Emelie and Mapula

Rapports: Emelie and Mapula

Day 1: 2/3-13

Unfortunalty my buddy wasn’t here today, but instead I joined Veronika and her Buddy.

Today we learned a little bit about Southafrica at Polokwane Show. I´ve learned all about their national flower, animal, fish and tree. Which is:

Flower: Protea

Animal: Impala

Fish: Blue crane

Tree: Yellow Wood

They also had a national fish but I can´t remember the name of it. I´ve also learned a little bit about Nelson Mandela and that he was the first black president here I Southafrica.

We also looked at some cars like monster trucks and ordinary cars like Volvos.

Then we saw some pictures of “The big Five” and what they stand for an so on. The animals of the big five are Rhino, cheetah, elephant, buffalo and Lion.

Then we were at a conference about electricity. They use coal for electricity because they have access to it here, in Swedenthere’s a lot of water, and therefore we use it for electricity back in Sweden. They also told us that people are stealing electricity and therefore they try to stop it by putting up a meter. It will show how much electricity that has been used in that area. This is to protect the substainable development.

Day 2: 3/3-13

Thomas has our rapport from this day

Day 4: 4/4-13

Today is our first day as buddies here in Lekota high. The Swedish learners arrived and they were introduced to our teachers firstly. Later on they came to our classes. The lekotalearners were very glad to have such visitors as we are not used to be missed (meaning it is very rare to see black and whites in the same place) then we attended in our classes and we were all participating as the other learners made them feel at home. Later on we went to our school garden, we were verybusy there, we planted and were busy digging holes and we were tired, then we went for lunch that was around 12:00 pm. The gardening took about 2 hours. South Africa and Sweden are two different countries when it comes to farming. In SouthAfrica we mostly plant with our own hands and in Sweden they plant mostly with machines since its big fields, so in Sweden it´s a bit easy for them to plant. We also took pictures for the project. We had a lot of fun and learned a lot from each other. Agriculture is a very interesting and nice subject according to both Swedes and South Africans.

 

Day 7, 8 and 9:

7: We played soccer in the afternoon. Since the gardening was finished. It was the Southafrica girls vs. Swedish girls. The boys were playing afterwards. If it were in Sweden we would probably be mixed, boys and girls but we do have differentcultures. Here they separate girls and boys.

8: This day was culture day. We performed the Swedish culture and the South African culture. The Swedish learners and the teachers were performing traditional songs and dance. Then the South Africans performed cultural dances and also performed poems and poetries and we called it a day.

9: we went to “Bakone Malapa” museum in Polokwane and we were taught of the “sepedu culture” in Limpopo, how they lived, how they were dressed, their weapons and theirprotections strategies. We also went to the Irish House museum and we learned about our historical heroes and it is indeed a hournor to view pictures of people like Nelson Mandela, Walter Sisulu and people like Oliver Tambo and Winnie Madikizela Mandela, yeah, we have learned a lot about South Africa. And also about apartheid, from its start 1948 until it stopped in 1994.

It was really interesting to learn and see how the Africans lived back in the days, since it was a lot different in Sweden. The Swedes lived mostly at farms with cows, pigs, cheeps, horses, chickens and so on. They used them for meat, milk products, cotton etc. In South Africa they mostly hunted for food, farming were pretty much the same. They houses were different as well. The South Africans lived in shacks or huts, while in Sweden bricks or tree houses were very common. The South Africans settled near mountains to protect the women and children whenever the war came. In Sweden there was never a need for protections against war. It was very common to live on the countryside with horses as transport.

Day 10 and 11:

10: Today we went to church. They were singing and dancing and we got welcomed by the bishop at that church pastorKoma. Unfortunately we had tio leave early. We spent only an hour. In Swedish ceremonies the priest wares a gaon and they sing from a book and its usually slow songs as well, here they sing happy songs and the bishop was wearing a normal outfit, not a gaon.

11: this day we went on Safari. We saw different types of animals, lions, hyenas, zebras, buffalos, impalas, monkeys, snakes, giraffes and much more. We got the chance to touch and hold some lion babies. Their teeth and claws were really strong, even though they were babies. We learned about zebras and that they could take the newborn back in when giving birth, and that they can eat their own babies if there is lack of food. It was a really interesting and a wonderful experience that we will never forget.