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!”

Let's start teaching! And those projects?!

THE SCHOOL YEAR HAS BEGUN!

Well, I have finally started the work I came here to do…TEACHING ENGLISH! The first school term started mid January and I have been spending the last 2 weeks establishing rules, distributing notebooks for the students to cover and trying to learn their names. At the moment, I have 2 grade 8 classes of English (40 students each) and 9 grades 8-10 classes of Basic Information Science. This class teaches learners about the library, finding information and using reference resources….all skills which these learners lack and don’t really care about. This class is ‘non-promotional’, meaning there is no grade for it. All the more reason for the learners not to care or pay attention. I was just getting into it and finding material for the lessons when I was told (yesterday) that I will no longer be doing the BIS classes but instead will do all 4 grade 8 English classes…Whew! I am relieved…fewer names to remember and can concentrate on what I know best.

Since the beginning of the term, I’ve been put on various committees: library, newsletter, ‘Wellness’ (collecting funds for lunches, weddings, funerals, etc  among staff members), athletics program AND a remedial reading or literacy group. Here, they just put anyone who seems willing on a committee because people don’t always volunteer. They LOVE  to set up committees, appoint people, set up ‘action plans’, make reports, write up minutes. It seems like a lot of bureaucracy in my view but hey! That’s part of the integration here, isn’t it? The projects which are most important to me and for my service are the library and the literacy group.

I felt strongly about the literacy group as there are many learners who are repeating grade 8 (about 30 out of about 160 students).I took the initiative to assess all the grade 8 learners in week 1 using the “San Diego Quick Reading Assessment” which I found on the Peace Corps Resource file. I had never used it before but it looked effective and brief. Basically, it assesses how well one can recognize and read words form a list out of context. It took more than a week to get around to all the learners and new students were still enrolling. The results were astounding! This assessment is not necessarily for ESL but it’s a good indication for learners with serious reading difficulties. There were some learners who couldn’t recognize words or letters at Primary or Grade 1…AND some had dyslexic tendencies and 2 were illiterate. I don’t know how they made it this far…they just got pushed through the system. I was told that the school is aware of these illiterate learners but they just give them remedial reading or individual tutoring (!) As can be imagined, many of the repeaters had real difficulties. The whole assessment process was familiar to me and I felt I was really using my expertise. I made up a report and gave it to the principal on the Monday. He then asked me to make an ‘Action Plan’ to get the program going…. I will update on how that project goes.

The other project is the library. Oh my! It looks nice and orderly but it is going to be a challenge! It was once the public library of Gibeon so it was properly established but then they set up a public library for the village and this became the school library. Once the Librarian left, there was no one to carry on the duties so they appointed some unwilling teachers (who were already overloaded and unqualified) and the school library fell into disrepair. It was ignored and it became a storeroom.  There was no stock control, new books were not catalogued properly and old books were not maintained. At this time, I can find no record of the books we have on the shelves. They DID try to make a record of books by recording them in a register but they left this to the learners and the adults didn’t guide them properly into maintaining a coherent catalogue. I have long lists of books, listed willy-nilly by fiction or non-fiction, in both English and Afrikaans, some in one register, some in another. There are about 15 registers, none of them complete, without dates so I can’t determine the order or how they were recorded. It’s a real headache and no wonder no one wanted to take on this project. On top of that, it was very dirty and dusty and old testing material, unused computer equipment and backed up files are stacked up in the computer room. Oh, yes! We DO have about 7 working computers, no wifi (yet) but these computers are stuffed into a small room teetering with old and newly-donated books that were never weeded out or registered.  The stickler is, there has been no electricity in the library since November so the learners that want to practice their computer skills can’t even use the computers! Not sure of the problem…fuse is blown or something but after several pleas, still no power. I will update on how the library is coming along too.

I am including some photos of some programs and my learners so you can have an idea of what I do. I feel this blog post is way too long and I need to make them brief. I am still learning…..bear with me.    

More to come…….

PS. not much progress on the language learning I'm afraid...ahem....

THESE SHOTS....learners at the library......running in the athletics program (Yes! they DO run in those plastic sandals and, damn! they are fast!)... 3 of my colleagues supervising the kids...(teachers are all young here).....my classroom and the kids waiting front the dining commons......shots of my place and some BIG African bugs making love on my doorstep...we live in peace...I try not to disturb...having my morning coffee at sunrise

Back in Gibeon...bring on 2016!!

I have spent the last 3 weeks back in my village after the AllVolunteer and Reconnect conferences in Windhoek. I returned to my site with Russell, a fellow volunteer and we planned to spend the Xmas holidays together. He will be stationed to a new site so in the meantime, I invited him to stay with me. Our sites are similar, in the South, dry, arid land surrounded by mostly Nama people. His site is about an hour from mine. He was having serious issues at his school so PC decided to move him...but of course, nothing would happen till AFTER the Dec school break. So we had an invitation to spend a few days at Xmas with a Namibian family in Rehoboth. They were not your typical Namibian family, father Pakistani, mother Namibian but converted Muslim and their college-age daughter. Their other daughter had just left to go study in the US so they LOVED Americans and wanted to offer hospitality as many Americans had assisted their daughter. As Muslims dont celebrate Xmas, we just hung out with them and were given a tour of the town. Rehoboth is a mostly Basters community meaning mixed races and whites who speak Afrikaans. There are many Nama people too but they mostly live in the 'locations', ie the poorer communities in shacks with little electricity or running water. Rehoboth is quite big, 30,000 people and our friends are respected people of the community as they used to run a restaurant and they have a thriving transport business. (Transporting people roundtrip from Windhoek down to Keetmanshoop daily. Our host father has 4 vehicles and 5 drivers who work for him.) It was a nice time...we learned a lot, ate a lot...spicy curry food! and gained insight into how foreigners integrate in Namibia.

I regret to say that I didnt take any photos...even during Xmas....

I am now on my own...Russell has moved on and I am trying to get geared up and motivated for the school year that will commence next week. Oh JOY!! Everyone should return and the school compound will be vibrant once again! I have been trying to find innovative ways to keep cool as temperatures have reached 40-42 degrees!! (Wrapped a bandana around head and stuck some ice cubes inside...let the coolness slowly melt down and get me all wet!) My morning entertainment consists of watching my African cat catch birds near the small water pipes leaking in front of my flat. She's very agile and catches at least 2 birds every morning! African cats are built differently than Western cats...much more lean, long forearms and tiny hips...she looks like a cheetah, but without the spots! She catches them, chomps down and eats them whole right there! Feathers go flying and blow into my place. It is pure entertainment as I drink my second cup of coffee.

My next post will chart my progress on my primary projects...the school library and school newsletter. We need to set up  'committees' to get things going. Namibians like to set up committees but many dislike being on them and taking responsibility...too much work and bother! I intend to convince them that it is just a planning group...'committee' sounds too pompous!

Stay tuned...!

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!!