“It’s too small!” is a phrase I heard many times while on a weekly walk to help the kids of El Shaddai get firewood for school. It is a requirement for each student to bring one piece of firewood each day. If they don’t bring a piece of firewood, they get beat. And if they bring a piece of firewood too small, the teachers will use that piece to beat them with. Yeah it was a hard reality, but here in Swaziland, students still ‘get the paddle’.
(Going on a walk to get firewood for the students)
On my first walk to get firewood I would choose a branch to break off, and Bongiwe would tell me, “No Jamie! That is too small! The teacher will beat me!” Of course I don’t want her to get beat so I would abandon that branch in search of one the appropriate size. By the end of our walk, I was learning which branches were good and which ones were ‘too small’.
(Bongiwe gathering her firewood)
El Shaddai built a primary school that teaches grades 1-7. But the teachers and headmaster are provided by the government (actually by the King) and that is where issues begin to arise. Sometimes the teachers just don’t show up leaving the kids stuck in a classroom for an extended period of time. When teachers do show up and the students do something that doesn’t please them, to the stick they turn. Just any random stick/twig/branch will do. Students can be beat for forgetting homework, not bringing firewood, not wearing the appropriate uniform, having your uniform be dirty or misbehaving in class. This has definitely instilled fear in the kids at El Shaddai.
(Time to wrap it up and walk back to El Shaddai)
(Gift- Showing off her talents of carrying wood on her head)
I had the opportunity to attend school one day. I helped out in grade 6 for Maths and English. The kids in grade 6 range from age 11-21. Sometimes kids start school late due to lack of money, and then in school if you don’t pass the English part of the government exam you are held back another year. While I visited school, I was the new white person to stare at, but I still definitely got the school feel. Grades 1-7 are all in separate rooms with 30+ students in each room. I know grade 6 has 44 students. They begin the day with a devotion, announcement and prayer. Then it is off to class. They have classes and breaks. Their school day begins at 7:45am and goes until 1:30pm.
If kids don’t do well in school then they pretty much have no future. School is the key to the future. Please keep El Shaddai Primary school and the students in your prayers.
