Dineo

Dineo, in Grade 10A, is one of my favorite students, partly because she works hard and always puts a huge amount of effort into classes, but mainly because she looks like a tiny little duck. She's about five foot tall, has a big quiff of straightened hair that sticks out of the top of her head, small features and large lips. She's absolutely adorable, in short.

Today was the last time I teach 10A, and sadly the lesson didn't really go to plan. About ten minutes into the lesson, Dineo put her head down and cried. When I tried to find out what was happening, she wouldn't say but continued to shake and cry. Eventually, she asked for her sister and someone went to fetch her. Dineo then got worse, dropped onto the floor shaking and crying and beating her wrists - asking for the spiritual bracelet which she appears to have lost. The other girls told me that she was having problems with the spirits of her ancestors, and needed a tribal healer. After much begging, I managed to persuade the other kids to ring Dineo's mother, but there was not much else that I could do.

Before long, Dineo was having a fit, shaking and going limp one moment, and stiff as a board the next. Whenever she stiffened she'd throw herself back on the floor, and we kept having to catch her to stop her head smashing into the floor as she went down. Eventually, one of the teachers gave her something to smell, which caused her to get even worse. And somehow the only thing I could think of was how tiny the shoes she'd kicked off were.

The girls responded to Dineo's fit by grabbing a lock of her hair and twisting really hard until suddenly Dineo slipped down into a faint. They then sang and clapped until she woke up dazed and disorientated.

I don't really know what happened, initially she reminded me of myself while I am having a panic attack. It was terrifying to watch, and it made me feel completely powerless being unable to help her.