Organizational Communications Project
African Teachers’ Association of South Africa
December 1 - 24, 1989
Tim Johnston
International Officer, the Alberta Teachers’ Association
My friend and colleague at the Alberta Teachers’ Association, David Flower, had one of his knees replaced with an artificial one late last summer. As a direct consequence of David’s surgery, I found myself stepping down from a Royal Swaziland Air flight in Matsapha, Kingdom of Swaziland, on December 3, 1989.
The connection between the two events requires some explanation. David had been selected as the Canadian Teachers’ Federation (CTF) resource person for the ATASA Communications Project, a bilateral aid program funded by the Canadian Government. Following the surgery to his knee, he had second thoughts about over-stressing the healing process, which might have happened if he had undertaken the African assignment. He asked me if I would be prepared to act as the resource person in his stead. He didn’t have to ask twice. I was airborne for Swaziland on December 1.
My routing to Swaziland was a bit unconventional and was laid out so that I did not have to transit through Johannesburg. Instead, I flew to Frankfurt, Germany on Air Canada and from there to Nairobi, Kenya on Lufthansa. I spent the night at a posh hotel where, as it happened, President Jimmy Carter was also staying and attending an African development conference. I got to know some of the local security folk in the dining room, one of whom gave me his copper bracelet when I enquired about it. That's Africa, apparently, and if something is admired, it becomes a gift to the enquirer. In return, I gave my new friend enough Alberta pins for each of the security detail members.
In the morning, with the same driver who brought me from the airport, I returned to board a Royal Swaziland Fokker F-28 jet for the flight to Swaziland. Our route included a stop in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. After taxiing from the terminal to the runway, our aircraft was stopped and a convoy of military vehicles and limousines raced up. The airstair door was opened and, after lots of saluting and hand shaking, the Prime Minister of Swaziland and his entourage boarded the little jet. Pretty cool, I thought, but I was to be even more impressed upon landing in Matsapha, Swaziland. As the jet taxied to the terminal and stopped, we were met by the Royal Swaziland Band, the entire diplomatic corp of the country, an honour guard and a red carpet that was quickly rolled to the foot of the airstair. My goodness, I thought, this is a welcome completely unexpected and most delightful. All of this was staged for the returning Prime Minister, of course, but I claimed a bit of it for myself. It was certainly an impressive welcome to Swaziland and Africa.
Finding a venue for the project presented CTF with some problems. A South African visa could not be obtained for the Canadian resource person, no doubt because of the “subversive” nature of the project in the eyes of the South African government. The project finally found a home next door in the Kingdom of Swaziland. While perhaps unforeseen at the time planning was taking place, the move to Swaziland resulted in several benefits. First, it tended to emphasize the important role that communications can play as an agent of change. This fact was not lost on the South African teachers who had to leave their homeland to participate in the seminar. Second, it allowed South African teachers a chance to work in a threat-free environment, to unwind a bit from the circumstances of their lives in South Africa. Third, the Swaziland location brought together South African and Swaziland teachers. They worked well together, developing strong friendships and an appreciation of each other as professionals.
Despite the initial planning problems, CTF had found itself an admirable partner in the form of ATASA. H H Dlamlenze, secretary general of that organization, is a man who moves projects and people along with his strong and convincing personality. I believe he personally contacted all the South African teachers who attended the seminar and “moved” them to become participants. An ATASA staff officer, Sydney Gcingca, would ably represent “H H” at the seminar.
Planning in Africa was greatly helped by the cooperation of the Swaziland National Association of Teachers (SNAT). Although there was some confusion initially about where the seminar would be held in Swaziland everything finally worked out, although not necessarily to everyone’s satisfaction. More on this later.
Through Nicole Patenaude at CTF, David had received a very thorough briefing on the project. It was convenient for me to take over as David was, on many occasions, able to give me further background and together we did a lot of the planning and idea development for the seminar. Nicole continued to keep me advised of new developments by telephone, fax and letter. The travel arrangements worked out perfectly and there were no delays or major problems encountered in travelling out or returning.
