We are very well aware that it is only through the amazing grace of God that our Action Group Tshepanang even this year was able to conduct a workshop for all our peer educators. This has been the sixteenth workshop of this kind. Without interruption there has much such a workshop every year since 2001!
50 participants gathered on 03.10.2016 at Gasteplaas (the Guest Farm) outside Mahikeng where they worked together for five days. Seven of them were new comers who have so far not yet taught in schools. The aim of this workshop was to empower all participants to teach 12 new lessons to students of Grade 5 and 6 next year.
Ten of the new lessons were taken from the book “Stories that Teach” that has been published by the Christian media project “Heartlines”. These lessons are based on biblical stories from the old and the new testament. As religious education is no longer a subject in schools in South Africa many children do not know that Jonah refused to go to Ninive and how the walls of Jericho were destroyed. In the lessons each biblical story is illustrating a specific value like having hope or accepting responsibility. Questions, activities and dramas are used to transfer the messag
e of the biblical stories into the actual life situation of the children. The other two lessons we have developed ourselves. The first one deals with the issue of rape of young girls. Unfortunately this occurs frequently in South Africa. The second lesson talks about the importance of HIV testing in children.
Six of the new lessons were presented by the mentors to the peer educators. The other six they had to prepare themselves in groups and then present it to another group. In summary it can be stated that the new lessons were well received by the peer educators and they are confident that they will be able to teach them next years in their schools.
On Wednesday night Dr. W. Hermann presented the results of the assessment on the HIV and STI unit that was written in all schools in August and September 2016. In total the assessment was written by 4037 students in grade 6-11 from 25 schools. The overall average improved from 60.7 % in 2015 to 67.7% this year. The best performing class was a grade 7 class in Tshwara
gano Primary Schools where an average o 94% was obtained.
On Friday at the end of the workshop a celebration was held to honor four members of Tshepanang. Boikhutso Choeu has become the sixth member of Tshepanang who obtained a Diplom in Adult Basic Education (ABET) and who is now teaching at an ABET school. Mmapula Sereke even went a step further and obtained the Advanced Certificate of Education whereas Kelebogile Pule and Gaopalalewe Lekgwathe were awarded a Certificate in Computer Literacy.
Wolfgang Hermann