Week 8: A final week in South Africa

Week 8 marked my last week in South Africa and it sure was busy! I had initially planned to use this time solely to train Zhaun, but we still had a lot to prepare for the exhibition. The time would need to be spent working with the students to finish up their projects. Furthermore, we needed to figure out how to handle the three students who had not participated in the extra week of class. On top of that, I had gotten to meet with Mr. Jurgens on the previous Friday and the logistics of the exhibition were starting to come together. These would need to be finalized. All that to say, working with Zhaun would have to be postponed.

The students came in for the robotics class on both Monday and Tuesday. The first item to be completed was the robot dance. Each of the three teams who had come for the extra week were now finishing up their robot's solo dance portion. Once they all finished, we moved on to choreograph and program the end of the dance. It was coming together! The batteries had also been charged and so the robot motors were slightly more powerful. This meant we needed to go through the dance again, re-tuning the motor powers. At the end of class on Tuesday, we had finished the dance and started discussing how the exhibition would go. Each team also recorded themselves to give voices to their robots!

As for the three students, I sat down with them and we discussed how their absence had affected the rest of the class. I decided, however, to give them another chance and lumped them all into Team Yellow. Zhaun would spend all his time working with them, to improve their chances of finishing.

Running in the Dave Spence Memorial Run

During our trip to Addo Elephant National Park, Emily (United States) had managed to convince me to join her and Ms. Solomon, a teacher at Hyde Park Primary School, in running a 10K. I've never been much of a runner but figured it was worth a shot - if we finished within 1.5 hours we would all get medals. That sounded pretty cool! Also, Ms. Solmon had been working very closely with my housemates who were teaching Physical Training (PT) at Hyde Park and they had told me so many great things about her.

Anyway, on Sunday (July 17, 2011) we got picked up by Ms. Solomon at the crack of dawn, and she drove us down to the run. Along the way, she told us about the area and pointed out some landmarks. It was really interesting to hear about these places from the perspective of someone who grew up there!

Soon we arrived and registered - I was still half asleep. We also got to meet some of Ms. Solomon's friends who are also runners like her. As the sun began to rise, the run started and we set off. Keeping a steady pace, we jogged through and got to see some of the township the path took us through. I had never run in something like this - it was fun to experience something new!

Anyway, after around an hour we had made it and ran through the finish line!

It was a lot of fun...though my feet were a bit sore for the next couple of days! We hung around for a while afterwards and even got to buy some soccer jerseys being sold for 10 Rand (less than $2). Afterwards they dropped me off, and Emily and Ms. Solomon went to go sign up for more races!

Masikhule Educare - A Projects Abroad Dirty Weekend

Title: Masikhule Educare - A Projects Abroad Dirty Weekend

Marieke (The Netherlands), who I had gone with to Addo Elephant National Park, had also been planning a service project at the Masikhule care center where she volunteers. They were going to be doing some renovations and painting. In the lingo of Projects Abroad, this is called a Dirty Weekend.

Week 7: A trip to Addo Elephant National Park

Week 7 was my second week without teaching. Thus, I decided to spend it exploring a bit more of South Africa. I went with Onno (The Netherlands), Marieke (The Netherlands), and Emily (United States) to the east coast of South Africa, to Addo Elephant National Park. There we would be able to drive around the park in a sort of self-guided safari. We rented a Renault Koleos from Drive South Africa and come Monday morning were on our way! I have to admit, however, I don't remember much of the eight hour drive there...I slept for most of it. :p

As we got close to Port Elizabeth and Addo Town (situated right next to Addo Elephant National Park), we needed to figure out where we would stay that night. Emily and I called a few places and found a good price at Avoca River Cabins & Luxury Treehouse. Split between the four of us, it was going to cost around just $10 a night! We had some trouble finding it when it got dark and as we pulled in, we could not see much of the scenery.

The hostess was very kind and gave us some leftovers to eat - we hadn't stopped for dinner. From Avoca's office, we drove down to the huts we would be staying in.

A trip up Lion's Head

On Sunday (July 10, 2011), Bilal and I decided to hike up Lion's Head, another peak by Table Mountain. We met up with a friend of his, Meltem, and began our hike up. As with our first trip up Table Mountain, we could see the city below along the hike.

Week 6: Preparations

The school vacation at Hyde Park Primary School was three weeks long. We were only able to get into the school for the first week of it and so I now had two weeks without teaching. Week 6, was the first of these two weeks.

