MERLEWOOD SECONDARY SCHOOL - 3RD PILOT SCHOOL.

Announcement of the 3rd pilot site by Ebbe and Gulshera.

Principal, Joe Venter was excited that his school was nominated to be included in the pilot Time Travel project. Merlewood Secondry School is midway between Marburg Secondary and Nobamba Schools.

His knowledge of the region's history is impressive. Our oral history needs documention.

WAY FORWARD - TIME TRAVEL IN PORT SHEPSTONE BY EBBE.

CONCLUSION

• There is a rich history in the Port Shepstone region. It is a diverse history, a history of immigrants, an intercultural history but also a cosmopolitan history. And there are also some stone age and iron age remains.
• History is not well recorded in the region. There are records of the archaeologial remains at Natal museum. The historical sources and litterature are written from the colonial perspective.
• There are now much going on in the research on the history of the Port Shepstone region: The Ugu District Heritage Project; A local committee for the South African celebration 2010 of the first indians arriving in 1860; Marburg Community Devlopment Trust; Time Travel Project; Research by individuals etc.
• Oral history will be the focus in the research for the time travel project. Three main topics:
  Social history – family, children, women, men, houses, food, celebrations, games etc.
  Economic history – employment, domestic work
  “Mental history” – tales, legends, stories, myths, songs, dances
  Also meeting places and the river, environmental issus.

The time period is early 1900s, c. 1900-1930. The first interviews will decide if the time period and topics need to be changed, widened or narrowed.

• Mark Sole at the Museum Service has promised to help with research in archives and documents when there are special needs and also to follow the progress in the time travel work.
• The time travel site will be a meeting place, where people of different traditions, women, children and men met. First alternative is the harbour on either side of the present bridge. Discussion with the HCM about a time travel site for learners but also for the public and maybe even tourists in the future.
• Three schools will take part in the time travels 2009: Nobamba Secondary School, Marburg Secondary School and Merlewood Secondary School. The schools choose the grade in line with the curriculum (grade 9,10).
• The schools will document their work, choose what subjects will be included, how the time travel method fits into the curriculum of different subjects, the progress of the work, take photos and at the end do an evaluation with learners and teachers.
  The work that Nobamba and Marburg schools do in the Time Travel project is also their work in the Global School Supplement project. In this cooperation there are also schools in Uganda and Nicaragua.
• The Time Travel Committee organises the project, have meetings and gather information and documentation from the different stakeholders. “Study circles” will be held with adults.
• Three-four people will be trained in Sweden, c. May 7-20. The suggestion is one person from each of the participating schools and the chairperson in the time travel committee.
  
  
  
  TIME PLAN
  
  1. The Time Travel Committee organises the work, responsibilities and make a time plan.
  
  2. Every person in the time travel groups, including the teachers, make an interview with a person; topics and time period see above. The questionnaires will be discussed in the time travel groups beforehand. These interviews make everyone aware of problems, difficulties and opportunities in making interviews and maybe some changes needs to be done in the structure of the interviews before the learners start. The interviews will be finished before Easter.
  
  3. Some time after Easter the education in school starts. Studies of life in the early 1900s in the Port Shepstone region and South Africa. The learners will make interviews of older people, their grandparents or other older people they know. They follow the topics and time period decided and the experiences from the adults’ interviews.
  
  4. The interviews and stories are the background for the scenario in the time travel. The time travel committe and Kalmar läns museum write the scenario together. Key questions need to be decided. Later also the activities in the time travel. The information gathered can also be used for a display at the Port Shepstone museum or in other ways.
  
  5. The learners and the adults take a character and write half a page about their own character.
  
  6. Costumes and props need to be organised.
  
  7. Last preparations in September and early October for the time travels, maybe drama lessons etc.
  
  8. Time Travels in early October (schools begin October 5th), maybe c. October 10-15. Three time travel days, one school with 25-30 learners each day plus some adults. The adults need to be prepared, too. The Global School Supplement and the Global School Journey will also take part in the time travels.
  
  9. In October there will be a half-day workshop on time travels at Fort Durnford in Estcourt organised by the KZN Museum Service. Also meetings with Departments of Education and Culture in Pietermaritzburg.
  
  10. The time travel project will continue in 2010. At one stage there will be a workshop in Wolwekloof, Western Cape, together with other time travel groups in South Africa.
  
  Thanks to everyone who take part in this project, all the committment and all the joy. This is hopefully a start of something important for the community and the people in the region.
  
  2009-02-19
  Ebbe Westergren, Helen Eklund, Meg Johnson and Laila Forsmark

COMMENTS BY CONVENOR: FUNDING IS CONFIRMED FOR 3 PERSONS. PSTA WILL BE NOTIFIED IF THERE WOULD BE FUNDING FOR THE 4TH PERSON.

EVALUATION AFTER PARTICIPATING IN TIME TRAVEL - 1773

REFER TO BLOG FOR FURTHER INFORMATION : www.portshepstonetwinning.blogspot.com

TORMOD NESSET-LINKING PORT SHEPSTONE TO VARIOUS PROJECTS

TORMOD , A SLAVE. PARTICIPATING IN TIME TRAVEL, CAPE WINELANDS REGION, OCTOBER 2008.


