I hope this finds everyone well.
The last time I wrote, it was the very beginning of the term, and now we are having our last teaching days and preparing for the year-end exams. We were warned that Term 3 would fly, but this has been ridiculous.
I told you last time that we were rejoicing over the Corporeal Punishment ban. The problem now is that the teachers know of no other way to discipline. And if we suggest something and they try it once, if they don’t get immediate results, well, then, that obviously doesn’t work! Now they threaten suspension or they send the kid home. But there is a new Minister of Education and he has been doing his homework. A good sum of money has been allocated to educational reform and the list of proposed changes is very long. Most things are targeted for implementation Jan. 2011, such as textbooks for all, recommended practices for discipline, “remedial” training for some principals who are on thin ice (possibly ours), banning of entrance exams which exclude low-level learners, banning discrimination toward foreign teachers & learners…Many very positive and much-needed changes. We are all-the-more excited to be coming back, hopefully to witness some of these changes.
We have to constantly remind ourselves that the country is only 20 years old, and the independence came after 100 years of some very serious oppression. There are many obstacles to overcome and most of them are related to a way of being and attitudes for which there are no quick fixes.
The saga of our car continues. The initial problem occurred Aug. 3, we got it Oct. 29 (it was in the shop the entire time). After we drove it back home, one of the tires kept losing air, then the power steering fluid started leaking & a part had to be ordered. While the car sat for 4 days, the battery died (a ‘new’ one according to previous owner) and even with a battery out of another car, it wouldn’t start. Had it towed to a near-by garage, a blown fuse was replaced, I think Jim ordered 4 new tires, one of the shocks will be replaced. We should have it back in a day or two & then we hold our breath for the next thing!
The construction of a new school building has begun. They started digging for the footings (by hand, of course) and an executive came by & said it needed to be moved farther away from an existing building (so that the septic truck could get to our tank). Fortunately he discovered the potential problem so early. But that is how things are “planned” out. Had learners running up to an end-loader that was moving--I nearly had a heart attack. The workers are making inappropriate (to say the least) remarks to our girls, so I had a talk with the foreman. What I have come to discover in myself is a great need to protect these kids. But there is so much more to be done.
We recently went to a volunteer end-of-year in-service, designed to help us with re-entry issues. It was very helpful. Even though our return this Dec. is not permanent, it helped us realize that there will still be challenges. I remember all-too-well the challenges we faced when we returned from Germany. It took me, especially, a very long time to adjust. I hope it will be easier this time.
It is very hot these days (around 120 in the sun). We are waiting for the small rains to begin--they are late. We do have clouds now, and they are so very pretty & make for incredible sunsets which we are able to watch from our kitchen window every evening. We often sit out to watch the stars before calling it a night. When we arrived, it was the rainy season & the night sky looked like a planetarium. As we moved into the dry season, the stars became less impressive (were we just becoming used to the beauty & no longer appreciative?). What was happening was the air was so full of dust, it interfered with the view of the sky. The winds have settled, somewhat, so we don’t have as much. When we walk the 50 yds to school, and then from class to class, it is like walking on a beach (without benefit of a nice ocean). When the rain comes, that will all become a hard (bumpy) surface. When we get back in Jan., the full rains should have arrived and we will get to see the cycle of planting & growth again.
Jim continues to chase goats out of the school yard every day. We have gotten a pretty good handle on insect-control. The ever-present sand & dust doesn’t bother us so much anymore. We have found sources for most of the foods we want (but we have along list of ‘must eats’ for when we are home). Life has become routine. We no longer flinch when we see public urination, the ever-present mess of trash everywhere is just part of life. Women dressed in traditional dress, carrying large loads on their heads is as things should be. This has become ‘home’
It’s now a week later, & we will be arriving in Chicago 2 weeks from today. The small rains have arrived. So now, it is HUMID!!! We are used to hanging the laundry out & having the first load dry by the time the second load is ready to be hung out. Today, it’s taking much longer. We have, what is to us, a very strange phenomenon when it gets dark. There are insects of some sort that sound somewhat like crickets, but they are much louder & last night there sounded like MANY of them & we actually had a hard time listening to the movie that we were watching. We have not been able to see one--they stop their infernal chirping when we get near them. Jim has thrown rocks in their direction, but it has not made any impact. It is a very annoying sound.
Well, since we are going to be home soon, I don’t need to continue. We hope to see many of you while home.
Have a very Happy Thanksgiving. We all have so much to be thankful for!
Jim & Sharon
Saturday, November 20, 2010
Friday, September 10, 2010
Namibia update
Well, my goodness, our friends, it has been a long time. I heartily apologize, but will try to bring you up to date on our Namibian adventure. First of all, we are coming back to US Dec. 4 & returning to Namibia Jan. 12 for another year. Do we love it that much??? We don’t know, but we both feel compelled to stay & are comfortable in that decision.
Working backwards a bit, I just returned home from our between-term holiday. We bought a 4x4 a couple of weeks ago & headed out Aug. 26. Not the best timing since it was a Holiday honouring those who lost their lives in the struggle for independence--so we found most places closed. God went along with us, for on the first day, we failed to get gas at the last station before a long stretch with no stations & glided into our first destination on a wing & a prayer. Even Jim was worried, so I knew we were in trouble!!
Went to the town were the Hereroes ( a tribe that wears many layers of Victorian-type dress & headdress that resembles the horns of the cattle that is their livelihood) have their annual gathering to honour their fallen heroes, but the gathering had been the weekend before. Maybe we can catch it next year. Stopped at Windhoek to shop at a wonderful Craft Mart. Picked up a few things to bring home, but we were very tired & overwhelmed, so may need to return for more before we come back to US.
We continued south into unknown territory to us, but still on good main road. We were in the Kalahari at this point. While there are very few towns, southern Namibia holds all the wealth, so we did a lot of grocery shopping. The south is full of Afrikaners & Germans, so the stores are well stocked with many things that we cannot get up in our area. There is actually a “red line” that we cross about an hour south of us that separates the poor, subsistence farmers of the north from the rich in the south. We have to stop at the checkpoint where they make sure that we are not carrying any meat from the north into the south (an effort to control hoof-&-mouth disease) & no meat from the north may be exported. Going south is like entering a whole new world. Not that they have no poor, they certainly do, but the presence of rich is very evident.
We stopped at a town where we met an American doctor (working with AIDS patients) & his visiting friend who recommended the site of a Quiver Tree forest & Giants’ Playground. Quiver tree is actually a tall plant related to the aloe family, but looks like a tree. The ‘trunk’ has yellow bark that is reminiscent of a birch tree & the leaves were used by tribes of the past to make quivers for their bows. These ‘trees’ usually grow individually, so this ‘forest’ was unusual. We approached the Giants’ Playground as the sun was low in the sky, but were told the shadows & colours of sunset were amazing there, so, we fell for it & entered the area having no idea what we were getting ourselves into. It is a huge maze of massive boulders that teeter on top of each other. There were arrows that pointed the way, but as it got dark, we could barely see the signs, and they were not spaced as close together as we would have liked! Just as the last light left the sky, Jim spotted our car. God held the sun up just long enough to get us safely back. If we had been back in the US, we would not have been allowed into the area so late, but this is NOT the US!
Now we left the main road & started several days of travel on rough, gravel roads. We were heading west to end up at the coast, right above the Sperrgebiet (restricted diamond area). Along the way is a small herd of feral horses. There is speculation regarding their origin, but most likely were abandoned by the German army when the South Africans invaded the area with an over-whelming force. Anyway, these horses have adapted to the desert (by now we are in the Namib). They can go 7 days without water. A concerned person at one point commissioned a borehole or the horses would no longer exist. As it is, their numbers have gotten down to 30, but have never topped 280. They are very thin, but if the rains are good, they fatten up & can last through a couple years of sparse moisture.
Then on to Luderitz, a sleepy harbour town that is quite isolated. Our cottage was right on an inlet where a ship was dredging the waters for diamonds. The area is still filled with them. When diamonds were first discovered in the area, they were just laying all over on the sand. We visited a ghost town where the miners & their families lived--now, the sands are filling the buildings & eventually it will all be buried. That particular area, while still somewhat restricted, is more accessible, but they are sure that the area still contains diamonds. When larger ones were found farther south, the operations moved, but eventually will move north again.
Headed back north to an area of rocky hills, mountains, and the most incredible sand dunes in the world. We stayed two nights in that area and absolutely loved it!!! I was perfectly content to just sit out & look over the expanse of the desert with the hills in the distance in one direction & the dunes in the other. We had to go to Dune 45 (the most famous & most photographed) & Jim walked about ½ way up, I was happy to watch. We drove further until we came upon a parking area where there were guide vehicles to take us further. Since we had run out of cash (credit cards are NOT as universally accepted here as one is lead to believe--and if accepted, their card readers don’t work half the time!) we couldn’t go with the guides, but Jim decided he could do it in our 4x4. I opted to sit under a camel-thorn & enjoy the breeze. That reminds me--we had cold weather. It felt wonderful to me, Jim was not quite as enthusiastic. Anyway, Jim & God headed out & of course, he got stuck in the sand. Now, remember, even though this past week was a high tourist season, the expanses here are seemingly endless, so we would still travel even as long as an hour & not meet another car. Anyway, there is Jim, stuck in the sand up to the rear axle, trying to lay twigs down to get some traction & one of the guides who was returning back to the parking area delivered his paying customers & doubled to check on Jim (and he had warned Jim that the sand could be very dangerous). So, again, another close call, but we were saved.
Reluctantly, we headed back home, but we were definitely ready for smooth roads. Had an evening in a lakeside self-catering cottage & were all set to braai (grill) some top-quality southern beef--stores were sold out, so ate at a lovely lakeside restaurant after canoeing. Met an American who was visiting a Namibian couple who are doing orphan-orientated work. Interesting discussion on the Namibian school system.
Stopped two days ago in a town that has a wonderful German corner café & GREAT grocery stores (Sheila, Sandy, & Colleen, it was Otjiwarongo where we ate at the c’est si Bon restaurant--huge meat balls--and stayed at the new B&B run by a nice young couple). After enjoying our time there, stopped for gas before heading out & the attendants were sooo excited to see us, for they spotted a flattened tire. Wthen they put air in it, they could hear air escaping (fortunately the hole was not on the bottom). So, they put the spare on--they get so excited when they get work & are paid well. We were booked at a lovely lodge 27km out in the hinterland (Colleen, S&S, we stopped in Windhoek & met w/ Edna who planned the entire trip--you know what kind of accommodations we had!). So, we again were so very thankful that the leak had been discovered before we headed out into no-mans-land. We were scheduled to arrive home that next day after a wonderful breakfast & watching wildebeest, sable, impala, springbok, & I don’t know what all, in large numbers. Got a few kms down the road & detected a horrible smell, but saw a water plant & thought maybe it was the source. Oh, no. It was us. So, fortunately, AGAIN, there was a gas station (along a fairly short stretch where there were stations at each end--why was there one in the middle??) We pulled in & there was a huge cloud of smoke that followed us & the back end of the car was HOT. We had no idea where to call, what to do, no one spoke enough English to be of help, although one man brought a chair for me to sit. Jim called one of the school executives who spoke to a guy at the station, but we could still get no help. Decided to limp along to the next town. The car had cooled down enough & we made it!! I failed to mention this is Saturday afternoon--most stores close & many services don’t even open Sat. mornings, but definitely close at noon. A very helpful cashier called a mechanic who came (amazing) said that the differential seal was bad & we were leaking fluid. He filled it up & felt that we could make it to the next town where there is a Toyota dealer. So we giddily headed out toward Tsumeb, we thought. We actually headed the wrong direction. Fortunately…Jim thought we were going the wrong direction, flagged someone down, & ended up going 20 k’s out of out way--when were just limping along, anyway! The smell got bad again, Jim could see a lot of smoke, so pulled onto the side of the road. Got out of the car, cursed, jumped back in & drove a few feet ahead--the grass under the car had caught on fire. He put that out & some guys stopped, were very agitated, they had seen the grass fire (we thought), no, they were seeing the fire under the car. They threw sand at it & we had a gallon of water (Colleen, S&S, the water you bought on our trip) & were able to put the fire out. I had grabbed the computed--decided the rest didn’t matter. Now we were 35km from Tsumeb, had no idea who to call or what to do, but these guys had a tow belt & they said they would pull us. Okay, we took off--I was a wreck, just knew we were going to go crashing into the back of their car! All of a sudden, maybe 10km into this harrowing journey, there was a huge, sound from the back of our car--as if the back half fell off or something. Safely stopped & they still wanted to pull us & I could not agree to that. So, Jim stayed with car & I went into Tsumeb with 4 young, strange men. We drove into town (which we had stayed at before, so I was somewhat familiar) & proceeded out of town. All sorts of ideas were flying through my head. I asked where we were going, & of course, it was fine--we ended up at a very large garage, which was closed, but the guys must have seen a number to call on the door, because they soon handed me their phone & it was a towing service. I knew of a Backpackers accommodation where the owners spoke very good English & had the guys take me there. As I was asking the guy at reception if the owners were available, a familiar face appeared--3 of our WorldTeach colleagues had just checked in & heard me! Jim eventually arrived after the car had been delivered to the garage & there was an available room for us. This morning, I joined 2 of our colleagues who were also headed up to the Ondangwa area & we ‘hiked’ back home. Not hiked, but there are ‘hike points’ where drivers gather & you negotiate a price for them to take you somewhere. For distances like today, there are usually several ‘combies’ (vans) that have open trailers behind that are more than willing to take you. We had a full van (Namibians don’t feel the need to follow occupancy restrictions) & it took a very long time as we had to stop many times to drop people off, & not always along the main road on which we were travelling. I was so grateful to be travelling with people I knew! The garage will check the car first thing in the morning & Jim will either wait for the car or hike home & return to get it later in the week. It was a wonderful trip, really. Each challenge that could have been disastrous turned out to be just a bump on the road. God was with us every km of the way.
Term 3 starts tomorrow for the teachers. Not sure what we do, but won’t be surprised if there is no plan, we’ll just be expected to be there. Exam time was very tense, again. Most of my learners went down in both English & Social Studies. If half of Grade 8 passes to Grade 9 it will be a miracle--and not a good one for they won’t be able to do Grade 9 work! In order to pass, they must get a 40% or better for their final Marks in English, Maths, and 4 other subjects and above a 30% in the 3 remaining subjects. I’ve told them repeatedly to just guess if they don’t know the answer, not to leave anything blank. Shear luck will get them a few points. They don’t like to do that, but I saw that some did listen. Didn’t get any more right doing that, but made me feel better.
We went to an Owambo wedding. Owambos comprise the largest tribe & are largely responsible for Independence. I was disappointed as it was a very European wedding. Understandable, however, since during colonization, Christianity was imposed on them. They did a few things that were different. After the actual marriage ceremony (exchange of vows), various people from each side got up & “advised” the bride & groom. The remarks were prepared & they alternated from bride side, then groom side. Then we travelled by caravan to the bride’s parents’ homestead. Bride & Groom rode in a Hummer Limo to a point not too far from her house & then they had to walk the rest of the way with many people following them. We drove closer to the homestead. There were huge tents set up, music playing on boom box (mostly American). There was a huge buffet with many different salads, beef that had been ‘braaied’ & they brought whole chickens around to the tables that people just took in their hands & tore apart. The head table had more traditional food (porridge that they take by hand from a common bowl, roll into a small ball & dip into a spinach concoction--everyone loves it), there was sort of a champagne toast--glasses were filled, but people just drank. When we needed to use the toilet, we were led into the house--which had no electricity, so they found a flashlight--there was electricity in the tents & around the property, & I think I heard a generator, so maybe they just switched the electricity from the house to the party area. There were TONS of people & security guards. Oh, when B&G arrived at the homestead, they sat on chairs with a table & gifts were presented--wrapped, & not opened, just presented. Because our teachers chipped in to give money, we were given the hindquarter of a cow that was slaughtered for the occasion. After school Monday, some cut the meat up into thin slices. The leg & foot, still with sand on the foot & skin on leg, was sitting there--one of the teachers was going to take it & cook it. They eat every part. They really like the eyes. The children are not allowed to eat the tongue--bad luck or something. Since we were a group, we all had to dress alike--black skirt, black vest, & white long-sleeved blouse. Our maintenance supervisor’s sister made them for us--US$21 included the fabric & labour. Skirt & vest were lined. I had to provide a blouse on my own. I tried to pay more--wasn’t allowed.
