Dear Readers!
I would like to introduce myself: I am Florian Aschenbrenner, 18 years old and I’m from Germany. I am currently working as a volunteer for three months in Tsibogang Christian Action Group. I get a glimpse of areas of activity of the NGO and l experience at the same time the cultural diversity of South Africa .
As part of the internship I was able to participate in early October in the Tshepanang workshop, which was already held this year for the 14th time. In this workshop, the Peer Educators are prepared for their task in the coming school year.( 2015)
Here are some of my experiences:
The well designed program was around the Tshepanang curriculum. Each day consisted of a mixture of Bible study, demonstration lessons and group presentations. Since many of the peer educators teach mainly in primary schools, the curriculum had to be adapted to these learners.
At the beginning of the workshop it was not so easy to get to know the people because they were reluctant to talk to me , after a day that was gone and I was warmly welcomed by all. Initially, all participants were divided into groups of 5-7 people. Always two groups were combined for the week, so that one group had to present a prepared lesson to the other group. The task of the second group was to act as the learners and to provide feedback afterwards.
In each of these presentations was also a mentor, who summarized the debate, the mentor also gave positive and critical feed back to those who were teaching. I enjoyed this principle very much Secondly, I noticed that the group, which represented the school class, also discussed and understood the topic on a deeper level.. So I felt that the workshop itself not only served as a preparation for teaching, but also helped the peer educator to grow.
I myself had a lot of fun, listening, while thinking but also teaching was a good challenge for me. However, I’m not so sure if the assessment of my teaching was always objective or simply no one dared to speak about negative points.
In addition to this intensive work on the curriculum this was a week something for yourself. Among other things, the various contributions were prepared in this period, which were presented in a small ceremony on the last evening. The variety of contributions was a colourful mix of vocals, dance acts and fiery speeches. I was fascinated by the musical side of the people and that evening found my enthusiasm a climax of the entire week.
To conclude my short summary, I would like to talk about three things, which I liked very well.
Firstly , there was Mr. Mogotsi, a headmaster of a primary school, who on the one hand in his assessments of teaching gave very good advice for the peer educators. He also held on Thursday a very interesting lesson on the tasks of a mentor, which had all captivated.
Secondly I had a lot of when a group of people decided to go into the pool. When I had passed the pool by swimming they all wanted me to teach them swimming. That was real fun but of course not very successful.
The highlight of the week for me was to get to know so many people and to experience their friendliness: some went on translating for me the whole week. They integrated me into their activities so that I really felt welcome among them.