A Teacher's Travels & Search for Math/Science Theorems that aren't Named after White Men |
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A Teacher's Travels & Search for Math/Science Theorems that aren't Named after White Men |
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Le tang! I’ve spent the last week in the Northwest region of Botswana, in Maun---the start of the Okavango Delta. The sand in Maun is different--it’s white and looks like beach sand creating a false expectation that I’ll turn the corner, and there will be crashing ocean waves. I almost think I hear it. If you can believe it, it is hotter than Gabs, and there is a lot more livestock passing thru town---cows, many donkeys and goats. I also have seen some baboons, warthogs and zebras passing thru town as well. The Thamalakane river flows thru Maun, which connects to the Delta, and is the source of the biodiversity in the region. Apparently, it is not uncommon for elephants or lions to pass thru town either.
Like every experience I’ve had, a friend of a friend of a friend made my experience exceptional, starting with Neo, a Motswana teacher who did a Fulbright in Bloomington, IN, buying my bus ticket from Gabs, and picking me up at the bus station in Maun. Moabi, my mom’s former student, who has helped me in Gabs, connected me with his girlfriend, Kenilwe, who is a doctor here in Maun. She graciously let me stay with her while I was here. More on the wonderful people I met, befriended and laughed with here. “In Maun they just have a different way of talking.” Tjike? Nawa---This is a greeting in Herero--There are many Herero here in beautiful Maun. To my understanding, Herero are here in the Northwest region of Botswana because of German terrorism that took place next door in Namibia. Before Germans committed genocide against mainly Jewish people throughout Europe, they practiced their genocidal, horrific violence against the Herero and Nama people in Namibia between 1893-1908. This terror culminated between 1904-1908 in a planned attempt or as the Germans called it, an “annilahation order” to wipe out the Herero people by pushing them into the desert, forbidding them to leave by surrounding them, and forcing them into starvation and dehydration. There were concentration camps and medical experiments done on these people by the Germans. I would encourage you to read up on the genocide. One of my new friends here in Maun, Neo, not a Herero, but a Kalanga, told me that she went to the Holocaust Museum in DC with her Herero friend. As she passed thru the museum, to the end where there are memorials for other world genocides, like the Rwandan and Armenian genocides, she expressed sorrow and grief for two reasons---in seeing the same tactics used against her people, and then remembering the stories of her own people’s genocide, and for not even seeing a single reference to the German attempt to destroy her Herero people in a museum, which holds space for the terror they inflicted on others with lighter skin than hers, only decades later. Herero people are a minority in Maun, but you see them on the streets in their traditional dresses and notorious horned hats. The area is incredibly diverse though--there are of course Tswana people---mainly I met Bamangwato, but also Kalanga, kgalgadi, Basura, Yeyi, Mbukushu, I even met a student who was Ndebele---and many white Afrikaners and Europeans who run a lot of tourism industry, of which, Maun is a hub. Immediately after disembarking from the overnight bus, I am brought by Neo, to Ma Veronica Ridge’s home. She was the perfect connection because she works at the regional Ministry of Education Office. Tired from an uncomfortable night bus, I quickly showered after getting to her home, and head to work with her. She immediately introduced me to the assistant director, and together they chose 5 schools for me to visit throughout the week, coordinate transport for me to be introduced to the schools that day, with Ma Ridge as my host. I met these people that day I arrived, and made no announcement prior that I was coming. Maun hospitality. Neo, the Fulbright, loved the midwest, so we bonded over our love of the midwest, our Fulbright experience and love of animals. We even went on a day long safari together. Neo teaches sign language to deaf students and is interested in home signs that students without access to schooling have learned here in Botswana. She helped me overcome my fears of eating mopane worms, and I happily survived, although, sadly I didn't love them. Veronica, and I hit it off immediately. Veronica mainly grew up in Maun, but her family are Pedi from Limpopo, SA. She was previously a teacher, then a school head and now works at the Ministry. She has two grown children and raises her 7 year old granddaughter, Nicky. I cannot even begin to explain how much Veronica and I laughed all week. Her son cooked Kudu, dumplings and chakalaka for me. She made me fresh morogo and sorghum and millet porridge. I befriended her grandchildren, and she made me feel welcome and at home at every school I visited. Veronica taught me that if I’m going to have kids and get married, it’s best I do it all before 33, so I can enjoy the rest of my life without raising children. As I’m sitting barefoot in her garden, with her dogs and chickens, she told me to marry rich, but never too rich because the “relationship of my feet and sand is so nice, and if I’m rich, I’ll need to wear shoes.” When she prays, she laughs, so she doesn’t pray at church. She laughs because she is so thankful that God made her the way she is----warm, blunt, crass, humble, brilliant and one of the loveliest people I’ve ever had the privilege of meeting. We drink Savannahs at the village outdoor bars, braai (barbeque) and joke about going to the reed dance so that we can become queens together in eSwatini. We’ve already planned to go camping with her family, of which she says I am now a part, up through Moremi in April. Keneliwe, was my hostess, and another brilliantly sarcastic, silly and crazy intelligent person who I was lucky to know here. She hosted me at her house, made coffee for me in the morning, gave me her keys and even would pack me lunches. We discussed race, power, had our hair done together, cooked together and binged watched stupid TV shows on Netflix. We took a mokoro, traditional canoe, ride through the river in the bush in Boro at her friend, a trauma counselor’s, hidden, riverfront up and coming, wellness center. Keneliwe introduced me to so much new Setswana music too. I'm playing these two songs on repeat, and thinking about traditional practices, and how they're still embraced by young people despite western influences and a growing obsession with what one thinks "modernity" is.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5R6Sjzp9xc4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ss6T5MBCoi0
I could write a book just about all that I’ve learned and felt through my conversations with these three incredible Batswana women----Neo, Kenilwe and Veronica.
