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ORAL HISTORIES

Through the application of oral history in our classrooms, the past becomes more meaningful to the present. Oral history interviews give students the opportunity to learn about the lives of South Africans in a unique way. Their personal stories provide a perspective on the history of South Africa -- helping students as they interpret the meaning of their past.

At the heart of the eSibonisweni project are education and community. Both are served by the evolving oral history project linking American and South African students and educators. The project began with an exchange of pictures and letters between 4th grade students at Saint Mark's and eSibonisweni. In 2005 15 students and 6 faculty and staff from the two schools interviewed each other at the eSibonisweni schoolhouse in Maputaland. The participants had received some training from experienced oral historian Kelly Brisbois and African historian Trevor Getz.

However, the discussion was unscripted and ranged over many topics including food and nutrition, apartheid, AIDS, American and South African foreign policy, daily life and responsibilities, childhood, and sports.

With help from the Pasker-Pitman grant to the department of History at San Francisco State and privately raised funds from parents and community members of St. Mark's school, transcripts and video of the exchange are being edited for use in classrooms and for distribution to schools worldwide.

There are plans to continue this project. In the summer of 2006 pairs of South African and California youths will be trained to conduct interviews of older South Africans who experienced the apartheid regime firsthand.

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