There was one minor problem that resolved itself. At the Royal Swaziland Airlines check-in at Nairobi, one of my bags was found to be grossly overweight and the airline wanted me to pay $80 US to cover the freight. I had two US $20 bills and offered those instead. “What’s in your luggage and what will you be doing in Swaziland?” asked the agent. I explained my mission and she tore up the baggage invoice.
On arrival at the airport at Matsapha, Kingdom of Swaziland, I was met by Louskin Mabundza, SNAT treasurer, and the country’s entire diplomatic community. A red carpet and a military band completed the trappings. All of this was really not for my benefit but rather for the Swaziland prime minister who, along with his entourage, was on my flight from Nairobi. Nevertheless, I took the welcome for myself and as a good omen for my stay in Swaziland. It turned out to be just so.
I thought that Louskin would take me to the George Hotel in Manzini. That’s where I told the immigration officer I would be staying. “Oh no,” said Louskin. “We want you to rest up for a day at the Forrester Arms Hotel.” So off we went in his car through the beautiful countryside to the hotel, which turned out to be part of a private farm. The hotel was quaint and very comfortable and was located in a picturesque valley. I made myself at home, secure in the knowledge that I would be collected the next day and taken to Mbabane where, Louskin had told me, the seminar was to be held.
The next day, Monday, I got up early and was ready to go. Unknown to me, many of the delegates, including
H H, were already in Mbabane, ready to start the seminar. Unknown to them was my whereabouts. Apparently Louskin had forgotten to tell anyone where he had stashed me. H H and company began a frantic telephone search of every hotel in the country to find the missing Canadian. Unaware of the turmoil boiling around me,
I spent the morning wandering the horse paddocks and forests, and contemplating the beauty of my surroundings over tea.
After lunch a small white truck arrived, proudly bearing the logotypes of SNAT and the Canadian Teachers’ Federation. The truck bore me, my heavy luggage, and Phillip (?) to Mbabane where my appearance seemed to have a calming effect on the assembled delegates.
The building we met in was to be our home for the next three weeks. It was the Mbabane Youth Centre and was operated by a church as a kind of cut-rate youth hostel. A pastor presided over its operation and he was to become a significant person in the lives of all of us.
The meeting room we used was stark but quite suitable for our purpose. It doubled as the pastor’s church on Sundays. Stark also aptly describes the sleeping rooms. Plain concrete cubicles adorned with tiny wooden beds were to be our individual homes. The South Africans were clearly expecting much better accommodations. So too was the Canadian whose last CTF overseas mission included a room at a rather pleasant New Delhi hotel. Mr Peter, a retired teacher and now field officer for the Ciskei Teachers’ Union, remarked that the bedrooms were just like the detention barracks in Estadel where he had once been interned. The name stuck and the Youth Centre became the “Barracks” from that moment on.
The Barracks was my home for one night only and throughout that night I might have managed 30 minutes of sleep. People came and went all night long, the closing of their room doors echoing throughout the building. Other denizen of the centre, including geese, dogs, other assorted fowl and one particularly obstreperous rooster, provided a nocturnal serenade from which I could not escape. Standing in the grim communal shower at 5:00 in the morning I decided I would have to seek other lodging if I were to survive my stay and provide anything like effective assistance.
My problem was resolved for me when Sydney took me aside after breakfast and told me that H H thought I should be put up at a hotel. Tuesday and all subsequent nights but two were spent at the Mountain Inn in Mbabane, a place that commanded a spectacular view of the Ezulwini Valley.
My African friends toughed it out at the Barracks but Sydney managed a few things to make life for them a bit easier. He arranged for us to have lunch and supper at another hotel in Mbabane and also arranged transportation between the Barracks and the hotel. That went a long way toward easing our time in Mbabane and adding some comfort for the Barracks residents.
