Background for White Semoisi

My name is White Semoisi. I stay here in Kanana with my family. I am the second born in the family. I am the only son in the family, which is challenging sometimes. 

Schooling in Kanana

I went to Are-fenyeng Primary School. I have never failed any grade during my schooling years. I went to Mmokeng Secondary school and I spent five years there. I matriculated, passing all my subjects with flying colours. Attending in Kanana was cool compared to where I used to attend school. Different subjects, people with different backgrounds, languages and ethnicities. Well, there are challenges everywhere in the world, especially in an environment where you don’t have all the resources you need to complete certain tasks. We did not have the resources to do the required experiments at our schools. It’s challenging sometimes for learners to understand without seeing what is taught.

I went to University of Pretoria in 2010 to study Electrical Engineering. I could not study further because of lack of finance. My parents could not afford to pay my tertiary fees. So I had to leave the university. I was between jobs from 2011 to 2012 before Ms Jan called and asked me to come and coordinate World Disaster Management Community College (WDMCC).

Learning about WDMCC

WDMCC is an initiative of helping needy students in Kanana who are not financial well to further their studies after completing grade 12. It was started by Kanana Retired Teachers in partnership with Every Child is Ours Foundation out of the U.S. In 2006 they started bring text books to schools of Kanana, some schools did not have any books in the libraries and in others they added to the small numbers of books that were there.

Since their first time in Kanana I have been communicating with Ms Jan through email and Facebook. It has been great to have her support. In February of 2012, I received a call from Ms Jan telling about this college and asking me to be the student coordinator. I could not turn it down. In fact I was excited to here that I can still go to school although with a different course now. I came to terms with myself that I will not be doing this for myself only, but the entire Kanana community.

Challenges

Every journey has a steep road. There are ups and down in every business. Even in schools there are challenges, especially if the school is just beginning. We did not have all the resources that we needed, let alone a good class or environment to do our academic work. We had only one computer working without internet connection. I struggled in keeping the students to stay positive and come to class. Some students were reluctant to come to class. Despite all those challenges, we kept going strong. I guess sometimes people have to start somewhere, because a race of thousand miles begins with a single step.

Highlights

Mr. Landon Densley, a college lecturer and mentor from United States, arrived in October, 2012. He brought in four computers and eventually we have 24 computers working, with internet connection. He gave us a lot of information about Emergency/Disaster Management. We took FEMA online exams. The interesting part of it is that we received certificates for every exam we passed. We could also access and print them via our e-mails if we want. As part of our assignment of emergency management course, we created our own Family Emergency Operation Plan (EOP). It was enlightening for us to get an idea of what is the work of Emergency Managers. We then had a meeting with Kanana Secondary school and they asked us to help them to create or update their EOP. The meeting was successful and we are busy with their EOP.

We had a few visits from the Local Disaster Management Center and Police. Mr. Landon went over to the local fire department and the fire chief promised to help in any how to make this college a success. Most important of all, we have lectures in the United States whom we can ask any questions concerning our work. We can skype with them if we want.

Second Semester 

We started the second semester on a high note by taking a leadership course and taking other exams. It was not the same as first semester because we have someone of great assistance to us. Ms Jan, the college president based in United States, encouraged us in kick-starting this second semester with a high note message over Skype. I am looking forward to more exciting time.