Two Peas in a Pod...

It is inspiring to me that two women from two different continents can meet for the first time and be instant friends.  I was excited to meet our guests because I've been anticipating their arrival for so long. I met Zodwa Sithole, Third Grade teacher from eSibonisweni, Saturday morning and formed an instant bond.  We chatted as if we were old friends catching up after being apart for a while.  Last night, I sat with her for quite some time.  We shared family stories and ways of life.  I was amazed at how different our lives are, but at the same time we are so very similar.  We are teachers and mothers.  We love life, even its challenges.  We are full of energy and aren't afraid to show it!  It is very clear to me that we will learn so much from each other as she joins my classroom for the next couple of weeks.  We ARE two peas in a pod!

Saint Mark's School is fortunate to have such energetic, lovely guests from South Africa.  I am beaming because I am part of such a wonderful community.  I can't wait to see what the next couple of weeks holds in store for all of us!

-Julie Fritz

Jumping into Partnership

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

First Day

Khaya says: Everything from today was good. I've seen a new page, something that I have never thought about. I am enjoying California for the first time in my life and it is very exciting for everyone. We are hoping to see even more exciting things. I slept well after all the travel. It was very quiet - a very good environment. People are so friendly and the natural beauty is very amazing. I saw redwood trees which are very tall. Houses are built on the sides of the mountains, which is amazing.

Dave says: Khaya got home last night at 9:00 - he went to bed pretty quickly and then we had breakfast in the morning. We met Zodwa and Simangele along with Donna, Lisa, Tom and Julie for coffee. Then we made a plan to hike in the western part of Marin County where there is a path through the forest. It was cold and a little rainy, but still gorgeous. Zodwa and Simangele met their first horse, owned by some people who had a ranch near where we hiked. We had lunch in Fairfax, and are just about to go to dinner with everyone. We have been talking about our different environments and cultures and learning a lot about each other's lives. 

Pass the Apples; We're Skipping the Blackberries

When Sanele and Sibisio arrived, my brother and I showed them around our house. After that, they wanted to take a shower. It looked like they liked the warmth of the shower. Then, while we were waiting for my Mom to cook dinner, we played some video games. Sanele and Sibisio really enjoyed playing FIFA 2007 on the Play station 2.

This morning, they woke up with a slow start and took a shower and also tried on some ski clothes. Later when they had breakfast, my Dad asked  them to taste a variety of fruits to see what they like the most. We concluded that they like apples the most, then bananas. They did not like blackberries nor blueberries.  Now, we are heading to my basketball tournament in Sacramento. I can't wait to spend more time with them! - Michael Dunne, 7th Grade

Our eSibonisweni Guests Are Finally Here!

It's been a very, very long journey for our eSibonisweni friends!  It all started this past summer during our Saint Mark's School delegation visit.  Several of us meet with the five lucky eSibonisweni teachers under a beautiful tree at their school.  We sat and planned out their upcoming visit, including all the exciting plans for Passport Day.  The five teachers were elated about coming to America and Saint Mark's School.  After patiently waiting six months, the day finally arrived for the five teachers and six learners to board the plane for their long journey.  With our stomach churning with excitement, several of the Saint Mark's community members waited with welcome signs at the security gate to finally see our South African friends.  Their flight was suppose to arrive at 11:00 am, and as we waited and waited, our eSibonisweni friends did not come (only most of their luggage).  We eventually were able to get some information, and found out they were now on standby for eleven people.  We waited for a couple more hours, not knowing if anyone would be on the next flight.  Finally around 1:30, five of our visitors arrived excited, but very tired from their travel ordeal.  The other six guests were still stuck in Atlanta.  Fernanda and Zach (the couple who spent three months working at eSibonisweni) and I stayed at the airport, and waited for the next flight to arrive around 5:30 pm.  We still did not know if any of them made it on the flight, and the next flight in was not arriving until around 9:30 pm.  At 5:15 Fernanda, Zach and I again waited at the security gate anxiously anticipating six smiling faces.  We were in luck, we saw our friends walking towards us (all six together)!  After greetings and hugs, we were finally all together!  What a journey for everyone!-Lisa Becker

The "unexpected" travelers have arrived.

As each American delegation arrives at eSibonisweni, the learners there sing a song that repeats the words, "We are together." I can hear the song ringing through me as I write. Yesterday was not an easy journey for our guests. They were searched and delayed in Atlanta, so they missed their connection. Security found them suspicious, apparently, as they repacked some bags in the airport. Well, I suppose they are unexpected travelers and that may push a security button or three! Eleven people flying internationally for the first time, many "traveling" anywhere, really, for the first time, must be quite a group to watch negotiate Atlanta's enormous international terminal. I hope that they will rest, eat, and then be generous enough to give us the play-by-play of their arrival.

