Hello, My Name Is

Hello – my name is Miss. Most of the learners call me Miss, some put the Barbara in there too, but mostly it’s just Miss. So all day long I hear, hello Miss, good morning Miss, how are you Miss, etc.

I live at the hostel with the Matron, her daughter Celeste, and granddaughter Zia. Celeste is now calling me Barbarita – which makes me smile every time because it reminds me of people back home who call me by the same name. Celeste is telling her daughter Zia, who is 17 months old, to call me Nana Barbara (Aunt Barbara in Nama). So cute!

I stared working on my school’s library this week. It was SOOO dirty! I had some help from the 9B boys (grade nine – group B) to help clear the wood away and move all the donated text books. The library used to be the school’s wood shop, so there was a lot of wood and a lot of sawdust. All the text books were moved into the cabinets and the other books have been put back in order. My next step is to do an inventory of what is there and then finish categorizing and marking the books that have not been entered into the system. I really love organizing! This is very strange for me to say. But I have found that I’m very good at it and there’s a sense of accomplishment when you go from chaos to organized. Maybe there’s something in that job wise for me after I’m finished with the Peace Corps.

Today at the hostel the kids were playing an interested game outside. One kid hides a belt and then the others run to find it. The one who finds it beats another child that is close to him/her. I found this a little disturbing, but the kids really seemed to be having fun. In fact, more kids joined before the game ended. Oh Namibia…

First Week

I have now moved to Tses. It is a very small village, but with very nice and welcoming people. I have enjoyed my first week here and am looking forward to what's to come. I have taught a few lessons this week on my own and co-teaching. It's been a learning experience. I am already starting to formulate the rules that I will have in my classroom.

I was able to take a walk to the dunes that are close to the village. It's a nice walk, and a beautiful view. I think it will become a favorite place for me to go. Both times I went this week I did go with some learners. It's nice to get to know the learners better...but it's really hard to remember everyone's name! I think I'm going to take everyone's picture with them holding a sign with their name - otherwise, they will need to wear name tags everyday!

Today was the farewell party for the grade 10 learners. Everyone dressed up and we had a very lovely dinner and then a dance. It was really fun to watch these kids dance - some really have some good moves! And they were trying to teach me some too. I think I did okay - I hope to get more practice!

It's strange that it has only been one week that I've been here. It's been long - but overall, very good.

Officially a Volunteer

This has been a long, but great week. It started with having to prepare for and take my final LPI (language test). I did not feel very prepared for it, so I was very nervous. And even after I took the test, I wasn’t sure how well I would be scored. We needed to get at least an intermediate low…I got an intermediate mid! I was pleasantly surprised. I can speak very basic Afrikaans talking about my family, my house, my job, giving directions, etc. Glad to have that over with!

On Thursday, we went to Windhoek for an admin session, a basic bicycle repair session and shopping! I bought a hiking backpack, a sleeping bag, a sandwich maker and some other miscellaneous items. I also ate sushi and had a milkshake. It was all wonderful and a great way to wind down some from the week.

Today, I was officially sworn in as a Peace Corps Volunteer. The ceremony was very nice and it was nice to be able to dress up. It was also a bitter sweet day because I left right after the ceremony. I had to say goodbye to all my friends and to my host family. I’ll see my fellow volunteers again in six weeks when we have our reconnect, which I’m looking forward to. I’m going to make sure to visit my host family. I didn’t realize how close I had become to them, but I really will miss them a lot!

I’ve almost completely unpacked at my new place in Tses. It feels nice to already be settled in. I do need to do some more shopping for items such as hangers and a laundry hamper. I hope to do that this weekend or next.

Teaching and Cooking

This week we visited schools around Okahandja to observe and co-plan/co-teach. It was nice to be able to observe more classrooms and different teachers. I was able to teach two classes of grade 9 learners. They were going over the equation for speed and using graphs. I think the lesson went well. It was more just going over examples, but I tried to ask additional questions and to make them think about comparing the answers and converting to km/hr to km/m. I wish I had had someone to observe me to give me feedback, but it didn’t work out this week. I hope that I’ll have more opportunities to come.

This week we were planning for the Host Family Appreciation Day and I somehow volunteered to be on the Food Committee. I’m glad I ended up being on the committee and being in charge of the “Texas Group” – which turned into “Boarder States” or “Southwest Group”. Our group decided to cook chili and fajitas. I went shopping for all the food and then cooked the chili last night. I was a little worried about it because it came out spicier than I had anticipated (which was actually not as spicy as I usually make it). The chili powder here is not exactly the same as the chili powder back home. BUT it turned out fabulous and was a hit at the lunch today. In fact, I had a few people ask me for the recipe, and one person say that it was the best chili they’ve had!

