Circus Camp in action!

Raphoka Primary School and the Circus Camp

We’re working with kids from Class 1 (we know it as “Grade 1”… they also call it “Standard 1”) through Class 7. The size of class ranges from 12 to 35. We began circus camp on a Tuesday and spent the whole day playing games and getting acquainted with the students. They also needed time to get used to us, as you can imagine. We’re “mahones” (white people) and in the rural areas we’re an anomaly. In fact, we call ourselves White TV ‘cause the kids seem to just love staring at us.

So Day 1 was a hoot and pressure-free. We are working outdoors which is a new consideration for us, as camps are usually held in gymnasiums. The hot sun is tiring! Lunch was provided that day and we’ve since taken to packing our own… it was dry, crumbly papa with cabbage on top, plus a boiled egg. One eats with one’s hands, so we all did, but it’s kinda gross.

Days 2, 3 and 4 went really well, and the kids love their sessions with us. They are extremely well behaved, keen and playful. Having their teachers with us helps, as language is definitely a challenge. The wee ones are skilled mimics (“Good morning!”) but have no English, and though Classes 5-7 should have some grasp of the language, they’ll be hard-pressed to write their Standard 7 exams in English. Raphoka Primary is a bit of an underdog school; very poor and quite rural. The teachers themselves have minimal English, unlike the slightly-more-privileged neighbourhood boarding school staff. At any rate, mimicry is a winning technique that we employ a great deal.

Our days tend to look something like this: we rise at 6:30am or so, and eat and bathe. School starts at 8am (ish) and we take the students in groups by class.

Class 1 plays games, and we’re now rehearsing their scarf dance for the show. They are too young to use any gear, so their involvement in the show will be the dance and a song about Tortoises.

Class 2 does mimicry, two-highs (ZERO hesitation climbing on to my shoulders) and cartwheels.

Class 3 does two styles of pyramids plus cartwheels.

Class 4 is into juggling!

Classes 5-7 are practicing juggling, mask, trapeze and stilts.

We have two days of practice left before the performance. Two other Primary schools in the area have been invited, and we’re hopeful our kids will get a good size audience.