Tormod Nesset, for years , may we say centuries, has never stopped surprising us. He has linked Port Shepstone to various international projects, from the 10 years of consistent, one to one empowerment programme, where many Swedes and South Africans were linked and developed " bonding" with their counterpart. HIV and Aids, Time Travel, Global School, Sport, Municipality Agreement and Triangle Democracy School Project were a direct result of this friendship. This cascaded to further spin - offs such as Lars Kagg Skolan with eSayidi FET, Soderhamn with Ugu District Municipality and so on. He continues to be in the forefront , finding new iniatives.

We are indeed very grateful and appreciative. Equally, in Port Shepstone, many reciprocated and remain consistent in promoting this twin relationship for the benefit of all South Afrians.

There are many others that continue to show the same degree of commitment. Bo Hellstrom is one and now Ebbe Westergren, not forgetting Sven Ake, Ingeborg, Thomas Norgren , Stefan Windh and others.

It is comforting to note that many of you were involved in ISAK and continue to show an interest in South Africa's development. We need the " outside" interest, especially in our new found, fragile democracy.

Gulshera

FIRST OFFICIAL INTRODUCTION OF TIME TRAVEL TO PORT SHEPSTONE.

Living History in Local Environment
Report 2006
Projectowner: ABF Kalmar County, Sweden
Projectleader: ABF Oskarshamn

Summary

The aim of the project is to train educators and museum professionals in South Africa, inhistoric environment education, as a way towards integration, democracy and poverty alleviation. The idea is to implement historic environment education both at Wolwerkloof Learning Academy Western Cape as well as in schools in KZN region.

In 2006, six pedagogues and museum professionals, three men and three women, from CapeWinelands, have been trained in South Africa and Sweden, The training has been organized inclose connection with the project Glands folkhogskola/ Wolwekloof Learning Academy.Three workshops about learning, historic environment education, time travels, historical perspective etc, have been arranged in Cape Winelands, one of them at the Wolwekloof Learning Academy. In two of the workshops a time travel was part of the program, in order to make the participants understand the method of living history at a local site. One of the timetravels was at Bain's kloof pass 1853, the other Wolwekloof 1773. In Bain's kloof pass alsotwo full-day time travels with learners from two neighbouring schools were held.The training in Sweden included education at the Kalmar lans museum and Olands folkhogskola and participation in five different time travels.

The cooperation with our South African colleagues has all the time been excellent. Now we want to "export" this project to KZN and first of all to Port Shepstone and Hibiscus Coast Municipality, as well as within UGU in the region.ABF and the method of peoples education will be used and we seek to implement theeducation ministry in KZN in the project.

However, the project shall be focused in the area where we since 1994 have had a twinning relation between Oskarshamn Sweden and Port Shepstone KZN.The project has achieved the goals set up in the application. In the evaluations it is written that the time travels has contributed to better self confidence, a pride of the work of the "underclass", a desire to change the conditions of poverty and to maintain the real meaning of democracy. The first step towards sustainable education in historic environment education and time travels in Cape Winelands and at the Wolwekloof Learning Academy have been taken.

Now we would like to use the experience learned and also include our twinning area in KZN between Oskarshamn and Port Shepstone. But more support the next coming years is needed, to make this educational method sustainable.

2006-12-17
Ebbe Westergren
Kalmar lans museum

BACKGROUND TO CHOICE OF PILOT AREA

It is such a priviledge for Port Shepstone to be selected as the first area in KZN to pilot the Time Travel project.

CHOICE OF AREA.

The following criteria were taken into consideration.

• Inclusion and consultation with all communities i.e White, Coloured, Indian and Black.
• The area chosen was from Bhobhoyi to Port Shepstone.
• The high schools selected are : Port Shepstone High, Marsec, Merlewood High and Nobamba Secondary for proximity and location, Port Shepstone to Bhobhoyi
  

CHOICE OF DELEGATION

• Judy Mkhize, History educator and member of Time Travel Sub - committee at Nobamba Secondary
  
• Silvy Ragoobar, educator at Marsec. Marlene Naicker and Silvy are the two recent members of Marsec (2007). Marlene was a delegate to Sweden in 2007, involved in the Triangle Project. Silvy Ragoobar was the other obvious choice as a delegate of this school on TT.
  
• Dr. Justice Ingesi, Ugu delegate and ex- educator. member of TT sub committee
  
• Penny Letsasi, curator at the museum and member of the TT sub committee
  
  FURTHER DELEGATION TO CAPE WINELAND DISTRICT- OCTOBER 2008 .BRIDGING AGES CONFERENCE AND PARTICIPATION IN TIME TRAVEL
  

• Gulshera Khan- Convenor of TT
• Pauline Duncan, member of TT and twinning & convenor Global School
• Sibongile Zamisa - Global School coordinator. She and Pauline presented Global School
• Thembi Madlebe - Nobamba Secondary
• Yugeshini Moonsamy - Marsec
• Penny Letsasi - curator and the museum is central to this project
  

UGU HERITAGE COMMITTEE