WINTER EVENTS AT C//OASEB

This month has raced by! There have been so many events going on here at the school and I’ve been trying to keep busy at the orphanage and children’s community center. Can’t believe June is over! Most of the projects at the orphanage are reading stories to the kids and learning songs and chants. Most kids marvel at being read stories! I’m not sure adults take time here to READ to/with their children. I thank Diane Favre in California and Mary McMahon and friends in Italy for the material and books. They are greatly appreciated!

The main events at school this term are the African Child Day (June 16), Culture Day, Mr. & Miss Oaseb and the Entrepreneurship Day. Most things take place during the school day so lessons are cancelled. I feel the Culture Day was the most successful as there was a variety of things going on: traditional dances and drama performances, food and educational displays of what the different tribes here in Namibia are all about. I was part of the Oshiwambo group…lovely pink and black skirt! The Nama group is dressed in the patchwork costumes and naturally, these locals put on quite a performance. There was a lot of braai meat (donkey meat, too!) and porridge, spicy spinach and bread cooked in the potjie (cast iron pot). I will include a lot of photos of the kids and my colleagues!

My teaching is going along well…I know all my students and we manage to make progress in their English skills. We have developed a routine and they know what to expect. Most of them try to work hard but of course, there are the troublemakers who disrupt class for attention. I’m not a good disciplinarian and try to reason with them and explain why bad behavior isn’t in anyone’s favor. Sometimes it works…sometimes it doesn’t. The kids and teachers here are accustomed to old-fashioned ways of disciplining students (Yes, corporal punishment) but I tell them it isn’t an option for me. I don’t always get the respect I deserve but I know I have affected and convinced some kids about a positive, respectful learning environment.

I have fewer than 4 months here in Namibia and hope to plan a last trip before I leave the continent….maybe Zanzibar or Kenya!! There are some important PC training and workshops to attend in this last period and I look forward to thinking about life back in California post-Peace Corps.