eSibonisweni + Saint Mark's: It Definitely Pays To Dream

Saturday, January 8, 2011

It Definitely Pays To Dream

It definitely pays to dream, because occasionally dreams really do come true! For many years now I have wondered what it would feel like to reciprocate the warm and generous welcome we always receive when we visit eSibonisweni. Tonight, at the first gathering for our guests from South Africa, I watched with great joy as our Saint Mark's community opened its arms to the teachers and students from South Africa and realized that at last this was truly a partnership with both sides giving and both sides receiving. I was overwhelmed by the strong friendships that are already forming among faculty from the two schools, and I watched with interest as students from the two schools found ways to circumvent the barriers of language and communicate without words. At the taco bar one of our students managed to warn a visitor that the salsa was spicy, and the SA guest replied with a "thumbs up" sign that that was OK. Global communication at work! Tomorrow will be another adventure-packed day for our guests, but above all I am really excited for Monday when the whole group will arrive at Saint Mark's. Then I will truly feel that the circle has been closed. Sleep well, friends, and wake up ready to take on San Francisco. -Jennifer Getz

1 comment:

irisJanuary 10, 2011 at 8:29 AM
Awesome Jennie!!!!!
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About Us

This blog records the experience of two seemingly disparate school communities who entered into a partnership in 2001: eSibonisweni Primary School, located in the rural northeast of South Africa, and Saint Mark's School in San Rafael, California. School partnership works from a model in which a challenged local community is engaged in leading its own development. We believe that the developed world can lift up the developing world without creating a culture of dependence. But it takes time and the efforts of many hands, hearts, and minds. And more time. After ten years and four visits to South Africa by members of the Saint Mark's community (over 160 students, parents, teachers, and administrators to date), we were honored with our first visit from six students and five teachers from eSibonisweni in January 2011. Here's to the next ten years! For more information about our partnership, visit www.saintmarksschool.org/our_community/sister.aspx. For more information on creating a partnership, visit www.eduweavers.org.