My next visit was to KYP, Kliptown Youth Program, in Soweto. I chose KYP because students at the school I taught in Tokyo had sent KYP some used books as one of the Values education projects, thanks to Mr. Creighton. KYP is an educational and social organization, which was started by Thulani and a group of young black people from Kliptown squatter camp about three years ago. It was financially supported by white people within and outside of the country but was run by ten young black leaders. Most of the neighboring people lived in shacks without water and electricity. The young leaders took leadership and offered the children chances to learn, share and grow in a healthy manner otherwise they spend time on the street and get into trouble. KYP offered a home environment between school and home. When the children came to KYP after school, they got what their family could not give. Besides reading, writing and mathematics, the children were looked after with their homework from school, with play and games with children of all ages, with higher education guidance counseling, and with a substantial meal before going home.
At KYP I had a pleasure of speaking about my country, Japan, the concept of reuse and recycle, and introduced a Japanese paper folding craft, Origami. I used old newspaper so that they could learn the basics of paper folding and could make a container to pick up litter. Then we used origami paper to make simple toy animals using English words. It turned out to be a cross-curricular activity. I am a school teacher and this is what I can share.
At KYP, a group of high school students from Massachusetts were visiting. They were pen pals. A wealthy American had donated a hundred small computers to children to work on. As they learned English, they wrote to their pen pals in the USA. It was exciting to watch them share each other, sing songs and play games together. The KYP boys, big and small, in their rubber boots, gathered at the center and performed the Gum Boot Dance. The Gum Boot Dance went back to the old mining time. It was an amazing dance in unison with joyful voices and rhythm. They tapped their knees and the front and backs of the boots, while clapping hands in between in a fast mode. It went very fast. I could never catch up, especially in my national costume!
At KYP I had a pleasure of speaking about my country, Japan, the concept of reuse and recycle, and introduced a Japanese paper folding craft, Origami. I used old newspaper so that they could learn the basics of paper folding and could make a container to pick up litter. Then we used origami paper to make simple toy animals using English words. It turned out to be a cross-curricular activity. I am a school teacher and this is what I can share.
At KYP, a group of high school students from Massachusetts were visiting. They were pen pals. A wealthy American had donated a hundred small computers to children to work on. As they learned English, they wrote to their pen pals in the USA. It was exciting to watch them share each other, sing songs and play games together. The KYP boys, big and small, in their rubber boots, gathered at the center and performed the Gum Boot Dance. The Gum Boot Dance went back to the old mining time. It was an amazing dance in unison with joyful voices and rhythm. They tapped their knees and the front and backs of the boots, while clapping hands in between in a fast mode. It went very fast. I could never catch up, especially in my national costume!
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