Magical May!!

The school term ended 29 April and the following week, I met up with my best friend, Susan from New York. We have been friends since childhood and she was supportive and encouraged me the whole way on this journey through the Peace Corps. We traveled all over Namibia and I was treated like a queen! We covered a lot of territory in 2 weeks: Etosha National Reserve, Opuwo and the Himba tribes, the Skeleton Coast, Swakopmund, Sossusvlei, a quick visit to my site, Gibeon, then up to Windhoek for the farewell. Whew!! The weather was great the entire time and we had no problems.

I have selected a few photos to highlight the trip. I think the pictures speak for themselves!

I want to thank Susan again for such a great trip and being the best traveling companion ever!! 

It's finally COOLING down!

So you thought I’d say “Spring is here!”…..Well no, down here, we are just starting the cooler weather. Amen! I’ve been in hot weather since June of last year!! The hottest months here are December, January, February and then winter kicks in May. I’m still wearing my shorts and T-shirts and its usually in the comfortable 80s. They say it will get ‘real’ cold! We shall see….!

The first school term ends next week and we have been busy marking, moderating and invigilating exams. The school photocopier and printers have gone on strike and our Principal has had to appeal to the local village council to make copies of exams. My last exam is Monday and I’ll be spending next week correcting and calculating the final marks for my classes. It’s all a lot of work and number crunching and the test results REALLY matter over here. And naturally, if the results are bad, it’s the teacher’s fault and she’s not doing her job!

I am on the newspaper committee too and we have had to put together an issue before the end of this term. I’m the official photographer…Hah! Okay…stop laughing! I seem to be the only one with a camera on those occasions we need to document some event or news story. We created an interview section where we inserted pictures of the kids along their comments. Oh boy! Do they LOVE to have their photo taken! They squeal with delight and want to do it again and again! The issue is still in the making as we speak. We will have a ‘soft’ copy to present to the Principal but we can’t print yet. Hopefully, next term there won’t be so many other projects to get in the way and we’ll be able to get the paper out mid-term.

I had requested some books for our library from a US organization back in Dec and they have arrived! About 35 graded readers and story books to put on the shelves! We will have to guard them like gold as new things tend to go missing around here…..hmm. We have elected Library Prefects and they are being trained to run the library. (I have included a photo of them here...adorable and hard-working!) The idea is to have the library completely in the learners’ hands. It’s not easy to make them understand the importance of library policies and following procedures but many of the older students are keen to take on responsibility.

I want to post some photos of the school kids to give you an idea of the features of the Nama and mixed or‘coloured’ people here. They look very different from Namibians in the North. Nama people have defined, sharp facial features and eyes. They are not dark black. They are lean, strong, stoic people who don't always smile...but when they do...ooh boy! What charmers!! They originate from the San people and their languages are similar. As I’ve been taking many pictures of students, I have become fascinated with the ‘look’ of the true Nama. You will see many more photos of these people as my blog continues. I have added some pictures of my dear colleagues from the language department. What a great bunch of dedicated, hard-working young teachers! 

Next month, travels in Namibia…stick around!!

Camping the dunes!!

Time for a break!!

It is our mid-term break from school and I was invited to go camping in Sossusvlei and the Namib Naukluft Park. It was the best way to celebrate my first birthday in Africa. We spent 4 days hiking the dunes and the canyons and it was incredible! We saw many wild animals and we happened upon a newborn zebra! I got a short video clip but can assure you it did walk away after some time. It was a fabulous experience and one that I really needed to remind myself of why I’m here. I took many, many photos but have included just a few. It was hard work getting up at the crack of dawn to get the right light and catch the animals as they came out. It was well worth the lack of sleep. We had rented a 4x4 and it was ideal for the rough roads and sandy drive in the park. We even helped some stranded tourists. All was organized and arranged by Jen and Nathaniel, two Volunteers from Calif. I felt so safe and comfortable and the other two Volunteers  were great to be with and very understanding as I puffed along the 17km hike we did one day through the canyon. We packed in a lot of sights in the 5 days and I got to see Swakopmund and Walvis Bay on the return.

I look forward to my next trip in May with other friends and family!

Will post more photos soon!

Projects, committees and more!!

Now that the school term is in full swing, many projects and committees have popped up. I don’t always volunteer, but somehow I find myself helping to organize and get it going. I am part of the library committee which is probably the biggest and most daunting project as our school library has been neglected for many years, there is no shelf list of our current books, donated books remain in the back room collecting dust (and I mean A LOT of dust!) and its disappointing trying to find adults or learners who are willing to get their hands dirty and start weeding old books out, cleaning up and putting things back together. People nod their heads, “Yeah, we really need our young people to read more…improve the reading culture here.” But they don’t often follow through. You can motivate only so much.

Then there is the Wellness Committee which collects money from staff for taking care of teachers when they have personal issues like funerals, weddings or difficulties. We also have to plan end-term parties. I’m part of the newsletter committee, sports day and a reading project for learners with reading difficulties. I feel most strongly for this last project as its up my alley and there aren’t many people here who are experienced to help. We just assessed the learners and have started grouping them…once this project gets going, I’ll share and explain how I’ve set it up.

For the most part, I’m enjoying my stay here. It has been very lonely at times but I feel I deal with being alone quite well. The last few years in Italy, I was alone a lot…reflecting and planning my future. I’m doing pretty much the same here. I keep in contact with my family and kids very often and this helps. (Thank goodness for Whatsapp.) My life here revolves around the school….the school is my community. I haven’t had any language lessons and I don’t remember what I was taught during training. I occasionally go into the village…its just a store/bar and the post office….but it is still so blazing hot here that if you don’t have a good reason to be walking out in that heat, you shouldn’t be there.  Here, people speak a mix of Nama, Afrikaans and English. In one lesson, you will hear a local teacher stress the importance of only using and speaking English…. Then they will translate that for the class!!Because people here are so bi or trilingual, they don’t write accurately. Writing well is not a priority…they just don’t care….they can communicate and get by. And trying to convince 13-14 year olds that the difference between writing a sentence in the present or past is important, it just doesn’t sink in. Oh yes, I’m sure I have convinced and made it clear to a few learners, but mostly…they just respond “Yes, Miss…yes, Miss..” and then when I correct their work, I see the errors again!

After a full school day (teaching from 6.45-13.10) we have afternoon classes from 15.00-17.00 and sometimes sports practice after that! It is exhausting and sometimes ineffective…I marvel at how they think cramming lessons and information down their throats is going to motivate and help them learn. The management here only wants results…statistics, numbers…how many pass or fail…and of course, if the learner fails, the teacher is not doing their job! Oi vey! I enjoy coming back to my flat, turning on my fan and drinking a cold beer after my shower. I have come to appreciate the very basics even more. I don’t need much to be happy and to stay healthy.

Here are some photos from sports day. YES!! The learners run barefoot! And I tell you, there are a lot of thorns and stones and the heat was unbearable! It wasn’t clear what my duties were to be (as usual) so I appointed myself photographer. I proposed selling some of these photos to make money for the library…it was approved. People here are quite vain…kids and adults love their photos taken and want to see them right away. Then they tell you…”Miss, put that on Facebook!”