THE FACE FOUNDATION DREAM
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Palotaka elementary school: The education foundation of some best minds!
By Kur Wel Kur
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Dear all, “Palotaka greeted us with voidness; a place, where many painted their future on papers, stood in ruins, classrooms’ and dormitories’ doors snapped off, the cemented floors in the buildings cracked, so the wind airlifted the soil with weeds’ seeds into the cracks; the grass grew tall on windows and in some corners of classrooms and dormitories. A ghost town for sometimes, God knew how long!”, (The Journey of Palotaka boys -Part 3- )
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1. FACE FOUNDATION DREAM
An idea instils hope in the hopeless dream; hope breathes life into lifeless beings; a pilot light of our struggle/liberation, the founder of SPLM/A who became the founding father of our beloved country, Dr. John, passed to us an educational torch through Kuol Manyang in the name of FACE FOUNDATION. Face by itself without me defining it, as it appears in the acronym (F.A.C.E), radiates its importance because without it, the body will reflect nobody; in other words, our faces define us. Face in FACE FOUNDATION, stands for Friends of Africans’ Children Educational. The leaders in SPLM/A especially Dr. John created the acronym to recognise the efforts of many philanthropists in the western countries who supported the education in Africa so FACE was a sister organisation to FRIENDS IN THE WEST( an organisation). We toiled the lands for ourselves and others in Palotaka, knowing that one day, our faces will define the face our country.
2. Dream Accomplished
So true the prophecy of FACE FOUNDATION: Akwach Jook died doing it, defining the South Sudan’s face in legal systems. Kon Alier (earned his higher education in Uganda) lives his life crafting the face of South Sudan in medicine; Penn de Ngong (Ngong Aluong acquired his higher education in Uganda ), the rhymes and rhythms expert, makes sense out of our political turmoil and coiled situations in South Sudan, just to define our faces in poetry; Mam Guarak(earned his master degree in US) loses his voice sometimes in lecturing to students at John Garang university of science and technology, he defines South Sudan’s face in public administration and political science. (Philip) Chol Kuch (earned his higher education in Kenya and he works in South Sudan) sparks a neon bulb to illuminate his workplace; electrically, he defines our faces in South Sudan, Lupoki Wani travels to the corners of our beloved country in pilgrimages, he defines our country face in religion. Just to name the few!
Many thrive in America, so to know them, have a word with Deng(ngony) Mach, Alier Garang, Ayor Aguk, Gai Alony, Mawut Alier, Jok(Arem) Atem, Chiengkwach Mabil, Mawut Mayen, Kwai Achol and the list goes…. And if you visit Canada, then (Paul) Manyok Chuol (agut-jok), Gureech Arem, Apiu Garang, Madit Guet, Ariik Aguto, Jok Gai, Akuot Ayuen (Ariik, Akuot, Jok and Madit acquired their degrees in Canada and they live and work in South Sudan) and…, will guide you! In Pacific regions (especially Australia), then Majak Guut, Mariar Garang, Jima Anak, Garang Ateny, Mapiau Malual, Nyambura Nyombe, Ajak Deng (Chiengkou) and…will tour with you for sightseeing.
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3. Schooling arrangements at Palotaka.
Schooling at Palotaka, teachers divided us into two groups: Palotaka A and Palotaka B, because classrooms as well as teachers, were not enough. Everyone woke up at 6 a.m. and we all (both Palotakas) would do the cleaning for an hour. Palotaka A, schooled on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 10 a.m. to 4p.m., while the other group (Palotaka B) marched to work on these days. When Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays came, Palotaka B occupied the classrooms while Palotaka A , toiled the land. With those routines, our lives coaches shaped us into children who could handle multi -tasks. Inside our classrooms, we sat on a swept- clean floors, as chairs and benches, not available; however, they impeded us not from scribbling or reading: “This is a boy! The boy is reading a book.” Nor did they (chairs and benches) stop us from taking our classes seriously. In fact, our teachers sowed the best educational seeds in us at Palotaka. We would encourage ourselves with stories of successful educated people, people like Abel Alier Kwai and Dr. John Garang whom we knew tip-topped South Sudanese intellectuals and with songs such as ” My boy, where is your hoe(it sounds funny but a hoe is a hand tool for cultivation on farms)? The pencil is my hoe! The pencil is the key to all the jobs”
4. Teachers and curriculum
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Teachers at Palotaka Face Foundation primary school used the Kenyans’ curriculum so they taught readings such as ‘Hello children’ for class one (1st grade), ‘Read with us’ for class two (2nd grade) and ‘New Friends for class three (3rd grade). They supplemented these readings by teaching Grammar books (by Patel). The first grades’ __over three-quarters of Palotaka boys enrolled in first grade when we started schooling in 1992__ classes in each of Palotaka (A &B), started from class 1A to class 1Q, (with minimum of 50 pupils in a classroom), two classes of second grades in each (A &B), two classes of third grades in both Palotaka ( A &B) and one fourth grade in both Palotaka A & B (five pupils in this class).
