THE DEDICATION OF
THE SCIENCE
LABORATORY AT MAGQIBAGQIBA SCHOOL
IN MEMORY OF FERN T. LEVY
INANDA, KWAZULU-NATAL, SOUTH
AFRICA
10th
AUGUST 2010
See also
FERN'S MEMORIAL PAGE
See also our visit in October 2013 to two
other schools with rooms in Fern's memory
The poster in the 4 schools
Before she passed away, my sister Fern asked me to use money she had in
South Africa for the furtherance of African education in
Kwazulu-Natal, the area we had grown up in. We got in contact with
Suzanne Edmunds, the CEO of Project Build, an organization
dedicated to the building of school facilities in needy areas.
Suzanne is a friend from our school days and was a classmate and friend
of Fern. Through her we sponsored the building of four science
laboratories in rural areas. Suzanne also arranged for the
Derivco Company, owned by schoolday friend John Moshal, to donate
equipment and fittings for the lab.
On 10th August 2010 the first of these laboratories was dedicated at
the Magqibagqiba Secondary School.(see
This
Week's Picture). Our family came from Israel to be
present and we were joined by Aunt Winnie Levy and cousins Charles and
Sheenagh.
The ceremony touched all of us deeply and there were few dry eyes in
our
family. We were impressed by the attitude and motivation of the
students and by their enthusiasm and yearning for education.
The
ceremony started off formally with speeches and I told the students
about Fern and her beliefs and her life. (
click to
read the speech)
Banothile Primrose
Zuma read a poem she
had composed for the occasion:
I never knew
How precious my school will be
I used to call it just a school
A school for me and you.
I never knew
That one day it will be a big school
A big school with a science laboratory.
I used to think it will be only big
With no science lab.
But things have changed.
Today, tomorrow and together
We are now doing experiments in a science laboratory
For the future experience.
Not only my future experience
But to get used to using apparatus.
To touch the apparatus
To experience the smell of chemicals
To get used to using apparatus
To get used to the texture of chemicals.
I never knew
How precious it would be
To be a science student.
Then the happiness of the students, and staff, took over and the
formality changed to a spontaneous outburst of African song and
dance that
engulfed us all.
It was an occasion that we will always remember.
A male voice choir sang some songs, and then the students sang a song.
We were thrilled and entranced by the Zulu rhythm, and the students
must have sensed this for they spontaneously burst into another song,
then more, then dancing - and the fun began.
Our granddaughters Daniel and Lior met with the students and saw their
classrooms, and for them too the experience was not only novel but
inspiring.
For the ceremony we had prepared T-shirts with a fern on the front and
"16th Levy Family Reunion - remembering Fern" on the back.
Go to top of this page
Read my speech at the dedication about
Fern's life
For a picture of the laboratory as it is
now, click here. For a picture of the initial
stages, click here.
See also our visit in October 2013 to two
other schools with rooms in Fern's memory
Go to Doreen and Eitan's homepage.
See also
FERN'S MEMORIAL PAGE
FERN LEVY – A GREAT FRIEND OF AFRICA
Fern was my younger sister born in 1942. We grew up in Durban in a
traditional
Jewish home. As Jews, we were sensitive to the injustice of the
apartheid
system that we saw around us.
We both belonged to the Congress of Democrats, an
illegal
movement allied
with ANC and Fern became actively
involved in what the apartheid government called “subversive” activities.
In her daily life her own convictions were
evident. For
example she refused to use the “WHITES ONLY” buses - she‘d rather walk.
She did well in school and later at Natal University
where she received a Masters Degree in Social Sciences.
In the 1960’s she was warned that she was about to be put
under house arrest, and she left South Africa. While
visiting us in Israel
her passport was stolen. South Africa
refused to give her a new passport unless she came back to South Africa
where she knew she would be arrested. She obtained temporary papers to
stay in
the United Kingdom
and
settled there, first in Essex then in Wales.
She was active in Trade Union work and left wing
groups and
initially worked in a cardboard factory. She completed another
university
degree in Science and decided to move to a teaching career.
Fern’s life was devoted to helping others less
fortunate
than her, and her teaching career was a natural outlet for her ideals.
She
taught mainly science and mathematics. But she was no ordinary teacher.
A list
of the students, aged 11-18, she taught includes special classes for
abused and
emotionally damaged children, children with special educational needs,
and swimming
to physically handicapped children. She even went into prisons to teach
and
prepare young prisoners for matric exams.
