My name is Cailom and the senior citizen I interviewed in this project was Lyn, my granny. Before the project started we had a tea to tell the senior citizens about our project. Some of us gave a little talk at the tea.
This is what my senior citizen, lyn, told me about her early years.
Lyn as a child
Hi. My name is Lyn and I had one brother in my family. My father was an engineer. There were jobs like working on cars and working in the mines that were popular when I was young. I lived in Primrose. When I was very little I remember walking with my parents to see a film at the Plaza bioscope and to buy a comic.
Lyn’s primary school days
I went to primrose primary school and I had big classes. I walked to school and sometimes I went by bus. My subjects at school were mainly maths and reading. We wrote in our books with a dipping ink pen and we used little ink wells to hold the ink. Computers and cell phones hadn’t been invented yet. The teachers used to hit the children with rulers across their knuckles if they were naughty. If a naughty child was sent to the principal he usually got smacked on his bottom with a cane. For homework at night we had to learn our tables and do reading. At break I used to love playing with my charms and skipping.
Lyn as a teenager
I was very lucky growing up because my mother was an excellent dress maker and I had wonderful clothes. I used to enjoy playing netball and tennis and wrote letters to my friends.
How has South Africa changed since you were a child?
Mostly in the area of people who were unfairly treated.
Can you tell us anything interesting about your own grandparents?
My Mom’s mother lived with us for many years and I used to share a bedroom with her. She was born in Devon, England and was very strict and prim and proper. Our bedroom was always ultra tidy. She had to leave school when she was 12 years old, but she was very knowledgable and her general knowledge was excellent. When I asked her how she knew so much she said it was from reading – lots and lots of reading.
What advice can you give us to help us in our lives?
You need to try to read as much as possible.
Are there any herbs and remedies that people used in your days (for colds etc)
I remember when I was young having to wear a camphor block that had been sewn into a little bag with a string attached to the top edge. This was to be worn all winter to keep free of colds.
Any interesting stories Lyn could tell us?
I had a special terrir dog who was my special friend.
We made autocollages about our senior citizens today using a programme called Microsoft Autocollage. Here is mine