The objective of the seminar was, in my view, to train up teachers to enable them to produce simple and frequent newsletters for their respective associations. I went to Africa believing that the editorial skills displayed in teacher publications would be found to be somewhat lacking. I was confused when H H showed me copies of the ATASA Newsletter, a thoroughly professional, high quality publication. But he assured me that the people who would attend the seminar were not in any way professional journalists or editors. They were teachers, keen on becoming better communicators for the benefit of black South African colleagues. He was right on this account, as it turned out, and keenness was a hallmark of the entire seminar.
We worked very hard. Our days ran from 8:15 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Each evening, the teachers had writing assignments for the following day. My evenings were spent partly on planning but mainly on editing all the writing the teachers produced. Teachers were also required to read handouts I provided but read all of the additional material I had brought with me as well. Mainly, they wrote.
The attached plan indicates what was covered and when we covered it. But basically, the teachers wrote news releases, news stories, editorials, interviews and feature stories. I returned their writing each morning after editing everything the night before with my trusty red pen. The teachers would then rewrite their stories and give them to Snowy Mthethwa, an ATASA stenographer, who would type them up into eight-centimeter wide columns. Snowy provided a very important service that eventually allowed us to produce seven separate newsletters. Snowy took part in all the writing and layout assignments as well, finishing her typing each evening in her Barracks room.
It didn’t take long for us to settle into a routine. We began each day with a prayer. Different people were responsible for this each morning and the prayer was always followed by two or three rousing hymns in four-part harmony. “May our resource person Tim be guided by You in his work today,” was a common theme of the prayers.
Then it would be on to an edit and reading of the morning news releases. This served three purposes. First, it made sure everyone was up for the morning’s work. Second, a good deal of pride in writing short, attention-grabbing stories developed. Third, the reading caused the participants to stand and address their colleagues by voice, a communications medium that was obviously of great importance to them. Having now listened to several African teacher leaders, I’m convinced they have achieved what they have largely through the ability to speak effectively and to motivate teachers and others through dynamic public speaking.
After the press releases, I would usually present a lecture, laced with lots of examples, and then have a question and answer session. These lectures were based on handout material I had brought with me, copies of which all participants received. Following each lecture, there would be a writing exercise to help participants develop their own skills on the subject.
The bus would come to take us away for lunch at noon. In exactly one hour, we would return to the youth hostel for the afternoon session. We would close at 5:30 p.m. with a rousing song or two and always “Solidarity Forever.” Then it would be off to supper, after which I would go to my hotel and the teachers would return to the Barracks.
As well as writing, we did some other things that the teachers seemed to value. One of the SNAT teachers arranged for us to visit a nearby high school to practice interviewing skills. The school staff was most cooperative and several good interview stories came out of this exercise.
We also went through a communications workshop I had brought along. This was spaced out over parts of two days and the participants really seemed to get a lot out of it. Techniques incorporated in the workshop like brain storming, small group idea development, recording, reporting and consensus developing, seemed to be particularly appealing. From this workshop evolved the idea of developing a simple communications workshop document for the participants to use with other teachers in the field. This task was completed later on through melding ideas generated by three teams of teachers into a final version.
Toward the end of the second week, we received an invitation from a SNAT official to attend the Incwala ceremony. This is a national event in Swaziland and, in a way, is comparable to our New Years celebrations. People from all across the country converge on one of the King’s residences just east of Mbabane. We were told that it would be difficult if not impossible to see King Mswati because of the size of the crowds.
When we arrived at the site, aboard the minibus we used for our hotel meals, most of the teachers followed the King’s regiments into the Kraal for the traditional dancing. Because I didn’t go in I had a very close look at the King when he emerged to inspect the military guard of honour and band beside which I was standing.
