We are Young Bafana
Chapter 8
Jabulani in the Classroom
Liam watched the boys file in to the classroom. Well actually, ‘file’ would be the wrong word. They were always a jumble of energy as they rough and tumbled into the room. Liam always loved spending time with the boys of Young Bafana. After teaching in a main stream school for many years, it was refreshing to work with children who were eager to learn.
Jabulani walked in to the classroom, greeted Liam and took his seat at the back. He was feeling nervous about today’s lesson. Last week the class had concentrated on maths, especially times tables. Though he knew that they were important, Jabulani just couldn’t grasp the concept of times tables. If he was completely honest with himself, Jabulani struggled with most of his subjects. Liam reminded the class that they could all do maths, it just took commitment and practice. Similar to soccer, I suppose, Jabulani thought.
After some time spent revising, Liam asked the boys to pack away their books. He wanted to chat to them about something which many of the boys shied away from, poetry. Immediately the boys’ eyes started to glaze over. Poetry was something for academics; for clever kids. Not soccer players! And definitely not for me, thought Jabulani. How were they supposed to write poetry when the basics of English were still a struggle for them?
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