It is Finally on Hold

I have been scanning the papers and the news for anything that I can link to my blog and discuss, but I haven’t come across much that is too interesting lately. In the local paper I have found out that apparently today is “D-Day for the Strikers,” and by D-day I hope they mean decision day. It would be wonderful to get back to work or rather really start work. Since I have been here, there has been a strike going on. I am beginning to think either there is no such thing as school here or that it is just me, like I brought on this strike and if that is the case the strike will be lasting for another 11 months. That would not be good for the children. For those of you who are not like my mother and scanning every single African newspaper to get the latest news over here (I guess that is where I get my news junkiness), I will inform you of what I know about the situation. Warning: It’s not much. Mostly that the strike keeps us from going into the schools and running our program.

Aside from the problem of not educating the kids, the biggest problem relating to the strike revolves around the matric exams that all of the 12th graders have to take. The matric exams are standardized tests that need to be passed in order for the students to graduate. Pope, wouldn’t you hate that if no matter how well you did in your class, if you didn’t pass the year-end exam, you don’t get to graduate. Thank goodness we don’t have these in the states. If you pass you can get a job or seek further education, but if you do not then you can study part time to be able to pass later. Thuso said that it is very difficult to get a job if you do not pass; you wouldn’t even be able to work in the mines.

The latest news is that at this point most of the schools in Kimberley have returned to normal working hours and activity; however, the strike is not over. It is just simply on hold, possibly because of these matric exams they have already postponed twice. So more to come about the strike; I don’t know when we get to go back to work, but hopefully soon.