Week 6 served first to give me a breather to catch up on some items. In fact, it was during the first couple days that I did some blog writing. One day at the internet cafe, I also got to meet a Nigerian mechanical engineer! I was just reading some articles to learn a bit about transmissions, which I was curious about that day, only to have the man sitting next to me tap me on the shoulder. As a mechanical engineer, he was able to explain the concepts quite well and we chatted about engines and transmissions for a few hours! Here he is with a car he designed. :)

A trip to Cape Point

On Sunday (July 3, 2011), a couple of us went on a trip to visit Cape Point, which I believe is part of Table Mountain National Park. After a long drive along the coast, we finally arrived and from the parking lot could see the famous Cape of Good Hope.

Week 5: Phase 2

Week 5 marked the beginning of vacation for the students at Hyde Park Primary School. However, all the students in the robotics class had gotten parental permission to sacrifice their first week of break to continue robotics. Now, they would get to design and build robots of their own.

However, I was still a bit unsure about how to guide them into Phase 2. In particular, we needed to come up with some tasks for each team's robot to do. We needed "cool" problems that they could solve with their robots. Furthermore, the problems could not be so technically challenging that the students would need to learn much more - unfortunately, we did not have enough time for that. All that to say, I was struggling to decide on problems that would be good for them.

A second trip up Table Mountain

On Sunday (June 26, 2011) I took another trip up Table Mountain. To be honest, I was a bit hesitant to go at first, as I had some work I wanted to get done. However, Frankie managed to convince me and I also decided to take my laptop with me. I figured that the top of Table Mountain would be a gorgeous place to do some writing. Little did I know that the route we were taking this time would take a fair bit longer than my last trip...

Frankie and I grabbed a taxi with fellow volunteers Sébastien (France), Marcella (United States), and Kelly (Australia). We started in the Kirstenbosch National Botanical Gardens, a gorgeous park along part of the base of Table Mountain. We spent a little while walking around and checking out some of the sights.

Week 4: Finishing Phase 1

At the end of Week 3, we had finished adding the touch sensors to the robot and had tackled several challenging concepts. Along the way, the lessons were improved and I learned quite a bit through the process. Writing the extension to the touch sensors also marked the beginning of a sequence of programs that would build up to the final Phase 1 robot program. We were on our way!

On Monday, the students were shown a demonstration of the next robot, which featured an added color sensor. Like the previous robot, it drove forward until it hit an object, at which point it aligned itself. However, this new robot checked if the object was black before stopping and beeping. If the color was not black, the robot backed up, turned and continued the search.

Back in the United States...

Greetings from the US!

Today marks nearly a whole week after my departure out of Cape Town International Airport. How the time has flown! It is surprising to think that my time in Cape Town has already come to an end. In the blur of the past few weeks, I am afriad this blog has fallen...well...incredibly behind. So, I would like to take some time to catch up - to share with you the second month of my Cape Town trip.

I suppose at this point, the blog can no longer be viewed as a way to simply share the current events of the robotics project and to describe "how things are going". However, I do hope it can serve to share how the project proceeded and finished. Furthermore, I hope it can even serve as a bit of an archive, to remember the events of this trip for years to come.

Well, I certainly enjoyed and cherish my trip to Cape Town and the work I was able to participate in there. I hope you enjoy reading about the work accomplished and memories made! :D

Warmly,
David

Sunset at Clifton Beach

On Saturday (June 18, 2011), we all took a trip to Clifton Beach to watch the sunset. In fact, it was Frankie's first day with us - she arrived in the morning! Our house met up with some other volunteers and together we all headed out from Wynberg to Cape Town and the beach. In Cape Town, we bought some food and drinks to take with us.

We all sat on the beach for a while and some folks took naps. I took a book I've been meaning to read for years, and managed to get through a bit while sitting on one of the large rocks. It was generally a peaceful and relaxing time as we waited for the sunset.

Week 3: Finishing up the touch sensor

At the moment, I don't remember my third week very vividly, so I may have to post some additions or even corrections later. Nevertheless, I will do my best to describe the week!

As I recall, the computer technician arrived on Monday to set up the lab server and configure all the desktops. It was great to see the new lab reaching completion. However, we had to cancel class that day so that he could finish configuring the machines we were using.

Furthermore, I forgot to copy the student files before he began and we lost all the students' programs! Fortunately, all their programs up to this point were identical and I was able to get them from my personal copy of the programs. I realized a running backup of their files would be needed, especially as they began on programs of their own.

In the afternoon, I chatted with my dad on Skype to discuss how to help the students understand the touch sensor program that had caused them some trouble the week before. This program was meant to begin a sequence of programs that would introduce the sensors one at a time and end with the final Phase 1 program. Over the course of our chat, we discussed these programs and re-structured them to be conceptually simpler, and thus better for instruction.

I was initially quite hesitant to have the students copy a new program for the touch sensor. I was worried that a sense of "starting over" would frustrate and discourage them. In the end, however, I decided to go forward with it. I hoped that they would feel this was an acceptable move considering the difficulty they had experienced earlier. While we were at it, we added one line to provide a new feature - the robot would now beep after it stopped!