Fern also had a deep
appreciation of the natural world and was ahead of her time when it
came to
issues of the environment. Her love of nature led her to take up hiking
and
climbing and she belonged to Pinnacle, an all women’s mountain climbing
group. She
was also active in a “Search and Rescue Unit” for hikers climbers.
Fern retained her special feelings for Africa and
visited South Africa
many times and especially liked climbing the Drakensberg.
When she retired from teaching she applied to an
organization that sent volunteers to teach in less developed areas. She
asked
for a post in Africa and was sent for
one year
to Oshakati, a small village in the North of Namibia, to teach science
to
learners there as well as to improve the standard of science and skills
of the
teachers. She was very successful and stayed there for 4 years.
While she was there, her learners prepared a
science
project, which they took to the capital city of Windhoek to participate in a science
fair
there. Unbelievably her learners from a
remote rural school (like this one), with few resources, won first
place.
Fern touched the lives of many, and as an example
I would
like to read a letter I received from one of her learners in Namibia.
"I am giving my heartfelt condolence to the
Levy
Family on the death of sister Fern. Meme Fern was my teacher and as
time goes
she became my friend, my advisor. A person to lean on when I am in
troubles. On
behalf of the entire Namibia
I say may her soul rest in peace eternal peace.
She is a very big loss to all of us. We will
always
remember her jokes, love, helping hands and many other good things that
she did
for us. We will never forget her she will always have a special place
in our hearts.”
After four years she returned to Wales
where she retired. During her last year in
Namibia she had bad
health problems and in Wales she was
diagnosed with cancer. She phoned me in Israel
and asked me to use money she had in South Africa to help
African
education in Kwa Zulu. The day before she was due to begin treatment
she
suffered a heart attack and died.
The family felt that science laboratories would be
just what
she would have wanted and would be a fitting memorial to Fern, who was
in love
with education and with Africa.
We dedicate this building and three others in
other parts of
Kwa Zulu to every good and precious memory associated with her.
I would like to especially thank Suzanne Edmunds
CEO of Project
Help for her help, advice and guidance.
Anthony Levy, and
Fern's family in Israel
and South Africa.
Go back to
pictures
of the dedication ceremony
Go to top of this
page
For a picture of the laboratory as it is
now, click here. For a picture of the initial
stages, click here.
Go to Doreen and Eitan's homepage.
See also
FERN'S MEMORIAL PAGE
Text
of Mercury article. (See Mercury article)
A helping hand
for schools
that perform.
AYANDA MDLUU
Pupils and staff of Magqibagqiba High
School
in uMzinyathi in southern KZN did not let the civil servants' strike
dampen
their hopes of a brighterfuture and turned up in large numbers for
the handing
over of a new building and science laboratory last week.
The Fern Levy Foundation and Project Build, an NGO
dedicated
to building schools and communities in KZN, have given the building,
laboratory
and equipment to the school.
Anthony Levy brother of Fern Levv and member of the Fern
Levy Foundation which gives back to underdeveloped areas in South Africa, said the purpose of the
ceremony
was to uphold the memory of Fern Levy, who was an apartheid activist
and
educator in rural communities in Africa.
"She was a part of our family and she left behind
a
trust. We would like to see her memory live (on)." His sister had done
a
lot of hard work.
Project Build had been building schools and developing
underprivileged communities for 30 years, its chief executive
officer, Suzanne
Edmunds, said.
"The foundation and Project Build are also
building
laboratories in four other schools in Port Shepstone, Keith’s Drift and
Dundee.
"We look for good, performing schools who deserve the
resources. We have a list of 60 other schools that have performed well
and are looking
for assistance from us."
Edmunds said the initiative ensured children
had a chance
of getting a 21st century education and an opportunity to achieve
all their hopes
and dreams.
The principal of Magqibagqiba, Cynthia Tirivanhu, said the
school
had been performing well.
She was optimistic about the benefits of the
laboratory for science
pupils.
"We had a 100 percent pass rate in computer
applications after computers were donated to the school in 2006,"
she
said.
"The latest equipment will benefit not just
the
school, but the whole community in the uMzinyathi area.
Go back to pictures
of the dedication ceremony
Go to top of this
page
For a picture of the laboratory as it is
now, click here. For a picture of the initial
stages, click here.
Go to Doreen and Eitan's homepage.
See also
FERN'S MEMORIAL PAGE
