A New Coat Of Paint

Our trip so far has included a lot of frustration over things well beyond our control.  If you have been reading some of our past posts, you see we have come up against a beauracratic wall as far as improvements to both schools we are here to help.  We are continually saddened by the conditions in which thousands of children must learn in everyday in what is technically the "wealthiest country in Africa".  This could only lead us to a few very unfortunate conclusions.  Either the South African government is not spending money on these schools, or the money has been diverted away from this region by people within the education system.  It is a sobering reality that unfortunately will effect yet another generation of South African children.

Being outsiders here, it is not our place nor within our power to wage a political fight on behalf of these schools.  For now all we can do is shine a spotlight on the situation and give as much aid to these school directly as we can.  Today, we finally saw the benefits of our project in work.  After several trips to Umtata and wading through a comically inefficient hardware warehouse experience, we were able to purchase about 300 liters of paint and supplies for the Madakeni school.  Today, we painted.  To be more precise, students, teachers and community member painted.  Mrs. Madlalisa (the school's principle seen above) rounded-up a few dozen members of the extended Madakeni family and went to work.  From 9am his morning to the last ring of the school bell, they repaired cracks, spackled over holes and repainted the exterior of their 5 room school building.  Tomorrow they will tackle the interior and maybe take care of a few more cracks.  

Painting an old building isn't as good as building a new one, one that is desperately needed, but it is at least a positive step for this school.  For now they will have freshly painted walls to house the desks that we are on our way to delivering.  

As we continue our work here, we want to thank everyone back home for their support, especially the students of Ms. McKay's 2nd grade class at PS 154Q in New York City.

Communication

Day-4

As you can see from our past posts, we are very concerned about the Bekiziswe school.  We are concerned about the deplorable conditions that the children must endure each day they are there.  We are concerned about corruption in the way that education funds have been misused, how this school, one of the poorest we have ever seen continues to be overlooked for improvements and basic needs like a roof over their heads.  We are also concerned that the Board Of Education or some others who have heard about Focal Point Aid bringing aid to the schools of the region may use us as an excuse for not helping these schools themselves.  This last thought has weighed heavily on our work the past few days.

We were able to reschedule yesterday's postponed meeting with Mr. Madaza from the Board Of Education for today.  The meeting was at the Bekisizwe with us, Mrs. Mangisa, Mr. Madaza and Mrs Madlalisa from the Madakeni school.  Mr. Madaza brought us building blueprints and quotes for desk prices that he had promised from the other day.  After thanking him for those, we wanted to be very clear about our concerns for the school and steered the discussion towards what exactly the BOE is planing for the school.  Mrs. Mangisa had been hearing for the last 13 years to expect new school buildings and we had heard just 2 days ago the exact same thing.  According to Mr. Madaza, installment of temporary structures were scheduled to begin yesterday, but shrugged it off to "the way things happen."  

The meeting today was friendly but very direct.  The answers about the timeline for improvements to the school were unacceptable at best.  While we are here we will do what we can to help the Bekizise.  We will buy the desks that we have promised as well as a dozen chalkboards and other supplies.  But we will  certainly not stop there.  We will continue to raise money for the cause of the schools here.  We will also try to shine a giant spotlight on the egregious neglect of schools like the Bekiziswe. While we were here, we received a call from the South African Embassy in New York.  They are curious about our progress in the Eastern Cape.  We had a brief discussion over the phone about what we have seen here.  They have asked to meet with us when we get back to give them a full report about our trip.  We don't know if it will help, but we hope that us being can push things along.  If our stories and photographs can move those with the ability to help, actually do something positive for these schools, that will be a good day.  We will ourselves keep plugging along.

As always, thanks for following our project.  Please share this with your friends, families and colleagues. 

A serious day at Bekiziswe

Day-3 

Today was all about meeting with the Beiziswe Junior Secondary school.  On our first trip, we were shocked at not only how poor the conditions of the school were but wondered for how long the school could continue running without help.   A year and a half later not much has changed.  Children learning outside sitting on the muddy field surrounding the 4 room school structure, no electricity or running water, no bathroom facilities, no textbooks, no this, no that, etc.  And unfortunately probably no change in sight.   It is hard to explain exactly how much a school like this needs when they barely have a school at all.   The community has come together recently to help build them a small new structure, but it will be no more than a small mud-hut that will allow only a few more students to sit inside in the dark, and only temporarily.  