As the second week ended, we also began some newsletter layout work. First I had the participants work in groups to design posters that would announce their forthcoming newsletters. This was a simple exercise but one that led to one of the more humorous incidents of the whole course. The folk had been quite taken with some ATA “I love teaching” pins that I had distributed. One group incorporated the shape of the pin (a heart shaped apple) into their poster. Pointing at this shape was a pencil. I suggested the heart shape could be placed on the end of the pencil and proceeded to sketch my idea on paper taped to the blackboard. As I completed the sketch, it suddenly dawned on me that the whole thing rather resembled male genitalia. “No, this won’t work,” I said and took down the sheet of paper. The entire class broke up at this and “This won’t work” took its place alongside “The Barracks” as one of our inside jokes.
Monday and Tuesday of the last week were devoted to producing newsletters. The participants worked in seven teams of two members each to produce six-page newsletters. To begin, each team produced a layout template. The teams then selected from copies of all of the stories that had been written over the past two weeks those that they wanted to include in their newsletters. The stories had been typed in columns by Snowy and duplicated by the Reverend. Then dummy newsletters were produced which allowed room for copy, headlines, photographs and cutlines. I provided photographs that some of the participants and I had taken the previous weeks. Finally, the teams laid out their newsletters, cropping photographs, fitting type and producing some headlines made from transfer lettering. The Reverend then duplicated each master set so that each participant would have a copy of each of the newsletters.
The names of the newsletters reflected funny things that had happened throughout the course. One newsletter, The Pineapple, was so named in honour of me. The reason for this was that I had overindulged on fresh-from-the-field pineapple each morning at my hotel. This resulted in a rather interesting allergic reaction whereby my hands, feet and face swelled up and the rest of my body was covered with large, itchy hives. A local doctor prescribed an antihistamine, I stopped eating pineapple, and everything returned to normal.
Our final activity was a cocktail reception hosted by ATASA and held at the Tavern Hotel in Mbabane, the site of our daily meals. H H and the ATASA president were on hand as were the president and secretary general of SNAT. Swaziland National Television showed up to cover the speeches and stayed to videotape the entire evening. I was presented with a beautiful hand-carved wooden bowl and several cards. A copy of the tape will be sent to CTF as soon as I get my copy transferred and dubbed. I’m sure Bob Barker will recognize a lot of the faces.
Final goodbyes took place next morning and the delegates left for home by noon. I stayed one more night in Mbabane then drove by taxi to Manzini on Thursday, staying finally at the George Hotel. I left Swaziland on Saturday, December 22 and reached Edmonton at 4:30 p.m. on Sunday, December 24.
Rebecca, Harley, Galien and Kalie met me at the airport in Edmonton and welcomed me home with a beautifully wrapped gift.
A pineapple.
To read more about some of the stories written by participants, click on "Editor's Notebooks" and then click on "Stories from the Veld."
List of Participants
CISKEI TEACHERS' UNION
Mr A Peter, Estadeal
Mr B N Gcilitshana, Keiskammahoek
CAPE AFRICAN TEACHERS' UNION
Ms Tambella Nikelo, Kwazakhele
Ms Noxolo Nkume, Port Elizabeth
Ms Zintombi Tontsi, Port Elizabeth
ORANGE FREE STATE AFRICAN TEACHERS' ASSOCIATION
Mr Solomon Mahlatsi, Allanridge
Mr Eric Ramongalo, Odendaalsrus
Mr Qinisile Goliath, Odendaalsrus
TRANSKEI TEACHERS' ASSOCIATION
Mr Biggles Mabandla, Umtata
SWAZILAND NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF TEACHERS
Mrs Sibongile Mazibuko, Mbabane
Edward Maseko, Mbabane
Mrs Sibongile Dlamini, Kwaluseni
Ms Masileia Irene Sidudla, Mhlume
Ms Deila Tshabalala, Manzini
Mavela Shongwe, Manzini
Mrs Titi Masina, Mafatsana
ATASA STAFF
Sydney R Gcingca, Moroka
Mrs Snowy E Mthethwa, Evaton
CANADIAN TEACHERS' FEDERATION
Tim Johnston, ATA, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
African Teachers’ Association of South Africa
December 1 - 24, 1989
Tim Johnston
International Officer, the Alberta Teachers’ Association
My friend and colleague at the Alberta Teachers’ Association, David Flower, had one of his knees replaced with an artificial one late last summer. As a direct consequence of David’s surgery, I found myself stepping down from a Royal Swaziland Air flight in Matsapha, Kingdom of Swaziland, on December 3, 1989.
