To download pdf click here Vol 17.edt 3
Matjana Preschool 5-year-old students had an amazing during their annual school trip (excursion) around the country this year. Teachers and one of the school committee members were also part of the tour, as it is in the school’s policy that every time we go for an outside trip, we also go with a member of the school committee. At 6:00 am the children hit the gravel road that connects Matjana to the nearest town. It was so early that most parents walked their children to school. Before their departure the students prayed, then the minibus drove off as the parents waved their hands and smiled goodbye. The students shouted goodbye loudly to their parents too.
As soon as the bus left the school, the driver switched on music for the children to enjoy. Some of the children said, “We cannot hear, the music is too low.” The driver increased the volume for them and the Matjana kids danced in their seats and sang with the music, all the way to town. They also munched on fresh fruit and told jokes. “Teacher look, the trees are running,” one said, making everyone laugh. When they arrived at the nearest town it was around 08:30 am. There was a quick stop to buy supplies for the day – water, chips and sweets – before the bus continued travelling, now on the tar road. “Teacher why is the road black now?” one of the students asked. It was their first time seeing the tar road.
Our first stop was Hlane Royal National Park, the largest protected area in Eswatini. Just before we arrived the kids spotted a large animal along the fence of the game reserve that runs by the highway we were travelling on. They shouted, “Teacher what is that animal?” Some said, “It’s a Brahman,” even though it didn’t look anything like a cow. Some argued that is an elephant, while others said no because an elephant has a long trunk. The debate went on for a while until teacher Nokuphila told the students the enormous elephant-like creature was bhejane or the white rhinoceros, an animal they had never seen in the flesh, but have already learned how to pronounce the name of it in both Siswati and English at school this year.
When we arrived, Hlane parking lot was full of minibuses and many children from different schools, who were also having their school trip. It is tradition in Eswatini for all schools to arrange their excursions in the last couple of weeks of second term, in August. After a quick toilet stop, game rangers started instructing the students to climb into the open top vehicles that would transport them around the national park. At the start of the tour, the rangers warned the teachers that the partly cloudy weather might not work in their favour. It might happen that they will see only few animals. But right away, they saw Inyala, a large variety of antelope that they have not even learnt about at school. In the middle of the forest, they saw a big white rhino again. But then it became quiet and the teachers started teachers started losing hope that they would see other animals on this long way.
But as the tour was nearing its end, the students were lucky to see a lion and a lioness – unfortunately there were no baby lions. Amidst the excitement, one of the kids asked, “Teacher who planted the hair of the lion?” After all the action everyone was hungry. As the game reserve was so busy, the teachers asked the driver to leave and find a space along the way to the next stop, to enjoy lunch by the side of the road to eat lunch. Then it was time to hit King Mswati III International Airport at Sikhupe. On our way to the airport, we picked up teacher Khetsiwe who was from college – she missed the first half of the trip as she was writing her final examination.
Matjana students were so happy to see two airplanes, one of which was preparing to take off. In a few minutes the airport staff announced, “The plane is about to leave.” The children all became alert. They then counted 1,2,3, and the place flew. The children shouted with excitement and shouted goodbye to the passengers. Luckily this year only two schools were at the airport at the same time, and Matjana was the only preschool, so the students got a good view of everything.After taking some photographs, it was time to leave and start the journey back to Matjana, via Manzini. The teachers made a quick stop for pizza and fried chicken that the children would eat as they travelled back home. But before that, they made the final stop of the day, at Riverstone Mall, where the children had the chance to ride an escalator.
The teachers first showed the children how to go up and some of them children were so scared to step on the escalator. Even teacher Khetsiwe was so scared, and the other teachers laughed at her. Luckily the security guard at the mall helped them, showing them how to step on the escalator without getting hurt.Then it was time to go home. The students each happily took a piece of pizza and a piece of fried chicken, to enjoy on the way home. They were especially happy to have the pizza, and many said it was their first time to taste a pizza. They then hit the road back home as it was starting to be dark. Parents started calling to check on their children before we arrived, and were found waiting at preschool to collect their children.