We met with Mrs Mangisa who has taught children here outside for more than 20 years. She was happy to see us but as we spoke she was noticeably tired of the situation and more than a bit angry at being told time and again that the Board of Education is going to help without ever seeing results.  The day before, we were told at our meeting at the BOE in Umtatha that the Bekiziswe had been visited by the Portfolio Committee sent by the South African Parliament and that they were in line for new buildings.  Mrs. Mangisa told us with a very stern look that they had been hearing the same thing for the last 13 years.  It appears that what we have heard, what the school has been told and what is really happening are three different scenarios.  

We are certainly not here to get involved in the politics of the South African Education system, nor are we here to tell anyone what is right and wrong, but some things are very obvious when you see them.  The Bekiziswe school needs help, their children need help, and their teachers need help.  To put things in perspective let us compare the meetings we have had over the last few days.  One meeting took place with the BOE in a very nice office in a big building in Umtatha.  The second was with The principle of the Madakeni school in a broken down classroom with holes in the ceilings and floors, no electricity and desks on their last legs.  The third was today with Mrs. Mangisa which took place with us sitting outside where the children learn in the grass and mud. We talked as she ate her lunch (rice and cabbage) while a local starving dog sat next to her waiting to see if she would drop any of her food.  This is a very proud woman who has spent her life trying her best to educate the children in her community.  She runs a school of over 600 children and in order to do whatever she can to help her situation she is forced to take meetings sitting in a cow field literally fending off hungry animals.

We tell her that we are able to buy enough desks to fill the classrooms that she has as well as chalkboards and other small items, but obviously there is much more that is needed to be done.   We are not an advocacy organization but we will do what we can to ensure that the Board Of Education does what it has promised.  Unfortunately the meeting we had with them today was postponed.  

Day-2

Day-2

8:50 am- Met up with Sanele to thank him for all the help he gave up while we were back in New York.  It was a fun reunion amongst friends.

9:15 am.  Arrived at the Madakeni Junior Secondary School (with Sanele in tow) to meet with school officials.

9:30 am.  Sat down with the Principle of the school, our very good  friend Mrs. Madlalisa and her teachers to re-aquaint everyone to our project and update them on our fundraising.  It was the schools first day back from classes after a week vacation so our timing could not have been better.  The school, the teachers and the children all made us feel welcome.  Our growing familiarity to this area is a great sense of comfort.

10:00 am.  The meeting goes well and they are thankful that we have come back, since so many other charities that have promised to help, have failed to return.  We mention that it would be helpful to have a school official  come with us to Umtatha to visit the Board of Education and to negotiate with possible vendors for school materials.

10:03 am. Minutes after saying this we are in our car with Mrs. Madlalisa and Sanele heading towards Umtatha.  Along our 100km ride, the four of us talk about Coffee Bay, The World Cup, Music and the possible whereabouts of Osama BIn Laden.

11:30 am. Arrive in Umtatha.

12:00 pm Find Parking. You think it's tough to find parking in NY, try downtown Umtatha at lunchtime!

12:10 pm.  We meet with Thobile Jombile and Simphiwe Madaza at the South African Board of Education.  They are head of the schools in the region (over 300 in all).  We discuss our project and our goals.  We talk about the two schools we are trying to help and tell them our frustrations about finding too many vendors who are overcharging for desks.  They vow to help us find fair prices and help track down building contractors for the future.  Mr. Madaza is coming to Coffee Bay tomorrow to discuss a plan.  This is a good sign.

1:00 pm.  Sanele departs and we go look for a place to eat lunch.  We are in the Capitol of the Eastern Cape so we have many options.  We pass over a few South African chain restaurants like "Steers" and "Debonair Pizza" and ignore the KFC (who knew?) and settle for a quick soup and sandwich place.

2:00 pm Lunch is over and we take Mrs. M to a hardware store where we purchase 140 liters of paint and paint supplies for her school.  The store looked like a mini Home Depot with large aisles filled with paint, fencing, posts, and other building supplies.  This will be a good store to know.  We will organize a painting day later this week after we figure out the desk situation.

