Project Education 2004

			Project Education 2004 Part of our Companion Synod Program, Project Education is an educational partnership between the Metropolitan Chicago Synod, ELCA, and the Central Diocese of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Southern Africa
Photographs (Click above link for photographs) Update Five volunteers from our synod traveled to our companion synod, the Central Diocese of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Southern Africa, to assists students with math and computer skills. Synod congregations and individuals contributed $31,942 to Project Education in 2004. The five retired teachers who braved the South African winter to help with the three-week Winter Term at Mapetla High School were: Dan and Nancy Gardner, Patricia McArdle, and Ruth and John Bradburn. Dan, Pat and John helped with the 12th grade math class, usually about 2 hours, and in the 11th grade math class who had been invited by their math teacher to come for special enrichment classes, usually about 1½ hours. Ruth and Nancy were in the new computer lab helping the teachers who enthusiastically showed up during their winter break to learn how to use computers. Pat also helped in the computer lab when she wasn’t in the math classes. The last day the 12th graders were invited to come to the computer lab for their first computer experience. Before this visit, an appeal was made to synod congregations, and with matching funds from Thrivent, it allowed us to fund two college scholarships for the current school year, to establish a fund for at least five more scholarships in the coming years, to purchase the food for the hot lunches provided for the students attending Winter Term, to provide stipends for the teachers and staff working during Winter Term, to purchase two external floppy drives for the teachers and administrators to use in the computer lab, and to provide funds to purchase or lease a new copier. Project Education home page
Photographs (Click on photographs for a larger image)

Dan assisting a student in Math class.	JJ Sithole, master teacher, with students.			Marcia Mohlala, one of the bursary recipients. She is a 2003 graduate of Mapetla Secondary School in Soweto, and presently is studying accounting at the Technikon of Wits Univeristy.		Teachers and students being served a hot lunch with fruit. Attendance was good partly due to the hot meal.

Paeneta Ratikane is another bursary recipient. She is a 2003 graduate of Mapetla, and is studying accounting at RAU University in Soweto. She also studies accounting.	We stopped at Morris Isaacson Secondary School, a gathering point for the June 16, 1976, student protest. Students stopped John and asked for help with a math problem.			One day after school, Antoinette, one of the students invited us to her home.		Yes, it was cold!

One day, the three deans, a secretary, and Bishop Phaswana from the Central Diocese came to the computer lab. Julius, a Mapetla teacher, assists Bishop Phaswana with Excel.		On the last day of Winter Term, the 12^th grade students were invited to the computer lab. Nancy is helping students with a mouse tutorial program that was personalized for Mapetla by a retired Elgin Community College math instructor before we left home.		Before the students left the lab, Pat demonstrated Encarta. She showed them where we live in the US.	These 11th grade math students were invited to attend the Winter Term. They have access to calculators that were previously purchased with Project Education Funds.

Two teachers sharing the keyboard program purchased from funds raised by ELCA congregations.		Eating typical South African cuisine - mealie, chicken, and boerwors with our fingers for lunch.		Working with the computers	Lunch
More information on our companion synod program is available here.
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