brussels by night

The Belhamel of Schellebelle goes Brussels


Hallo friends of the rainbow country,

First we wish the head-master Dennis Ntuni, the teachers and the students of Ntshingwayo a happy new year and lots of happiness!
We hope we can become good friends with lots of respect for each other. Our students are very impatient to start the exchange of culture, ideas, games, history, knowledge, legends, …
Let this be the start of a long friendship, and who knows… once we’ll meet each other in South Africa or Belgium!

You already learned a bit about our school! Did the children like to play the picture game?
In december the children of the fifth class made a trip to Brussels, the capitale of Belgium and also the capitale of the European Union! They have made a travel report. We thought it would be nice to tell some more about that trip to our capitale city.
We let the students tell their story!

Axel (boy):
9 december at last, with impatience we looked forwards to travel to Brussels!
On the train we played some board games! Brussels is situated on less than one hour of Schellebelle, our village! Belgium is a small country, it takes only three hours to travel from east to west or from north to south!

Meredith and Yndra (girls):
The first thing we did when we arrived in Brussels was walking to the Museum of Scientific. We passed by the European Parlement, a big “cage” of glass! Thousands of people are working there in offices! Thank God these windows are cleaning theirselfs! I’ve got to tell that to my mother, she hates cleaning windows!
In the museum the guide told us lots of the prehistory. He even said that Africa is the birthplace of human being! In the prehistory your ancestors emigrated to the other continents, as well to Europe. Maybe we are family without knowing it! He also told us how we evolved from ape to men, especialy our teacher Jo (little joke)

Tristan (boy), Sara and Shari (girls):
The guide showed us how to make fire with flint and a dry fungus! We learned also how to make a mammoth with clay, that’s not so easy! After that he let us throw with a spear. We tried out two ways to throw the spear: with our hand and with a spear thrower. With the thrower we threw the spear much farther! Jeroen, the guide, threw it even more then 50 meters! We know in South Africa they do much better. Do you use still the speart in Kwazulu-Natal! Teacher Jo told us that the Zulu were a mighty nation in East Africa! We saw a movie about Shaka Zulu in class! You have a respectful culture with many traditions!

Tim and Axel (boys)
In the afternoon we worked in groups. Our teacher had asked us some questions. We had to find the answers in the museum. When we were ready we could visit the museum on our own. The most interesting things to see in the museum were certainly the twinty skeletons of Iguanodons. This dinosaur was a herbivore that lived more then 70 million years ago in our region. (photo ) I also liked the hall with the bird spiders, cockroaches,…

Then it was time to walk to the Museum of Art. On the way we passed the Royal Palace. In Belgium we have a king, Albert II (the second). Paola is his queen! In front of the palace there were two gards. We waved one’s arms but they not give in! I think king Albert had just cried out “FREEZE”!
In the Museum of Art we saw some very old paintings of famous painters of the middle ages: Pieter Brueghel, Pieter Rubens, …

Lien,Thalia (girls) and Niels (boy):
And then we arrived in the centre of Brussels. First we went to the Street of the Butchers. In the middle ages all butchers of Brussels lived in this street! Now it is a street with lots of restaurants. We took each others shoulders and sang a very famous song about this street. People left the restaurants to hear us sing! I couldn’t stop laughing!
Then we went to “Manneke Pis”, the statue of a little boy that’s urinating! I will tell you the legend of “Manneke Pis”. In the middle ages there was a big wall around the city of Brussels. More then once the city was attacked. One night two enemie soldiers got into the city with a barrel of gunpowder! They lit the fuse and ran away. Just that moment a little boy left his house to urinate. He saw the burning fuse and pissed right on it. The fuse was putt out! His mother came looking for him and saw her son next to the barrel.. The day after everyone in Brussels knew the news of the little hero Julien who saved Brussels from a defeat. To show there gratitude the people of Brussel gave little Julien a statue!

Now it was time to walk to the “Big Market” of Brussels. Every year thousands of people all over the world come to visit it. This market is well-known for his brilliant city hall and his more then a dozen old buildings dating from the middle ages! On the way to the market we passed the statue of Evrard Serclaes, a famous freedom fighter. When one rubs his statue he will be lucky for the rest of his life. (photo ) I rubed twice! Will I be lucky in love!?

And than the most exciting moment of the day: a tresor hunt on the Big Market. In little groups we had to solve some questions about the old buildings on the market. Each correct answer gave us a lettre. With all the lettres we had to puzzle a word that would lead us to the tresor. Finally we found the tresor on the stairs of the inner court of the city hall. There was no gold but a chocolate for each of us.

Valerie en Laura (girls)
At half past seven we were back in the station of Brussels. There we were allowed to buy some sweets. It was a great day! On the train we split one’s sides with laughing. When I arrived at home my teeth were hurting from eating too much candy!
O, almost forgotten! In the station of Schellebelle the tallest student of our class, Jens, stood in front of a grafitti text while he was pointing to himself. Guess what was written on the wall!!! I LOVE S . X!!!!
We almost died of laughing!!!








Our students are curious to know which games children play at the playground in South Africa! They thought it would be nice to explain you some games they play at school in Belgium!

The first play is a hopscotch play. (Lien (girl) and Niels (boy) of the fifth class)
These are the rules of the game:

1. Goal of the game: The first one who reaches compartment 10 of the box wins!

2. How many players:
Minimum 2 players are required. More then 6 is difficult to play because you have to wait too long!

3. Preparation
Paint a box with 10 compartments on the playground. How you do this you can see on photo You can draw it also in the sand, of course!
You also need a stone or a wooden block!

