Windhoek extended

My plans to go to Luderitz for one week were thwarted and now I have been allowed to stay in the PC flats here in Windhoek for a few more days before I return to Gibeon. The PC headquarters is very nice and there is a lounge, wash room and wifi connection all free of charge. There are some very nice malls but I need to be frugal and only buy necessities and food. Our monthly allowance just covers food and transport. The weather has been unpredictable for the past week with afternoon thunderstorms but goodness knows this country needs some rain. It really cleans up the city.

I realize that I haven't been sharing my thoughts about Namibia and the people. I have become so used to getting around and interacting with everyone that the newness has worn off. I also think I wont be able to share my teaching experience and my project work until 2016 as that is when things will really start humming. My intention was to make this an educational blog with reflections about teaching here and notes on getting started on educational and community projects. For the time being, I'll share photos of my PC staging experience and my first impressions of my site, Khaxatsus (Gibeon).

Since my arrival, I have spent 4 weeks in Okahandja with 49 other volunteers. We had to go through technical, cultural and language training. I lived with a host family to integrate and improve my language skills. I have been assigned the Khoekhoe Damar/Nama language...yes, with the clicks! I love learning but it is challenging! I love my host family (a widow with 13 year old girl and 10 year old boy) but didn't make much progress as their English is so good and I spent most of the day at the training center. Living with a host family was challenging for me....at times there wasn't enough food and my family watched a lot of TV but overall, they were kind and took me to church and included me at meal times.

Then we spent 4 weeks at our CBT site (Community-Based Training). I was in Outjo with 5 other volunteers. We stayed with families and continued our technical, cultural and language training. We went to local schools everyday and shadowed Namibian teachers. I truly enjoyed my time in Outjo and learned a lot about the people and the educational system. I mentioned before how my family took some of us to Etosha Park! Amazing!

Then we returned to Okahandja for 2 more weeks of language and technical training until we were officially sworn in Oct 15, 2015. I left that same day to my site Gibeon in the south. It was strange not seeing the other volunteers. We had been together everyday for so long...but it was refreshing to finally be on my own! I could cook for myself and keep my place as I wanted! Now was the time to put the language skills to test!

So another 9 weeks at my site, co-teaching and learning the ropes at my school. I arrived in the final term and the grade 10 and 12 learners were no longer there as they had left to prepare for the national exam they take in November. So we helped the other grade 8, 9, 11 learners to prepare for their exams for the first week of Dec. The month of November is crazy as teachers must complete all the Continuous Assessments for all three terms, compile exams (3 papers), have them monitored and them correct them all before Dec 10. This year there were national elections so exams were moved up one week and made for even more cramming and frantic correcting by teachers. I was involved in the teaching the first 3 weeks but once exam preparation started, I occasionally helped correct exams but mostly I stayed in the library to sort it out. This will be one of my projects next year as the school library has fallen into disrepair. Learners come to play games or paint but hardly any come to read. My task is to create a reading culture and motivate the learners to come use the library and read more. I'll begin resorting the library when I return in a few days.

So I spent the month of November walking around my village, attending church, going to the public library and trying to get to know the people. My village is very small! Two stores selling only basics, 4 churches, a post office, police station, couple bars (some illegal) and a new tourist center under construction. Its anyone's guess why my town needs a tourist center. We have a small, inadequate health facility, no doctor or ambulance, no services like barber shop, hardware, drug store or coffee shops. My village is quite isolated. I haven't yet met the village leaders or council members...that will take some time. People are curious about me but not outwardly friendly...maybe its my age?! I have socialized with some teachers but they are all quite young and from the North so we chat in English. The children are always friendly and curious but keep their distance. I will be spending Xmas in my village so let's hope that will be the occasion to spread some cheer and get to know others!

