My school years

Rentia webRentia Landaman (nee Reid), 5 June 2020
Of the bitterly cold Wakkerstroom where Rentia's father was a teacher, she has fond memories of the smallholding where she grew up, as well as the school that she found even “more enjoyable”. Here she played hop-scotch and ‘five-stone’ (which developed their hand-eye coordination). There was "manna" to look for under the eucalyptus trees to eat, tadpoles to catch between the reeds and the planting of moss gardens.
During short break Rentia had time to eat Mom's sandwiches, while during long break when games were organised, she preferred to play 'rounders' rather than basketball. In winter, she and her friends used to slide on an open cardboard box down a slope or did a balancing act on a rusty pole to cross the dry water ditch - an exercise that is apparently given to children with dyslexia today.
Although many rural villages lacked reading material, Rentia received the ‘Jongspan’ and ‘Patrys’ magazines in the post, and also read the Transvaler newspaper a day or so late. For the children, it was exciting to get books from the provincial book truck that came to supply the library. It was open Friday mornings and Tuesday afternoons, and she quickly finished reading one of the two allowed books to take out another one before closing time.
Rentia believes the greatest gift was to be able to just be a child.