4. Playing the game
These are the rules of the game! You can see some steps on photo!
Step 1 of the game!
The first player is standing before compartment one of the hopscotch box. He ,or she, tries to throw a stone in the compartment with the number one (ukunye)(photo 2). When the stone lands in the compartment he/she has to hop on one leg over compartment one with the stone and land in the compartment with number two (isibili) (photo 3). Then he/she has to hop and land in three (kuthathu), still on the same leg. Next he has to hop and land at the same time in compartment four (ngoba) with his left foot and in five(isihlanu) with his right foot (photo 4). Continue the hopping and land back on one leg in compartment six(isithypha), then again at the same time with the left and right foot in respectively number seven(isikhomisa) and eight(isishiyagalombili), then back on one foot in nine(isishiyagalolunye). After that the player has to hop, turn in the air and land with two feet in compartment ten (ishumi), with his face to number 1,2,…(photo 5) Now he has to hop on the same way from number 10 to number two. When he has landed on one foot in compartment 2, he has to keep his balance on one foot while he picks up the stone. At the end he has to hop again with the stone in his hand over compartment 1. Step 1 is finished now!

Step 2 of the game!
The player starts again in front of compartment 1 , but throws the stone now in compartment two. When the stone lands in this second compartment he may continue! He hops again from 1 to 10. Attention, now he has to hop from one, over compartment two in three! You never may land in the compartment with the stone!
When step 2 has been taken, the player starts step 3, 4,…
When one makes a mistake (the stone didn’t land in the correct compartment or he hops on a line or out of the correct compartment) the next player is on turn, etcetera!
The winner is the player who finishes step 10 the first!





The second game is a marble game. (Yndra and Angelique girls of the fifth class)

These are the rules of the game:

1. Goal of the game: Shoot as much marbles out of the circle.

2. How many players:
Minimum 2 players are required. More then 6 is difficult to play because you have to wait to long!

3. Preparation
First you have to make some marbles. How? Take some clay and roll little balls. Bake them until they are very hard! Finally you can paint them in different colours! In Belgium you can buy them in a shop! On photo 6 you can see some marbles!
Draw a little circle in the sand! Each player puts some of his marbles in it! At a certain distance you draw another line in the sand.

4. Playing the game
Now the game!
One by one everyone shoots from behind the second line with one of his marbles to the marbles in the circle! When you hit one or more marbles and they roll out of the circle they are yours! Continue this play until no marbles are left in the circle! Hopefully you have more marbles at the end then you had at the beginning of the game.
Only the marbles that roll out of the circle become yours. The others must stay in the circle.

So now it’s time to play the games! We are very curious if you like them! Let us know!
Is it possible to mail some games you play in Ntsingwayo! We can demonstrate them during the school party in June. All acts will be concerning South Africa: dance, music, food, games, … We are searching for the recipe of a dessert, if it’s possible something sweet! Do you knwo such recipe?
Some students told you the legend of Little Julien, the pissing kid! We’re curious to hear a legend of the Zulu!

To end this letter some children of our school want to ask some questions to our friends in Kwazulu Natal!

Our school the Belhamel is a primary school. There are 140 students in 8 classes! The children of the first class are 7 years old, the children of the second class are 8 years, these of the third class are 9, in the fourth they are 10, 11 in fifth class, and in sixth class 12 years!

Here are their questions!

1. Can all children go to school in Ntsingwayo?
Soetkin and Layla (girls) fourth class
2. How many years can you go to school in Ntsingwayo?
Emmy and Reine sixth class (girls)
3. Which language(s) do you speak at home and which is (are) spoken at school?
(Loes (girl) and Stef (boy) of the third class

4. What’s the name of the teacher(s) and are they man or woman? Are they strict?
Jolien (girl) and Michiel (boy) of the second and third class
5. How long takes a day at school in Ntsingwayo ?
Marnik (boy) third class
6. Do you have breaks during the day? When and how long?
Jonas (boy) and Lotte (girl) fourth class
7. What do you do during these breaks? Do you play games at the playground? Which ones?
Nele (girl) third class and Jonas (boy) of the first class
8. How many children are in one class?
Diego and Axel(boys) first and fifth class
9. What are the most important subjects you learn at school?
Arno (boy) and Jana (girl) of the sixth class
10. Which are your favorite subjects?
Bo, Laura (girls) and Nijs (boy) of the 2nd, 5th and 1st class
11. Do you get any homework?
Michiel (boy) 1st class
12. What are you doing when school is out?
13. Do you have hobby’s?
14. Do you have to help your parents at home? What do you have to do?
Thalia (girl 5th), Michiel en Jason (boys 3rd )
15. Does it snow in winter in Ntsingwayo?
Louise (girl 2nd class)
16. Are there living wild and dangerous animals in Ntsingwayo? Which?
Sam and Jonas (boys of the 6th class)
17. Do you have pets at home?
Laura, Ivonne (girls 5th and 1st class) and Stijn (boy 2nd )

It would be nice that one student answers one question in name of all students and put his name underneath! Our pupils will like that!
Do you have some questions too about the life in Belgium?!!! Ask away! Is it possible to put the name of the students below every question?

Nokubingelela!!!!!

The head-master Annemie (woman)
The teachers Mieke, Liesbet and Katrien (first class), Christel and Rita (second class), Hilde 3th class, Veronique and Chris (4th class) (women)
Jo (5th class) and Patrick (6th class) (men)
Kim (moality), Do (gymnastics), Chris (Catholic religion) (women)
The 140 students of De Belhamel