We have been struggling with enforcing rules that teachers & learners ignore. The inconsistency drives us crazy & we are trying to address it. There is still corporeal punishment practiced at our school--and apparently at all but a few throughout the country. It is against the law. Everyone nods & says yes, but they are just more discreet in doling it out. We are doing what we can & making no friends in doing so. Our executive board is behind us, but the administration & colleagues resent us. When we come home, we will tell you all about it. In the mean time, please continue praying. Every day seems to have its own challenge & by days’ end we are usually exhausted.
I have organized their first-ever spelling bee. As usual, everyone was excited when I first presented the idea, & many signed up. However, when it came time to get their lists to study, about half committed to it. Follow-through is lacking throughout all the ranks, so we just work with what we have. Grade 6 also took on a water conservation project that they will have to carry out this term as part of Social Studies. I was soo proud of them! They thought of every obstacle & how to over-come it. That class is great. They are beginning to think independently, creatively--our buzzword is thinking ‘out of the box’ and I have heard the term used in the schoolyard! We also have a “no ‘Me I‘” campaign going on. It’s a Namlish thing--everyone says it. But when they say it, they catch themselves & they remind others when they hear it. Hopefully they are not correcting their teachers. We also refuse to ‘borrow them’ anything. And no, she is NOT having a pencil--she has a pencil!!! They are quite proud when they remember to say it right! We had quite a battle with the student teacher who was supposed to teach English in my Grade 6 & Jim’s Grade 5. After I commented on two of her days’ teaching she didn’t come back to my class but stuck with Jim. Did not always show for class, was not always prepared, would not follow Jim’s plan, and at the end, when he asked if he was supposed to fill out an evaluation of some sort, she just waved him off & said that it was taken care of. What she doesn’t know is that we are friends with lecturers and student teacher tutors at UNAM & they have her name & will be checking up on her. The system has enough struggles with unqualified teachers, they don’t need new ones, who are supposedly trained, to simply follow in the footsteps of their predecessors.
Well, I have gone on long enough. I must get ready for tomorrow--whatever that will bring. I can hear the principal now: well, tell Mr. Jim he must just hike back. You knew every teacher had to be back today.
It is now Friday & we completed our 1st week of Term 3. On Jim’s way home with our car (on Tuesday), from the garage about 250km away, the car started smoking again. He pulled off the road, about 65km from home. Called our school executive friend who dispatched a tow truck, but Jim was on then side of the road in the dark--NOBODY is out alone after dark here, but he was kept safe & came home exhausted & frustrated. Garage in Tsumeb then towed the car back to their garage yesterday & we are now waiting to find out what’s going on.
At our briefing Monday, the principal informed us that corporeal punishment will no longer be tolerated at our school!!!!!!! It was difficult to sit there & not react. I believe it was the result of our contacting the parents of two of our girls after one of them had been slapped. We also reported to a school executive who demanded action. So, now, our next battle is to convince some of our girls to report incidents of inappropriate actions and comments made by one of the male teachers. In a conversation with Jim, 3 asked if the “no touching policy” related to no corporeal punishment extended to unwanted sexual advances. He brought stories home & I have been talking to the girls. Each time, they tell me of yet another girl who has been touched. So, again, we need prayers to advise or act in a way that will protect these girls.
Sometimes I get impatient with the US for over-protecting us (banning a product that I like because a few people died using it), but there are very few safely regulations here, & the ones that are in place are largely ignored. Our children run helter-skelter in the school yard as cars & taxis drive helter-skelter--neither watching for the other. Pre-grade through Grade 4 are released at 12:30. There is no supervision of them & many wander outside the gate--and we are located on a primary highway with cars racing by. Even after receiving a report that a local man was luring children into his car, the children were simply warned. So, somewhere between US & Namibia, there must be some reasonable measures taken to ensure safety.
Okay, if you have read all of this, you deserve a prize. Take a little trip to the store & buy a Dove bar.
With love & prayers,
sharon
Working backwards a bit, I just returned home from our between-term holiday. We bought a 4x4 a couple of weeks ago & headed out Aug. 26. Not the best timing since it was a Holiday honouring those who lost their lives in the struggle for independence--so we found most places closed. God went along with us, for on the first day, we failed to get gas at the last station before a long stretch with no stations & glided into our first destination on a wing & a prayer. Even Jim was worried, so I knew we were in trouble!!
Went to the town were the Hereroes ( a tribe that wears many layers of Victorian-type dress & headdress that resembles the horns of the cattle that is their livelihood) have their annual gathering to honour their fallen heroes, but the gathering had been the weekend before. Maybe we can catch it next year. Stopped at Windhoek to shop at a wonderful Craft Mart. Picked up a few things to bring home, but we were very tired & overwhelmed, so may need to return for more before we come back to US.
We continued south into unknown territory to us, but still on good main road. We were in the Kalahari at this point. While there are very few towns, southern Namibia holds all the wealth, so we did a lot of grocery shopping. The south is full of Afrikaners & Germans, so the stores are well stocked with many things that we cannot get up in our area. There is actually a “red line” that we cross about an hour south of us that separates the poor, subsistence farmers of the north from the rich in the south. We have to stop at the checkpoint where they make sure that we are not carrying any meat from the north into the south (an effort to control hoof-&-mouth disease) & no meat from the north may be exported. Going south is like entering a whole new world. Not that they have no poor, they certainly do, but the presence of rich is very evident.
We stopped at a town where we met an American doctor (working with AIDS patients) & his visiting friend who recommended the site of a Quiver Tree forest & Giants’ Playground. Quiver tree is actually a tall plant related to the aloe family, but looks like a tree. The ‘trunk’ has yellow bark that is reminiscent of a birch tree & the leaves were used by tribes of the past to make quivers for their bows. These ‘trees’ usually grow individually, so this ‘forest’ was unusual. We approached the Giants’ Playground as the sun was low in the sky, but were told the shadows & colours of sunset were amazing there, so, we fell for it & entered the area having no idea what we were getting ourselves into. It is a huge maze of massive boulders that teeter on top of each other. There were arrows that pointed the way, but as it got dark, we could barely see the signs, and they were not spaced as close together as we would have liked! Just as the last light left the sky, Jim spotted our car. God held the sun up just long enough to get us safely back. If we had been back in the US, we would not have been allowed into the area so late, but this is NOT the US!
Now we left the main road & started several days of travel on rough, gravel roads. We were heading west to end up at the coast, right above the Sperrgebiet (restricted diamond area). Along the way is a small herd of feral horses. There is speculation regarding their origin, but most likely were abandoned by the German army when the South Africans invaded the area with an over-whelming force. Anyway, these horses have adapted to the desert (by now we are in the Namib). They can go 7 days without water. A concerned person at one point commissioned a borehole or the horses would no longer exist. As it is, their numbers have gotten down to 30, but have never topped 280. They are very thin, but if the rains are good, they fatten up & can last through a couple years of sparse moisture.
Then on to Luderitz, a sleepy harbour town that is quite isolated. Our cottage was right on an inlet where a ship was dredging the waters for diamonds. The area is still filled with them. When diamonds were first discovered in the area, they were just laying all over on the sand. We visited a ghost town where the miners & their families lived--now, the sands are filling the buildings & eventually it will all be buried. That particular area, while still somewhat restricted, is more accessible, but they are sure that the area still contains diamonds. When larger ones were found farther south, the operations moved, but eventually will move north again.
Headed back north to an area of rocky hills, mountains, and the most incredible sand dunes in the world. We stayed two nights in that area and absolutely loved it!!! I was perfectly content to just sit out & look over the expanse of the desert with the hills in the distance in one direction & the dunes in the other. We had to go to Dune 45 (the most famous & most photographed) & Jim walked about ½ way up, I was happy to watch. We drove further until we came upon a parking area where there were guide vehicles to take us further. Since we had run out of cash (credit cards are NOT as universally accepted here as one is lead to believe--and if accepted, their card readers don’t work half the time!) we couldn’t go with the guides, but Jim decided he could do it in our 4x4. I opted to sit under a camel-thorn & enjoy the breeze. That reminds me--we had cold weather. It felt wonderful to me, Jim was not quite as enthusiastic. Anyway, Jim & God headed out & of course, he got stuck in the sand. Now, remember, even though this past week was a high tourist season, the expanses here are seemingly endless, so we would still travel even as long as an hour & not meet another car. Anyway, there is Jim, stuck in the sand up to the rear axle, trying to lay twigs down to get some traction & one of the guides who was returning back to the parking area delivered his paying customers & doubled to check on Jim (and he had warned Jim that the sand could be very dangerous). So, again, another close call, but we were saved.
Reluctantly, we headed back home, but we were definitely ready for smooth roads. Had an evening in a lakeside self-catering cottage & were all set to braai (grill) some top-quality southern beef--stores were sold out, so ate at a lovely lakeside restaurant after canoeing. Met an American who was visiting a Namibian couple who are doing orphan-orientated work. Interesting discussion on the Namibian school system.
Stopped two days ago in a town that has a wonderful German corner café & GREAT grocery stores (Sheila, Sandy, & Colleen, it was Otjiwarongo where we ate at the c’est si Bon restaurant--huge meat balls--and stayed at the new B&B run by a nice young couple). After enjoying our time there, stopped for gas before heading out & the attendants were sooo excited to see us, for they spotted a flattened tire. Wthen they put air in it, they could hear air escaping (fortunately the hole was not on the bottom). So, they put the spare on--they get so excited when they get work & are paid well. We were booked at a lovely lodge 27km out in the hinterland (Colleen, S&S, we stopped in Windhoek & met w/ Edna who planned the entire trip--you know what kind of accommodations we had!). So, we again were so very thankful that the leak had been discovered before we headed out into no-mans-land. We were scheduled to arrive home that next day after a wonderful breakfast & watching wildebeest, sable, impala, springbok, & I don’t know what all, in large numbers. Got a few kms down the road & detected a horrible smell, but saw a water plant & thought maybe it was the source. Oh, no. It was us. So, fortunately, AGAIN, there was a gas station (along a fairly short stretch where there were stations at each end--why was there one in the middle??) We pulled in & there was a huge cloud of smoke that followed us & the back end of the car was HOT. We had no idea where to call, what to do, no one spoke enough English to be of help, although one man brought a chair for me to sit. Jim called one of the school executives who spoke to a guy at the station, but we could still get no help. Decided to limp along to the next town. The car had cooled down enough & we made it!! I failed to mention this is Saturday afternoon--most stores close & many services don’t even open Sat. mornings, but definitely close at noon. A very helpful cashier called a mechanic who came (amazing) said that the differential seal was bad & we were leaking fluid. He filled it up & felt that we could make it to the next town where there is a Toyota dealer. So we giddily headed out toward Tsumeb, we thought. We actually headed the wrong direction. Fortunately…Jim thought we were going the wrong direction, flagged someone down, & ended up going 20 k’s out of out way--when were just limping along, anyway! The smell got bad again, Jim could see a lot of smoke, so pulled onto the side of the road. Got out of the car, cursed, jumped back in & drove a few feet ahead--the grass under the car had caught on fire. He put that out & some guys stopped, were very agitated, they had seen the grass fire (we thought), no, they were seeing the fire under the car. They threw sand at it & we had a gallon of water (Colleen, S&S, the water you bought on our trip) & were able to put the fire out. I had grabbed the computed--decided the rest didn’t matter. Now we were 35km from Tsumeb, had no idea who to call or what to do, but these guys had a tow belt & they said they would pull us. Okay, we took off--I was a wreck, just knew we were going to go crashing into the back of their car! All of a sudden, maybe 10km into this harrowing journey, there was a huge, sound from the back of our car--as if the back half fell off or something. Safely stopped & they still wanted to pull us & I could not agree to that. So, Jim stayed with car & I went into Tsumeb with 4 young, strange men. We drove into town (which we had stayed at before, so I was somewhat familiar) & proceeded out of town. All sorts of ideas were flying through my head. I asked where we were going, & of course, it was fine--we ended up at a very large garage, which was closed, but the guys must have seen a number to call on the door, because they soon handed me their phone & it was a towing service. I knew of a Backpackers accommodation where the owners spoke very good English & had the guys take me there. As I was asking the guy at reception if the owners were available, a familiar face appeared--3 of our WorldTeach colleagues had just checked in & heard me! Jim eventually arrived after the car had been delivered to the garage & there was an available room for us. This morning, I joined 2 of our colleagues who were also headed up to the Ondangwa area & we ‘hiked’ back home. Not hiked, but there are ‘hike points’ where drivers gather & you negotiate a price for them to take you somewhere. For distances like today, there are usually several ‘combies’ (vans) that have open trailers behind that are more than willing to take you. We had a full van (Namibians don’t feel the need to follow occupancy restrictions) & it took a very long time as we had to stop many times to drop people off, & not always along the main road on which we were travelling. I was so grateful to be travelling with people I knew! The garage will check the car first thing in the morning & Jim will either wait for the car or hike home & return to get it later in the week. It was a wonderful trip, really. Each challenge that could have been disastrous turned out to be just a bump on the road. God was with us every km of the way.
Term 3 starts tomorrow for the teachers. Not sure what we do, but won’t be surprised if there is no plan, we’ll just be expected to be there. Exam time was very tense, again. Most of my learners went down in both English & Social Studies. If half of Grade 8 passes to Grade 9 it will be a miracle--and not a good one for they won’t be able to do Grade 9 work! In order to pass, they must get a 40% or better for their final Marks in English, Maths, and 4 other subjects and above a 30% in the 3 remaining subjects. I’ve told them repeatedly to just guess if they don’t know the answer, not to leave anything blank. Shear luck will get them a few points. They don’t like to do that, but I saw that some did listen. Didn’t get any more right doing that, but made me feel better.
We went to an Owambo wedding. Owambos comprise the largest tribe & are largely responsible for Independence. I was disappointed as it was a very European wedding. Understandable, however, since during colonization, Christianity was imposed on them. They did a few things that were different. After the actual marriage ceremony (exchange of vows), various people from each side got up & “advised” the bride & groom. The remarks were prepared & they alternated from bride side, then groom side. Then we travelled by caravan to the bride’s parents’ homestead. Bride & Groom rode in a Hummer Limo to a point not too far from her house & then they had to walk the rest of the way with many people following them. We drove closer to the homestead. There were huge tents set up, music playing on boom box (mostly American). There was a huge buffet with many different salads, beef that had been ‘braaied’ & they brought whole chickens around to the tables that people just took in their hands & tore apart. The head table had more traditional food (porridge that they take by hand from a common bowl, roll into a small ball & dip into a spinach concoction--everyone loves it), there was sort of a champagne toast--glasses were filled, but people just drank. When we needed to use the toilet, we were led into the house--which had no electricity, so they found a flashlight--there was electricity in the tents & around the property, & I think I heard a generator, so maybe they just switched the electricity from the house to the party area. There were TONS of people & security guards. Oh, when B&G arrived at the homestead, they sat on chairs with a table & gifts were presented--wrapped, & not opened, just presented. Because our teachers chipped in to give money, we were given the hindquarter of a cow that was slaughtered for the occasion. After school Monday, some cut the meat up into thin slices. The leg & foot, still with sand on the foot & skin on leg, was sitting there--one of the teachers was going to take it & cook it. They eat every part. They really like the eyes. The children are not allowed to eat the tongue--bad luck or something. Since we were a group, we all had to dress alike--black skirt, black vest, & white long-sleeved blouse. Our maintenance supervisor’s sister made them for us--US$21 included the fabric & labour. Skirt & vest were lined. I had to provide a blouse on my own. I tried to pay more--wasn’t allowed.
