To celebrate Heritage Day this year we invited the grade 10 and grade 11 learners of the Pellissier High School who do Tourism as part of their FET curriculum, to join us at the museum for a guided tour. It was a large group of about 30 learners who were escorted by three teachers who supervise them.
Sydney Goodman, the Museum grounds manager, opened the tour with a prayer. Then Trudie Venter gave an introduction about the origin of the museum. The print she is holding is one of the first art works that was made of the area. It is a drawing showing the house of the missionary Jean Pierre Pellissier in its original state before the two wings on either side of the rectangular building were added. In the background of the picture are the huts of the settlement of the Bathlapings.
After the introduction, the learners were divided into two groups. Trudie Venter took the grade 11 group and Jeanne Morgan-Le Fay took the grade 10’s. One group went to the museum store room to look at artifacts and old technology that are not part of the exhibition inside the museum. The other group went through the museum itself. Once they finished those parts of the tour, the groups swapped
Inside the store room the learners discovered old books that are sold for fundraising. They were very enthusiastic about the books and we gave permission for them to take some for themselves. It is nice to see that some children are passionate about printed books in this digital age.
The children were very happy and proud to have been given books.
After the tour the learners were given a packet of goodies that were sponsored by Lin’s Store and Shopwise. Snacks included sweets, biscuits, a chocolate, a small packet of chips, a cold drink and an apple.
It was an unexpected bonus for the learners to receive this treat after the tour. The atmosphere was relaxed and happy while the children were enjoying the break before they go back to school.
Even though this was quite a large group of children, they were very well behaved.
At the end of the tour the learners thanked the Bethulie Heritage Foundation committee for the tour and the sweets and also their teachers for bringing them. They really enjoyed themselves. They were surprised to learn how it came about that their ancestors ended up in Bethulie. Some learners were so excited about the tour that they asked to bring more of their friend to come and have a look at the museum. This resulted in two more tours of inquisitive school children.
This was a great success for the museum committee who do their best to engage the children of the town to take part in museum activities that are entertaining and educational.