Science op die Vlaktes

The 21st of January is many things to many people. In the USA, it's Martin Luther King Junior day, in honour of the assassinated civil rights leader.

Elsewhere, it's International Spicy Food Day and the good residents of the United Kingdom are cheering themselves up (despite their miserable weather and crowded conditions) by making it National Fetish Day.

Here at the MTN Sciencentre, January 21 was the day we were visited by the students from four Cape Flats schools, courtesy of sponsorship from the Department of Science and Technology. Three of the schools came from Manenberg: Rio Grande primary school from Pecos Road; Manenberg primary school, on the corner of Kei and Kasouga roads and Downville primary school, on Tagus road in Manenberg.



But first up were the students from the Centre for Science and Technology (COSAT, online at http://www.cosat.wcape.school.za) in Khayelitsha/Mitchell's Plain. That's one of the COSAT students, Thembisa Qwabe, pictured above. There is a moving story behind that big grin.

Thembisa was brutally assaulted by two armed robbers who broke into the shack in which she was living nearly two years ago. Her father was away in the Eastern Cape at the time and she was at the time a Grade 11 learner at COSAT, fending for herself in one of the most dangerous areas in Khayelitsha.

The school says ''the attack itself and the indignities and fears that she subsequently had to endure almost broke her. But then, with a degree of determination and maturity quite extraordinary in one so young, Thembisa decided that she would not allow herself to become yet another helpless victim. She would not allow her dreams for the future to be compromised.''

Late in 2007 year, Thembisa (who has visited the MTN Sciencentre) matriculated at COSAT with an A-aggregate and distinctions in Biology, Maths and Xhosa. She attained Bs in Science and English. The picture above shows Thembisa leaving her home, armed with a suitcase and bedding, on one of the most exciting and fulfilling days of her young life. Her dream had finally come true. SHE WAS ON HER WAY TO STELLENBOSCH UNIVERSITY TO BEGIN HER NEW CAREER AS A MEDICAL STUDENT.

Now if that doesn't explain what motivates the staff at schools like COSAT and the team at the MTN Sciencentre, there are no words available!

Primary Colours

Children are natural-born scientists. This is something to be encouraged. And so we do! And it seems to be working.

On the morning of Monday, October 8, 2007, the MTN Sciencentre was visited by 120 grade five students from Beaumont Primary at the base of the Helderberg mountains in Somerset West (34°4'12"S 18°50'23"E), led by grade five teacher Mr De Wet Kotze. (The school is visible from Google maps of satellite imagery online at http://wikimapia.org/765885/) This was Mr Kotze's first visit and he found 'very interesting, the things were done very well, and it was entirely appropriate for the level of the students.'

Then on Tuesday, because of sponsorship from the Department of Science and Technology (or to put it another way, thank you to the South African taxpayer!), we were able to host learners from Manenberg Primary. The school can be found on the corner of Kei Street and Kasouga Road in the Manenberg section of Athlone on the Cape Flats. This trip was organised by teacher Mr Basil Janson, who is trying to provide alternatives to gangsterism for his students.

And on Thursday morning, for the first time, we host close to 100 grade four children from Vukani Primary on Singolamthi Road in Philippi East. This school is in Lower Crossroads, a part of Cape Town suffering from high unemployment. The school group is being led by teacher Mr Babalwa Dudumashe, who had never been to the science centre - or indeed any science centre - before this week.

Mr Dudumashe teaches just about everything under the sun except science, and said he heard about the MTN Sciencentre through word of mouth, from a teacher friend who went and recommended it. ''Because many the parents don't work, we have to work extra hard to equip the students with life skills,'' he explained. Tragically, one of his pupils was a victim of the spate of child rape and murders which have been plaguing the Western Cape: ten-year-old Usande Dabula was a Grade 4 student at Vukani Primary School when her body was found half-naked in a field in Symphony Road in Philippi East.

MTN Sciencentre salutes teachers like Mr Dudumashe, Mr Kotze and Mr Janson, who go the extra kilometer for their students, despite difficult conditions.