We have been struggling with enforcing rules that teachers & learners ignore. The inconsistency drives us crazy & we are trying to address it. There is still corporeal punishment practiced at our school--and apparently at all but a few throughout the country. It is against the law. Everyone nods & says yes, but they are just more discreet in doling it out. We are doing what we can & making no friends in doing so. Our executive board is behind us, but the administration & colleagues resent us. When we come home, we will tell you all about it. In the mean time, please continue praying. Every day seems to have its own challenge & by days’ end we are usually exhausted.
I have organized their first-ever spelling bee. As usual, everyone was excited when I first presented the idea, & many signed up. However, when it came time to get their lists to study, about half committed to it. Follow-through is lacking throughout all the ranks, so we just work with what we have. Grade 6 also took on a water conservation project that they will have to carry out this term as part of Social Studies. I was soo proud of them! They thought of every obstacle & how to over-come it. That class is great. They are beginning to think independently, creatively--our buzzword is thinking ‘out of the box’ and I have heard the term used in the schoolyard! We also have a “no ‘Me I‘” campaign going on. It’s a Namlish thing--everyone says it. But when they say it, they catch themselves & they remind others when they hear it. Hopefully they are not correcting their teachers. We also refuse to ‘borrow them’ anything. And no, she is NOT having a pencil--she has a pencil!!! They are quite proud when they remember to say it right! We had quite a battle with the student teacher who was supposed to teach English in my Grade 6 & Jim’s Grade 5. After I commented on two of her days’ teaching she didn’t come back to my class but stuck with Jim. Did not always show for class, was not always prepared, would not follow Jim’s plan, and at the end, when he asked if he was supposed to fill out an evaluation of some sort, she just waved him off & said that it was taken care of. What she doesn’t know is that we are friends with lecturers and student teacher tutors at UNAM & they have her name & will be checking up on her. The system has enough struggles with unqualified teachers, they don’t need new ones, who are supposedly trained, to simply follow in the footsteps of their predecessors.
Well, I have gone on long enough. I must get ready for tomorrow--whatever that will bring. I can hear the principal now: well, tell Mr. Jim he must just hike back. You knew every teacher had to be back today.
It is now Friday & we completed our 1st week of Term 3. On Jim’s way home with our car (on Tuesday), from the garage about 250km away, the car started smoking again. He pulled off the road, about 65km from home. Called our school executive friend who dispatched a tow truck, but Jim was on then side of the road in the dark--NOBODY is out alone after dark here, but he was kept safe & came home exhausted & frustrated. Garage in Tsumeb then towed the car back to their garage yesterday & we are now waiting to find out what’s going on.
At our briefing Monday, the principal informed us that corporeal punishment will no longer be tolerated at our school!!!!!!! It was difficult to sit there & not react. I believe it was the result of our contacting the parents of two of our girls after one of them had been slapped. We also reported to a school executive who demanded action. So, now, our next battle is to convince some of our girls to report incidents of inappropriate actions and comments made by one of the male teachers. In a conversation with Jim, 3 asked if the “no touching policy” related to no corporeal punishment extended to unwanted sexual advances. He brought stories home & I have been talking to the girls. Each time, they tell me of yet another girl who has been touched. So, again, we need prayers to advise or act in a way that will protect these girls.
Sometimes I get impatient with the US for over-protecting us (banning a product that I like because a few people died using it), but there are very few safely regulations here, & the ones that are in place are largely ignored. Our children run helter-skelter in the school yard as cars & taxis drive helter-skelter--neither watching for the other. Pre-grade through Grade 4 are released at 12:30. There is no supervision of them & many wander outside the gate--and we are located on a primary highway with cars racing by. Even after receiving a report that a local man was luring children into his car, the children were simply warned. So, somewhere between US & Namibia, there must be some reasonable measures taken to ensure safety.
Okay, if you have read all of this, you deserve a prize. Take a little trip to the store & buy a Dove bar.
With love & prayers,
sharon
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
a little about the culture
Greetings from Namibia. I started a blog entry several days ago & I thought I saved it to finish later, but now I can’t find it. It was a good one, too!
My intent was to tell you about some of the Namibian culture that might give you a little insight into the people here. I think we have begun to take some of these “differences” as the status quo, so before we become totally acclimated, I will try to share these with you.
When someone hands something to us, they always use their right hand (the left would be a sign of disrespect) and touch their right elbow with their left hand. It isn’t important for us to do the same to someone younger or of equal or less social /professional status, but we make an effort to do it when we want to show respect to someone older (that’s a joke!--there aren’t too many older than us) or a school official. Women usually do a little curtsy, also.
They often use what I consider to be an Italian greeting: grasp each others’ shoulders or arms in sort of a hug, & touch right cheeks, then left cheeks. That is most often with people you know fairly well.
They use a greeting that we find very hard to get used to, but if one does not greet in the right way, he is considered very rude & they mught refuse to help you. We did not make a good first impression here because we failed to greet properly. In fact, at our last staff briefing, we got an “indirect” lecture on how to greet, I’m sure because we just are not good at it.
Desmond: Good morning, Ms. Helen?
Helen : yes.
Desmond: Are you fine?
Helen: Yes, and how are you?
Desmond: yes
Helen: Are you fine?
Desmond: yes
It can continue …
Helen: Is your wife well?
Desmond: Yes, Is your husband well?
Helen: yes. Was your weekend fine?
Desmond: yes
And it can go on & on.
And every person has to greet every person. So when we walk into the staff room, we have to go through this ritual with every person there, preferably along with an African handshake (3 part--I’m sure you have seen African-Americans do it, mostly the young “hip” ones. Here, it is traditional. Men almost always use it, and women frequently do, but I notice that men don’t always use it with women--at least not me. It can be awkward for me ‘cause I’m never sure which way they are going to shake my hand). Then, as others come into the room, they go around & do the same thing. It is very time consuming & irritating for me esp. if I am trying to get some work done & keep being interrupted. Our Filipino colleague entered the staff room one morning & said “good morning, everybody”--she was informed that is not acceptable. And just because you greeted someone in the morning doesn’t mean your obligation is complete. See them later & it’s the same song & dance.
I referred to our “indirect” lecture. It is difficult to understand what people are saying, because they don’t always say what they mean. The principal might say “some people are not turning in their lesson plans. I don’t know, maybe there is a problem with the copier, or maybe they forget.” He will not talk to the person/s who don’t turn them in, and he will offer some sort of an “excuse” for them. When we ask questions, we rarely get a straight-forward answer. They will say “maybe it is this way, I don’t know.” and they might tack on “ maybe someone knows.”==but we’re not asking for an explanation for the theory of relativity, we just want to know when we are able to use the computer lab, or do the learners have school tomorrow, or is there a parent meeting Wed.
Our Head of Department is getting married in August. We had a meeting to discuss what we are going to do for her. No one would offer a suggestion. I made the mistake of suggesting that people contribute whatever amount they wanted, then a present could be purchased accordingly. Oh, no, we must all give the same amount. Finally, it was asked what was done for the last wedding, & they came up with N$50 ($7US), but could women contribute less since they have to buy a dress. I nearly flipped my wig--we all have to wear the same outfit! That discussion lasted an inordinate amount of time. I was told a few days later that the outfit has been designed & the seamstress will get together with me “sometime”. I should have an interesting report on the wedding. I do know that if they live in a village, the bride has to leave her village & live in her husband’s parents’ home until he is able to build for them.
Many people live in villages, but if they have a job in town, they might stay in town during the week & go to the village on weekends. I find it rather amazing how they float from one style of living to another. In the village they may very well not have running water (except they run to the nearest water supply & haul it back). Maybe no electricity, mud floors, round mud huts w/ thatched roofs & no windows. No kitchen as we know it, no bathroom…& then they come back to town where people live a more modern life. But I see in their culture far more flexibility than we have. Because they rarely plan anything ahead, they are ready to “go with the flow”--wherever, whenever, however it happens to be.
Time means little to them. While the principal admonishes us to be on time for meetings & classes, he is usually late. Shops close promptly, but opening is another matter. Today there was a meeting with Grade 10 parents at 1:00. At 1:00, teachers headed to the hall to set up for the meeting. This is AIDS awareness week. Today is Tuesday, there is no school tomorrow, but Friday we will have “something” in the hall, so teachers should have their learners do “something” for the “something” Friday. “Maybe ‘some people’ could hang condoms all around the school.”--I kid you not, that was said at our briefing & it was not meant to be a joke. Yea, we are pre-grade (kindergarten) through Grade 10.
Men wear western clothing. Women wear professional clothes if needed for their work. But older women usually wear traditional tribal dress. Here the majority of the people are Owambo (Ovambo) and the dress is very practical. The yoke of the dress fits the woman, is a simple round neckline, sleeves are a little puffed & can be short or a bit longer. The full dress then is gathered at the yoke & is usually about mid-calf in length. Made of cotton, they are comfortable & cool. They often take length of matching fabric (or clashing, if that suits them) & wrap it around their heads. The Ovambo fabric is various shaded of pink stripes. They can wear the fabric as a skirt (full) with a western blouse or as a full dress. Another tribe here, but by far in the minority, is the Herero. They are herders & their lives revolve around their cattle & goats. The women wear several (like 8!) layers of dresses and a headdress that is reminiscent of the horns of their cattle. I wrote of the Himbas before. We rarely see them in our region, but Jim saw one recently, but she had a blanket around her--it was “cold” by their standards.
They are very open in their expressions of their faith. Conversations are peppered with references to Jesus & “my Lord”, prayers are frequent, cel phone rings are often religious songs or a preacher quoting a Scripture passage. Any music played in the Staff Room is religious, (I made the mistake of taking our CD player one day to play the Mamas & the Papas & was drowned out by Gospel music). The music in the taxis is always blaring “church” music (or rap, the lyrics of which I would be too embarrassed to quote).
Unemployment is very high, some estimates run up to 50%. No surprise that theft is a way of life. We had burglar bars put on our door (they are standard on windows) & we have an armed guard at night & our campus is surrounded by chain-link fence w/ barbed wire on top. Any home that has any value at all is walled in w/ barbed or razor wire on top & electric wire along with it. Women keep their cel phones in their bras, men wear their money under their shirts or in their front pants pocket. Computers are concealed in another bag, maybe a grocery bag, or they will be ripped out of your hand. We are constantly being warned to be careful as we are sitting ducks. We don’t stand out as American, however. We are often asked if we are Norwegian, or we will be asked where we are from. They know we are not Afrikkans--we can identify them, now--but can’t pinpoint our country of origin. It surprises me--I thought that certainly we would be recognized as American. Maybe we aren’t the center of the universe, after all!
Well, that’s more than enough. Jim & I ended buying 160 dictionaries for each of our learners. They wanted to know when they had to return them. Decided they should own them--they just can’t believe it.
We need your prayers. We are seriously considering staying for a second year. We have applied, and we are asking God to block it if it is not what He wants. If accepted, we have until Aug. 31 to make a commitment, so we have time, but we need assurance that to stay would be in the best interest of all concerned. Please pray that we know what to do. Right now we are comfortable with the idea.
So, until next time, may you all take good care of yourselves & know how very blessed you are.
Jim & sharon
My intent was to tell you about some of the Namibian culture that might give you a little insight into the people here. I think we have begun to take some of these “differences” as the status quo, so before we become totally acclimated, I will try to share these with you.
When someone hands something to us, they always use their right hand (the left would be a sign of disrespect) and touch their right elbow with their left hand. It isn’t important for us to do the same to someone younger or of equal or less social /professional status, but we make an effort to do it when we want to show respect to someone older (that’s a joke!--there aren’t too many older than us) or a school official. Women usually do a little curtsy, also.
They often use what I consider to be an Italian greeting: grasp each others’ shoulders or arms in sort of a hug, & touch right cheeks, then left cheeks. That is most often with people you know fairly well.
They use a greeting that we find very hard to get used to, but if one does not greet in the right way, he is considered very rude & they mught refuse to help you. We did not make a good first impression here because we failed to greet properly. In fact, at our last staff briefing, we got an “indirect” lecture on how to greet, I’m sure because we just are not good at it.
Desmond: Good morning, Ms. Helen?
Helen : yes.
Desmond: Are you fine?
Helen: Yes, and how are you?
Desmond: yes
Helen: Are you fine?
Desmond: yes
It can continue …
Helen: Is your wife well?
Desmond: Yes, Is your husband well?
Helen: yes. Was your weekend fine?
Desmond: yes
And it can go on & on.
And every person has to greet every person. So when we walk into the staff room, we have to go through this ritual with every person there, preferably along with an African handshake (3 part--I’m sure you have seen African-Americans do it, mostly the young “hip” ones. Here, it is traditional. Men almost always use it, and women frequently do, but I notice that men don’t always use it with women--at least not me. It can be awkward for me ‘cause I’m never sure which way they are going to shake my hand). Then, as others come into the room, they go around & do the same thing. It is very time consuming & irritating for me esp. if I am trying to get some work done & keep being interrupted. Our Filipino colleague entered the staff room one morning & said “good morning, everybody”--she was informed that is not acceptable. And just because you greeted someone in the morning doesn’t mean your obligation is complete. See them later & it’s the same song & dance.
I referred to our “indirect” lecture. It is difficult to understand what people are saying, because they don’t always say what they mean. The principal might say “some people are not turning in their lesson plans. I don’t know, maybe there is a problem with the copier, or maybe they forget.” He will not talk to the person/s who don’t turn them in, and he will offer some sort of an “excuse” for them. When we ask questions, we rarely get a straight-forward answer. They will say “maybe it is this way, I don’t know.” and they might tack on “ maybe someone knows.”==but we’re not asking for an explanation for the theory of relativity, we just want to know when we are able to use the computer lab, or do the learners have school tomorrow, or is there a parent meeting Wed.
Our Head of Department is getting married in August. We had a meeting to discuss what we are going to do for her. No one would offer a suggestion. I made the mistake of suggesting that people contribute whatever amount they wanted, then a present could be purchased accordingly. Oh, no, we must all give the same amount. Finally, it was asked what was done for the last wedding, & they came up with N$50 ($7US), but could women contribute less since they have to buy a dress. I nearly flipped my wig--we all have to wear the same outfit! That discussion lasted an inordinate amount of time. I was told a few days later that the outfit has been designed & the seamstress will get together with me “sometime”. I should have an interesting report on the wedding. I do know that if they live in a village, the bride has to leave her village & live in her husband’s parents’ home until he is able to build for them.
Many people live in villages, but if they have a job in town, they might stay in town during the week & go to the village on weekends. I find it rather amazing how they float from one style of living to another. In the village they may very well not have running water (except they run to the nearest water supply & haul it back). Maybe no electricity, mud floors, round mud huts w/ thatched roofs & no windows. No kitchen as we know it, no bathroom…& then they come back to town where people live a more modern life. But I see in their culture far more flexibility than we have. Because they rarely plan anything ahead, they are ready to “go with the flow”--wherever, whenever, however it happens to be.
Time means little to them. While the principal admonishes us to be on time for meetings & classes, he is usually late. Shops close promptly, but opening is another matter. Today there was a meeting with Grade 10 parents at 1:00. At 1:00, teachers headed to the hall to set up for the meeting. This is AIDS awareness week. Today is Tuesday, there is no school tomorrow, but Friday we will have “something” in the hall, so teachers should have their learners do “something” for the “something” Friday. “Maybe ‘some people’ could hang condoms all around the school.”--I kid you not, that was said at our briefing & it was not meant to be a joke. Yea, we are pre-grade (kindergarten) through Grade 10.
