South Africa
August 15, 2005
Cape Town - Day 3
It's Monday morning and the joy of some mission activity awaits me. I am collected by Meryl Rybnikar, Graham's first occupational therapist. Meryl now works at Tembaletu Specialized School, a school dedicated to students with disabilities about a half hour drive from Maureen's house. We pass University of Cape Town, situated at the base of Table Mountain.
The school is some distance farther, but Table Mountain is still present on the horizon.
Along the way Meryl tells me that nearly all the students come from the informal settlements. When we arrive, we drop my computer in the office of the principal, Mr. C. A. Africa. Meryl then gives me a tour of the school, starting with the opportunity to meet Luvuyo Thulu.
Luvuyo is 21 and so this is his last year in the school. We went to the library to chat. Luvuyo uses a communication notebook with good indications of yes and no. His spirit is obvious. Luvuyo's native language is Xhosa which involves clicks, a phenomenon foreign to those of us speaking western European languages. The other languages prevalent in the area are Zulu, Afrikaans, and English. As I was to learn, accommodating Xhosa in AAC is a particular challenge. Derivative word forms have both prefixes and suffixes and the words can be very long. A used computer had just been donated for Luvuyo and plans are under way for head switches. I told Meryl about the free SSPT program at the AAC Institute web site and will give her a CD later in the week.
We then visited several other classrooms. No classrooms have computers. Although wheelchairs are in common use, none of the students has any assistive technology for communication. However, the foundation for building the future of these students is the strong commitment and dedication of the teachers and therapy staff. At Meryl's urging, some have undertaken to pursue education in AAC offered by correspondence from University of Pretoria under Erna Alant. (Lyle Lloyd is just now returning to the US after an extended teaching visit in Pretoria.)
Another factor has been the exchange rate between the US dollar and the rand. However, that has moved over the past couple years from about eleven to under seven rand to the dollar. This makes US products more affordable. Still, there is no entitlement program to support these needs.
Before we left the school I met with Mr. Africa. I suggested that they explore the possibilities of getting recycled computers into the school. South Africa is not all poor. Both large and small business appear to be thriving. Certainly the process of upgrading computers must be common. Contacts with businesses and computer vendors should be fruitful. Just as with my visit, a short time at the school will inspire advocates all over the Cape Town area.
Driving out of the school, we encountered cattle walking the streets. When I asked Meryl about them, she said that those in the community would know the owners and this is just the way.
Meryl had me back at the house well before my next appointment. I had just enough time to walk down the street to the local market for a couple light bulbs to replace those in the hall at the house. As I snapped this photo, the proprietor of Putney Take-Aways was returning to his shop. PTA makes a mean toasted cheese and tomato on whole wheat.
Margot and Graham had organized an interview with Johannes de Villiers, Senior Reporter for Die Burger, the Cape Town Afrikaans newspaper. He arrived punctually and we had some good discussion. I gave him the card of C. A. Africa and he was planning to visit the school and get some photos. It is the hope that this exposure will lead to some good things for the school. When I asked Maryl to send me a copy of the article, I was reminded that I wouldn't be able to read it. Afrikaans is a mixture of Dutch and German. Meryl will send me a translation.
After enjoying another PTA sandwich, I got on the computer and got up to date on previously downloaded email. Then I walked back down Putney Street around the corner from the shops and into the office of Crystal River Corporation. (www.crc.co.za) CRC provides IT communication services. I had earlier picked up a wireless signal in that area and thought it was them. It was not, but they generously provided me with a network connection and Internet access. While their firewall blocked direct access to my AOL service, I at least was able to go to the AOL web site and read all my email.
I had planned to leave for Camps Bay on the early side for the evening happy hour that Jennie and Adele had planned. Camps Bay is rather due west of the house, but on the other side of the mountains, about a 30 kilometer drive. This would be my first solo excursion in the car and I wanted plenty of time for errors. The way included some city driving, a winding road through the mountain pass, and then some lovely coastal highway reminding me of the Pacific Coast Highway in California. The road system struck me as quite well done: good condition and well sign posted. I found the drivers courteous and no more crazies that we have in the US. This photo shows the Opel Corsa Lite and Camps Bay in the background.
Camps Bay is a lovely community overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. Happy hour was in a restaurant in The Promenade.
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Adele, Jennie, Katie |
Some of the others |
The view overlooking the Atlantic Ocean was great as the sun was setting. The next thing west would be the tip of South America.
The drive back into the city was in the dark, but went without a hitch. I am so thankful to Maureen Casey for the use of her house. I switched on the bedwarmer, munched on a cholcolate bar (OK, two chocolate bars) and soon fell asleep reading a Tony Hillerman novel. Another great day.