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Showing posts from April, 2012

Children who beg at traffic lights

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Begging or Busking? The first time I saw Lenny – as I shall call him – was when he appeared at my car window at the traffic lights. Lenny busks along the solid white road marking, moving about or stopping to  serenade to motorists stopping at the red lights.   He is about 12 years old and he is super-confident. This entrepreneur has his own trade tool, a guitar of sorts. The guitar is a 40 cm piece of driftwood with three strings of gut and a dented, white, empty 20ml juice bottle at the end. Then you hear the 3-line song from the busker who looks you straight in the eye. The song is timed to perfection to allow Lenny to woo more than one motorist who is forced to wait for the green light.  My chuckle at this feisty young boy topples into laughter when I hear the key refrain “ en nog ‘n twee rand vir my” ( and another R2 for me ). He had his bottom line sorted – no copper coins here for his talent. I was seriously tempted to part with my R2 when my inner voice reminded me not t

Eugene Daniels leaves a legacy for Education

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  A tribute to Eugene Daniels, Education District Director of Metro South There I was, an apprehensive novice education district official being spoken to by the Education District Director of Metro South Education District, Western Cape, Eugene Daniels. Eugene had joined us during our induction and enquired in a calm, warm voice how I was adjusting.  He looked just like one of us, except he had copies of the book “Leading in a culture of change” by Michael Fullan nestling on his table. Needless to say, by the end of the session, I went home armed with my personal copy of that book. I devoured every page and pencilled in key bits of information like a new student. Eugene at a Staff  forum held at Rondevlei Nature Reserve. Over the next four years, I experienced this MBWA-styled leadership embraced by Eugene. He was, as far as possible, part of our professional spaces. He joined us when we he ld professional development workshops for our educators, becoming a participant like any

GET REAL

GET REAL Oh strip that calloused skin that blocks your heart, Express the fear,the hurt, the betrayal that encrust your belly, Be true, be bold, get real; We’ve had enough of masquerades Be you, be human. Admit that life is hard, That stones of learning hurt, That arrows of experience pierce, But,             How does one scale the barbed fence of Life, If every act or action was a honey-dripping animated cartoonish piece of bull ? Yet, when you’ve erased that suffocating veneer, When the raw paralyzing pain of guilt May seem to uproot you, Then You’ll realise that you’re just like the mustard seed With bounteous life force ‘Cause now you can flourish without that crippling burden; You will be victorious.                                                             S.P. Lewin (Written 15/9/05 )