Men wear western clothing. Women wear professional clothes if needed for their work. But older women usually wear traditional tribal dress. Here the majority of the people are Owambo (Ovambo) and the dress is very practical. The yoke of the dress fits the woman, is a simple round neckline, sleeves are a little puffed & can be short or a bit longer. The full dress then is gathered at the yoke & is usually about mid-calf in length. Made of cotton, they are comfortable & cool. They often take length of matching fabric (or clashing, if that suits them) & wrap it around their heads. The Ovambo fabric is various shaded of pink stripes. They can wear the fabric as a skirt (full) with a western blouse or as a full dress. Another tribe here, but by far in the minority, is the Herero. They are herders & their lives revolve around their cattle & goats. The women wear several (like 8!) layers of dresses and a headdress that is reminiscent of the horns of their cattle. I wrote of the Himbas before. We rarely see them in our region, but Jim saw one recently, but she had a blanket around her--it was “cold” by their standards.
They are very open in their expressions of their faith. Conversations are peppered with references to Jesus & “my Lord”, prayers are frequent, cel phone rings are often religious songs or a preacher quoting a Scripture passage. Any music played in the Staff Room is religious, (I made the mistake of taking our CD player one day to play the Mamas & the Papas & was drowned out by Gospel music). The music in the taxis is always blaring “church” music (or rap, the lyrics of which I would be too embarrassed to quote).
Unemployment is very high, some estimates run up to 50%. No surprise that theft is a way of life. We had burglar bars put on our door (they are standard on windows) & we have an armed guard at night & our campus is surrounded by chain-link fence w/ barbed wire on top. Any home that has any value at all is walled in w/ barbed or razor wire on top & electric wire along with it. Women keep their cel phones in their bras, men wear their money under their shirts or in their front pants pocket. Computers are concealed in another bag, maybe a grocery bag, or they will be ripped out of your hand. We are constantly being warned to be careful as we are sitting ducks. We don’t stand out as American, however. We are often asked if we are Norwegian, or we will be asked where we are from. They know we are not Afrikkans--we can identify them, now--but can’t pinpoint our country of origin. It surprises me--I thought that certainly we would be recognized as American. Maybe we aren’t the center of the universe, after all!
Well, that’s more than enough. Jim & I ended buying 160 dictionaries for each of our learners. They wanted to know when they had to return them. Decided they should own them--they just can’t believe it.
We need your prayers. We are seriously considering staying for a second year. We have applied, and we are asking God to block it if it is not what He wants. If accepted, we have until Aug. 31 to make a commitment, so we have time, but we need assurance that to stay would be in the best interest of all concerned. Please pray that we know what to do. Right now we are comfortable with the idea.
So, until next time, may you all take good care of yourselves & know how very blessed you are.
Jim & sharon
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Namibia update
Hello again, from beautiful Namibia. The temperatures are dropping & for that we are quite grateful.
Jim just came back from our school-supply store with 100 dictionaries, thanks to many of you. Not sure exactly how we will distribute them, but we both are on a mission to improve our learners’ vocabularies & spelling, so we might just hoard them for our own! We are going to Windhoek for a 3-day in-service & at that time will visit a larger supply store to see if we can get a couple of sets of Namibian literature for the classes to read & study together. There is very little aimed at upper-primary level, so I may have to settle for American lit. There are a couple of learners who show some writing potential & I’ve told them, the market is open for Namibian authors…dream on.
We are now coming to the end of our Term 1 break. It has been wonderful. Our oldest daughter, Colleen, & my 2 sisters were with us for a week & we traveled to see a very different Namibia from what we live in. Started with a game drive through Etosha Nat’l Park. It’s not the best season for that since the animals still have plenty of food & water available to them, but we saw enough to make our “guests” happy. Went north to the Angola border to visit a beautiful waterfall & discovered a lush, green, hilly area quite unlike our region. Proceeded to visit the Himbas, which Jim & I had done before, but wanted to share it with the “girls”. Colleen had done great research to find accommodations throughout the trip & our first treat was to “camp” provided with large tents on solid floors, flush toilets w/ hot & cold running water added on to each of our tents (found out there is nothing like taking a shower or sitting on the throne while basking in the sun or gazing up at the stars! Wonderful beds w/ lovely linens. Wish you could have been there with us!
We headed south through the Namib desert (oldest in the world) where we saw petrified trees 280,000,000 years old. There we stayed at a lodge in the middle of nowhere, built into cliffs of HUGE rocks. Colleen came upon a cobra snake that reared its head & spread its hood. After quite a long time & the effort of several brave men, a guide raised in the bush was called & he captured it to release it back into the wild. Yes, they are very poisonous. It was exciting, but only because no one was struck or sprayed.
Reminded Jim & I our trek in the Amazon where our group had a close call with a fer-de-lance (extremely poisonous). As long as they don’t strike…
We had to check out Swakopmund, a resort town on the south-eastern coast that took us back to Germany. It’s is a very wealthy town & we felt we were in a different world. The famous dunes are in that area of the coast, & while we didn’t make it to the largest one, we were impressed with what we saw. Time was running out, so we had to head back home. We had rented a Toyota Yuris, thinking it would be okay since we weren’t going to attempt roads that are “restricted” to 4-wheel. We made it okay, bumping along many, many kms of rough, gravel roads, but next time, we splurge for something tougher. My back is slowly recovering. We’ve kept the car to take to mid-service in Windhoek & have enjoyed the freedom it gives us. Mostly got a bit more familiar with the local region. There is a town at the Angola border that is full of China shops--no, they don’t sell China ware, they sell “junk” from China, run by Chinese & they all have the same things to sell--luggage, aluminum pots, clothes, shoes, low-end electronics, earrings, watches, necklaces, purses, tote bags, plastic flowers, curtains, table cloths….it’s amazing. We have a lot of them here in beautiful downtown Ondangwa (tongue in cheek), but that town is much smaller than Ond. & I’ll bet there are 200 of them. But we also found a fantastic pizza place there, which also has a store in the town where we go to church, so now we have a way to satisfy that craving--they said that they would deliver to us (for a price, of course, but when the need arises, it is do-able). Slowly, but surely, we are finding what we “need” here!
We started our break by “closing out” Term 1 & getting organized for Term 2. We learned a lot & are planning better for next terms. The system is quite different here & we have been working blind, but we’re both geared up for school to start again & looking forward to it. Have missed the learners (one of my most challenging ones has enrolled in a boarding school, so that class should be much easier to handle!). I will be anxious to learn of their reactions to their grades--they were very low. I’m not easy. We’re finishing break by preparing some lesson plans so we can hit the ground running. Colleen, Sheila & Sandy came with suitcases full of pens, pencils, frisbees, books & misc. supplies, so we are excited to be able to distribute those things, too. I don’t know about you, but every summer, as the new school year approached, I would organize my new school supplies & admire whatever new clothes I got & battle the butterflies in my stomach--nothing’s changed (‘cept there are no new clothes!).
May God bless each of you for your support of us. If you have any questions about anything over here, e-mail us. I’m sure I overlook many things in this blog that might interest you. Let me know.
Uhala po nawa
Jim & sharon
Jim just came back from our school-supply store with 100 dictionaries, thanks to many of you. Not sure exactly how we will distribute them, but we both are on a mission to improve our learners’ vocabularies & spelling, so we might just hoard them for our own! We are going to Windhoek for a 3-day in-service & at that time will visit a larger supply store to see if we can get a couple of sets of Namibian literature for the classes to read & study together. There is very little aimed at upper-primary level, so I may have to settle for American lit. There are a couple of learners who show some writing potential & I’ve told them, the market is open for Namibian authors…dream on.
We are now coming to the end of our Term 1 break. It has been wonderful. Our oldest daughter, Colleen, & my 2 sisters were with us for a week & we traveled to see a very different Namibia from what we live in. Started with a game drive through Etosha Nat’l Park. It’s not the best season for that since the animals still have plenty of food & water available to them, but we saw enough to make our “guests” happy. Went north to the Angola border to visit a beautiful waterfall & discovered a lush, green, hilly area quite unlike our region. Proceeded to visit the Himbas, which Jim & I had done before, but wanted to share it with the “girls”. Colleen had done great research to find accommodations throughout the trip & our first treat was to “camp” provided with large tents on solid floors, flush toilets w/ hot & cold running water added on to each of our tents (found out there is nothing like taking a shower or sitting on the throne while basking in the sun or gazing up at the stars! Wonderful beds w/ lovely linens. Wish you could have been there with us!
We headed south through the Namib desert (oldest in the world) where we saw petrified trees 280,000,000 years old. There we stayed at a lodge in the middle of nowhere, built into cliffs of HUGE rocks. Colleen came upon a cobra snake that reared its head & spread its hood. After quite a long time & the effort of several brave men, a guide raised in the bush was called & he captured it to release it back into the wild. Yes, they are very poisonous. It was exciting, but only because no one was struck or sprayed.
Reminded Jim & I our trek in the Amazon where our group had a close call with a fer-de-lance (extremely poisonous). As long as they don’t strike…
We had to check out Swakopmund, a resort town on the south-eastern coast that took us back to Germany. It’s is a very wealthy town & we felt we were in a different world. The famous dunes are in that area of the coast, & while we didn’t make it to the largest one, we were impressed with what we saw. Time was running out, so we had to head back home. We had rented a Toyota Yuris, thinking it would be okay since we weren’t going to attempt roads that are “restricted” to 4-wheel. We made it okay, bumping along many, many kms of rough, gravel roads, but next time, we splurge for something tougher. My back is slowly recovering. We’ve kept the car to take to mid-service in Windhoek & have enjoyed the freedom it gives us. Mostly got a bit more familiar with the local region. There is a town at the Angola border that is full of China shops--no, they don’t sell China ware, they sell “junk” from China, run by Chinese & they all have the same things to sell--luggage, aluminum pots, clothes, shoes, low-end electronics, earrings, watches, necklaces, purses, tote bags, plastic flowers, curtains, table cloths….it’s amazing. We have a lot of them here in beautiful downtown Ondangwa (tongue in cheek), but that town is much smaller than Ond. & I’ll bet there are 200 of them. But we also found a fantastic pizza place there, which also has a store in the town where we go to church, so now we have a way to satisfy that craving--they said that they would deliver to us (for a price, of course, but when the need arises, it is do-able). Slowly, but surely, we are finding what we “need” here!
We started our break by “closing out” Term 1 & getting organized for Term 2. We learned a lot & are planning better for next terms. The system is quite different here & we have been working blind, but we’re both geared up for school to start again & looking forward to it. Have missed the learners (one of my most challenging ones has enrolled in a boarding school, so that class should be much easier to handle!). I will be anxious to learn of their reactions to their grades--they were very low. I’m not easy. We’re finishing break by preparing some lesson plans so we can hit the ground running. Colleen, Sheila & Sandy came with suitcases full of pens, pencils, frisbees, books & misc. supplies, so we are excited to be able to distribute those things, too. I don’t know about you, but every summer, as the new school year approached, I would organize my new school supplies & admire whatever new clothes I got & battle the butterflies in my stomach--nothing’s changed (‘cept there are no new clothes!).
May God bless each of you for your support of us. If you have any questions about anything over here, e-mail us. I’m sure I overlook many things in this blog that might interest you. Let me know.
Uhala po nawa
Jim & sharon
Saturday, April 24, 2010
no more school, no more books, no more learners' dirty looks
Hello, everyone!!! I wish I could say that we had some distinctly "African" experiences this past month, but school was our one & only life.
Oh, my goodness, it has been nearly a month since our last blog.
It has been extremely busy here. But first of all…THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!!!
We could not believe the money that was sacrificed to benefit our school. Our plan was to get the textbooks & dictionaries, but now we have so much more to spend!!! At this point, not sure how to use the extra. Our Lord will have to direct us. There are so many things we could use it for…a car, trip to Northern Africa…just kidding. Books for the library, whole sets of literature that English classes could study together (THAT’S a dream!). They want a soccer field, volleyball court & netball court. Although I am not a sports fan, I can see the need for it here, & to be able to join w/ other schools for competitions, would be very nice for them. But then, the desks are downright safety hazards, there is absolutely nothing in the classrooms except 40 desks & chairs. Bookshelves would be nice, cork strips on which to hang their best efforts, waste baskets (dust bins, as they say), an in-school store where they could buy the supplies that they never have & to buy somewhat nourishing food. The executives are making some improvements--we now have sidewalks outside a block of classrooms & one running from the staff room to the upper-primary rooms--Yea!!! I will no longer have to negotiate the mud & water puddles when I go to classes (or balance precariously on the broken pallets they put over some of the larger puddles). Anyway, your concrete support is greatly appreciated.
Easter was different for us this year. We made it to the Good Friday service which included a re-enactment of the passion. It was very disturbing to both of us because there was so much laughing--the “actors” were friends of the church members & our guess is that there might have been some inappropriate casting. It seemed, however, to hit both of us at the same time: this is what it must have really been like, with a lot of laughing & jeering and seeming disrespect by the locals. It was painful in the all-too reality. Jim was asked to read for the Sat. vigil, but we could not go. It started at 8pm & we would never have been able to get a taxi at 10pm. Sunday morning we had about a 3+ hour downpour. It seldom rains like that. Usually heavy wind & rain come blasting through very suddenly, & don’t last more than an hour. So, we were unable to get up to the road & we doubted the road to the church-town was passable. Sometimes we seriously question if this is really what God had in mind for us!
Once the Easter weekend was over we went into full-swing exam prep. We were unable to get any information on exactly how exams are handled. They are over now (today is our 1st free day--yea!!!) we still don’t know how they are handled. Somehow we muddled through. My English learners received VERY low grades from me. Jim, on the other hand gave out 27 A’s in his Grade 7. Next term he won’t be so easy!! He can’t be, Grade 7 takes National Exams at the end of the year. That puts a lot of pressure on him. The last two weeks were very stressful. The learners were fighting, teachers were belligerent & rude. If Jim & I didn’t have each other, we would have never made it through intact.
Our founder/owner came by the school a few days ago. We had met him in passing in Windhoek during orientation, but he hadn’t been here. I think he was sick. He asked for a meeting w/ teachers & staff. After grumbling that they weren’t going (it was after “knock-off” time) nearly all the teachers were there. He & the exec. Treasurer, whom we talk to frequently, extolled the virtues of the “Americans” and how we do so much to help raise the academic excellence of the school & how we must stay for another year--or more. They are personal friends with the Minister of Ed. & the President, they can pull strings. However, the words were nice, but it was very embarrassing & the next morning the staff room was a bit chilly. Fortunately our colleagues didn’t know that we went out to dinner with them after the meeting, or we would not have been able to show our faces. I really can understand their resentment toward us, but if they don’t have some native-English speakers around their children, the country will continue to sound like an uneducated, backward country. Teachers’ English is deplorable & that’s what the learners hear, day in & day out.
We are wrapping up Term 1, filing all the paperwork & getting ready for Term 2. It will be better, we are sure. At least we won’t be starting out behind on day 1. We learned a lot & have plans that we hope will improve the classroom environment. One of the plans involves the use of duct tape and glue. As much as their talking drives us crazy, we love these kids.
Our first-born & my 2 sisters will be arriving May 4. We will be traveling from 5th to 12th. Then we have nearly 2 weeks before school begins again. Not sure what we will do or where we will go. We have a 4-day in-service in Windhoek from May 20 so maybe we will check out the central-south regions.
Oh, I hear the taxi outside. Jim must be back from running errands. Oh yea, he came with the Exec. Treasurer & two daughters, and here I sit in my ‘jamies & bed-head!!! And the house is filthy. Oh well, life goes on.
Our best to all back home.
sharon
Oh, my goodness, it has been nearly a month since our last blog.
It has been extremely busy here. But first of all…THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!!!
