Potchefstroom
Ebbe Westergren and colleagues from the Kalmar & Smålands museum introduced the Time Travel educational method as part of Local Historic EnvironmentEducation to various stakeholders at a workshop held in Potchefstroom in November 2008. A Working Committee (WC) was established under the chairmanship of Velaphi Fatyela, history teacher of Botoka High School, in orderto plan a Time Travel in Ikageng. The working group consistsof delegates from high schools in Ikageng, the Tlokwe Heritage Foundation and the Potchefstroom Museum. The Committee was tasked to compile information on the istory of Ikageng, align the information with the school’s curriculum and write a scenario for a Time Travel.
Time Travel workshop in March 2009
The aim of the workshop was to practically demonstrate he Time Travel method, the Seven Steps, to the workshopattendees. They consisted of 36 people that mainly representededucators from secondary schools in Ikageng andthe North West University, members of historical foundationsand museum officers.
The workshop consisted of a theoretical section withvarious lectures from historical, research and educationalfi elds as well as a practical section where the workshopattendees took part in the actual Time Travel back to theyear of 1986 at the AME Church in Ikageng. The Time Travel Working Committee had decided onthe AME church as the historical site for the Time Travel.Archives and interviews were the major sources for planningthe Time Travel. The church was used for politicalmeetings against the apartheid regime in the 1980s. In the Time Travel a meeting with the Civic organization inIkageng was relived. Everyone had the crest of United DemocraticFront pinned on their clothes as a symbol. Theactivities in the church included protest speeches, writing osters, singing and dancing. A moment in time was frozen,20 March 1986. The event was a huge success and distinctive in it’s spontaneity, ince most of the participants’ involvement beartestimony of a good recollection of the protest movementof 1986.
Time Travel is an out-of-the box educationalexperience. It not only inspire learners’ interest in history, it also encourages communication and empathy amongstpeople. The success of the Time Travel for learners later in 2009/2010 all depends on how well they are prepared ith their research and characters. Some comments after the Time Travel to 1986 "It was an exciting, healing journey to the past and a truerefl ection on the happenings that took place. It is history as it is supposed to be documented.” David Ntanga, teacher at Seiphemelo Secondary School “The Time Travel at the AME church was an eye openerto show that we in 2009 can live in 1986. It revealed he harsh realities that people were exposed to under theState of Emergency - the young people who were crammed nto jails for months; young and old in the Apartheidprisons fi ghting for what is rightfully theirs – humandignity.” Velaphi Fatyela, Botoka High School "The Time Travel was an emotional experience. I didn’tknow that political meetings were held in the church, I idn’t know that six boys were killed by the police outsideof the church in 1986, I didn’t know… This is Ikageng history that we as residents need to know.”
Wendy Kgori, Resolofetse Secondary School The Potchefstroom Time Travel Working Group
Venessa van der Westhuizen, secretary