Here are some photos from my site. I'd say it looks like the dry land in Arizona or Texas. We have some crazy insects, beautiful birds and a few loud donkeys!!

training in Windhoek

I have been in Windhoek for training and participating in the 'All Volunteer Conference' which celebrates 25 years of Peace Corps in Namibia. It was a very important event, with the Namibian Prime Minister, the US ambassador to Namibia and Country Directors of Peace Corps. I didnt take any photos but it was a short celebration and the rest of our stay was dedicated to getting to know other Volunteers from education and health, community development groups. We exchanged experiences and stories and they gave us newbies lots of sound advice. I particularly appreciated the advice about starting projects and getting small grants to help fund them.
The Peace Corps has put us up in a very nice hotel and we are being spoiled by the meals, braai (BBQ), pool, gym, hot tub and posh service. It is a stark contrast to the reality of our sites. I dont feel like I'm in Namibia. In my view, Windhoek doesn't really represent the whole of this country....but I must say I am loving the luxury!

As the school term has ended and Namibians take their long holiday break, my village will be very quiet. Hopefully, I can spend time updating my blog and putting more photos here. I plan to spend Xmas with some other Volunteers near my site. We are not allowed to travel outside of our regions just yet so some travel shots will have to wait. It will be strange celebrating Xmas in the heat!

I will retrace my time here and include some shots of my stay in Outjo, a small town in the north, just south of Etosha National Park. My lovely host family took us to the park to experience the vast Etosha Pan and see the extraordinary animals. We were only there for the day and I hope to visit the Park again and stay longer to see the eastern side. I stayed in Outjo for 1 month with a fantastic family who showed me around the town and introduced me to locals and family. They spoke to me in Khoekhoe language but I'm slow and we would end up speaking English as they speak it fluently. I learned a lot about the culture, the cusine and the education system. I hope to visit them again soon.

Hope you enjoy these pictures. We went on game drives...you stay in your car and observe the animals. You are not allowed to leave your car or disturb the environment. I have plenty more photos so I will share!

End of term

I have been here now 1 month and am slowly getting to know the area and the locals. I haven't had many language lessons as my tutor flaked out and its difficult finding a suitable person who will take all this seriously. I have to improve my language ability by 1 level before our Reconnect conference in December. We will have another language interview and we need to be able to converse, answer questions and describe our local community. I'm having a hard time understanding when people speak. Its difficult to immerse in the language when everyone here speaks a bit of all languages.

I need to catch up on the photos so here are some from September when I was living with a delightful young family. They have 2 small children and an extensive family of nephews, nieces, etc. They were very hospitable and showed me around. The kids always amazed me by their curiosity, energy and hard work. These kids could show a few Western kids what it means to help around the house, pull your weight and respect your elders!

Scenes from my arrival in Namibia

Wanted to share a few photos

Hello! !Gai //goas and welcome to my blog for my US Peace Corps experience! I decided to start a blog once I had officially become a Volunteer. I intend to include mostly my teaching experience and my progress on community projects in this blog but I will indeed share photos of my life here, special events and of course, this beautiful, colorful, curious land of the brave!

We were sworn in October 15, 2015 in Okahandja, Namibia where we spent most of our technical and language training. I am now stationed in my permanent site, Gibeon. It is south of the capital, Windhoek, about 4 hours, just off the main highway that heads south into South Africa. Gibeon is a dusty village, population nearly 4,000. I will be teaching English at the local high school, C //Oaseb Senior Secondary School. You may be wondering why all the strange ! and //...well, I am also trying to learn the local Nama language and it has some tricky clicks to master! (BTW, an exclamation mark at the end of a sentence does mean "exclamation!")

I have been here for a few weeks and I live in government-owned flats where the other teaching staff live. My flat is great! I am on my own, have all that I need, running water and a shower! I have even adopted the neighbor cat that the previous Peace Corps Volunteers took care of. At the school, there are about 18 teachers, all quite young and dedicated to doing their jobs. I am one of the few older staff members and I have been treated with respect and courtesy. Being the old lady doesn't make it easy to make friends as most are hesitant to strike up conversation. I have been trying to get to know my community and people are very friendly and curious for the most part. It is now summer so very hot here. We get strong, gusty winds so I don't go out much in these days. The only wifi I have for now is the local library (3 km walk) and they are only open till 5pm Mon-Fri.

I need to get organized and set up regular times to post here. For now, I'll sign off. Need to get home before dark and correct some papers.