We could not believe the money that was sacrificed to benefit our school. Our plan was to get the textbooks & dictionaries, but now we have so much more to spend!!! At this point, not sure how to use the extra. Our Lord will have to direct us. There are so many things we could use it for…a car, trip to Northern Africa…just kidding. Books for the library, whole sets of literature that English classes could study together (THAT’S a dream!). They want a soccer field, volleyball court & netball court. Although I am not a sports fan, I can see the need for it here, & to be able to join w/ other schools for competitions, would be very nice for them. But then, the desks are downright safety hazards, there is absolutely nothing in the classrooms except 40 desks & chairs. Bookshelves would be nice, cork strips on which to hang their best efforts, waste baskets (dust bins, as they say), an in-school store where they could buy the supplies that they never have & to buy somewhat nourishing food. The executives are making some improvements--we now have sidewalks outside a block of classrooms & one running from the staff room to the upper-primary rooms--Yea!!! I will no longer have to negotiate the mud & water puddles when I go to classes (or balance precariously on the broken pallets they put over some of the larger puddles). Anyway, your concrete support is greatly appreciated.
Easter was different for us this year. We made it to the Good Friday service which included a re-enactment of the passion. It was very disturbing to both of us because there was so much laughing--the “actors” were friends of the church members & our guess is that there might have been some inappropriate casting. It seemed, however, to hit both of us at the same time: this is what it must have really been like, with a lot of laughing & jeering and seeming disrespect by the locals. It was painful in the all-too reality. Jim was asked to read for the Sat. vigil, but we could not go. It started at 8pm & we would never have been able to get a taxi at 10pm. Sunday morning we had about a 3+ hour downpour. It seldom rains like that. Usually heavy wind & rain come blasting through very suddenly, & don’t last more than an hour. So, we were unable to get up to the road & we doubted the road to the church-town was passable. Sometimes we seriously question if this is really what God had in mind for us!
Once the Easter weekend was over we went into full-swing exam prep. We were unable to get any information on exactly how exams are handled. They are over now (today is our 1st free day--yea!!!) we still don’t know how they are handled. Somehow we muddled through. My English learners received VERY low grades from me. Jim, on the other hand gave out 27 A’s in his Grade 7. Next term he won’t be so easy!! He can’t be, Grade 7 takes National Exams at the end of the year. That puts a lot of pressure on him. The last two weeks were very stressful. The learners were fighting, teachers were belligerent & rude. If Jim & I didn’t have each other, we would have never made it through intact.
Our founder/owner came by the school a few days ago. We had met him in passing in Windhoek during orientation, but he hadn’t been here. I think he was sick. He asked for a meeting w/ teachers & staff. After grumbling that they weren’t going (it was after “knock-off” time) nearly all the teachers were there. He & the exec. Treasurer, whom we talk to frequently, extolled the virtues of the “Americans” and how we do so much to help raise the academic excellence of the school & how we must stay for another year--or more. They are personal friends with the Minister of Ed. & the President, they can pull strings. However, the words were nice, but it was very embarrassing & the next morning the staff room was a bit chilly. Fortunately our colleagues didn’t know that we went out to dinner with them after the meeting, or we would not have been able to show our faces. I really can understand their resentment toward us, but if they don’t have some native-English speakers around their children, the country will continue to sound like an uneducated, backward country. Teachers’ English is deplorable & that’s what the learners hear, day in & day out.
We are wrapping up Term 1, filing all the paperwork & getting ready for Term 2. It will be better, we are sure. At least we won’t be starting out behind on day 1. We learned a lot & have plans that we hope will improve the classroom environment. One of the plans involves the use of duct tape and glue. As much as their talking drives us crazy, we love these kids.
Our first-born & my 2 sisters will be arriving May 4. We will be traveling from 5th to 12th. Then we have nearly 2 weeks before school begins again. Not sure what we will do or where we will go. We have a 4-day in-service in Windhoek from May 20 so maybe we will check out the central-south regions.
Oh, I hear the taxi outside. Jim must be back from running errands. Oh yea, he came with the Exec. Treasurer & two daughters, and here I sit in my ‘jamies & bed-head!!! And the house is filthy. Oh well, life goes on.
Our best to all back home.
sharon
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Himba tribe
Fix yourselves a cup of coffee or a glass of wine & enjoy:
Hello, everyone! I want to share with you a fantastic day we had last Sunday. We had a 3-day weekend in celebration of Namibian Independence which took effect March 21, 1990. We had ½ day of school on Friday, rented a car & took off Sat. morning. We were headed to Epupa Falls in the Himba area of Namibia. If you have never heard of the Himba tribe, look on the internet to see their pictures & get a little background. This was our first venture on our own, but felt quite confident--we had a new car & 3 road maps. Oh, to begin, Jim had talked to someone who said that there is a Roman Catholic church in Ondangwa. So, with our own wheels, we set out to find it before heading out of town. Namibians do not give directions. They wave their hand in a general direction & say, “Oh, just go this way & you will find it.” We saw parts of our town that we didn’t know existed--corrugated steel shanties of the obviously poor. We wonder how many of our learners live in that area. Anyway, we found the church, now we have to find out when they have Masses or some sort of service.
Headed out of town. All was fine ‘til we looked for a certain road that would take us directly to out destination. Again, asking was an exercise in futility, getting different responses from different people. It appeared that one town’s policeman didn’t know how to read a map. He tried sending us back home.
Anyway, after many delays & turn-arounds, we made it to the lodge. We had been unable to secure reservations, but had gotten one message telling us no problem, they had plenty of rooms open. Yea, but they were all luxury rooms, along w/ luxury prices. We signed up for a tour to the falls & Himba settlement. We had been told that we would need a 4x4 to get there & we couldn’t find one to rent. Had to pay an exorbitant price ‘cause it was just the 2 of us wanting to go. And we had to eat there, there was nowhere else to eat & those prices were awful. But we were celebrating our 2 birthdays & anniversary. But it was worth every bit of inconvenience & penny spent.
Left 8:00 Sun & got back to lodge at 6:30. We could have driven it ourselves w/o 4-wheel drive, as it turned out, but one never knows for sure. Stopped at a couple Himba settlements before we found one where the people were home & not out in the garden or tending their herds. Himba women are working very hard to maintain their heritage. They wear only animal skins as little skirts. They never use water to cleanse. Twice a day they cover their bodies with a mixture of butter & ochre powder. They put milk in a pumpkin, hang it from a tree & swing it back & forth for 2-3 hrs to make the butter. They take a reddish colored rock (the land there is red) & grind it down into powder. They start this practice when they reach puberty & continue it for the rest of their lives. They spread the mixture on their hair, “style” it, usually into something that looks like ropes, using extensions which sometimes are made out of the children’s hair that has been cut off, or they buy them in town. After 2-3 months, they take their “do” apart, chipping the mud-mix off their hair. They clean their hair by spreading cow dung on their hair followed by white ash from a fire that burns continually. Then they re-apply the butter/ochre mixture & style it again. They do all of this, because water is so sparse, they don’t want to waste it on themselves. The mixture protects them form the sun. They use water to drink & occasionally wash the children. A young girls demonstrated how they cleanse their bodies. They take small coals from the fire (it is probably something like incense) & hold it so the smoke rises up to their arm pits & then they crouch over the smoke to deodorize the groin area. The butter ochre odor, while not exactly unpleasant, seemed to permeate the entire settlement & I had a hard time washing it away when we returned to the lodge.
A settlement is a family group--could be 20-30 people. Tree limbs are stuck in the ground to form a fence around the kraal. There is a central area surrounded by the same type of fence where the holy fire is kept burning & where their cattle are sometimes kept. The Chief & his wife have a hut, then each of his additional wives have their own hut & her children stay in her hut until about age 7 or 8 when they leave their mother’s & join a hut that is all girls, or one for the boys. They sleep there, but are out & about mixing in w/ everyone else during the day. The Chief’s sons also have their own huts, again one for each son & his 1st wife, & additional huts for each of his other wives & children.
They eat 2 times/day. Both meals consist of porridge & milk. Even though they have very large herds of cattle, sheep, & goats, they only slaughter a goat every 10-14 days, so they then eat goat until that meat runs out, then it’s back to porridge & milk. They only grow the grain for the porridge in their “gardens”. Fruits & vegetables require too much water. They don’t slaughter the animals (except for deaths & wedding celebrations--both last 2 weeks.) because the herds are the men’s wealth. Some of our Americans hoard their money, Himbas hoard their animals. The men tend to the herds & that’s about it. They leave for 2-3 months at a time to take the herds to better grazing land. They also build the huts: they take thick tree limbs & form a tee-pee shaped frame. Then the women cover the frame w/ cow dung. No hole at the top, no windows or other openings--just a “doorway” that is very narrow & low. They sleep on animal skins. The one we entered was maybe 10’ in diameter. They usually cook outside or in one of the special huts made for cooking. The temperature stays constant, not really hot, but very stuffy!!!
When someone dies, they are wrapped in leather & buried. Above their grave they put a tree limb stuck in the ground & from there they hang cattle horns--pointing up to signify a man & down for a woman (or vice-versa). They are also beginning to put stone markers similar to our plain ones.
When the children have all of their permanent teach, the Chief has them lay on their backs on the ground, then he goes to each w/ a stick & a stone & knocks their 4 bottom teeth out. The only explanation I got for that is it’s a tradition.
Women & children may not say their husband’s/father’s sur name. So if we were Himba, & I wanted to refer to Jim, I would say, “Colleen’s father” (or one of the other 15 children’s father). The women want many children. If one has only 3,4 or 5, she is mocked by the other women saying she’s not a woman. One asked me how many I had (our guide was the translator) & asked why only 3. I couldn’t come up w/ a reason! If the 1st wife (who has a greater place of honor than the other wives) cannot bear children, the husband will have one of his brothers impregnate her. If she gets pregnant, then obviously he’s infertile & she remains his wife. If she doesn’t, then she’s infertile, & while she may stay, he takes a second “1st” wife to produce his first off-spring.
The women wear very heavy metal rings around their ankles up to their calves; partly to protect them from snake or scorpion bites. The rings that she wears on her right leg are given to her by her father, the one on the left leg from her mother. When one of them dies, she removes that parent’s rings during her mourning period.
The women who are married wear a metal belt around their waist. If they are married to the Chief, they have special hair ornament that they wear on top of their head--makes them look like roosters.
The 1st wife is chosen by the boy’s father. The boy & girl are not told until a few days before their marriage & they probably have never seen each other. Girl is taken inside her mother’s hut & for 4 days she doesn’t leave it. She is totally cleansed & polished. All the ochre butter mixture is removed. Then she & her family walk to the boy’s settlement where there is feasting & celebrations for 2 weeks. Chief says words of marriage for the ceremony. The boy’s father has to pay cows & goats for the girl. The boy chooses his next wives himself. Usually marries additional wives every 2-3 years.
We asked the chief’s wives how old they are (looked OLD). They didn’t know, just that they were born a long time ago, maybe 1000 years. We stopped to talk to 4 women along side the road. They were collecting water from a well that the government drilled for the area. It had been broken since January, but water was trickling out, so they caught it to carry back to the settlement--they have all the time in the world. Asked them where they live & they waved their hand around & mentioned a name. When the guide asked what country they live in, they looked puzzled. He asked them if it might be Namibia. One said she heard that word, but didn’t know what is was. Didn’t know America (very few Americans visit that area--most of the white visitors are from Europe).
The Himbas hate education. It is a waste of time. The children are needed to tend the cattle. But the government has a policy that all are to go to school. Mobile schools are at a few settlement areas, but the most that go to school are 8-12 year olds & then only if they are not needed at the settlement. When we went inside the one hut, I saw some letters written on the wall along w/ a picture of a house which is typical of a kindergarten or 1st grade student. The girl of that hut who was going to school followed us to the gate (along w/ most of the people ) & she got my attention & announced very proudly “My name is Lucia” Oh my, I wanted to take her home with us!!! There was a little boy (about 2 I think)--who picked up a filthy enamel cup that was all chipped & rusty. A little girl poured filthy water into the cup & drank it! His nose was runny, his body dirty. I wanted to take him back to the lodge & bathe him & give him some safe water!!! But they rarely get sick. Many babies die shortly after birth, though. HIV-AIDS is not an issue among the Himba. They don’t mingle outside their own.
The men don’t use the butter/ochre mixture. They usually wear western clothes. They are not concerned w/ maintaining the Himba traditions. There are many tourists, so the Himbas will probably not exist as such in another 30 years. We were cautioned not to give them candy or pop or anything “western”. But, of course, they are gradually picking up our ways. And as the government makes headways w/ education, that will definitely be the beginning of the end. They are friendly, warm, peaceful people. They have no stress in their lives. If they go 2-3 days w/ no water, it’s okay, they will survive.
I think that is all that I can remember. They are among the earth’s most primitive peoples. We felt honored to be among them, even for only a few hours.
That’s all for now. Sharon
Hello, everyone! I want to share with you a fantastic day we had last Sunday. We had a 3-day weekend in celebration of Namibian Independence which took effect March 21, 1990. We had ½ day of school on Friday, rented a car & took off Sat. morning. We were headed to Epupa Falls in the Himba area of Namibia. If you have never heard of the Himba tribe, look on the internet to see their pictures & get a little background. This was our first venture on our own, but felt quite confident--we had a new car & 3 road maps. Oh, to begin, Jim had talked to someone who said that there is a Roman Catholic church in Ondangwa. So, with our own wheels, we set out to find it before heading out of town. Namibians do not give directions. They wave their hand in a general direction & say, “Oh, just go this way & you will find it.” We saw parts of our town that we didn’t know existed--corrugated steel shanties of the obviously poor. We wonder how many of our learners live in that area. Anyway, we found the church, now we have to find out when they have Masses or some sort of service.
Headed out of town. All was fine ‘til we looked for a certain road that would take us directly to out destination. Again, asking was an exercise in futility, getting different responses from different people. It appeared that one town’s policeman didn’t know how to read a map. He tried sending us back home.
Anyway, after many delays & turn-arounds, we made it to the lodge. We had been unable to secure reservations, but had gotten one message telling us no problem, they had plenty of rooms open. Yea, but they were all luxury rooms, along w/ luxury prices. We signed up for a tour to the falls & Himba settlement. We had been told that we would need a 4x4 to get there & we couldn’t find one to rent. Had to pay an exorbitant price ‘cause it was just the 2 of us wanting to go. And we had to eat there, there was nowhere else to eat & those prices were awful. But we were celebrating our 2 birthdays & anniversary. But it was worth every bit of inconvenience & penny spent.
Left 8:00 Sun & got back to lodge at 6:30. We could have driven it ourselves w/o 4-wheel drive, as it turned out, but one never knows for sure. Stopped at a couple Himba settlements before we found one where the people were home & not out in the garden or tending their herds. Himba women are working very hard to maintain their heritage. They wear only animal skins as little skirts. They never use water to cleanse. Twice a day they cover their bodies with a mixture of butter & ochre powder. They put milk in a pumpkin, hang it from a tree & swing it back & forth for 2-3 hrs to make the butter. They take a reddish colored rock (the land there is red) & grind it down into powder. They start this practice when they reach puberty & continue it for the rest of their lives. They spread the mixture on their hair, “style” it, usually into something that looks like ropes, using extensions which sometimes are made out of the children’s hair that has been cut off, or they buy them in town. After 2-3 months, they take their “do” apart, chipping the mud-mix off their hair. They clean their hair by spreading cow dung on their hair followed by white ash from a fire that burns continually. Then they re-apply the butter/ochre mixture & style it again. They do all of this, because water is so sparse, they don’t want to waste it on themselves. The mixture protects them form the sun. They use water to drink & occasionally wash the children. A young girls demonstrated how they cleanse their bodies. They take small coals from the fire (it is probably something like incense) & hold it so the smoke rises up to their arm pits & then they crouch over the smoke to deodorize the groin area. The butter ochre odor, while not exactly unpleasant, seemed to permeate the entire settlement & I had a hard time washing it away when we returned to the lodge.
A settlement is a family group--could be 20-30 people. Tree limbs are stuck in the ground to form a fence around the kraal. There is a central area surrounded by the same type of fence where the holy fire is kept burning & where their cattle are sometimes kept. The Chief & his wife have a hut, then each of his additional wives have their own hut & her children stay in her hut until about age 7 or 8 when they leave their mother’s & join a hut that is all girls, or one for the boys. They sleep there, but are out & about mixing in w/ everyone else during the day. The Chief’s sons also have their own huts, again one for each son & his 1st wife, & additional huts for each of his other wives & children.
