Life Orientation at LEAP

The final part of our LEAP School visit was quite compelling, personal, and powerful. We had an opportunity to see how they incorporate what they call"life orientation" into their program. LEAP devotes one lesson every day to Life Orientation, sort of like our advisor/advisee groups back in the U.S. except these students come from very different backgrounds and in some respects, backgrounds similar to our urban poor. The students at LEAP have to deal with the aftermath of apartheid (as for most township schools) have an additional set of circumstances to deal with as a consequence of the mess created by apartheid, including the erosion of the social fabric and very real economic hardships. This powerful part of the LEAP program is explained on their web site at http://www.leapschool.org.za as follows: Many of these students at LEAP are facing the reality of disintegrating families, illness- and violence-related deaths. As a consequence, the school actively and consciously creates the space and the relationships in which there is trust. Life Orientation directly deals with the “voicelessness” of individuals. Often the only voice of township students is a collective one, and there is a great fear of being out of step with the collective voice and this is particularly damaging in a learning environment. What is developed in the Life Orientation sessions is the individual student’s sense of wholeness, identity and belonging, and from this platform each of the students builds an ability to risk, to be open and to identify and process real feelings. The main goal of Life Orientation at LEAP is to create a safe place in which any issue can surface. In such a place, the young people can find a voice: they can be angry, sad or bitter. They can learn to become comfortable with reflection and introspection, which allows them to deal with these feelings. In a safe place the students can challenge and be challenged, allowing each young person’s unique voice to develop.

We witnessed and experienced this ourselves at the end of the program. The students, staff, and delegates reassembled and the students started off by individuals volunteering to come up and share a personal reflection about relationships. Following the students, our delegates were invited to share. There was barely a dry eye in our group as delegates shared their personal reflections about our South Africa experience and how it has changed and will shape their lives. Whew- tissue time!

This wonderful day ended with one more celebration in song- the beautiful African voices and music filled the air, as we absorbed the music inside of us- in our very souls. What a morning- what a program- what hope for the future in these remarkable students- what a powerful experience we will never forget!