The Citizen, 2015-01-15, Page 7THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, JANUARY 15, 2015. PAGE 7.
Continued from page 6
service postludes. Laurel Mitchell
sang a lovely solo, “Breath of
Heaven”, also known as “Mary’s
Song”. The senior choir as a whole
sang a “Hushing Carol”. The ladies
of the choir offered “Child of Love”
and the men sang “March of the
Three Kings”.
Flowers on the Memorial Stand on
Sunday, Jan. 11 were placed by the
family of Audrey Mitchell, a former
resident of Londesborough, who
passed away on Jan. 4 after a battle
with cancer. Please keep her family
and friends in your thoughts and
prayers as they grieve.
Churchgoers that Sunday morning
were treated to a solo by Barb
Bosman who sang “If I Can Help
Someone”. Early in the new year as
people think about resolutions this
song delivered an appropriate
message.
The children who gathered at the
front for their time with Terry
Fletcher talked about snow. After a
week of flurries there appears to be
heaps of snow around. Those piles
are made up of single tiny
snowflakes which under a
microscope are seen to be made up
of individual crystals. After several
guesses as to how many
drops/molecules of water make up
each unique single snowflake Terry
revealed that there are 10 quintillion
crystals in each flake, making
each one different from all
others.
All children seem alike in form
also but all are different having
special gifts and abilities. And God
has made us that way and He knows
all about each of us and cares for us.
It would seem reasonable that the
family of Joseph, Mary and Jesus
would appreciate some quiet
together time following the events
around the birth of the Christ child.
However, Joseph learned from an
angel in a dream about the terrible
decree of Herod. Immediately the
family made the 600-kilometre trek
to safety in Egypt. What a difficult
trip that must have been with a two
year old and the fear of soldiers
always in their minds.
It seems they must just have
settled in Egypt when two years later
Joseph learned in a dream again that
the family should now return to their
homeland. The family settled in
Nazareth.
But what a story of endurance and
strength to be found in Matthew
2:13-23. It is a story of who persons
listened to and obeyed the bidding of
God.
The coziness of the stable was
replaced by the travels. It is a hard
spiritual truth that the coming of the
Light/Christ was met with hardship.
The good news is that God will
provide for us when we fulfill His
purpose for us. In all difficult times
God stands with us.
The responsive psalm that
morning was Psalm 27.
Annual reports need to be in
the church office by Jan. 18
to be included in the annual
report for 2014.
The Londesborough UCW will
hold their first meeting of the new
year on Monday, Jan. 19. Fellowship
begins at 7:30 p.m. The official
board will meet on Jan. 21 beginning
at 7:30 p.m.
The Wednesday morning Coffee
and Conversation has resumed.
Everyone in the community is
invited to come out to the
church basement beginning at 9:30
a.m.
Anyone desiring to take
confirmation classes in April and
May needs to speak to Rev. Fletcher
soon.
We’re reminded again that Canada is a wonderful place to call
“home”; a place where we can raise our families in the safety
and security of a wonderful community.
May 2015 be a healthy, and
prosperous year for all!
Leonard (Len) Lobb CFP, FMA
Investment Planning Counsel
IPC Securities Corporation
410 James St., Clinton Ontario
519-482-8887 (toll free) 877-502-8887
len.lobb@ipcsecurities.com
As we enterAs we enter
2015...
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Wednesday morning church coffee events resume
S. African middle class not comparable to Canadian
By Morag Watt
The school that I have spent the
most time in is Laerskool
Olifantsvallei where my friend
Magdel teaches. It serves a fairly
well balanced mix of Afrikaans
(white) and Coloured (mixed race),
“middle class” children. The second
school I will talk about here is
Sederberg Primer, an elementary
school in the next town that serves
primarily black and coloured
children. The language of instruction
in both of these schools is Afrikaans
(a language derived from Dutch but
with many other influences) which
makes sitting in on classes a bit of a
challenge. They are both primary
schools (Grades 1 to 7).
Although there is an emerging
middle class in South Africa, their
standard of living remains largely
well below what we would consider
middle class. What distinguishes the
children of Laerskool Olifantsvallei
is that fact that their parents are
largely employed. This school is
located in the town of Citrusdal and,
as the name implies, it is a large
citrus farming area. There is a large
packaging plant in town which is the
major employer there and the town
that has been built around this
industry is comparable in size to
Clinton.
Taking into consideration that
South Africa has an over 30 per cent
unemployment rate, being employed
in South Africa puts you ahead of
many, but it does not mean that you
live an easy life. Wages are often
low, benefits are rare and job
security is almost non-existent. With
so many people looking for work, if
you are not happy doing your job
there is a line of people who would
gladly do it. Still, the benefit of a
weekly paycheque often means the
difference between your children
being able to attend school or not.
Sederberg Primer, although also a
town school in a similar sized town,
serves a much more varied social
group, ranging from quite poor
children to middle class. Their
school population is made up of
mainly coloured students, the
children of farm workers or those
employed in manual labour/service
type jobs. Classes here are somewhat
larger, being 25 - 40 students per
class. Again, there are a large
number of children from single
parent homes and the inherent social
problem that come with poverty,
disease and hopelessness.
At both schools, children receive
well rounded instruction in many of
the same courses we offer: English,
social studies, math, physical
education and science, and of course
their home language of Afrikaans.
Most of these children will at least
continue on to high school and some
will continue to post-secondary
education. Classrooms are fairly
well-appointed with desks and some
basic teaching materials and both are
staffed by motivated and qualified
teachers. Yet, there is a marked
difference in the atmosphere at the
two schools.
The atmosphere at Olifantsvallei
most closely parallels the teaching
environment we are familiar with
here. Classes are of moderate size
(15 - 25) and children who, for the
most part, come to school prepared
to learn and attend fairly regularly.
They appear content and happy.
They attend to their studies with the
understanding that this is what they
are supposed to do.
While the staff at Sederberg
Primer do an excellent job, their
students come to school with a
decidedly different attitude towards
learning. There is a distinct feeling
that the students here seem resigned
to their lot in life and have few
expectations for their future. They
do their studies but one wonders if
they have an understanding of the
power of education for them.
Teachers work tirelessly to instill a
love of learning in their students and
to impress upon them that education
is the way to change their life. Still,
the temptations of crime, lethargy
and hopelessness are never very far
away.
The children at both these schools
are an absolute delight. The
classroom is filled with bright-eyed,
beautiful children who are very open
and innocent in comparison to North
American children. They are much
less worldly; centred more on their
immediate surroundings and on
An education in education
Laerskool Olifantsvallei, a school in South Africa, shown above, provided a good cross-
section of the Afrikaans (white) and ‘Coloured’ (middle class mixed race) students according
to Morag Watt who spent some time at the school. (Photo submitted)
Continued on page 8