They eat 2 times/day. Both meals consist of porridge & milk. Even though they have very large herds of cattle, sheep, & goats, they only slaughter a goat every 10-14 days, so they then eat goat until that meat runs out, then it’s back to porridge & milk. They only grow the grain for the porridge in their “gardens”. Fruits & vegetables require too much water. They don’t slaughter the animals (except for deaths & wedding celebrations--both last 2 weeks.) because the herds are the men’s wealth. Some of our Americans hoard their money, Himbas hoard their animals. The men tend to the herds & that’s about it. They leave for 2-3 months at a time to take the herds to better grazing land. They also build the huts: they take thick tree limbs & form a tee-pee shaped frame. Then the women cover the frame w/ cow dung. No hole at the top, no windows or other openings--just a “doorway” that is very narrow & low. They sleep on animal skins. The one we entered was maybe 10’ in diameter. They usually cook outside or in one of the special huts made for cooking. The temperature stays constant, not really hot, but very stuffy!!!
When someone dies, they are wrapped in leather & buried. Above their grave they put a tree limb stuck in the ground & from there they hang cattle horns--pointing up to signify a man & down for a woman (or vice-versa). They are also beginning to put stone markers similar to our plain ones.
When the children have all of their permanent teach, the Chief has them lay on their backs on the ground, then he goes to each w/ a stick & a stone & knocks their 4 bottom teeth out. The only explanation I got for that is it’s a tradition.
Women & children may not say their husband’s/father’s sur name. So if we were Himba, & I wanted to refer to Jim, I would say, “Colleen’s father” (or one of the other 15 children’s father). The women want many children. If one has only 3,4 or 5, she is mocked by the other women saying she’s not a woman. One asked me how many I had (our guide was the translator) & asked why only 3. I couldn’t come up w/ a reason! If the 1st wife (who has a greater place of honor than the other wives) cannot bear children, the husband will have one of his brothers impregnate her. If she gets pregnant, then obviously he’s infertile & she remains his wife. If she doesn’t, then she’s infertile, & while she may stay, he takes a second “1st” wife to produce his first off-spring.
The women wear very heavy metal rings around their ankles up to their calves; partly to protect them from snake or scorpion bites. The rings that she wears on her right leg are given to her by her father, the one on the left leg from her mother. When one of them dies, she removes that parent’s rings during her mourning period.
The women who are married wear a metal belt around their waist. If they are married to the Chief, they have special hair ornament that they wear on top of their head--makes them look like roosters.
The 1st wife is chosen by the boy’s father. The boy & girl are not told until a few days before their marriage & they probably have never seen each other. Girl is taken inside her mother’s hut & for 4 days she doesn’t leave it. She is totally cleansed & polished. All the ochre butter mixture is removed. Then she & her family walk to the boy’s settlement where there is feasting & celebrations for 2 weeks. Chief says words of marriage for the ceremony. The boy’s father has to pay cows & goats for the girl. The boy chooses his next wives himself. Usually marries additional wives every 2-3 years.
We asked the chief’s wives how old they are (looked OLD). They didn’t know, just that they were born a long time ago, maybe 1000 years. We stopped to talk to 4 women along side the road. They were collecting water from a well that the government drilled for the area. It had been broken since January, but water was trickling out, so they caught it to carry back to the settlement--they have all the time in the world. Asked them where they live & they waved their hand around & mentioned a name. When the guide asked what country they live in, they looked puzzled. He asked them if it might be Namibia. One said she heard that word, but didn’t know what is was. Didn’t know America (very few Americans visit that area--most of the white visitors are from Europe).
The Himbas hate education. It is a waste of time. The children are needed to tend the cattle. But the government has a policy that all are to go to school. Mobile schools are at a few settlement areas, but the most that go to school are 8-12 year olds & then only if they are not needed at the settlement. When we went inside the one hut, I saw some letters written on the wall along w/ a picture of a house which is typical of a kindergarten or 1st grade student. The girl of that hut who was going to school followed us to the gate (along w/ most of the people ) & she got my attention & announced very proudly “My name is Lucia” Oh my, I wanted to take her home with us!!! There was a little boy (about 2 I think)--who picked up a filthy enamel cup that was all chipped & rusty. A little girl poured filthy water into the cup & drank it! His nose was runny, his body dirty. I wanted to take him back to the lodge & bathe him & give him some safe water!!! But they rarely get sick. Many babies die shortly after birth, though. HIV-AIDS is not an issue among the Himba. They don’t mingle outside their own.
The men don’t use the butter/ochre mixture. They usually wear western clothes. They are not concerned w/ maintaining the Himba traditions. There are many tourists, so the Himbas will probably not exist as such in another 30 years. We were cautioned not to give them candy or pop or anything “western”. But, of course, they are gradually picking up our ways. And as the government makes headways w/ education, that will definitely be the beginning of the end. They are friendly, warm, peaceful people. They have no stress in their lives. If they go 2-3 days w/ no water, it’s okay, they will survive.
I think that is all that I can remember. They are among the earth’s most primitive peoples. We felt honored to be among them, even for only a few hours.
That’s all for now. Sharon
Saturday, March 13, 2010
It's been awhile
Hello to everyone! I understand that you are beginning to feel that winter is coming to a close. It is still hot here, but the extreme temperatures might be over.
I wrote an entire entry a week ago, but somehow the computer couldn’t post it & I lost the whole thing.
Now, I am finally getting smart. I am writing this in Word & I will just copy onto the Blog & save internet time. We have run out a couple of times--I am spending a lot of time looking up information. Since I am teaching Social Studies, I have to learn about the history & government here. I am glad we came to Africa a year ago--I actually had picked up a fair amount of information then, so this isn’t all totally foreign to me.
Classes are getting better. I am writing out the text information on newsprint, then the learners copy it into their exercise books. It’s okay for the sharp ones, but those who are struggling have a harder time with copying correctly. Texts are on order. The store called a few days ago, but we couldn’t understand them. Asked them to fax the information, but apparently they didn’t understand us. We will need to make a trip there as soon as we have time.
Jim is gone on a 3-day trip with the Grade 7 learners (science, I think). They went to see some falls & I don’t know what else. I’ve seen enough falls, so chose not to go. Besides, I didn’t want to miss my classes. I took Jim’s Grade 5 English for him. He has so much trouble with them, but they were absolute angels for me. I still have my struggles with the learners, but they are becoming less & I think that they really are trying to behave. There are several student-teachers here now & I have noticed that the severe punishments have subsided…wondering if their presence is making a difference. Quite a few in Grade 8 are beginning to show interest & ask questions. They will even catch me outside to clarify points. Grade 6 is asking if they can get books to read. I think I will check some out of the library for them, but they are in such terrible condition. They are yellow w/ age, falling apart, not at all appealing. Most have another school’s stamp in them, & frequently it is an American school. Apparently used books are donated. That’s fine, but like everything else here, they are being used beyond what is reasonable.
I’ve been looking into the possibility of getting desks & chairs. Most are broken. It’s not unusual to be interrupted during class by a learner from another class looking for an extra chair. Or an eraser or cloth to clean off their chalkboard, or a pen or pencil or ruler. They borrow them from each other & when they don’t return them, they have to scrounge.
Last Sunday we finally connected with the nearest Catholic community. We had to take a flashlight at 6am to find our way though the mud from our house to the road & then hail a taxi for the ½ hr trip. When we got to the town, we thought we knew how to find the church, but we didn’t, so after driving up & down several streets, we happened upon it--& the service was just about ready to start. I was so excited! It was so wonderful. It was in English. The deacon led us through everything in the Mass, except for the Consecration. When we received the Eucharist, I realized just how much I had missed it. I couldn’t stop the tears, which became embarrassing when the deacon asked us to stand & introduce ourselves. We will be going there every Sunday, & occasionally there will be a priest. There is supposed to be one on March 28--Jim’s birthday. What a way to celebrate.
Next week we will be celebrating Independence Day. Each class is asked to perform. Hoping to see some interesting tribal clothes, dances & songs. Several have been practicing behind our house. These kids are really talented in music & art. One tradition that I am aware of is that when a young person gives something to, or receives something from an elder, they do so with their right hand. It is a sign of respect. They usually take their left hand and touch their right elbow as they are handing off with the right hand. The girls also do a little curtsey--haven’t noticed if the boys bow or not.
I‘ve rambled on long enough. Keep the prayers coming.
sharon
I wrote an entire entry a week ago, but somehow the computer couldn’t post it & I lost the whole thing.
Now, I am finally getting smart. I am writing this in Word & I will just copy onto the Blog & save internet time. We have run out a couple of times--I am spending a lot of time looking up information. Since I am teaching Social Studies, I have to learn about the history & government here. I am glad we came to Africa a year ago--I actually had picked up a fair amount of information then, so this isn’t all totally foreign to me.
Classes are getting better. I am writing out the text information on newsprint, then the learners copy it into their exercise books. It’s okay for the sharp ones, but those who are struggling have a harder time with copying correctly. Texts are on order. The store called a few days ago, but we couldn’t understand them. Asked them to fax the information, but apparently they didn’t understand us. We will need to make a trip there as soon as we have time.
Jim is gone on a 3-day trip with the Grade 7 learners (science, I think). They went to see some falls & I don’t know what else. I’ve seen enough falls, so chose not to go. Besides, I didn’t want to miss my classes. I took Jim’s Grade 5 English for him. He has so much trouble with them, but they were absolute angels for me. I still have my struggles with the learners, but they are becoming less & I think that they really are trying to behave. There are several student-teachers here now & I have noticed that the severe punishments have subsided…wondering if their presence is making a difference. Quite a few in Grade 8 are beginning to show interest & ask questions. They will even catch me outside to clarify points. Grade 6 is asking if they can get books to read. I think I will check some out of the library for them, but they are in such terrible condition. They are yellow w/ age, falling apart, not at all appealing. Most have another school’s stamp in them, & frequently it is an American school. Apparently used books are donated. That’s fine, but like everything else here, they are being used beyond what is reasonable.
I’ve been looking into the possibility of getting desks & chairs. Most are broken. It’s not unusual to be interrupted during class by a learner from another class looking for an extra chair. Or an eraser or cloth to clean off their chalkboard, or a pen or pencil or ruler. They borrow them from each other & when they don’t return them, they have to scrounge.
Last Sunday we finally connected with the nearest Catholic community. We had to take a flashlight at 6am to find our way though the mud from our house to the road & then hail a taxi for the ½ hr trip. When we got to the town, we thought we knew how to find the church, but we didn’t, so after driving up & down several streets, we happened upon it--& the service was just about ready to start. I was so excited! It was so wonderful. It was in English. The deacon led us through everything in the Mass, except for the Consecration. When we received the Eucharist, I realized just how much I had missed it. I couldn’t stop the tears, which became embarrassing when the deacon asked us to stand & introduce ourselves. We will be going there every Sunday, & occasionally there will be a priest. There is supposed to be one on March 28--Jim’s birthday. What a way to celebrate.
Next week we will be celebrating Independence Day. Each class is asked to perform. Hoping to see some interesting tribal clothes, dances & songs. Several have been practicing behind our house. These kids are really talented in music & art. One tradition that I am aware of is that when a young person gives something to, or receives something from an elder, they do so with their right hand. It is a sign of respect. They usually take their left hand and touch their right elbow as they are handing off with the right hand. The girls also do a little curtsey--haven’t noticed if the boys bow or not.
I‘ve rambled on long enough. Keep the prayers coming.
sharon
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Fundraising
This makes me feel like we are a charity case! Another experience in humility. I just hope no one feels obligated in any way. We had decided to go ahead & buy the books, but since many people sounded as if they really wanted to be part of this adventure of ours, we thought that we would offer this opportunity:) Really!
I had response from someone asking how to send the money. You do no want to send money here. Cash would never make it; we would not be able to cash a check. Maureen is taking care of our financial business while we are gone, so any contributions could be given to her, deposited in our account & when she receives the bill she will pay it. It's so wonderful, we charge things here & she foots the bill! We have such devoted children!
Thanks, Sam for offering your organizational skills.
Just sort of a funny story. Jim has had alot of trouble w/ his Grade 5 learners (English). Today as I was working in the staff room (don't picture anything too great!), I heard him holler "I said sit down & be quiet! How many times do I have to tell you?!" We have been talking about various techniques to address this issue, so I knew he was at the end of his rope. I went to his class, the learners politely greeted me, & I simply walked around the room, taking non-English materials from them, giving them the teacher "look", and generally scaring them out of their wits--without saying a word! They were wonderful! The few that came up to his table to ask a question tried to skirt around me, but I stopped them & told them to just sit down & follow his directions. As I left, I told them how Mr. Jim comes home every night & tells me how awful this Grade 5 is, but they seemed quite wonderful to me. Mr. Jim must have something wrong with him if he thinks they are so horrible. Class was almost over, but Jim said they stayed pretty quiet 'til the end & wanted to know if Ms. Sharon was coming back--she was so nice! These children are so cute!!
'til next time,
sharon
I had response from someone asking how to send the money. You do no want to send money here. Cash would never make it; we would not be able to cash a check. Maureen is taking care of our financial business while we are gone, so any contributions could be given to her, deposited in our account & when she receives the bill she will pay it. It's so wonderful, we charge things here & she foots the bill! We have such devoted children!
Thanks, Sam for offering your organizational skills.
Just sort of a funny story. Jim has had alot of trouble w/ his Grade 5 learners (English). Today as I was working in the staff room (don't picture anything too great!), I heard him holler "I said sit down & be quiet! How many times do I have to tell you?!" We have been talking about various techniques to address this issue, so I knew he was at the end of his rope. I went to his class, the learners politely greeted me, & I simply walked around the room, taking non-English materials from them, giving them the teacher "look", and generally scaring them out of their wits--without saying a word! They were wonderful! The few that came up to his table to ask a question tried to skirt around me, but I stopped them & told them to just sit down & follow his directions. As I left, I told them how Mr. Jim comes home every night & tells me how awful this Grade 5 is, but they seemed quite wonderful to me. Mr. Jim must have something wrong with him if he thinks they are so horrible. Class was almost over, but Jim said they stayed pretty quiet 'til the end & wanted to know if Ms. Sharon was coming back--she was so nice! These children are so cute!!
'til next time,
sharon
Fundraising effort
Sam here.
I'm hijacking the blog for a quick post to try to make sure that any efforts made for fundraising are organized. I've already talked to a couple people who are wanting/willing to help. A few more phone calls to make, and I'm sure a few things to sort out - but when it gets set I'll gladly post something so that everyone is aware of it.
Until something definite is set in motion, if anyone has questions, feel free to email me at smbka_1@yahoo.com
Monday, February 22, 2010
More from Namibia
I hope everyone is doing well at home. Enjoy the cold for me, please. Yesterday it was 124* F. in the sun. The top so far. Today we received our air conditioner & it's quite lovely--84* feels like heaven.
We still have not found a faith community. Jim met a Coptic Orthodox priest at the grocery store. He stopped by our flat to visit & it was a very interesting time. I did a little research & had high hopes that this would be what we were searching for. We went to Mass Sunday. There were only children there. After awhile not more than 10 adults arrived. While they believe in transubstanciation, the service seemed to be over & Father mingled among the people w/ a plate of flat bread (not flat like our hosts) & tore pieces off to give to people as they chatted. Somehow I invisioned something closer to our Communion. We somehow have to figure a way to get to a nearby town for 7AM mass on the 1st 2 Sundays of the month--it will even be in English!
I will be sending out a mass e-mail, but thought maybe this would be a good venue...many people told us before we left that if there is something we need to let them know. Well, my Grade 8 English class of 40 learners has 13 text books which they share. Their command of English is deplorable. Some days I want to cry. My Grade 6 English class (also 40) is blessed with 18 ( but about 4 of them are an older edition & things have to be adapted for them). We are doing okay in Social Studies (same Grade 6 class) with 2 learners per text. What I would love to do is buy 40 texts for Grade 8. The text that they do have is boring & of course there is no teacher's guide, but I found a test that is much more appropriate for 14 year olds.