“Ke bona nnana a lela” In five days, I visited 5 schools, some multiple times, and numerous classrooms. All schools were welcoming, and I of course had a blast with the starry eyed Batswana bana. Many of the schools are over capacity and instruction takes place outside for some classes---under trees, in corridors, and other shady spots. I especially loved Letshlotebe Primary School, ran by Mr. Kahaka, a wonderful, older, incredibly soft spoken and warm school head. I spent the bulk of the day in a standard 7 classroom, (about 6th grade) with a teacher who was my teacher doppleganger---warm, nurturing and very weird and goofy with the kids. I spent a day observing her, and her students, and then returned by their request to present about my class and the US---the presentation was brief, the dance party never ending. What has been most striking this week, has been experiencing how standardized curriculum and teaching methods are across the country. Maun is about 850km from Gaborone, but in every standard 1 classroom I visited recently, students were learning the same Setswana phonics lesson---”ke bona nnana a lela,”---”I see the baby crying.” In standard 6, in science, students are learning about conservation---both traditional and contemporary methods. In standard 2 classrooms, I can tell you that all children are learning about different types of soil. In every class, there is a large focus on traditional Setswana ways of approaching agriculture and science, cultural corners in standard 1 classrooms, and a huge focus on teaching in English, however, in Maun, I’ve seen more teachers speaking in Setswana, during all subjects. Of course, children are universally sweet, showy, seeking love, adoration and attention, and sneak eating candy--I suppose this to be true in every country. Setswana isn’t a gendered language so the singular third person pronoun, (he/she) is the same for everyone, and so students call their peers he or she regardless of their preference, when they’re speaking English, and nobody gets offended. I find it charming. “There is an overpopulation of elephants” The moment you all have been waiting for has arrived---I saw many elephants this past weekend at Moremi Game Reserve---essentially a national park---on a safari. I also saw kudu, impala, springboks, giraffes, zebras, hippos, beautiful, beautiful, colorful birds, ostriches, everything but large cats--although I saw some lion footprints. The safari was a funny story in and of itself, that I’d love to tell you about over some tea when I’m wherever you are in the world. But, I’ve been learning a lot about conservation in Botswana, and the traditional ways in which people have coexisted with these magical animals. It’s quite normal for people to talk about climate change here, and isn’t contentious at all, as people in the southern hemisphere are experiencing the negative effects of global warming more rapidly than us in the north. Thus, conservation is a huge part of the national conversation. Students even learn about conservation and animals in school. Traditionally, the Basura and Khoisan people, hunted mostly game meat animals like impala, and would even hunt animals like lions and elephants. There were no guns, and so any harm that happened against the animals, was not that impactful. Tswana people have hunted large cats for their furs, but again on a small scale, for traditional purposes. Elephants, or tlo in Setswana, might be endangered on a global scale, but are abundant in Botswana. I believe there are about 200,000 elephants in Botswana---compared to the small population of 2 million people. In some areas, near the Zimbabwean border, in Northeast Botswana, elephants destroy crops and cross through the villages. That’s true in this area as well. Many Batswana tell me that their numbers have gotten high because of poaching in neighboring countries like Namibia. They claim that because of the exceptional intelligence of elephants, they know to leave those neighboring places because humans are dangerous to them, and they settle here in Botswana. Most moral and ethics lessons are taught through animal stories, so people really value animals and nature, despite the national parks being virtually inaccessible for many Batswana because of the exorbitant prices. Also, most tribes here have animal totems---or symbolic representation of their tribe. Keneliwe explained that her totem is a hyena, so she doesn’t go near it, nor would she ever hunt it or harm it. She argues that totems are a traditional way of animal protection. Usually, the totem, has some significance to a tribe, like with the Bangwato, whose totem is a duiker--the duiker had saved the life of their chief, in their mythology. Science is not only explored by overschooled people in lab coats and with titles. As animals, I believe people have an innate ability to understand coexistence with the natural world, but perhaps most of us lost touch with that ability. I look forward to my trip to the Kgalagadi and in Namibia with Khoisan and Basura people in the coming weeks to learn more. Botho The first university in Botswana was founded through crowdsourcing. Families might donate a couple of cows or a few Pula (dollars) here and there because they all believed in the existence of a Motswana university post-independence. Botho is a concept found in many African countries, and literally translates to character or respect. “Motho ke motho ka botho,” “I am because you are.” Botho is the idea that there is mutual respect, compassion and looking out for one another, that I have experienced in most every Motswana I’ve met. In Maun, the people, as Neo taught me, speak in a Setswana that is considered rude in other parts of the country. They might not say thank you. They might not get up and move for you if they’re in the aisle seat on a bus, but they certainly have botho. I spent a week among the palm trees, by the river, in the sun, among the donkeys, loved, cared for, and truly hosted---not because I was American or a visitor but because in Maun, in Botswana, that is simply how you treat people. Headed back on the night bus this evening with a red eye from dust, a stimulated brain, and a warm heart. Next stop, Gabs for a day, then back to South Africa for a school visit. May you all walk thru this week with Botho.
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AuthorFulbright Distinguished Award in Teaching Archives
April 2019
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