A trip up Table Mountain

On Sunday (June 12, 2011), I went to a church service with Lecia and Leslie and afterwards Bilal, Maja and I decided to venture up Table Mountain. The day was clear and warm - excellent conditions for the hike. On the train ride to downtown Cape Town, we ran into some other volunteers who were also planning on going up Table Mountain. Together we grabbed a taxi to the mountain base.

A trip to The Castle of Good Hope and the District Six Museum

On Saturday (June 11, 2011) we took a trip to the Castle of Good Hope, a former Dutch fort. Again we took a train to the downtown area of Cape Town and from there walked to the castle. The castle is actually nested within the city!

Week 2: The first week of class

At the end of my first week here in Cape Town, the robotics kits were prepared and we were ready to begin class. I forgot to write about this in my previous post but a student contract was also written up during that time.

Home away from home

I would like to write a post about my home here in South Africa, the other volunteers I am living with, and the family that is hosting all of us. I can still remember when I first arrived at the house, quite tired after nearly a full 24 hours of flights. As I walked in to the warmly lit house, I was greeted by Lecia and Leslie Bagley. Leslie grabbed one of my bags, only to exclaim that instead he would take the lighter one! Little did he know, they weighed just about the same. :p

A trip to Robben Island

On Saturday (June 4, 2011) we took a trip to Robben Island, where political prisoners were kept during the apartheid era. A few days earlier, Liam got us all tickets for a guided tour through the prison turned museum. From the Bagley home, we took a mini-bus and train to get to the waterfront. Here are a few photos from along the way!

Week 1: Arrival, induction and final preparations

I have been meaning to write this post for quite some time! As such, I am having a bit of trouble remembering my first week here. Nevertheless, I hope this post gives a decent sense of what I was up to here in Cape Town. I'm sorry there weren't many photos from that week - I did not want to look too much like a tourist. :p

Arrival
I arrived in Cape Town at night on Friday, May 27, 2011 nearly a full day after leaving Raleigh. When we landed, the pilot asked us to remain seated so that he could arrest a man who had been smoking in the airplane restroom! Anyway, we eventually got out and rode buses over to border control. When it was my turn for processing, I actually almost did not get a visa to enter! I had not printed out my return ticket, which would have proved that I was going to leave Cape Town in two months. Fortunately, Minda had written me a letter explaining the purpose of my trip and the parts I was carrying with me. Looking over it, the officer decided this would be acceptable proof and gave me the tourist visa. What a start to my trip!

While waiting for my bags, I changed and cleaned up a bit. Some folks from Projects Abroad picked me up and took me to the Bagley house. That night, I watched some television with the guys in the house and unpacked my things. As I recall, I slept quite soundly that night. The next day, the guys went to play paintball with other Projects Abroad volunteers and invited me along, but I decided to spend a relaxed day at home. :) It was nice and Lecia even took me to Wynberg, a nearby town, to withdraw some money and buy a much needed bottle of shampoo.

The next day, I attended the New Apostolic Church with Lecia and Leslie. For dinner, I went with the other volunteers to get some excellent Braai at Mzoli's. At the counter we chose all the meat we wanted to have grilled.

How I came upon this opportunity

It feels a bit strange to think that I am actually in South Africa. The journey here has not always been smooth and there were a few minor bumps along the way. It seems like a good idea to write a post briefly describing how I came upon this opportunity so that I may properly thank those who made all this possible.

The planning season began on September 9, 2010 when our program had an interest meeting for everyone potentially going on an International Summer of Service in 2011. During the meeting, the Assistant Director of our program, Minda Brooks, explained the project proposal process and gave us advice on getting started.

I found the first step of deciding on a project to be quite difficult. To make a long story short, I thought about a variety of ways to choose a project and discussed them with Minda, my dad, and my fellow Duke students. Through this process, I eventually came to the idea of training students in preparation for a robotics competition.

When I mentioned this to Minda, she directed me to Hannah Hellebush, who is also in our program. Hannah had worked with the South African Education and Environment Project (SAEP) and found it to be a wonderful opportunity to serve and teach. In particular, she had worked with SAEP's Hope Scholars Program, an after school program in several of Cape Town's township schools.

I met with Hannah to ask about her experience with the Hope Scholars and to get her feedback on some of my thoughts and hopes for the summer. It was wonderful to hear about the work she had done and how it had impacted not only the students, but also her. She thought the robotics project might be possible and got me in touch with Norton Tennille, founder of SAEP.

