Making friendships through TEACH South Africa

When 24-year-old Brandon Raubenheimer started teaching at Fumana Comprehensive School on Johannesburg’s East Rand, his students couldn’t pronounce his surname, so they called him Mr Brandon.

His Cape Town accent was also a problem; students would look at him, puzzled, as they had never come across anyone who spoke the way he did.

However, despite this, the students quickly warmed to him.

Brandon has been teaching English to Grade 8 learners for the past five months, an experience he says he would not trade for anything.

Born and bred in Belhar, Cape Town, Brandon was working as a senior process assistant at Sanlam when he decided to quit his job to make a difference in people’s lives.

Brandon holds a bachelor’s degree in Psychology, majoring in English and Communication, from the University of the Western Cape.

What Brandon loves most about being a teacher is his learners’ spontaneity, honesty and sincerity.

“Once they warm to you they cling to you and you become their friend.

They are so eager to learn; even when you ask a question and they don’t know the answer they will put up their hands and try.”

For Brandon, being a TEACH Ambassador means that he is always learning.

“Learning isn’t a burden to me because I love children and the time spent with them feels so short, so I put all my energy into it.

“Being an Ambassador has opened my eyes to a whole lot of possibilities I never knew existed,” he says.

Brandon adds that he never thought that he would one day be a teacher.

“I always wanted to be a paediatrician, but I studied something else. When my TEACH South Africa contract ends, I want to learn marketing.”

According to Brandon, the TEACH Ambassador experience has changed his view on life.

“Before I saw problems, but now I see solutions.

Coming from Cape Town to Johannesburg has opened my eyes to a lot of things. I had very little understanding of things, but I now realise that there is more to life than the life I lived in Cape Town.”

Brandon’s not the only one who has changed: he talks in glowing terms about some of his students, who have come out of their shells.

“When I first started teaching them some were shy to read, but now they are the first ones to raise their hands to read in class,” he says.

Brandon would like to continue teaching – even if it’s not in a classroom: “I want to work for a company that is involved in community building, or schools upliftment so that I can touch more people’s lives.”