The meat for the fajitas turned out well. Not exactly fajita flavored but you go with what you have and they still tasted good. We also made homemade tortillas. I have always wanted to make my own tortillas, but never got around to doing it. Funny that my first experience is when I’m in Africa! But they turned out soooo good! I will always make fresh tortillas now! And the fajitas turned out to be a hit too. In fact, we ran out before the trainees were able to go through the line. I’m glad I snuck a bite or two before taking the food to the lunch!

After cleaning up, a small group of us were waiting around finishing up the last of the dishes and waiting for the combi to come pick us up. Sarah, a fellow trainee, started playing the guitar and singing. It was so wonderful! It was so relaxing and moving and just what I needed after the busy and stressful week. I love how music can be so moving. Sarah – you definitely have a wonderful gift; thank you for sharing it today!

This is the last week that I will be in Okahandja. It’s crazy how fast time is going. I’ve been in Africa for over 50 days now (I keep a day count in my journal). I have a new address for my permanent site. I don’t want to post it on here, but if you would like me to send it to you, please send me an email and I’ll be happy to send it to you.

Playing Catch Up

It’s been a while since my last post – so there’s a lot to catch up on! We took a trip to Windhoek to visit the University of Namibia campus and NAMCOL (Namibian College of Open Learning). I was able to sit in on a class for grade 5-7 math teachers. I’ve also been trying to jog/walk some in the evenings, though I haven’t been as consistent as I want. I think it will be easier to get into a routine once I’ve moved to my permanent site.

I traveled to my permanent site on Sept 24. It took about 5 hrs to get there, not including a stop in Windhoek to buy some groceries for the next few days. It wasn’t a terrible drive. There’s not much to look at on the road – a lot of dry dessert. I was able to stay at my permanent housing during my visit, which was a nice thing. I will be living at the hostel in the matron’s block. I have two rooms, a shower room and a toilet room all to myself. I share a kitchen and a living space that has a tv (with one channel) and some chairs. It’s very dorm like to me – but I can def. make it my own. I will be fed three meals a day living on the hostel, which is great for saving money. But I plan to make my own meals at times just because the food is cafeteria food which can get old.

While at site there was a marathon relay that my school had teams participate in. I was able to be at the finish line and it was amazing to see these kids running 10K each barefoot to complete the race. My school won first and second place for the boys and first place for the girls winning N$1,000 total for the school. That money will be used for them to travel to the big marathon race in October.

My principal and some colleagues took me to the bridge that crosses part of Fish River. There’s little water in it right now, but there’s so nice cliffs carved out when the water is flowing. We also went to my principal’s farm where I saw sheep being sheared. I also saw more of Fish River – a part that has a water fall during the rainy season. The picture that is posted is of this area.

On Sunday, I visited the Roman Catholic Church which is on the school grounds. Most of the service was in Afrikaans, but parts were in English too. Then I was taken to a family in the community to spend the afternoon with. One of the little girls was sitting close to me and her mom said that she wanted to touch my hair. I said it was not a problem because I love my hair being played with. For about thirty minutes I had 3-4 girls playing with my hair, putting in clips and hair bands. We took a picture afterwards. Then, EVERYONE wanted their pictures taken. I ended up taking about 30 pictures of the family and hope to be able to print them out to give to the family to keep.

I was able to observe some classes and other than the kids being talkative, there doesn’t seem to be too many discipline problems. Hopefully they weren’t just being extra good because I was there! After classes I heard some singing and found out that my school has a choir! I’m so excited! I was able to rehearse with them and I hope that I can continue to join. I will need to learn how to read the music they have – it’s all in “Do, Re, Mi” and not notes, so it’s new for me.

Oh Namibian time – I was told that I would be picked up on Tuesday by 10am to be able to drive to Bethanie (pronounced bet-han-nee) for a meeting with the secondary school there. I was picked up around 11:45. But it gave me time to read my book.

I traveled back to Okahandja on Sept 29. We drove to Keetmanshoop for me to get a ride back north. It was a quiet ride back to Windhoek where I met up with another volunteer to make the final journey to Okahandja. As we were coming in to Okahandja, we saw the “Welcome” sign and I realized how Okahandja has really become my home. I will miss being here. I missed my host family while I was gone and was glad to be back! It’s nice to know I have a home and family here in Namibia.