Kim Thorsfeldt quickly discovered that teaching at a private Christian school in South Africa means doing a little bit of everything.

Thursday, January 03, 2002

Kim Thorsfeldt quickly discovered that teaching at a private Christian school in South Africa means doing a little bit of everything. Since starting at the school she has taught students, supervised staff, taken part in crisis counseling, preached in churches, and even repaired the water system.

Thorsfeldt, a former resident of Northwood, Iowa, is a teacher and school administrator at Dayspring School in Maanhaarrand, South Africa. She is back home for some well-earned rest and an extended visit with her mother and stepfather, Mary and Dale Mehus of rural Northwood. In March, she heads back to the school and her ministry there.

Her path to the school was not direct. After graduating from Northwood-Kensett High School in 1983, she earned a BS in biology at the University of Iowa. Employed as a marine biologist for three years in the Cape Cod area, she decided to start traveling the world after she paid off her educational debt.

In Jerusalem, Thorsfeldt’s path crossed with that of Jenny and Ivan Hague, two South Africans who first told her about the school where she now works. When she returned to England, where she was living at the time, she checked into it and was soon in Maanhaarand helping kids with their lessons.

At first she hadn’t planned on staying quite so long.

&uot;When I phoned the people in charge they asked if I could stay for a whole year and I wasn’t so sure,&uot; said Thorsfeldt. But now it’s been six.

&uot;I have a family of friends there,&uot; she said.

One of the advantages to the Dayspring school is that the class sizes are small and kids get more individualized attention from teachers, said Thorsfeldt. Public schools in South Africa have a student teacher ratio of 40 students to one teacher. In rural areas the ratio can be even higher. Thorsfeldt has even heard of classrooms with 60 students and only one teacher.

Another advantage of Dayspring school is that they have electricity – most of the time – and running water, two things that can be rare in rural public schools.

The school is serving 70 children this year, with all but four of them boarding at the school. The school’s kitchen staff also prepares meals for 100 people each day. And all of this work is accomplished on faith, Thorsfeldt said.

&uot;We live Christian lives. We teach them to trust that God will provide what they need. And God provides what we need,&uot; she said.

In a country with so many troubles, with 50 percent unemployment and problems with the lingering effects of Apartheid, hope and faith are important qualities, said Thorsfeldt.

The students are mainly black South Africans, but there are a number of mixed race and white children who also attend. The language of instruction is English, although the school is looking for someone to carry out instruction in Afrikaans, one of the other official languages and an important one for any students who want to go on to university.

Teaching at the school is not the only thing Thorsfeldt feels called upon to do. During school holidays, she travels to Botswana and works with bushmen, a nomadic group of Africans who live in and around the Kalahari desert. Their situation is comparable to that of American Indians here in the United States, said Thorsfeldt. Their way of life has been disrupted by the modern world and many have trouble making the adjustment.

But she isn’t trying to make them become more western or European in their lifestyle.

&uot;When I work with the bushmen I’m interested in helping them no matter how they choose to live,&uot; said Thorsfeldt. Some of the families choose to accept government settlement offers and give up their nomadic way of life. Others hold on to traditional ways of living.

Part of her time with the Bushmen is spent teaching Sunday School classes, and she also preaches in bushmen churches.

&uot;What I’ve learned the most in the past six years is what it means to be a Christian. We sometimes take Christianity for granted in this country. But over there I see how faith transforms kids and families and even myself,&uot; she said.