elsewhere). He was very excited about an initiative called Subject2Citizen.  Headed by Dr Mamphela Ramphele, a long-time anti-Apartheid activist, this group envisions nothing less than “A proactive and informed South African citizenry, knowledgeable about its constitutional rights and responsibilities, walking together with an effective government to create a better future for all.” John spoke to us about the need for South Africans to identify wounds from the past and create a vision for the future. His experiences with the Subject2Citizen movement gave John hope that this could be addressed.

With so many day-to-day issues, we were honored that John made time for us and shared his thoughts for a better South Africa. Before we knew it, our 5+ hours at LEAP had come to an end. We thanked John and his staff for their hospitality and headed on our way.

Our day was not over yet…