Teacher to visit (From Penarth Times)

Teacher to visit

PENARTH'S Pen-y-Garth school will play host to a head teacher from an African village school next week as part of a national programme encouraging links between Wales and the mountain kindgom of Lesotho.

Mamotsomi Violet Ralitapole, the headmistress of the TY LEC evangelical school in Teyateyaneng, Lesotho, will visit Wales next week.

Her trip is part of an exchange organised by Dolen Cymru, which forges links between the two countries in education, healthcare, religion and on other levels including sport, politics and culture.

Rhian Lloyd, 39, a nursery teacher, visited Lesotho last October to help develop the relationship with Ysgol Pen-y-Garth's partner school.

The Penarth pupils have now started writing to and forming friendships with their African counterparts.

Rhian said: "I think there are many similarities between our two countries.

"Lesotho - like Wales - is very mountainous.

"I also noticed that people there really enjoy a good sing-song. It's a very musical nation.

"But in terms of resources we are worlds apart.

"I took with me a package containing crayons, chalk and pencils as a gift from Pen-y-Garth, which was greatly appreciated.

"Our partner school TY LEC school has around 750 children and only 16 teachers which means class sizes are much larger than at Pen-y-Garth with as many as 55 in a class.

"School there starts at 7.20am, which I think we might struggle to cope with," added the nursery teacher.

"School lunch was also very different. The canteen served papa, a high-carb, maize-based meal, or soup most days.

"When I arrived on the Friday they measured me up to make a traditional costume for me which they had ready for Monday morning.

"Mamotsomi, the head teacher, gave me the name Palesa, which means flower in Sesotho, so I'll have to think of one in Welsh for her when she comes."

To raise money to build up the relationship with its partner school in Africa, staff at Pen-y-Garth have organised a number of sponsored events.

They are now raffling a football signed by many of the current Welsh soccer team including Robbie Savage, Robert Earnshaw, Danny Gabbidon and former Wales manager Mark Hughes.

*esotho, like Wales, is a bilingual country, Sesotho and English being its national languages.