Siyanemukela - Welcome!

Just as our guests are getting ready to board their plane (if not already) to California, we unveiled our Welcome poster at school yesterday. 

We are very fortunate to be introduced to an internationally acclaimed watercolorist Gabrielle Moore-Gordon, who has graciously allowed the reproduction of her original works of art for the banners we are making to decorate the school for our guests.  A native of Zimbabwe, Gabrielle began painting animals because of her concern for the ongoing fate of wildlife as well as the plight of the people in Africa.  How appropriate it is that we have an image of a magnificent elephant, as the eSibonisweni school is located adjacent to Tembe Elephant National Park. Reminds me of Isilo, the largest "tusker" whom we were lucky enough to sight on our safari through the national park summer 2010. 

Time Flies!

Here are some pictures done for the art project conducted during Saint Mark's 2006 visit to eSibonisweni. These two were done by two of the students arriving here on Friday. They were then in the third and second grades. The artworks, organized by our library assistant and support teacher extraordinaire, Hewitt Jackson, were turned into calendars and note cards that were sold back in the United States to benefit eSibonisweni.

When do I sleep? "Freaking out" is keeping me up!

Over the years of partnership between Saint Mark's and eSibonisweni, I really and truly believed we were attempting to develop a relationship where we gave and received equitably with our partner school.  I also wondered what that give and take would really look and feel like when and IF it happened.

Today, I have an answer - at least one that resonates with me, personally.

A little context - we are "freaking out" at Saint Mark's.  The last couple of months have required hours of planning on the part of innumerable administrators, faculty, staff, and volunteers.  I don't know who is losing more sleep:

• The South Africans who will step onto an airplane for the first time to visit a community with different resources, norms, flushing toilets, and financial resources that they so generously share with them year after year.  They truly have no idea what to expect, despite our best efforts to make little YouTube videos to introduce them to host families, etc.  They may only see those videos at the airport internet cafe before boarding the plane.
• Saint Mark's Director of Special Programs who worries about whether the visitors will get the flu when they are here and lose an opportunity that they may never have again, and whether Saint Mark's teachers feel overwhelmed by all they are doing to prepare, and whether the traditional food for Passport Day will taste just right (so maybe she should make it all herself), and she worries about whether the guests have rehearsed their entertainment for Passport Day.  This is their moment to shine, and she want things to be just right for everyone.
• Saint Mark's Director of Technology who wonders how best to impart enough technology education and support to the visitors, so that when they return to South Africa they can begin to work on collaborative projects with our teachers here.  She needs to learn and teach the Sugar operating system that is on the XO computers, figure out how it interfaces with Mac's operating system, and answer all sorts of unexpected questions and concerns about both the technical and pedagogical aspect of teaching and learning with technology across continents and within very different circumstances.
• The scheduling team who wonders when will everyone tell us when they want visitors in their classrooms and what they'll be teaching when.  We only have a few days to figure this all out, and we want everyone at Saint Mark's to be able to connect with our visitors.  And, we want the visitors to have the experiences they want to have when they visit here.
• The partner/mentor teachers at Saint Mark's who will have guests in their classrooms for ten days with innumerable goals, questions, and a real desire to learn and share.
• The Saint Mark's teachers who will have buddy students in their classrooms with limited English skills and a desire to participate and learn.  These teachers are worrying about what to do when they give a test or teach a lesson that involves skills that the guests may not have.  Plans have to be made for these moments.  True to form, Saint Mark's teachers are losing sleep over this.
• Parent volunteers who have planned housing, clothing, activities, welcoming and closing activities, church trips, snow trips, Passport Day for the entire community, etc.  They ask, "Is there a warm coat for everyone?  Gloves?  A toothbrush?  Toiletries that they may not have brought and have no money to buy here? Are all the presenters for Passport Day lined up?  Is the lunch for 400 organized?  Is the benefit woman's breakfast figured out?"

The list could get a little longer.  If I have left you off the list, you should be a little more vocal about your "freaking out."  Had you been, I would have added you.  Lest I misrepresent anyone, not everyone mentioned on this list has told me that he/she is "freaking out."  I just know how hard everyone is working, and I suspect that means a few hours of less sleep and, at the very least, moments of panic.

Now, to my epiphany!  One of the gifts of this partnership to our community is that it offers us the opportunity to reflect upon our sleepless nights.  I argue: this visit may actually allow us to put much of what we think we should be doing in our daily lives into a broader perspective.

Should we be "freaking out?"  When South African teacher Janine Kaptein (who teaches in Cape Town in a township) visited Mike Fargo's classroom two years ago, she asked a question that really caused me pause.  To paraphrase, she wondered why we Americans run around so much.  She said, "It feels so competitive.  When do you just sit and talk?  Listen?  Observe?"  She was exhausted from all the scheduling we did to make her visit "Perfect!" 

