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This month we got a visit from Swane who was teacher at Matjana from 2013 to 2017. She left to work in a mission preschool which is also an orphanage, and had gained a lot of knowledge from her three years working there. But she missed Matjana Preschool and the opportunity to contribute the new skills she was learning in her community. In this edition of the newsletter, we will hear more about her recent visit including why she wanted to come back.
Swane said she was glad to finally get the opportunity to visit Matjana as this was something that she has been planning for ages. She said, “It’s a shame that the kids aren’t at school today but I’m happy that I finally came here”. Teacher Swane came to visit when the kids were on their mid-term break. We remember Swane for the love that she showed to our kids, but she also loved her fellow teachers and first preschool.
What did Swane come for?
On the day of her visit Swane showed our current teachers Londiwe and Qiniso who have not yet been able to complete formal studies in early childhood education, how to make teaching aids using charts. She also discussed their importance in planning high quality early childhood education for young children who learn in multiple different ways. She explained, “It is recommended that for each of your lessons you should have a teaching aid so that those kids who are visual learners can learn more easily.”
Teacher Swane also helped our teachers with planning including the daily lessons and yearly plan, to ensure it is in line with the Ministry of Education’s curriculum. Teacher Swane said, “I didn’t understand this too until I went to college, so I thought since the current Matjana teachers have not yet had the chance to go to an ECCD college [Londi has studied social work at the national university but Qiniso has not yet been able to start tertiary studies], they might need help with planning that.”
Swane and the Matjana teachers also talked about how can they use the play centres, which are for science, blocks, imaginative play, reading and others, to enhance development of young children. Our teachers were already using centres effectively, rotating the kids through different centres each day as per the Eswatini curriculum. Teacher Londi said, “Due to COVID-19 we have changed the way we let the children play in each centre, restricting to two or three kids per centre at a time and rotating them, so they all get a chance to play in each. Teacher Swane loved the idea of rotation by saying it was a good way of working during COVID-19. She added that the teachers can also make use of the centres to emphasize what the students have been learning related to the weekly theme. Weekly themes are provided by the Ministry of Education and include things such as weather, animals, body parts and colours.
Teacher Swane said she also wanted to learn from them things she could take back to her school. She said, “My visit today was basically about sharing our experiences. I have also learnt other things from Matjana teachers today. I can say that it was also a great day for me as I got a chance to catch up with them.”
While she’s happy to have another (better paying) work experience, Swane narrated that working at Matjana came with a lot of emotional, social and academic benefits which her new job doesn’t have. These included that she was staying with her family since the Matjana Preschool was in her home area. “Now that I don’t work at Matjana I miss my family a lot, as I only get to see them once a month”, she said. “I missed my son’s first day of school because I’m no longer staying with him.”
Teacher Swane said she will always be grateful for the help that she got from Matjana which is her Diploma in ECCD and now she also has a certificate in psychosocial support with financial help of one of Matjana’s friends. “These have helped me to develop knowledge and ideas about the teaching programme and an opportunity to have a career,” Swane said.
What the teachers said about Swane
“We know Swane as a hardworking teacher and who was always willing to go an extra mile helping other people,” Teacher Londie said. “We are very happy today to be with Swane and all the help that she has given us. This is the first time Swane came to Matjana since she left, but she has always been helping us whenever we have questions via Whatsapp and we are very grateful that she has hasn’t forgotten us.”
Updates from Eswatini
Schools in Eswatini are closed again, this time due to political unrest. In the past few weeks thousands of protesters have taken to the streets in pro-democracy protests . For those who were not aware, more that 50 unarmed protesters and bystanders (including children) were killed, some are still fighting for their lives in hospital for demanding democratic reforms. The government has reported that these people were killed and injured by foreign mercenaries hired by pro-democracy activists . However, activists report they were shot by Eswatini armed forces and are demanding the Southern African Development Community and International community conduct an independent investigation. We are happy to report that our area has not experienced any violence. Eswatini is also experiencing increasing COVID-19 cases. The Ministry of Health has reported over 200 new cases every day for the past week and the country is in level 4 lockdown again. Fortunately, none of our kids, teachers or parents have contracted Covid-19.