He is the best at cut and paste
Trip Start
Jul 10, 2006
1
67
69
Trip End
Dec 24, 2006
Phuthaditjhaba, South Africa
Saturday, December 9, 2006
Incredibly, this would not be the first pre-school grad I would attend durng this brief visit to Qwa Qwa. I had already accompanied Adel and Ntate Molise to a marathon ceremony at a well-established kindy, including traditional dancing and long-winded speeches, both very much in the Basotho tradition. On that occasion I was treated as an honoured guest, also in the Basotho tradition. As the gathering passed the three-hour mark, I was presented with a gift. I said that I was honoured, and that even my wife's PhD ceremony could not match this one. I knew that Adel was determined to make her mark in the Qwa Qwa pre-school universe by surpassing it.
Adel's Khotalang Educare Centre had been operating for just one year. The school was a small building with three cramped rooms plus a small kitchen, an outdoor toilet, and a large playground with swings, tires to play on and with, and a vegetable garden. She had three staff, one for the seniors, one for the toddlers, and one for the babies. There were 28 students, each of whom paid 60 to 80 rand per month (CAD $10 to $13) depending on age. From this Adel had to pay the staff and provide snacks and lunches. To make matters worse, some of the parents found it difficult to pay. She was losing money, and would continue to do so until she could be approved for government subsidy, which she believed would happen soon.
For the big day she had organized a marquee which would be brightly decorated, gowns and caps for the graduates (only three of the students were graduating), printed programs, a video photographer, a sound system, lunch for everyone who might attend (including people in the neighbourhood who had nothing better to do) and a professionally printed certificate for each student.
I had helped her organize the certificates. Each student's achievements were described in detail. For example: "He is the best at football. He took part in traditional dance. He likes singing. He is very good at cut and paste. He was chosen second prince in the beauty contest. He is conscious." I knew she meant conscientious, or caring, because I have heard this locution before. Since I have always puzzled over how to draw the line between a dialectical variant and a mistake, I didn't say anything.
The marquee was erected on the previous day, and Ntate Molise and Karabelo guarded it all night. The morning dawned cool, with a chance of rain. Large quantities of food were taken to the school, the chairs were set up, the sound system was tested, students were capped and gowned, all was in readiness for the 9 am start. Except that none of the speakers had shown up, not even the keynote speaker. By 10 am a couple of speakers had arrived and we decided to start. For a while it looked like I might be called upon for the keynote speech, and I considered possible routes of escape. But the others showed up later, and the program was modified accordingly. There was a prayer, a welcome, a song, some introductory remarks, an exceptionally long speech by a representative of the department of social services, some singing by the students, an incredibly long speech by a representative of the department of education, a skit and some dancing by the students, a short speech by me, some more singing by the students, an extraordinarily long speech by a representative of the department of health, some more singing and dancing, the keynote speech, the presentation of the certificates accompanied by much singing and dancing, some remarks by Adel, some remarks by Ntate Molise thanking everyone, giving gifts and touching on many other topics. And then around the four-hour mark, the well-earned lunch, followed by more singing and dancing.
And then it started raining, and everyone agreed that the first-ever graduation ceremony of the Khotalang Educare Centre had gone off very well.