I would also love to be able to buy each of my 80 learners their own dictionaries. The library has a few, but of course they are reference books & cannot be checked out. In fact, right now, the librarian is on sick leave & no one is able to use the library (I get books occasionally, but it is risky--there is no quarantee that the learners will return them to me).
So, this is my wish list. Both the textbooks & dictionaries run about $15 each (US $). If there is someone out there who would like to spearhead a fundraiser, that would be great. I don't expect to get all that I want...my first priority is the Grade 8 texts. I believe I will order them soon & figure out the finances later.
Jim bought texts for his Grade 5 English class--they were sharing 2/text & driving him crazy! This class is quite a challenge, & sharing didn't help. My Grade 8 is also a great challenge. I am not saying the texts will make everything wonderful, but I can't believe that they won't make a difference.
I hate asking, but these kids are winning my heart! Some are beginning to confide in me, some are asking questions about class material, some give me the biggest, most beautiful smiles you can ever imagine. And when I discipline them, they still talk in class, leave the room without permission, pass notes, paint their fingernails, tell me 15 min. into the lesson that they left their book at home (meaning that at least one other learner is also without a book!). But I love them,
and don't believe that they are getting a fair shake.
We ran out of internet time a few days ago, & at this rate, we will run out again, soon. So I will sign off. We are very thankful for your prayer support. We have needed each & every prayer---some days we can't even pray for ourselves!
Grateful for you,
sharon
We still have not found a faith community. Jim met a Coptic Orthodox priest at the grocery store. He stopped by our flat to visit & it was a very interesting time. I did a little research & had high hopes that this would be what we were searching for. We went to Mass Sunday. There were only children there. After awhile not more than 10 adults arrived. While they believe in transubstanciation, the service seemed to be over & Father mingled among the people w/ a plate of flat bread (not flat like our hosts) & tore pieces off to give to people as they chatted. Somehow I invisioned something closer to our Communion. We somehow have to figure a way to get to a nearby town for 7AM mass on the 1st 2 Sundays of the month--it will even be in English!
I will be sending out a mass e-mail, but thought maybe this would be a good venue...many people told us before we left that if there is something we need to let them know. Well, my Grade 8 English class of 40 learners has 13 text books which they share. Their command of English is deplorable. Some days I want to cry. My Grade 6 English class (also 40) is blessed with 18 ( but about 4 of them are an older edition & things have to be adapted for them). We are doing okay in Social Studies (same Grade 6 class) with 2 learners per text. What I would love to do is buy 40 texts for Grade 8. The text that they do have is boring & of course there is no teacher's guide, but I found a test that is much more appropriate for 14 year olds.
I would also love to be able to buy each of my 80 learners their own dictionaries. The library has a few, but of course they are reference books & cannot be checked out. In fact, right now, the librarian is on sick leave & no one is able to use the library (I get books occasionally, but it is risky--there is no quarantee that the learners will return them to me).
So, this is my wish list. Both the textbooks & dictionaries run about $15 each (US $). If there is someone out there who would like to spearhead a fundraiser, that would be great. I don't expect to get all that I want...my first priority is the Grade 8 texts. I believe I will order them soon & figure out the finances later.
Jim bought texts for his Grade 5 English class--they were sharing 2/text & driving him crazy! This class is quite a challenge, & sharing didn't help. My Grade 8 is also a great challenge. I am not saying the texts will make everything wonderful, but I can't believe that they won't make a difference.
I hate asking, but these kids are winning my heart! Some are beginning to confide in me, some are asking questions about class material, some give me the biggest, most beautiful smiles you can ever imagine. And when I discipline them, they still talk in class, leave the room without permission, pass notes, paint their fingernails, tell me 15 min. into the lesson that they left their book at home (meaning that at least one other learner is also without a book!). But I love them,
and don't believe that they are getting a fair shake.
We ran out of internet time a few days ago, & at this rate, we will run out again, soon. So I will sign off. We are very thankful for your prayer support. We have needed each & every prayer---some days we can't even pray for ourselves!
Grateful for you,
sharon
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Namibia continued
Well, hello, everyone! We have been busy working on school work & trying to make our living space workable, so little time for anything else.
I will try to catch up a bit. More serious teaching started 1/25, but it found both Jim & I struggling to figure out how to teach English with just a syllabus that gives the results expected, but no plan on how to attack it. I spent many hours trying to get an over-view of the year, then tryling to plan from a couple different text books that I found, then doing what we were told to do "teach from the syllabus" & I am no closer to a good plan than I was 2 weeks ago, We weren't turning in lesson plans since the other teachers weren't but then we were all told we had to & we've been scrambling to back-fill as well as working on the week ahead. Today the principal did an observation on me---I was AWFUL! Really!!! I can hear my mother saying, "now, Sharon, I'm sure it was just fine." and my response from college days "You don't understand! It was terrible!" We had that conversation more than a few times! Only this time...I was truly awful. Jim has his tomorrow & I am sure he will be fine. The one who didn't think that he could teach is doing one crack-up job.
We had some "excitement" this past weekend. For one, even though it is the rainy season, it had not rained for two weeks or more. So, we did the laundry, oblivious of the clouds, & ended up with some of our things getting a second wash, compliments of our loving Lord. And no, we are not going to re-wash them. It is amazing how quickly our standard for cleanliness has changed. No, we are not dirty...just not obsessed. So, with all the water from laundry going into the septic tank, we managed to put it over the top. We had a back-up into our shower. The smell was not nice. Fortunately, the honey-wagon came early Mon. afternoon. In some ways the slower pace here is frustrating, but in other ways we see how things that need to be done are done more quickly than at home. Well, some things.
Jim is out getting a haircut. I can't wait to see. We rarely see other white people in our region, so will a local know how to cut his hair?? We heard a story of a young American teacher, girl, who had her hair cut. The woman pulled it back into a pony tail & cut it off w/ one big clip, asking "that is fine, Miss?" She just paid & ran out of the shop.
We had a power outage a few nights ago. It is DARK here w/ no lights!!! We did have a small flashlight handy, but nothing else. Jim is going to see if he can find a candle or two. We have problems w/ extension cords; we seem to buy faulty ones, & when we try them they blow the circuit in the building (what a way to make friends w/ the neighbors!) We have a total of 3 outlets (and they are not double like you have); we have 13 things to plug in. We pick & choose...the fans & 'frig have top priority.
The heavy rains in Angola are putting a strain on our water processing facilities, so water is turned off from 9pm - 6am, 9am - noon, 2pm - 5pm. We make a mad dash to the bathroom before 9pm, hoping we can make it through the night. Over the weekend, we had water all day long, so, maybe things have changed.
So, we are gradually becoming acclimated to this place. There are many, many, cultural differences. Some I can accept...others, well, I just don't understand. When I think that I am being perfectly reasonable, & make total sense, they just shake their heads. & I can hear them thinking "those crazy Westerners".
Tired of sitting. Time to forage for dinner.
Love hearing from each of you.'
Sharon (& maybe bald Jim)
I will try to catch up a bit. More serious teaching started 1/25, but it found both Jim & I struggling to figure out how to teach English with just a syllabus that gives the results expected, but no plan on how to attack it. I spent many hours trying to get an over-view of the year, then tryling to plan from a couple different text books that I found, then doing what we were told to do "teach from the syllabus" & I am no closer to a good plan than I was 2 weeks ago, We weren't turning in lesson plans since the other teachers weren't but then we were all told we had to & we've been scrambling to back-fill as well as working on the week ahead. Today the principal did an observation on me---I was AWFUL! Really!!! I can hear my mother saying, "now, Sharon, I'm sure it was just fine." and my response from college days "You don't understand! It was terrible!" We had that conversation more than a few times! Only this time...I was truly awful. Jim has his tomorrow & I am sure he will be fine. The one who didn't think that he could teach is doing one crack-up job.
We had some "excitement" this past weekend. For one, even though it is the rainy season, it had not rained for two weeks or more. So, we did the laundry, oblivious of the clouds, & ended up with some of our things getting a second wash, compliments of our loving Lord. And no, we are not going to re-wash them. It is amazing how quickly our standard for cleanliness has changed. No, we are not dirty...just not obsessed. So, with all the water from laundry going into the septic tank, we managed to put it over the top. We had a back-up into our shower. The smell was not nice. Fortunately, the honey-wagon came early Mon. afternoon. In some ways the slower pace here is frustrating, but in other ways we see how things that need to be done are done more quickly than at home. Well, some things.
Jim is out getting a haircut. I can't wait to see. We rarely see other white people in our region, so will a local know how to cut his hair?? We heard a story of a young American teacher, girl, who had her hair cut. The woman pulled it back into a pony tail & cut it off w/ one big clip, asking "that is fine, Miss?" She just paid & ran out of the shop.
We had a power outage a few nights ago. It is DARK here w/ no lights!!! We did have a small flashlight handy, but nothing else. Jim is going to see if he can find a candle or two. We have problems w/ extension cords; we seem to buy faulty ones, & when we try them they blow the circuit in the building (what a way to make friends w/ the neighbors!) We have a total of 3 outlets (and they are not double like you have); we have 13 things to plug in. We pick & choose...the fans & 'frig have top priority.
The heavy rains in Angola are putting a strain on our water processing facilities, so water is turned off from 9pm - 6am, 9am - noon, 2pm - 5pm. We make a mad dash to the bathroom before 9pm, hoping we can make it through the night. Over the weekend, we had water all day long, so, maybe things have changed.
So, we are gradually becoming acclimated to this place. There are many, many, cultural differences. Some I can accept...others, well, I just don't understand. When I think that I am being perfectly reasonable, & make total sense, they just shake their heads. & I can hear them thinking "those crazy Westerners".
Tired of sitting. Time to forage for dinner.
Love hearing from each of you.'
Sharon (& maybe bald Jim)
Monday, January 25, 2010
Time is flying by
I can't believe it has been nearly a week since my last entry. We are gradually settling into our flat. We've been out several times trying to find some cheap storage units in order to unpack--the armoire isn't enough for the 2 of us. And the kitchen cabinet was already full w/ basics--pots, pans, eating & cooking utensils--but no place for food. We are almost functional now. The things that are still on our wish-list are not essential to life. Jim went into town now to see if he can flesh out some of my wants. He needed a break!
School is absolutely the greatest challenge either of us have ever faced. We both believe that we have become more patient in our "mature" years, so it is a very good thing that we did not try doing this when we were young! 1st day of school we were able to get our class assignments: English grades 6 & 8 and grade 6 Social Studies for me. Jim has English grade 5 (the class from hell) & grade 7 and Religion & Moral Education grades 8,9,10. The RME is non-promotional & he only has each grade 1/week. He starts out w/ 1 of the classes teaching about several different religions (Jehovah's Witnesses, Islam, and some we have never heard of). there are 8 40-minute classes/day, so we are supposed to be there from 7:45 to 3:00. Since we live on the grounds, we've been leaving early & hope to continue with that. Learners do not have their exer cise books yet (blank notebooks in which they do all of their work--given by the school or Dept of Ed). I have a few textbooks from which to choose for each class--but they are primarily for my own use; there are no more than 14 of the same text for for any of my classes (40 learners per class). A few of them have paper on which to write & I am thankful that they all have pens or pencils, but even when I give them paper, they have no system for saving them. So, I have been giving them some instruction, but it's mostly to keep them busy. They love to talk!!!! but I have classes that are somewhat reasonable & they will listen if it is interesting enough. Poor Jim is pulling his hair out! I told him that is payback for all the times he drove his teachers crazy.
I need to carry chalk with me if I want to use the board--I never know if there will be any in the classroom. There is nothing in grade 6 & 8 classroom except desks & chairs (although not enough for every learner), a teacher desk & chair. Same for Jim's classes--except in one of his, there is no teacher desk. I must remember to carry a rag w/ me--board erasers seem to be a rare commodity.
I need to sign off. I have to prepare a class contract for my grade 8 learners to sign regarding behavior. Grade 6 signed theirs today--one girl didn't want to sign as she didn't want to have to follow the "rules". I told her she didn't have to sign, but that we would need to have a serious conversation about it. She signed.
Oh, no church yet, but our neighbor is from the Phillipines & some of her friends have invited us to a nearby town for Sat. dinner, overnight (if we want) & Mass Sun. am. Mass is available in that town on the 1st Sunday of the month, the Eucharist on the 2nd Sunday, & what is probably a prayer service led by lay people the other 2 Sundays. I selfishly hope they are said in English--that is hard enough to understand. We call it "Namlish".
As I said, I need to sign off.
Please continue your prayers for us!
Jim & Sharon
School is absolutely the greatest challenge either of us have ever faced. We both believe that we have become more patient in our "mature" years, so it is a very good thing that we did not try doing this when we were young! 1st day of school we were able to get our class assignments: English grades 6 & 8 and grade 6 Social Studies for me. Jim has English grade 5 (the class from hell) & grade 7 and Religion & Moral Education grades 8,9,10. The RME is non-promotional & he only has each grade 1/week. He starts out w/ 1 of the classes teaching about several different religions (Jehovah's Witnesses, Islam, and some we have never heard of). there are 8 40-minute classes/day, so we are supposed to be there from 7:45 to 3:00. Since we live on the grounds, we've been leaving early & hope to continue with that. Learners do not have their exer cise books yet (blank notebooks in which they do all of their work--given by the school or Dept of Ed). I have a few textbooks from which to choose for each class--but they are primarily for my own use; there are no more than 14 of the same text for for any of my classes (40 learners per class). A few of them have paper on which to write & I am thankful that they all have pens or pencils, but even when I give them paper, they have no system for saving them. So, I have been giving them some instruction, but it's mostly to keep them busy. They love to talk!!!! but I have classes that are somewhat reasonable & they will listen if it is interesting enough. Poor Jim is pulling his hair out! I told him that is payback for all the times he drove his teachers crazy.
I need to carry chalk with me if I want to use the board--I never know if there will be any in the classroom. There is nothing in grade 6 & 8 classroom except desks & chairs (although not enough for every learner), a teacher desk & chair. Same for Jim's classes--except in one of his, there is no teacher desk. I must remember to carry a rag w/ me--board erasers seem to be a rare commodity.
I need to sign off. I have to prepare a class contract for my grade 8 learners to sign regarding behavior. Grade 6 signed theirs today--one girl didn't want to sign as she didn't want to have to follow the "rules". I told her she didn't have to sign, but that we would need to have a serious conversation about it. She signed.
Oh, no church yet, but our neighbor is from the Phillipines & some of her friends have invited us to a nearby town for Sat. dinner, overnight (if we want) & Mass Sun. am. Mass is available in that town on the 1st Sunday of the month, the Eucharist on the 2nd Sunday, & what is probably a prayer service led by lay people the other 2 Sundays. I selfishly hope they are said in English--that is hard enough to understand. We call it "Namlish".
As I said, I need to sign off.
Please continue your prayers for us!
Jim & Sharon
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
We've arrived!
Last evening we arrived at our site. We were greeted by one of the members of the executive board & our neighbor, a young woman from the Philipines who teaches here. We are located on the grounds of the school. Our flat has exceeded our expectations. It is very spacious. We have running cold water (although late yesterday we had none & thought maybe they shut it off during certain hours, but there was a break in the main). We have electricity, although very few outlets. The ‘frig & gas stove/oven are small, but appear new, same w/ microwave. To our surprise, there was a box w/ wash machine waiting for us. It is a dual-tub: wash on one side & spin on the other. Still have to hang clothes outside, but I am very excited to have this convenience. And we were told that the is an air-conditioner on its way!!! Can you believe it?? We came here to experience the life of the poor African & we will be living like royalty! But I am okay with it…there are enough other challenges. There is a coffee table & futon which has its middle leg missing, so Jim fixed it w/ bricks that were laying around the yard. We don‘t have our shower bag set up yet--the back yard needs mowing & we were warned about the snakes, so Jim wasn‘t excited about going out there last night. We have a small armoire which does not hold all of our clothes. There are no shelves or cabinets, the microwave is now sitting on the table. This weekend we hope to go the next town where there is a Target-like store and settle in--still have unpacked baggage sitting around & can’t find things.