Some first grades’ teachers, struggled with teaching those curious pupils who kept asking questions beyond their teachers. One teacher went like this: ” only small ‘G’ crosses the lines!” He made the first grades that he taught sang it as a song for two days. The teacher was responding to this question, “which letters in the alphabet disrespect the ruled lines in exercise books?” So Alier-Walla( R.I.P) came to our class (two) and strutted to the Blackwall (call it board if you wish) and wrote the famous sentence, which encapsulates all alphabet of English: “The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog” he told us to check for ourselves, which letters should cross the lines and which must not. That he was tired of the song being sung around the school. We couldn’t help laughing because the infamous song tired us too.
However, Amazing and intriguing as they aimed, most teachers, who taught second, third and fourth grades, topped the ability of teaching well; English teachers, the like of Charles Ollok, Alier (Walla), Joseph Battelle (Bartelli), Majok Kong, Awur Mawel and Bol Deng ( ziptii ), mind-forged the best English crafters such as the best storyteller( in writing), Jok Gai, Manyok Chuol ( the best of fluidity and cohesive writing!)And rhymes and rhythms hunter, Ngong Aluong at early time of their learning.
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5. Testimony
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I remember Penn Ngong surrendered himself to literary works at that early stages of schooling in which most of us relinquished in negligence; he lived in group one and I resided in group two;a path to the river passed through their group , so every evening we waddled to the river for bath. Ngong would read on the way! He was in the third grade and I was in the second grade, one time I asked him to read a story and translate some new vocabularies so he read aloud, a story entitled “the school race” in “New Friends”! A chubby character named James led the race before he stumbled and felt injuring his knees;” Ngong translated it. This showed how we grew into nurturing one another in everything; from learning in classrooms to fetching fire woods for teachers ‘ wives or working on their kitchens’ gardens.
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6. Extra-curriculum
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At Palotaka, some pupils involved in other extra curriculum such as sport and art ( painting) to purify their minds, especially those who undertook the fine art seriously became so healthy in their souls because they shoveled out their pain or nostalgia into their paintings! Some of us who submerged in sports such as soccer and volley ball lost their worries through sweating on the pitches and the rests wallowed in laziness where parasites such as jigger and lice infested them.
In conclusion, Educational orientation at Palotaka not only did it offer us the best foundation that resonates even today, but it also thrust some of us into other areas, which sharpen the learning minds through creativity , areas such as drawing(painting) in fine art and sports. Though life at Palotaka, somehow failed to support learning because of physical demands such as poor health, poor diets, manual Labour__we worked for ourselves and the teachers so we always dragged ourselves to classes so exhausted. Some of us could barely understand lesson; however, missing classes was as serious as missing work; the groups’ leaders exempted some of us from attattending work or classes in rare chances such as spewing in bed or blood gurgling somewhere on the body__ we adopted the art of hard work to handle different tasks simultaneously. This installed in us a resilience that continues to help us even today in our daily lives whether in third world countries or in the first world countries. We take pride in Palotaka and happy to call ourselves “The Palotaka Brands.”
Yrs . faithfully,
Kur Wel Kur.
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Lookout for letters of Palotaka’s life: the benefits and disadvantages of organised oppression to Palotaka boys, sicknesses and parasites, corrected mistake, and the reason of establishing the camps (one within South Sudan and the other in Ethiopia).
PaanLuel Wël Media Ltd - South Sudan 