One of the first things my host mom in Pfukoni said, translated through the principal, was, "you teach my son English and I'll teach you Tshivenda." I said, translated by no one because its pretty American, "deal." Well 13 months later, my Tshivenda is shotty and Fhedzani, the son that was talked about, can carry a conversation with anyone reading this post.
A child's mind never ceases to amaze me. I am the only person in Pfukoni that he speaks to in English and that is only a few hours a day (increasingly a lot lately since I purchased a basketball and he is learning to dribble). He watches hours of TV and just remembers it all. It's nutty. He says phrases that I know I never say.
So now that I have another person to speak English with in the village (the count is up to 3), I figured I can't waste this opportunity. So one day, after his school was over, I took him to teach the cretche (preschool) kids their letter sounds. My intention was to use Fhedzani as an observer to see if I am saying the most effective phrases because for some reason I thought I could control 3 and 4 year olds.
After about an hour of teaching, all the kids and I sing our song and I return to where my bags are and eat a meal the cretche gives before heading back home. While we are eating, Fhedzani says, "Sean, tomorrow, why don't you take two kids and I take two kids." I quickly agreed because the idea of an older kid teaching a younger kid willingly should never be passed up.
On our walk back though, I realized his real motive. "Do you like coming to the cretche?" I said. "Yeah, they feed me good food." Food rocks and now I have a little buddy, two times a week to help teach the future leaders of Pfukoni. It is an exciting happening, and I am hoping it leads to more willingness to participate in the classroom. If an 8 year old can do it, surely anyone can?
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