Thursday, June 30, 2011

Day 4 The Limpopo Writing Project

We've settled in to the routine of LWP day. We begin with a song and a prayer and then we start writing in our journals. Joyce wrote about her life and all the changes she has gone through. That led Dr. Leketi Makalela to reflect on the change in his life as he leaves the University of Limpopo for his new faculty position in JoBurg. We discussed that even as change is good, "parting is such sweet sorrow." He remains committed to the Limpopo Writng Project and to it's long term continuation.

We then heard the daily log and started on our writing time. During writer's response groups, we had a visitor, Professor Lukas Mkuti who shared his poetry. Afterwards, he shared that he had studied at The University of Arizona with Drs. Luis Moll, and Drs. Ken & Yetta Goodman. When I shared that I am good friends with the Goodmans and their daughter Debi, we marveled at how small the world actually is.

Later we went on the SAWP SI 2011 and marveled at the quotes the SAWP teachers submitted for the anthology. They seemed to capture the essence of writing beautifully. We also uploaded pictures from our LWP site to the google site.

We had two demonstations today, one about the problem of eating nutritious food for South African children by Seipati which led us into the discussion of obesity in the US, and how we are trying to combat it. Then Esther led us in a demo with a film clip of the student's uprising in 1976. One of our participants had been living there during this time and talked about the wounds it still holds. We had a fascinating discussion about healing, sharing history with our learners, and encouraging learners to build a better life for themselves. We discussed how drugs and other forces are problems for young people in both countries. This critical literacy lesson was moving, emotional and an important one to share with students and learners.

3 comments:

Kelley said...

My daughter, Shena, once had guests from India. She and her husband took the young men hiking at Enchanted Rock State Park. Not only did they marvel at the beauty of our vast open areas, but they were peplexed as to why America has so many overweight people-- given all the natural space we have to play in. --Kelley

Gretchen Bernabei said...

How wonderful to be a part of the Limpopo Writing Project, even vicariously through your blog, Roxanne. Thank you for leaving it as a door for those of us who aren't there with you breathing in the fellowship and night stars!

Sean Danweber said...
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