I MADE IT!!!

The end of the school year is here! We have finished exams, all the corrections are done, the symbol distributions and reports are in. The children left and the school officially closes in a few days. I am spending my weekend getting ready for my long-awaited adventure in South Africa and Botswana with my mom. She will arrive in Capetown and we will spend Christmas and New Years traveling around this amazing part of Africa! Of course I will take lots of pictures and post them to my blog and on FB.

Our village has cut off water since October because the bills haven’t been paid (both by the community and the village council) so water is turned on/off randomly and we have learned to fill up the buckets and bins for washing and flushing. They don’t announce when water is on and I only know from the occasional drip, drip, drip from the bathroom pipes. I have learned to ration very well and have become a pro at bucket baths and washing everything by hand! (I rarely wash my hair, hence why I keep it up!) 

It has now officially been over a year that I moved to this site and there have been many ups and downs. Looking back over the year, there are many things I would do differently, but all in all, I feel I have accomplished a lot. I may not be able to check off the projects I initially started with Peace Corps, but I have started others and I am confident that in 2017, I can prioritize and focus on programs where I can be effective and make a difference. I keep going back to the language thing too. My ability to speak KKG is nil…a few greetings but that’s it. The only way I’ll learn is if I get motivated and study on my own. Not sure if that will happen…but…I’m okay with that.  

I want to be sure to say a HUGE THANK YOU!!! To my friend Liz and all the lady friends in Italy for sending boxes LOADED WITH BOOKS AND SCHOOL SUPPLIES!! Not sure how they pulled it off….but…what an awesome gesture! I received the packages just as school was ending so the school children didn’t get to see all the amazing books and items. When we return in 2017, I’ll be sure to take photos and have the kids write thank-you notes. Being grateful and saying thanks are things these kids REALLY need to learn…Heck! Even the adults here need to learn that!  

In this last post of the year, I’m including some events from Halloween. I went to the orphanage and explained to the kids about the history/purpose of this strange holiday and we made masks and sang a fun song.Another photo shows the kids eating their lunch/dinner of meat and porridge. No utensils and they love it! They were thoroughly entertained and the best part was taking photos and scaring the adults. There are also some random school photos, mug shots of the kids at the orphanage and the retirement/birthday celebration of one of my colleagues, Mr. Isaacks. He is an English teacher and has a very interesting story. He lived in exile in Europe for 15 years before Namibia gained its independence (1990) and he was a war correspondent and journalist for the Namibian Resistance against apartheid South Africa. Naturally, he also teaches history here at school. A very sweet, humble man who is finally going into his well-deserved retirement! We wish him well!