So, while we should obviously plan and schedule and think about making the most of this incredible opportunity, we must also sit back, relax, and let things unfold naturally.  We actually don't really know exactly what will resonate with our guests, where they'll want to probe further, and where they will want to skip ahead.  We have to be flexible, open to change, and make time to sit and talk.  And this is a lesson that can stay with us beyond the closing assembly when the leave on January 21. - Stacey Kertsman

Lower School Celebrates South Africa!

The Lower School chose to celebrate South Africa for its annual "Celebrations around the World" event on December 10th.  The activities the students engaged in have helped them to have a little better understanding about the people and the region.  The activities are briefly described below:

• Mr. Pincus talked a bit about the geography of South Africa and read a South African story.
• Mrs. Sigler taught the students some South African dance steps.
• The students created beaded bracelets after hearing about the tradition of beading in South Africa and learning about the bead code of the Zulus (bead colors have meanings).
• They colored a flag of South Africa.
• While viewing a video about life in South Africa, the students ate a snack of rice, corn, and orange slices (foods that might also be eaten by the learners at eSibonisweni). They ate the snack with their fingers instead of with utensils, just as the learners at eSibonisweni do every day.

It was a fun-filled, educational experience for all!  -Geneva Conway

Anticipating the Unknown

We have the visas, we have the air tickets, we have homes for our guests to stay in, we have “buddies” set up for the visiting teachers and students, we have transportation and entertainment scheduled, we have workshops and meetings arranged, and we even have some hard-to-get indigenous staple foods purchased so that our guests will feel comfortable.

Still, my mind goes round and round at night: What have we forgotten? What still needs to be done? What more can we do to ensure that the upcoming two-week-long visit is not only a success but also takes the fullest possible advantage of the opportunity to physically bring together these two communities that have worked and dreamed together for the past 10 years.

Four delegations from Saint Mark’s to eSiboniswseni have done much to consolidate our relationship, but those visits each involved only a small (while committed) representation of our extended school community. The upcoming visit by five teachers and six students from eSibonisweni finally offers the opportunity for everyone at Saint Mark’s to engage in a partnership that lies at the heart of Saint Mark’s commitment to global education.

What will be the results of the coming together of these two communities? We can anticipate the class-to-class projects that our teachers will plan together, we can anticipate the discussions and learning that will occur in both directions, we can anticipate that many members of our local community who were not engaged in the past will become interested and committed to this partnership; what we cannot know is the personal impact, both short- and long-term, that this visit will have on both the schools involved and on many individuals within each community.

I can’t wait to read the blogs of students, teachers, staff and families as they first encounter and then get to know each other, because until now there has been much imagining, but I am certain that imagination cannot possibly live up to the reality.

So today is Friday – one week to go and counting. - Jennifer Getz

I Am Because Others Are

Or, put a bit less succintly, “umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu” (Zulu) or “a person is a person through other persons.” Although the concept of Ubuntu, encountered in many parts of Africa, is translated in a few ways, it generally boils down to the above. For me, it goes beyond the “No man is an island” aphorism. The latter suggests our interdepence; the former addresses our relationships. Nelson Mandela’s example from his youth is that when a traveler came through the village, that person didn’t need to ask for food—the food was offered.

The concept has had a lot of play in popular and political culture in the past five years, but I still think it’s a useful lens through which to examine ourselves and our actions every day. Who are we when that traveler comes to our village? As we take this next step in our partnership with eSibonisweni, I’m looking forward to seeing who we all are in this new context. —Jennifer Wolfe

Preparing the Seventh Grade for a Partnership Activity

Over the past few weeks the seventh-grade has been preparing to learn from and with Saint Mark's special guests from eSibonisweni Primary School in South Africa.  For my English class this means reading South African literature (My Children, My Africa by Athol Fugard), watching Molly Blank's documentary Where Do I Stand? on xenophobia in South African townships, brainstorming about the "unexpected surprises" about which they needed to warn guests from a very rural community, and preparing giant rain barrels for a joint art project that they will make in conjunction with the guests to our classroom.  This art project will be part of a greater project to decorate for Passport Day to South Africa, but it will also serve as a platform for the students to all discuss a theme that pervades the text of My Children, My Africa and our social and emotional learning class.  Despite being set in the violent upheaval of South Africa under apartheid, one of the simplest themes in the play to identify is one that middle schoolers can easily embrace: young adults with big dreams must often overcome odds to make those dreams occur.  I cannot wait to hear my students and our guests discuss their dreams and how they plan to reach them. —Stacey Kertsman

PREPARING RAIN BARRELS: 

Sand, prime, design Ndebele-inspired decorations