Heading up a science lab!

The first Ms Sindiswa Mlokoti (principal of Encochoyini Primary School in Phola Park, Thokoza) knew of the TEACH South Africa programme, was when she was told her school had been assigned four TEACH Ambassadors.

Speaking a year later, her appreciation is plain to see. “They are not scared of any challenge,” she says.

It was this fearlessness and energy that led the school to offer Engedzani Dzebu and Alouis Matekenya the challenge of setting up and running the school’s first science laboratory.

As a qualified teacher with an MA in Business Administration, Alouis seems over-qualified to be teaching Natural Science in a poverty-stricken township school.

He laughs at the thought.

“Not at all. Teaching is my passion. I grew up in a small community so I understand the problems a school like this faces,” he says.

It also helps that he is not daunted by overwhelming odds.

“Whenever I hear about a challenge, I want to be part of the team that helps.”

So when he and Engedzani were asked to shoulder full responsibility for the lab, they did not hesitate. Having negotiated a dedicated science room, they were directed to a storeroom. Here they discovered laboratory equipment packed away for safekeeping.

“Some of the boxes had not even been opened,” says Alouis.

Like Alouis, Engedzani has a string of qualifications that might make her presence at Encochoyini Primary School seem startling. While studying towards her Masters in Agriculture – having completed a BA Social Sciences and postgraduate diploma in Agriculture – Engedzani was involved in community fieldwork, on which she encountered low literacy, illiteracy and appalling education standards.

“In poor communities you work with people who can’t read or write. When I saw a TEACH South Africa advertisement it was in my heart to do something to help,” says Engedzani.

Engedzani and Alouis teach Grade 5, 6 and 7 learners from poor homes, many of which have been severely affected by HIV/AIDS. Another one of the stumbling blocks the pair faces is the language barrier in this predominantly Xhosa-speaking community.

“The learners struggle to express themselves in English in addition to the difficulties of learning Science,” says Engedzani

Despite the obstacles “and lots of tears” laughs Engedzani, she and Alouis persevered.

By the end of the 2009 school year, the progress was measureable.

“It was so encouraging to see learners who before had been so frustrated because of the language challenges, now communicating verbally and in writing with confidence about Science,” says Engedzani.

“And now when we say ‘let’s go to the science room,’ the children race there,” adds Alouis.
For these TEACH Ambassadors that is the greatest compensation.