The connection between the two events requires some explanation. David had been selected as the Canadian Teachers’ Federation (CTF) resource person for the ATASA Communications Project, a bilateral aid program funded by the Canadian Government. Following the surgery to his knee, he had second thoughts about over-stressing the healing process, which might have happened if he had undertaken the African assignment. He asked me if I would be prepared to act as the resource person in his stead. He didn’t have to ask twice. I was airborne for Swaziland on December 1.
My routing to Swaziland was a bit unconventional and was laid out so that I did not have to transit through Johannesburg. Instead, I flew to Frankfurt, Germany on Air Canada and from there to Nairobi, Kenya on Lufthansa. I spent the night at a posh hotel where, as it happened, President Jimmy Carter was also staying and attending an African development conference. I got to know some of the local security folk in the dining room, one of whom gave me his copper bracelet when I enquired about it. That's Africa, apparently, and if something is admired, it becomes a gift to the enquirer. In return, I gave my new friend enough Alberta pins for each of the security detail members.
In the morning, with the same driver who brought me from the airport, I returned to board a Royal Swaziland Fokker F-28 jet for the flight to Swaziland. Our route included a stop in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. After taxiing from the terminal to the runway, our aircraft was stopped and a convoy of military vehicles and limousines raced up. The airstair door was opened and, after lots of saluting and hand shaking, the Prime Minister of Swaziland and his entourage boarded the little jet. Pretty cool, I thought, but I was to be even more impressed upon landing in Matsapha, Swaziland. As the jet taxied to the terminal and stopped, we were met by the Royal Swaziland Band, the entire diplomatic corp of the country, an honour guard and a red carpet that was quickly rolled to the foot of the airstair. My goodness, I thought, this is a welcome completely unexpected and most delightful. All of this was staged for the returning Prime Minister, of course, but I claimed a bit of it for myself. It was certainly an impressive welcome to Swaziland and Africa.
Finding a venue for the project presented CTF with some problems. A South African visa could not be obtained for the Canadian resource person, no doubt because of the “subversive” nature of the project in the eyes of the South African government. The project finally found a home next door in the Kingdom of Swaziland. While perhaps unforeseen at the time planning was taking place, the move to Swaziland resulted in several benefits. First, it tended to emphasize the important role that communications can play as an agent of change. This fact was not lost on the South African teachers who had to leave their homeland to participate in the seminar. Second, it allowed South African teachers a chance to work in a threat-free environment, to unwind a bit from the circumstances of their lives in South Africa. Third, the Swaziland location brought together South African and Swaziland teachers. They worked well together, developing strong friendships and an appreciation of each other as professionals.
Despite the initial planning problems, CTF had found itself an admirable partner in the form of ATASA. H H Dlamlenze, secretary general of that organization, is a man who moves projects and people along with his strong and convincing personality. I believe he personally contacted all the South African teachers who attended the seminar and “moved” them to become participants. An ATASA staff officer, Sydney Gcingca, would ably represent “H H” at the seminar.
Planning in Africa was greatly helped by the cooperation of the Swaziland National Association of Teachers (SNAT). Although there was some confusion initially about where the seminar would be held in Swaziland everything finally worked out, although not necessarily to everyone’s satisfaction. More on this later.
Through Nicole Patenaude at CTF, David had received a very thorough briefing on the project. It was convenient for me to take over as David was, on many occasions, able to give me further background and together we did a lot of the planning and idea development for the seminar. Nicole continued to keep me advised of new developments by telephone, fax and letter. The travel arrangements worked out perfectly and there were no delays or major problems encountered in travelling out or returning.
