Fun Times at Tyhilulwazi

Being back in Alexandria and back at site means back to my normal routine.  One of my favorite things is my Tuesday and Thursday mornings spent with the learners of the Tyhilulwazi (Tee-lu-waz-ee) Disabled Center (TDC).  Working with these learners has been a highlight of my service, and something I look forward to each week. 

The Tyhilulwazi Disabled Center is for the disabled people of Alexandria to come and learn basic skills, some education, and have a space safe to be themselves.  According to South African law all children regardless of ability have the right to attend school.  Unfortunately in reality this isn’t happening.  There are absolutely zero tools for the schools in Alexandria to deal with disabled learners.  They have no special education teachers, classrooms, or training to deal with disabilities.  If a child is severely disabled they will not attend school of any kind.  For the learners with less obvious disabilities they might be enrolled in school and it won’t be until they fail a low grade repeatedly that they are removed from school with nowhere to go. 

Luckily for the disabled people of Alexandria they have the TDC.  The TDC is run by a kind Mama named Mrs. Bloko.  Mrs. Bloko founded the center and she has one other regular volunteer, but other than that they are on their own.  They deal with all ranges of disabilities from physical to mental.  The spectrum of disabilities at the TDC is surprising and a challenge to deal with when attempting to create a curriculum or do any sort of basic skills or educational lessons.  They have some learners who are non-verbal and wheelchair bound, others who have no physical disabilities but cannot write their name - and everything else in between.   

Mrs. Bloko has no educational background in special education or formal training for working with disabilities.  What surprised me was that there is no record of the disabilities that her learners have.  I’ve seen that one learner has down syndrome, and two are deaf.  Other than those which I happen to know myself, I couldn’t tell you a single other disability that anyone has.  This makes it extremely challenging to properly create effective programs for these learners but like many things in South Africa – it’s just the way it is.  Despite what I see as a major challenge and problem – I can say that at least they have somewhere to go and receive some kind of support.  It’s not ideal, but it is certainly better than nothing.   

The work that I do with the learners could be described as physical education.  Every Tuesday and Thursday all those that are physically able make the short trek from the TDC to the sports center.  Our favorite game to play is “rounders” which is kick ball.  It’s more sort-of-kick ball because rules aren’t really followed.  Most people never touch a base and run in any direction possible to not get “out”.  Sometimes we have free days and then the boys usually play soccer, with the girls preferring netball (a no-dribble version of basketball).  Other activities we’ve done are relay races, stretches, basic workouts, and cricket.  We always end up back at rounders though!  I love it because it provides an opportunity for everyone to participate regardless of ability.  Everyone gets the chance to come up, kick the ball, and run around the bases (or near them). 

It’s been so fun to see some of the learners really show their skills in sports and excel!  We have some great athletes and I wish there was an outlet for them to regularly build on these skills.  On the other side of the spectrum we have some learners who still need to be prompted after they kick the ball.  Aviwe is my favorite.  She will stop the ball after it’s pitched to her, place it where she wants it, kick it, and then needs directions.  “Baleka, Aviwe! Baleka!” (Run, Aviwe! run!) can be heard every Tuesday and Thursday from the sports center.

I’m really going to miss my TDC buddies – they keep a smile on my face the whole time I’m with them.  We can’t really verbally communicate since none of them can speak English and my Xhosa is extremely limited, but we don’t need words for all the fun we’re having.  They know I care about them, and they care about me too.  I can tell when I’m half a block away from the center and I can hear them shouting “Zolekas coming!”  Makes me smile every time.