I sent Mr. Tennille a short e-mail about who I was, asking for a chance to discuss the possibility of working with them. I was contacted by Sara Muhl, who was fielding volunteer queries and we began our discussions! It was now the start of December. Over the next several months we e-mailed back and forth discussing what kind of placement was possible and what resources were available for the robotics course. It seemed like everything was lining up, but unfortunately in mid-March I found out we would not be able to fit the robotics course into their program.

Their first robot

The first phase of the course consists of students building and programming a pre-designed robot. The robot they are building searches for its box. Here are some photos of the robot they are making!

The school - Some initial information

I am partnering with Hyde Park Primary School to provide this course to students. I am still learning a lot about the school, but thought it would be a good idea to give some initial information. To start, Hyde Park Primary is located in Fairways, just down the road from where I live in Parkwood. Here you can see the route I take to work every morning!

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The project

My first post did not include many details about the robotics project I am working on here in Cape Town. Instead, I've reserved this entire post for just that! Perhaps it is best to start with a more detailed overview of the project, then briefly explain the rationale for doing this project.

Overview
I am developing and teaching a robotics course to help train students in systematic and careful problem-solving. The course contains two phases: learning and design. The learning phase is centered around the construction of a pre-designed robot. This experience will prepare students for the design phase, where they design and build robots of their own. The course as a whole will culminate in a public exhibition where the students will share the fruits of their hard work!

The currently planned course consists of 12 hour-long classes for the learning phase, followed by 12 hours of work time for the design phase and 1 hour for the exhibition. Students work in pairs, with one set of parts for each pair. In order to ensure that each pair receives sufficient instruction and guidance, the maximum class size should be around 10 students. At present, limited funds has brought us down to 8 students.

At the end of the course, I will be leaving behind the parts and detailed lecture notes. I am also training a teacher at Hyde Park to teach the course for the following terms.

Brief Rationale
Learning systematic and careful problem-solving is crucial to the future success of students everywhere. As they continue in their education they will be required not only to recall information, but also to apply their knowledge in a systematic and careful way to solve ever more challenging problems with confidence. Furthermore, if these students are to become leaders who usher in the brighter futures we hope for, they will be called on to tackle ever more complex issues with more serious consequences. This will require from them an even greater ability to work systematically through problems with careful attention to all of the involved complexities.

Robotics provides students an opportunity to learn systematic and careful problem-solving. Creating robots from individual parts will teach them to think systematically, as they learn to combine their knowledge of each part to predict and even design the overall behavior. Work with these robots also has a small margin for error – mistakes ranging from simple typos to more complex logic errors will cause the robot to malfunction or not function at all! This will teach the students to both think and work carefully, confident that each of their steps is correct. Furthermore, identifying and fixing their mistakes will teach them how to diagnose problems systematically and develop solutions that directly address the errors.

Robotics provides an engaging and exciting context to learn these problem-solving skills. Rather than learning these skills as theory applied to seemingly meaningless problems, students will see how these skills are crucial in the creative process of making a robot. Furthermore, the students get to see their efforts culminate in their robots sort of coming to life. This is incredibly exciting!

A first post

Hello!

Welcome to this blog. :D I must confess I've never blogged before so I'm not quite sure how to do this. I suppose quickly introducing myself and this blog would be a good way to start. Here goes!

My name is David Hong and I am currently a rising junior at Duke University in the Benjamin N. Duke Scholarship Program. As a part of our program, we are all sent to serve abroad. We hope that through this International Summer of Service our program will make a lasting impact in places of need around the world, and maybe even find that these experiences have left a lasting impact on us as well. For my International Summer of Service, I am spending two months in Cape Town, South Africa to develop and teach a robotics course at Hyde Park Primary School. I am also training a teacher at the school, Mr. Zhaun Borcherds, to offer the course after I leave. There is much more to say about this project, the school, my host family, and how I came upon this opportunity. Perhaps a few later blog posts would be better suited for that. However, I would like to quickly thank Projects Abroad and the Benjamin N. Duke Scholarship for making this opportunity possible. I have many others to thank, but will leave that for my post about how I came upon this opportunity. Anyway, I suppose that all gives a decent idea of who I am and what I'm up to!

Now, a bit about this blog. Perhaps the best way to introduce this blog is to answer the question: What is the purpose of this blog? As I think back, I decided to write this blog primarily to share the progress here with folks back home. It would serve as a regular update of the student's work in this robotics class. Indeed this is still the purpose of this blog, but I would like to expand it. I hope this blog may even be able to broadcast the students hard work and great potential to the world. Perhaps seeing these students make robots may even inspire us all to believe that indeed anything is possible. We need only set our minds to it.

Well, I think that introduces me and this blog. I must confess that I actually arrived two weeks ago and haven't written any other posts yet. I have a lot of catching up to do! I hope you enjoy reading this blog and seeing the work being done here in Cape Town. May it be a blessing to you.

Warmly,
David