There was one minor problem that resolved itself. At the Royal Swaziland Airlines check-in at Nairobi, one of my bags was found to be grossly overweight and the airline wanted me to pay $80 US to cover the freight. I had two US $20 bills and offered those instead. “What’s in your luggage and what will you be doing in Swaziland?” asked the agent. I explained my mission and she tore up the baggage invoice.
On arrival at the airport at Matsapha, Kingdom of Swaziland, I was met by Louskin Mabundza, SNAT treasurer, and the country’s entire diplomatic community. A red carpet and a military band completed the trappings. All of this was really not for my benefit but rather for the Swaziland prime minister who, along with his entourage, was on my flight from Nairobi. Nevertheless, I took the welcome for myself and as a good omen for my stay in Swaziland. It turned out to be just so.
I thought that Louskin would take me to the George Hotel in Manzini. That’s where I told the immigration officer I would be staying. “Oh no,” said Louskin. “We want you to rest up for a day at the Forrester Arms Hotel.” So off we went in his car through the beautiful countryside to the hotel, which turned out to be part of a private farm. The hotel was quaint and very comfortable and was located in a picturesque valley. I made myself at home, secure in the knowledge that I would be collected the next day and taken to Mbabane where, Louskin had told me, the seminar was to be held.
The next day, Monday, I got up early and was ready to go. Unknown to me, many of the delegates, including
H H, were already in Mbabane, ready to start the seminar. Unknown to them was my whereabouts. Apparently Louskin had forgotten to tell anyone where he had stashed me. H H and company began a frantic telephone search of every hotel in the country to find the missing Canadian. Unaware of the turmoil boiling around me,
I spent the morning wandering the horse paddocks and forests, and contemplating the beauty of my surroundings over tea.
After lunch a small white truck arrived, proudly bearing the logotypes of SNAT and the Canadian Teachers’ Federation. The truck bore me, my heavy luggage, and Phillip (?) to Mbabane where my appearance seemed to have a calming effect on the assembled delegates.
The building we met in was to be our home for the next three weeks. It was the Mbabane Youth Centre and was operated by a church as a kind of cut-rate youth hostel. A pastor presided over its operation and he was to become a significant person in the lives of all of us.
The meeting room we used was stark but quite suitable for our purpose. It doubled as the pastor’s church on Sundays. Stark also aptly describes the sleeping rooms. Plain concrete cubicles adorned with tiny wooden beds were to be our individual homes. The South Africans were clearly expecting much better accommodations. So too was the Canadian whose last CTF overseas mission included a room at a rather pleasant New Delhi hotel. Mr Peter, a retired teacher and now field officer for the Ciskei Teachers’ Union, remarked that the bedrooms were just like the detention barracks in Estadel where he had once been interned. The name stuck and the Youth Centre became the “Barracks” from that moment on.
The Barracks was my home for one night only and throughout that night I might have managed 30 minutes of sleep. People came and went all night long, the closing of their room doors echoing throughout the building. Other denizen of the centre, including geese, dogs, other assorted fowl and one particularly obstreperous rooster, provided a nocturnal serenade from which I could not escape. Standing in the grim communal shower at 5:00 in the morning I decided I would have to seek other lodging if I were to survive my stay and provide anything like effective assistance.
My problem was resolved for me when Sydney took me aside after breakfast and told me that H H thought I should be put up at a hotel. Tuesday and all subsequent nights but two were spent at the Mountain Inn in Mbabane, a place that commanded a spectacular view of the Ezulwini Valley.
My African friends toughed it out at the Barracks but Sydney managed a few things to make life for them a bit easier. He arranged for us to have lunch and supper at another hotel in Mbabane and also arranged transportation between the Barracks and the hotel. That went a long way toward easing our time in Mbabane and adding some comfort for the Barracks residents.