Went to school this a.m. Met the staff & sat around waiting for someone to tell us what to do. One teacher brought us a proposal of subjects that included ART--we both said there was no way we could do that. Ended up w/ each of us teaching 15-40min class/week. Jim has Grade 5 & 7 English, and Grades 8, 9, 10 RME ( religion & morals education). He is also on the Sports committee. I have Grade 6 & 8 English + Grade 6 Social Studies & I am on the Organization committee (no, I have no idea what that is.) Classes run from 8:00 to 1:50, but we have to stay ‘til 3. Some learners stay for extra study hall & we will have to supervise that periodically. There is no lunch time, but there is a 30 min. break mid-morning & in the afternoon when some of the learners leave for the day.
Our principal drove us around town--it is full of shebeens (bars) and bottle stores (mostly liquor). We had gotten a cel phone, but it wasn’t working (we failed to load the minutes onto it). Got that straightened out at the cel phone store, then went to the bank to open an account. We’ve been running around w/ all the cash we brought-p--needed an original statement from principal that we are indeed working & at what rate. We want to give them our money & they want proof that we have income!! Jim has left to get the letter from Principal & hopefully get a ride back in to the bank.
To back up...Mass was such a thrill...it was in German! When we arrived, we found the posted songs in an English book, but then they changed the message board & they passed out these foreign worship aides. It is wonderful that we still knew what was going on, but had our hearts set on English. Nuns we talked to there said that there is a Catholic church in Ondangwa--I don't think so. Another hurdle to jump.
Our trip here was interesting. We witnessed the rather sudden change from metropolitan Windhoek to more of the norm. The homesteads are what you picture when you think of Africa: large sticks pushed into the ground for a fence around the complex. One main structure w/ several round thatched places, either open, enclosed w/ sticks, or maybe mud walls. We only saw poverty. I think all of the wealth is in the few cities.
This is more than enough.
Not sure what you may want to know, but if you have questions please ask.
Love to you all.
J & S
Went to school this a.m. Met the staff & sat around waiting for someone to tell us what to do. One teacher brought us a proposal of subjects that included ART--we both said there was no way we could do that. Ended up w/ each of us teaching 15-40min class/week. Jim has Grade 5 & 7 English, and Grades 8, 9, 10 RME ( religion & morals education). He is also on the Sports committee. I have Grade 6 & 8 English + Grade 6 Social Studies & I am on the Organization committee (no, I have no idea what that is.) Classes run from 8:00 to 1:50, but we have to stay ‘til 3. Some learners stay for extra study hall & we will have to supervise that periodically. There is no lunch time, but there is a 30 min. break mid-morning & in the afternoon when some of the learners leave for the day.
Our principal drove us around town--it is full of shebeens (bars) and bottle stores (mostly liquor). We had gotten a cel phone, but it wasn’t working (we failed to load the minutes onto it). Got that straightened out at the cel phone store, then went to the bank to open an account. We’ve been running around w/ all the cash we brought-p--needed an original statement from principal that we are indeed working & at what rate. We want to give them our money & they want proof that we have income!! Jim has left to get the letter from Principal & hopefully get a ride back in to the bank.
To back up...Mass was such a thrill...it was in German! When we arrived, we found the posted songs in an English book, but then they changed the message board & they passed out these foreign worship aides. It is wonderful that we still knew what was going on, but had our hearts set on English. Nuns we talked to there said that there is a Catholic church in Ondangwa--I don't think so. Another hurdle to jump.
Our trip here was interesting. We witnessed the rather sudden change from metropolitan Windhoek to more of the norm. The homesteads are what you picture when you think of Africa: large sticks pushed into the ground for a fence around the complex. One main structure w/ several round thatched places, either open, enclosed w/ sticks, or maybe mud walls. We only saw poverty. I think all of the wealth is in the few cities.
This is more than enough.
Not sure what you may want to know, but if you have questions please ask.
Love to you all.
J & S
Saturday, January 16, 2010
More ramblings
We just came back from our 1st independent shopping trip. In anticipation of arriving at our new home Monday, we bought what we think is a week's groceries of non-perishables. We may have some really weird meals--just another challenge. It helps that they have milk in cartons that need no refrigeration 'til they are opened. And, like everywhere else in the world, they don't refrigerate their eggs. Only iffy item is marg. & cheese, but they can be in 'frig here 'til we get our ride Mon. am.
The founder of our school was in Windhoek a couple of days ago & stopped by our orientation site to meet us. He's an adorable old man & was most welcoming. He is happy to have older teachers, as we are less likely to be as wild as the young ones. He is adamant that for his country to develop, the children must learn. I believe he has high expecations for us.
The place we are staying at is called "Backpackers United". Don't know if there is such a thing in States, but these places are very nice. There are dorm rooms as well as private (which we have). The kitchen is equipped w/ basics & each person/group just has to provide own food & can cook & have a respite from camping. Of course, there are hot showers & toilets. Our room is supplied w/ sheets & 1 towel & bathroom--it would be comparable to a budget motel. There is a pool & a thatched open-air pavilion where we have our classes.
Last evening our Direcror's husband (native Namibian) brought in 3 African drums & taught us how to use them. Jim had a wonderful time. He was very cool about it--just followed the instructions as if he had never played one before (which, truthfully, he hadn't), but then after awhile he cut loose, and he was great!! If you don't know, he played drums in school & I think some in the Army for awhile.
So, we came to realize that when we told that we didn't need to bring alot of stuff, they really meant it. The mall we went to has MANY American brands & I can't think of anything that we would have wanted that we couldn't have found. The grocery store was a little different from ours--very little selection of produce, which we were told, but again, now I know they meant it.
3 varieties of apples, oranges, 2 kinds of potatoes, cabbage, didn't see regular iceberg lettuce, 1 clump of cauliflour, onions, no broccoli, few carrots...
Taxi's are easy to get--they argue over customers, & it's very cheap. $1/person to go anywhere within the city. Tomorrow we will take one to the Catholic Cathederal. Anxious for that! Haven't had that luxury for 3 weeks.
We'd love to hear from any of you: ggmcnam@gmail.com if you want to send us a personal note. We do ask that you not forward stuff. We just want to hear from YOU.
Love to you all.
J & S
The founder of our school was in Windhoek a couple of days ago & stopped by our orientation site to meet us. He's an adorable old man & was most welcoming. He is happy to have older teachers, as we are less likely to be as wild as the young ones. He is adamant that for his country to develop, the children must learn. I believe he has high expecations for us.
The place we are staying at is called "Backpackers United". Don't know if there is such a thing in States, but these places are very nice. There are dorm rooms as well as private (which we have). The kitchen is equipped w/ basics & each person/group just has to provide own food & can cook & have a respite from camping. Of course, there are hot showers & toilets. Our room is supplied w/ sheets & 1 towel & bathroom--it would be comparable to a budget motel. There is a pool & a thatched open-air pavilion where we have our classes.
Last evening our Direcror's husband (native Namibian) brought in 3 African drums & taught us how to use them. Jim had a wonderful time. He was very cool about it--just followed the instructions as if he had never played one before (which, truthfully, he hadn't), but then after awhile he cut loose, and he was great!! If you don't know, he played drums in school & I think some in the Army for awhile.
So, we came to realize that when we told that we didn't need to bring alot of stuff, they really meant it. The mall we went to has MANY American brands & I can't think of anything that we would have wanted that we couldn't have found. The grocery store was a little different from ours--very little selection of produce, which we were told, but again, now I know they meant it.
3 varieties of apples, oranges, 2 kinds of potatoes, cabbage, didn't see regular iceberg lettuce, 1 clump of cauliflour, onions, no broccoli, few carrots...
Taxi's are easy to get--they argue over customers, & it's very cheap. $1/person to go anywhere within the city. Tomorrow we will take one to the Catholic Cathederal. Anxious for that! Haven't had that luxury for 3 weeks.
We'd love to hear from any of you: ggmcnam@gmail.com if you want to send us a personal note. We do ask that you not forward stuff. We just want to hear from YOU.
Love to you all.
J & S
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Disclaimer
Please note: anything that we post on this Blog solely reflects ourown personal impressions. They do not reflect those of WorldTeach nor anyone affiliated with WT.
Jim & Sharon
Jim & Sharon
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Alive & well in Namibia
This is our first time checking out this Blog thing. It was fun reading the previous postings.
First impression of N from plane was "very flat & no recognizable farms". However, there are hills all around. It is the rainy season now, so things are green. When in Africa last year, everything was brown & this is a nice change.
Spent an over-night w/ a host family: 55 year old instructor at the local Arts College who had lost his wife a year ago, leaving him w/ 5 children (16 - 4 mos). He was a freedom fighter in N's struggle against Apartheid & for Independence. In exile for 15 years. Traveled around the world performing w/ a music/drama group to spread Africa's story. He lives in the area of Windhoek (N capital where we are now) where the blacks were pushed when the whites took over. A very large area of corrugated "homes"--like in the pictures you often see, only this was live! The house our host had was better--although very minimal. He took us to his church where he leads the music & preaches, along w/ others. They were very welcoming.
We went to a restaurant last night that served a traditional N dinner. We sat on logs at a very low table. Had chicken cooked over a fire, cooked spinach, "porridge", and tripe. No plates, no serving utensils, no silverware. And, we are not supposed to use our left hand--my right hand was dripping w/ grease (or something). An interesting experience. We played a game where one person danced in the center of the circle of people while the circle clapped & chanted. The dancer then would dance up to someone of opposite sex & point them out with a pelvic thrust & then that person would dance. Only our group was involved with this & it was funny.
Went to Etosha Park (game reserve) & watched a hyena feed on the carcass of a giraffe. Wasn't much left, so he tore off a piece of hide & trotted off. Saw wildebeeste for the 1st time. Also a huge salt pan.
Went to a small town last week to practice teach at a regional school, which was very nice. The learners responded to flyers advertising a Holiday School. It gave us an opportunity to try different approaches.
We are having sessions covering topics involving teaching, culture, a little language (we are the only 2 who are trying to pick up common phrases in Oshidonga. The other volunteers have other languages to learn).
Windhoek is a very westernized city. For the most part we are eating "normal" food, have modern facilities, the water is fine. It gets a little warm, but not bad. When we arrive at our school Monday (18th) we may have a totally different story. It's time to say "good-night". We will try to maintain this with a degree of regularity. Love to all. We are very grateful for your support in this effort--pray for us as we pray for you.
Jim & Sharon
First impression of N from plane was "very flat & no recognizable farms". However, there are hills all around. It is the rainy season now, so things are green. When in Africa last year, everything was brown & this is a nice change.
Spent an over-night w/ a host family: 55 year old instructor at the local Arts College who had lost his wife a year ago, leaving him w/ 5 children (16 - 4 mos). He was a freedom fighter in N's struggle against Apartheid & for Independence. In exile for 15 years. Traveled around the world performing w/ a music/drama group to spread Africa's story. He lives in the area of Windhoek (N capital where we are now) where the blacks were pushed when the whites took over. A very large area of corrugated "homes"--like in the pictures you often see, only this was live! The house our host had was better--although very minimal. He took us to his church where he leads the music & preaches, along w/ others. They were very welcoming.
We went to a restaurant last night that served a traditional N dinner. We sat on logs at a very low table. Had chicken cooked over a fire, cooked spinach, "porridge", and tripe. No plates, no serving utensils, no silverware. And, we are not supposed to use our left hand--my right hand was dripping w/ grease (or something). An interesting experience. We played a game where one person danced in the center of the circle of people while the circle clapped & chanted. The dancer then would dance up to someone of opposite sex & point them out with a pelvic thrust & then that person would dance. Only our group was involved with this & it was funny.
Went to Etosha Park (game reserve) & watched a hyena feed on the carcass of a giraffe. Wasn't much left, so he tore off a piece of hide & trotted off. Saw wildebeeste for the 1st time. Also a huge salt pan.
Went to a small town last week to practice teach at a regional school, which was very nice. The learners responded to flyers advertising a Holiday School. It gave us an opportunity to try different approaches.
We are having sessions covering topics involving teaching, culture, a little language (we are the only 2 who are trying to pick up common phrases in Oshidonga. The other volunteers have other languages to learn).
Windhoek is a very westernized city. For the most part we are eating "normal" food, have modern facilities, the water is fine. It gets a little warm, but not bad. When we arrive at our school Monday (18th) we may have a totally different story. It's time to say "good-night". We will try to maintain this with a degree of regularity. Love to all. We are very grateful for your support in this effort--pray for us as we pray for you.
Jim & Sharon
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Counting the days
Figured I'd post a little something. I know we're all anxiously awaiting an update from the padres themselves, but you'll have to settle for me for now.
If memory serves correctly, they should be done with their training/orientation and on to their final destination in a week. Given that they have already established an internet connection, hopefully it shouldn't be but a couple days following that move and transition that we should hear something new.
Hope this finds everyone well.
If memory serves correctly, they should be done with their training/orientation and on to their final destination in a week. Given that they have already established an internet connection, hopefully it shouldn't be but a couple days following that move and transition that we should hear something new.
Hope this finds everyone well.
Monday, January 4, 2010
Houston, we think there may be life out there
And it appears we are correct. 1 week in, and we got a very short email from Sharon. They've got a lot on their plate at the moment, with getting lesson plans together, learning culture, etc. So, we'll wait patiently for the next update.
For now though, it sounds like they've already got a mound of experiences and stories to share and more importantly it sounds like they are doing well.
For now though, it sounds like they've already got a mound of experiences and stories to share and more importantly it sounds like they are doing well.
Sunday, January 3, 2010
Chomping at the bit
Maureen sent an email to the Field Director asking about J&S (and when we might hear from them), and received this response...
Hi Maureen,
It's nice to hear from you!
Jim and Sharon and doing so great! We've had a busy week and on Monday we head off to a new location for a week of practice teaching and further orientation training sessions. Tonight your parents are doing a "home stay" and are spending the night at the home of a lecturer from Windhoek's College of the Arts. I anticipate that they will have an interesting experience. I'm back with them tomorrow.
They have purchased a 3G internet device to plug into their laptop but needed to take it into the shop this morning to make some adjustments. I imagine that once they get some down time they will take a moment to log on and catch up on email. During our free time this morning your father took care of the computer issue while your mother packed for our journey on Monday.
We have a really fantastic group of volunteers and Jim and Sharon are delightful parts of it. We're lucky to have your mother's sensitivity and thoughtfulness and your father's easy laugh and jokes. All of the volunteers and I have all only been together since Tuesday but it's beginning to feel like a family of sorts.
I wish you all the best. Please feel free to check in at any time.
Take care,
Jocie
Hi Maureen,
It's nice to hear from you!
Jim and Sharon and doing so great! We've had a busy week and on Monday we head off to a new location for a week of practice teaching and further orientation training sessions. Tonight your parents are doing a "home stay" and are spending the night at the home of a lecturer from Windhoek's College of the Arts. I anticipate that they will have an interesting experience. I'm back with them tomorrow.
They have purchased a 3G internet device to plug into their laptop but needed to take it into the shop this morning to make some adjustments. I imagine that once they get some down time they will take a moment to log on and catch up on email. During our free time this morning your father took care of the computer issue while your mother packed for our journey on Monday.
We have a really fantastic group of volunteers and Jim and Sharon are delightful parts of it. We're lucky to have your mother's sensitivity and thoughtfulness and your father's easy laugh and jokes. All of the volunteers and I have all only been together since Tuesday but it's beginning to feel like a family of sorts.
I wish you all the best. Please feel free to check in at any time.
Take care,
Jocie
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