Ednie...fantastic!! A daily blog item would be way cool. Remember to add digi-photos and stuff.
Look forward to it...

Dear all, arrived safly and all well. Today we went up Table Mountain in fab sunshine with amazing views. Tomorrow will be work, but for now the town is amazing and the views are out of this world. At night the Mountain is flood lit and eerie and the stars are ones I have never seen before. Lots to tell you all tomorrow. Bye for now
Ednie

Dear all, arrived safly and all well. Today we went up Table Mountain in fab sunshine with amazing views. Tomorrow will be work, but for now the town is amazing and the views are out of this world. At night the Mountain is flood lit and eerie and the stars are ones I have never seen before. Lots to tell you all tomorrow. Bye for now
Ednie

'his path was marked by the stars of the southern hemisphere and he walked his days under African skies...'
Glad to hear all arrived safely. Have a fab time - looking forward to seeing the pics. Sue

my thoughts are with you all. We tried to send a silly message thinking about you on Table Mountain. Green with envy - enjoy as well as learn and absorbe. Ruth

Hi All,
good to hear your thoughts. This place is amazing and today was a stunning day . We began with our trip to two schools in the townships. Very different to the schools in the more affluent areas. They may have very few resourses but such a lot of enthusiam. We met some fantastic teachers with a lot of dedication and we heard some wonderful sining from the young people at Vukani Primary. Vukani means 'wake up' and they were certainly awake. I hope they continue to prosper. We have all come away feeling so priveledged and determined not to take everything for granted when we get back to our own schools and work places. From the sublime to the ridiculous - we went to visit the penguin colony at Boulders Bay which was fab. we could have watched for hours and some of the group got themselves around the outside of the biggest and most impressive cake slices I have ever seen.
The lovely head teachers we met here today are called 'mother' by the children. 'umama' It is a term of endearment and honour. Revered older gentlemen are called 'utata'. Well utata Gibbons took us to an amazing restaurant this evening at the Spiers estate where we walked through candle lit gardens with african singing under lanterns in the trees and mysterious water fountains dripping water through copper and tin creations into the stones below and we ate traditional buffet in 'Junkers' restaurant with a range of food from the Cape and in a beautiful old house from the dutch tradition. We have had quite an emotional day really and have such a lot to remember and share with friends and colleagues when we get back.
I have tried to leave this message on the weblog but the system will not let me have access, so I can only leave this as a comment and cannot send photos. but I promise lots whenI get back.
Speak again soon
Ednie and Friends

Hi All
Thanks for all your good wishes. We had had a great day visiting two township schools today. The head teacher here is called mother 'umama' so 'umama'Sebola welcomed us to her school and 'utata'Benjamin to his. They gave us a lot to think about and be greatful for in our own lives. This evening the immensly kind John Gibbon took us to a restuarant on an old farming estate in the winery area 'Spiers' we walked through candle lit grounds to a beautiful old house, with the sound of African singing in our ears we had a wonderful traditional Cape buffet of phenominal variety and choice and felt throughly spoilt. In the afternoon today we went to see the penguins in the sunshine and could have watched for hours. I have tried to weblog this note so that I could send photos. but sadly the system will not allow it. so I will have to make do with comments only. I will the photos when We get back.
By for now -
Ednie

So pleased you are having a "great" (sure this is understated)time - you wont want to come home.!! If you were to walk into my garden what colours would remind you of your visit? Love Ruth

HI -
Good question - the colours would be incredible blue sky and red flowers, it is very green here although the landscape looks sometimes like the Lime stone hills of the Lakes, but when you get up close the vegitation is so different with Protea and Ericas as I have never seen before.

Yesterday was another lovely day. We saw a school where a whole new approach has been taken to educating the children although they do still have Literacy and Numeracy hour (they borrowed that one from England) but they do it very differently and then they have project lead and co-op learning every afternoon. It was very welcoming with some of the most self confident and conversational primary school pupils I think I have ever met. The work was beautifully displayed and child centred at a height where they could appriciate it, but they made good use of cielings. The outside play area was to die for and no task was much more than 15 mins long and the teachers and children could make use of the physical environment anytime they needed to. As well as subject material there was a great emphasis on the physical - every classroom had a punch bag hanging from the cieling for pupils and staff alike to take a bash at if they needed to wear off something. We have some sound and film footage as well as photographs and lots of good contacts through e-mail.

In the afternoon we went to the Cape - to the very end - to where the two oceans meet. It was warm we met a baboon who was bad tempered and hige and just a little bit frightening and some very happy geckos sunbathing - the sand was as white as snow and the ice cream was very welcome.
See you all - all too soon
Ednie and Freinds

The punch bag sounds like it could become the 'in' piece of equipment for every classroom! Can you tell us more about the music - and what about dancing? As I recall music and dance seemed to be so natural a part of life in Uganda that it permeated everything. How is the driving going? It's raining hard here today - hope it's nicer with you.
Sue

I'm with Sue on the punch bag. Never mind schools it would be useful in a lot of homes. How are the children reacting to all you lady teachers? thanks for the info. about the colours. I'm going to try and incorporate in the garden. Love Ruth

Hi there,
I only have 2 rand left in change - so short note only. We have had a lovely time in school today we were sung and danced to, as well as thoroughly fed and entertained. We have met so many open, hopeful people with so little and yet celebrating what they do have.
Looking forward to coming home to share.
Ednie and Friends

This will be my last post from Cape Town, We have all been wondering how we answer the question - 'What was it like?' - and that will be a sharp intake of breath and then so many thoughts. On the one hand in only a week you cannot even scratch the surface of what it must be like to teach and learn in South Africa. We really only visited schools in very close proximity to Cape Town and though they were mostly govt. schools they had students and staff who were attending. We saw examples of good practice and some very creativie solutions to working with very little but lots of hope and enthusiasm. We learnt that teachers are pretty similar the world over even though their situations might differ and we saw in stark contrast the wrichness and renewablility of what we have in our schools while here it is a whole new meaning to the word recycle. We have struggled with the seeming lack of differentiated teaching yet admired the teachers in their engagement with learners. We have talked about the policy of Outcome based Education and how it will be measured and seen lots of comitment if not total understanding. We have met some great pupils and are generally left with a feeling of how well behaved they generally are in school and the effort they put in to being at school.

We have treated ourselves to lot of sightseeing and had regular go's at being tourists not wanting to miss out on anything. We have eaten some local delicacies and some strange things, including crocodile, ostrich and warthog! which Personnally speaking ver very nice. I think we must have a thousand photographs many of which will be the same!

I wonder if I will ever get the opportunity to return?

Looking forward to being home - but not the long flight back - see you all somewhere / /sometime

Ednie and friends