The objective of the seminar was, in my view, to train up teachers to enable them to produce simple and frequent newsletters for their respective associations. I went to Africa believing that the editorial skills displayed in teacher publications would be found to be somewhat lacking. I was confused when H H showed me copies of the ATASA Newsletter, a thoroughly professional, high quality publication. But he assured me that the people who would attend the seminar were not in any way professional journalists or editors. They were teachers, keen on becoming better communicators for the benefit of black South African colleagues. He was right on this account, as it turned out, and keenness was a hallmark of the entire seminar.
We worked very hard. Our days ran from 8:15 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Each evening, the teachers had writing assignments for the following day. My evenings were spent partly on planning but mainly on editing all the writing the teachers produced. Teachers were also required to read handouts I provided but read all of the additional material I had brought with me as well. Mainly, they wrote.
The attached plan indicates what was covered and when we covered it. But basically, the teachers wrote news releases, news stories, editorials, interviews and feature stories. I returned their writing each morning after editing everything the night before with my trusty red pen. The teachers would then rewrite their stories and give them to Snowy Mthethwa, an ATASA stenographer, who would type them up into eight-centimeter wide columns. Snowy provided a very important service that eventually allowed us to produce seven separate newsletters. Snowy took part in all the writing and layout assignments as well, finishing her typing each evening in her Barracks room.
It didn’t take long for us to settle into a routine. We began each day with a prayer. Different people were responsible for this each morning and the prayer was always followed by two or three rousing hymns in four-part harmony. “May our resource person Tim be guided by You in his work today,” was a common theme of the prayers.
Then it would be on to an edit and reading of the morning news releases. This served three purposes. First, it made sure everyone was up for the morning’s work. Second, a good deal of pride in writing short, attention-grabbing stories developed. Third, the reading caused the participants to stand and address their colleagues by voice, a communications medium that was obviously of great importance to them. Having now listened to several African teacher leaders, I’m convinced they have achieved what they have largely through the ability to speak effectively and to motivate teachers and others through dynamic public speaking.
After the press releases, I would usually present a lecture, laced with lots of examples, and then have a question and answer session. These lectures were based on handout material I had brought with me, copies of which all participants received. Following each lecture, there would be a writing exercise to help participants develop their own skills on the subject.
The bus would come to take us away for lunch at noon. In exactly one hour, we would return to the youth hostel for the afternoon session. We would close at 5:30 p.m. with a rousing song or two and always “Solidarity Forever.” Then it would be off to supper, after which I would go to my hotel and the teachers would return to the Barracks.
As well as writing, we did some other things that the teachers seemed to value. One of the SNAT teachers arranged for us to visit a nearby high school to practice interviewing skills. The school staff was most cooperative and several good interview stories came out of this exercise.
We also went through a communications workshop I had brought along. This was spaced out over parts of two days and the participants really seemed to get a lot out of it. Techniques incorporated in the workshop like brain storming, small group idea development, recording, reporting and consensus developing, seemed to be particularly appealing. From this workshop evolved the idea of developing a simple communications workshop document for the participants to use with other teachers in the field. This task was completed later on through melding ideas generated by three teams of teachers into a final version.
Toward the end of the second week, we received an invitation from a SNAT official to attend the Incwala ceremony. This is a national event in Swaziland and, in a way, is comparable to our New Years celebrations. People from all across the country converge on one of the King’s residences just east of Mbabane. We were told that it would be difficult if not impossible to see King Mswati because of the size of the crowds.
When we arrived at the site, aboard the minibus we used for our hotel meals, most of the teachers followed the King’s regiments into the Kraal for the traditional dancing. Because I didn’t go in I had a very close look at the King when he emerged to inspect the military guard of honour and band beside which I was standing.