Overall today was a very good day.  We bought some of the materials we need and made contacts that could help us in the long term.  The price of desks and finding a reliable vendor continues to be a concern, but hopefully it will get worked out over the next few days.  We hope that we won't have to make the long and arduous drive to and from Umtatha too often.  It takes up a lot of the day, but we will do what we have to.

Tomorrow before we meet with Mr. Madaza, we will go visit Mrs. Mangisa at the Bekiziswe school.  

Day 1

Thank you all for being patient with our blogs. Internet access is almost impossible to find and when we do find it, it is slow. We will not at this time be able to post pictures from our trip yet, but they are on their way. This the rundown from our first day in CoffeeBay.

10:30 am.-We meet with Daphne in East London. Daphne is a teacher in South Africa and the mother of Nwabisa Nzeymana who works in NYC at the South African embassy. She and Thami Sono have been unbelievably helpful over the past few months. Daphne has offered us help in local affairs and nogotiating with vendors.

11:30 am.- We leave East London and head towards the Capitol of the Eastern Cape, Umtatha (along the N2 for anyone consulting a map) we will pass Umtatha on our way to Coffee Bay.

1:00 pm.- We come across a very bad accident on the highway involving severe injuries and several vehichles. The scene is chaotic and already involves too many onlookers. Having little or nothing to offer those involved, we decide to continue to drive on, but the images of the accident have stayed with us all day and we wonder if maybe we should have tried in some way to help.

1:20 pm.- Rescue vehichles pass us heading to aid the victims of the car wreck, they will arrive more than an hour after the accident. South Africa has one of the worst car fatality rates, and the roads continue to be a source of national concern. Alos of note was that the accident occured on the main highway between two of the largest cities in the Eastern Cape and real help didn't arrive for more than an hour. What is of more concern is that the response time was actually fast. It is just a sad fact here in SA that their aren't enough medical or emergency facilities in the places where they are most needed.

2:15 pm.- Our car was "attacked " by a dog. As we get closer to Coffee Bay, the roadway is riddled with Cattle, horses, goats, sheep, dogs and potholes. The livestock in these parts control the road, so the bigger the animal the slower it is to move. The potholes, of course don't move. Along one stretch of seemingly empty road, a very animated dog jumps out in front of our car as we skid to a halt. Like a traffic cop barking orders, the dog continues to hold the road until he sees fit to let us pass, at which point he runs along side the car until he loses interest in us.

2:30 pm.- We reach the coffee bay Ocean View Hotel and check in. The hotel is run by new owners, and we are finding that little by little, our contacts have started to dissappear. Being a half world away from our project has taken it's toll.

4:00 pm.- We find out that AT&T is trying to charge us about $400 an hour to use the 3G wireless internet card here in this part of the world.

4:00.01 pm.- We decide NOT to use the 3G wireless internet card.

7:00 pm.- we call our friend Sanele to set our itinerary for tomorrow. Sanele was our guide from our last trip here (please read our past posts) and coontinues to be a force behind any success we may have in South Africa.

Once again, thank you for following along, we will attempt to give you updats as often as possible.

No Internet

Thank you for checking in on our progress. Team members of Focal Point Aid are currently in Coffee Bay and out of Internet range. They are writing a daily account of their travels and will post them here shortly.

We are all very excited to continue our progress in South Africa. Thank you for being a part of our adventure, please check back daily.

We are here!

We are here, we are here, we are here!  We will spare you all the fun of traveling halfway around the world this time but if you want some idea of what it is like you can read last year's post from our first South Africa trip here.  We will tell you however that a brief unexplained energy shut down at the Oliver Thambo International Airport in Johannesburg was a little added bonus that spiced up our day.   

This year, instead of traveling via Durbin, we flew further south down to the coastal town of East London deep in the heart of the Eastern Cape.  Here in the southernmost part of Africa, winter is turning into spring and the weather is not typically what you would think of when you think of Africa.  It is overcast, mid 60s and it is blowing wind consistently of over 35 kph.  The weather should clear tomorrow and we are very happy about that.  After getting a good nights sleep we will go about our business of procuring goods and materials for the schools of Coffee Bay.  

The first order of business is meeting up with a contact  of one of our new friends at the South African Embassy.  We will tell you more about all of them tomorrow.  As for now, thanks for all your help.  Please spread the word and forward this blog to everyone you know.