As the second week ended, we also began some newsletter layout work. First I had the participants work in groups to design posters that would announce their forthcoming newsletters. This was a simple exercise but one that led to one of the more humorous incidents of the whole course. The folk had been quite taken with some ATA “I love teaching” pins that I had distributed. One group incorporated the shape of the pin (a heart shaped apple) into their poster. Pointing at this shape was a pencil. I suggested the heart shape could be placed on the end of the pencil and proceeded to sketch my idea on paper taped to the blackboard. As I completed the sketch, it suddenly dawned on me that the whole thing rather resembled male genitalia. “No, this won’t work,” I said and took down the sheet of paper. The entire class broke up at this and “This won’t work” took its place alongside “The Barracks” as one of our inside jokes.
Monday and Tuesday of the last week were devoted to producing newsletters. The participants worked in seven teams of two members each to produce six-page newsletters. To begin, each team produced a layout template. The teams then selected from copies of all of the stories that had been written over the past two weeks those that they wanted to include in their newsletters. The stories had been typed in columns by Snowy and duplicated by the Reverend. Then dummy newsletters were produced which allowed room for copy, headlines, photographs and cutlines. I provided photographs that some of the participants and I had taken the previous weeks. Finally, the teams laid out their newsletters, cropping photographs, fitting type and producing some headlines made from transfer lettering. The Reverend then duplicated each master set so that each participant would have a copy of each of the newsletters.
The names of the newsletters reflected funny things that had happened throughout the course. One newsletter, The Pineapple, was so named in honour of me. The reason for this was that I had overindulged on fresh-from-the-field pineapple each morning at my hotel. This resulted in a rather interesting allergic reaction whereby my hands, feet and face swelled up and the rest of my body was covered with large, itchy hives. A local doctor prescribed an antihistamine, I stopped eating pineapple, and everything returned to normal.
Our final activity was a cocktail reception hosted by ATASA and held at the Tavern Hotel in Mbabane, the site of our daily meals. H H and the ATASA president were on hand as were the president and secretary general of SNAT. Swaziland National Television showed up to cover the speeches and stayed to videotape the entire evening. I was presented with a beautiful hand-carved wooden bowl and several cards. A copy of the tape will be sent to CTF as soon as I get my copy transferred and dubbed. I’m sure Bob Barker will recognize a lot of the faces.
Final goodbyes took place next morning and the delegates left for home by noon. I stayed one more night in Mbabane then drove by taxi to Manzini on Thursday, staying finally at the George Hotel. I left Swaziland on Saturday, December 22 and reached Edmonton at 4:30 p.m. on Sunday, December 24.
Rebecca, Harley, Galien and Kalie met me at the airport in Edmonton and welcomed me home with a beautifully wrapped gift.
A pineapple.
To read more about some of the stories written by participants, click on "Editor's Notebooks" and then click on "Stories from the Veld."
List of Participants
CISKEI TEACHERS' UNION
Mr A Peter, Estadeal
Mr B N Gcilitshana, Keiskammahoek
CAPE AFRICAN TEACHERS' UNION
Ms Tambella Nikelo, Kwazakhele
Ms Noxolo Nkume, Port Elizabeth
Ms Zintombi Tontsi, Port Elizabeth
ORANGE FREE STATE AFRICAN TEACHERS' ASSOCIATION
Mr Solomon Mahlatsi, Allanridge
Mr Eric Ramongalo, Odendaalsrus
Mr Qinisile Goliath, Odendaalsrus
TRANSKEI TEACHERS' ASSOCIATION
Mr Biggles Mabandla, Umtata
SWAZILAND NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF TEACHERS
Mrs Sibongile Mazibuko, Mbabane
Edward Maseko, Mbabane
Mrs Sibongile Dlamini, Kwaluseni
Ms Masileia Irene Sidudla, Mhlume
Ms Deila Tshabalala, Manzini
Mavela Shongwe, Manzini
Mrs Titi Masina, Mafatsana
ATASA STAFF
Sydney R Gcingca, Moroka
Mrs Snowy E Mthethwa, Evaton
CANADIAN TEACHERS' FEDERATION
Tim Johnston, ATA, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada