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Tour!

Sat, 18 Oct 2008 08:38:01 GMT

Happy October! This countdown is ticking down quickly. Two months from today I will be back in the States! I am still eager to return home, but that is now being coupled with being anxious about finishing my work here. Grade 10 exams started last Tuesday, so my class schedule has decreased a great deal, so I’ve been doing my best to be productive in my new found free time. I have officially embraced and adopted lists in my time here. I used to do it time to time in college, but now it is a secure part of my routine. I look forward to arriving to school, settling in at my desk, and making my to do list for the day in my planner. I knew it ran in the family, but it didn’t know it would infect me too! J But the satisfaction of crossing off an accomplished task is fantastic! But I found the lists are a good visual reminder that I have plenty of things to do and there’s no reason yet to be bored.

Despite this method, this update is long overdue. I’ve been meaning to share with you the day tour I managed to take with the grade 10 learners back in September. As tours seem to be, it was a wonderful, extremely fun and successful day.

After our disappointments with government transport to go to the coast over the holiday, I made the decision to instead try to take all of the grade 10 classes, the class added late had been exempted from the previous tour, to the Ruacana Waterfall and its hydro power electric power station. We again attempted to get government transportation, as it is the cheapest option. Following some unclear answers, again, I decided to pursue private transport. The principal helped me to arrange with a man in the village who owns a combi bus. The goal was to allow all learners to attend without having to pay, so the man was kind enough to lower his price to fit our budget. There wasn’t a conformation until the Thursday before we went but we were confirmed and the trip was a go!

I purchased 15 loaves of bread, 4 sticks of polony, biscuits, and a few cases of Pepsi to feed the hungry 63 teenagers. So on the morning of Saturday, the 20^th of September, 2 combi buses arrived about 30 minutes late, but gave learners enough to show up in their uniforms as they had been told. On tour, learners are expected to wear uniforms, but some still showed up other clothes. Mr. Sheya, who was the best team mate to have with me that day, promptly sent them running home to change their clothes.

Due to shopping, I met the buses en route, in the town of Outapi. As I approached the busses, boys were hanging out the windows, laughter was falling out, and huge smiles. All were enthusiastic to greet me, “Miss Briana!” Their excitement was contagious. After all the obstacles and difficulties I had planning the tour, I hadn’t allowed myself to be excited about the day, nearly dreading it. The instant I saw the learners, I remembered why I had put in all the work, learners LOVE tours! They love the chance to go away from home for the day, see something new, learn something new, and spend their pocket money at a big grocery store. As I climbed into my bus, girls shook my hand as they greeted me, a sign of respect and being especially eager to see someone. As one did it, others scrambled to find my hand. Mr. Sheya had made 1 bus for the boys and the other for the girls, with the aim of encouraging good behaviour. Thus I was the master of the girls bus for the day which proved to be a whole lot of fun for me.

Then we were off. Ruacana is about 150 kilometers from our village, perhaps 90 from the town of Outapi. En route, we stopped at the Omahenene Fishing Project. The project was established by the fisheries ministry of the government. The project produces hatchling to send to independent fish farmers throughout the north and also has its’ own fish ponds producing tilapia. It was a Saturday, so there was only 1 employee able to give us a tour, but I was grateful he did it with a smile on his face. The group was big and I was worried about learners intrest. But as he spoke next to the tanks filled with tiny tilapia, learners couldn’t get close enough. They were also filled with questions to try. Later as the guide showed some bigger fish that were still in the tank stage, the fish scrambled and splashed, producing screams and laughs from learners who go splashed. After seeing the indoor operations, we were taken on a tour of the many fish ponds raising the fish until they are an appropriate size for selling. The system seems quite brilliant to me. Give income to entrepenuerial individuals and groups (I know a fellow volunteer who started a fish pond with her HIV/AIDS support groups as an income generation project) and provide fresh protein and healthy food to Namibians.

After visiting the fish farm, we headed north to the power plant. As it is a power plant, there were lots of rules to follow and signing in to be done. Due to our group’s size we were split into 2 groups to receive our tours. To keep it simple, the girls bus went first. At the entrance of the power plant is a sign stating the plant’s safety and accident record. This and Mr. Sheya’s warnings of the dangers in a power plant, many of the girls were reluctant to go. Many started to say to me, “Miss, I don’t want to go.” I of course asked them why, they only said they were afraid. I tried to make it clear, the accidents were for workers, not visitors. That we would have a guide and if they followed his instructions and stayed with the group, they would not be in any danger. They seemed to partly believe me, but I was adamant they should go, it would be worth it!

The plant is built into the mountainside, so to reach it, one must walk through a long tunnel. I think it would be extremely safe to say, NONE of the learners have walked through a tunnel before. Now this, piled on with the accident record, girls were lagging farther and farther from the front of the group. I stepped back and continued to encourage them. Many of the girls started to hold hands. Wilhelmina came to me and said, “Miss, may I hold your hand?” I told her of course. We interlocked hands and arms. Another girl Aune, quickly came to my side and asked, “May I hold your hand too?” I quickly grabbed her and have her a smile. As we got closer to the tunnel, Aune started to squeeze my hand, she was really scared. I kept saying reassuring things and demonstrate my interest in what we would be seeing. I realized how these girls were feeling is not so unfamiliar to me. For much of my life, I’ve had an anticipation problem. The key example is roller coasters. I would be terribly afraid and eventually I would get talked into sitting in the car. After the ride, I would have a huge smile on my face and thoroughly enjoyed myself. I knew, I just had to get these girls in the roller coaster car. As we entered the tunnel, the 30 or so girls were in straight lines of chains, holding each others hands tightly.

It was a hot day and as we got farther into the enormous tunnel, the temperature quickly turned to cool. The tunnel is big enough for large trucks to enter, so learners were curious as to how such a big structure could have been built. At the end of tunnel, the ceiling opened up to a huge area with an almost warehouse like field, but our ceiling and walls were simply the outside of the mountain. The guide weaved us along generators and turbines explaining their function to learners along the way. We reached one end and there was a stairwell leading to the control room. The stairs were maybe enough for 2 floors and were open between each step. The girls had started to make some noise as the guide went to the top. As they started going up the steps, I realized this was also something unfamiliar, stairs, open stairs at that. They slowly navigated to the top, gripping the hand rail to the top. In the middle I climbed the stairs, trying to look confident and unafraid, as if to say, no problem! You can do it!

In the control room, a nice presentation was given further highlighting how the power station works and its history. Climbing down the stairs was another challenge. The guide then led us into a narrow staircase. More exclamations from the girls and amazement at how much work it was for them. At the top of the stairs, we were able to see the flow of water into the power station. It was definitely the strongest stream of water many of them had seen. Back down the stairs again and now the noise was excited and happy. As we slowly walked out the tunnel, excited chatter and laughs filled the empty space. I asked learners what they thought and got many responses of “nice and cool.” They assured me they were happy they went. One of the brightest girls in grade 10, Lucia, walked next to me for awhile. She eventually commented, “it’s a good thing we didn’t go the coast, we would have lost important information if we had gone there.” Somehow she knew exactly what I needed to hear. This trip had been thought of in my mind as a replacement and a band aid. But in her mind, it was as good as it could get.

We reached outside and spoke excitedly to the boys about was ahead of them. We hung around the buses, drinking water and I took several photos of learners for them to purchase as we waited for the boys to emerge. Eventually they did among the same excited faces. Then Mr. Sheya and I went to work creating 62 polony and butter sandwiches. Again, no better teammate. I don’t know if any other of my male colleagues would have crouched on the ground with me assembling sandwiches for learners, much less with a smile and stories to tell.

The learners quickly ate and we were off again. We drove to the top of a nearby hill to get a better view of the lock and dam system on the top of the falls. Mr. Sheya recognized the chance for a teaching moment and explained to the learners what they were seeing. I must admit, this tour was as a much a learning experience for me as it was for the learners!

We piled back into the buses and quickly drove to the falls viewpoint, as it was now late afternoon. To reach the viewpoint, you must cross the border into Angola, so again Mr. Sheya seized the learning chance and asked the border patrol to give a short presentation to the learners. After the presentation, we moved across into Angola. Again, the learners were EXCITED. At Ruacana, it is possible to reach the bottom of the falls, but it requires going down and climbing up a LONG series of stairs. On my previous visits with volunteers, my calves have been sore for a day following the long climb. It was hot and wasn’t sure how many learners would be up for the climb. I was surprised to see almost all the learners quickly follow Mr. Sheya, nearly running, down the stairs. I tried to convince the few at the top and resigned to leaving them after several answers. I pulled up the rear, moving quickly down the stairs. The learners and Mr. Sheya had reached the bottom long before me. I waved from a few flights up and took a few pictures. Being so far below me was certainly a novelty for them. I encouraged them to shout to hear the echo that produced. Due to the fact there is a hydro power station, there are times of the year when the falls is practically “shut off.” This was unfortunately one of these times. But the learners seemed not to notice. They were ecstatic to be sitting at the bottom of a deep canyon, with a river flowing by them. I arrived at the bottom and took some fun pictures of the kids enjoying the scene. After a few decided to head straight up, while Mr. Sheya and I took a few to the old power station that is situated at the bottom.

After the smaller groups of us headed to the top. Mr. Sheya pulled up the rear, but I was behind a few of the girls. My theory on climbing, and in tackling most hills, is to keep going. Slow, but steady and not stopping unless absolutely necessary. The girls were not feeling so up to this, but in my adrenaline rush of the day, I started encouraging them in Oshiwambo. Tu yei! Let’s go! Endelela! Hurry! I’m so anal about never speaking Oshiwambo to learners that the sudden phrases coming from me, put smiles on their faces, and I’d like to think distracted them from the hard work of going up the stairs. As we reached the top, the learners who had gone up earlier, sat at a perfect perch to watch their tired colleagues reach the top. It was really hot and dry, and I’m a sweater. So the learners were extra impressed to see Miss Briana come to the top sopping sweat and out of breath. They couldn’t keep their smiles in.

By now it was nearly 5pm and the drivers were eager to get home. So we quickly jumped in the car, I made the driver stop to let us refill water, and headed back Nakaheke. It’s a tradition that on tours, kids sing songs on the bus. As I was on the bus full of girls, they definitely enjoyed the chance to belt it out. So I heard the usual choir songs and songs with the name of where we were traveling inserted in. Then they surprised me by taking out Jesus from a name of a song and inserting, “Miss Briana.” I had become God. A little awkward, but I could they were thanking me and making it clear, they ENJOYED their day. I’d like to think they were also singing to all the people who helped make their tour possible!

We reached school around 6:30, enough time for learners to walk home before dark. I was exhausted, smelly, and exhilarated. The first few weeks of school had been a struggle for many reasons and the excitement and gratitude from the tour was exactly what I needed. It definitely propelled me through the last few weeks of the busy teaching schedule.

Despite all the difficulties, frustrations, and disappointments of trying to plan a tour, that day made it well worth my struggle. The enthusiasm and energy from the learners prove the hard work didn’t go unnoticed.

So. There you have it! This is lengthy already so I’ll just share one more story. It was the morning of my birthday, which also happened to be the first day of grade 10 exams. I was leaving my house to walk to school and my brother, Conrad, was at the gate talking to one of my grade 10s, Taimi. I instinctively greeted him in Oshiwambo. Normally, I would have switched to English and greeted Taimi, with how are you. But I thought, hey, it’s the first exam today, it’s my birthday, let’s have fun and I’ll greet her in Oshiwambo. So I said, “Wa la la po Taimi?” To which she replied with the typical, “oh! I’m fine miss, how are you?” I couldn’t help but smile! That’s exactly what I do whenever a learner tries to greet me in Oshiwambo, I show my disappointment then answer them in English. Taimi had done the same thing to me as if to say, I only speak English to you miss because I KNOW English. That’s how it works!

It was pretty great. Sometimes you stop and think, is ANYONE really paying attention? Apparently so J

With that, I’ve got 7 weeks. I’ll be in America by 11 December and Minnesota by 12 December! See you soon!

Cheers,

Bri

Here we go...

Fri, 12 Sep 2008 15:23:47 GMT

Last term! Last term! Last term!

But first a follow up to the grumpiness of last entry. I had mentioned the story of the missing computer. I had told the manager of the post, this is your problem. Then I allowed myself to go on holiday. Soon after, my principal called the post office where our computer had mistakenly be sent. He informed them that he would be coming the next week to collect our computer and if it was not there, he would then make a visit to the police. That was Saturday morning. Tuesday he received a call from the post office saying they had managed to decipher the signature of the person who took the box, called them, and they had returned our computer. Which post office should he send it to? So the next day they sent it to Outapi, where my principal promptly summed it up. By this time I was no longer in the area, I received two cryptic text messages from my principal. The first said “Got it. The Computer.” That was the best news! But with out any story. I quickly replied asking for it. A few days later I got, “They found the person who took it and gave it back.” That was all I needed to hear. After all the hassle, all I had really needed to do was threaten them with the police. I guess I should know this by now. Learners aren’t on time or go into their class until someone threatens them with a stick. Seems to be the same with the post office. Like my learners, they get away with what they can, until someone notices and says, “you’ll be in trouble if you don’t stop.” In the end, I am simply glad our equipment was returned to us, no matter how surprised I was that that was the case. I am also grateful that my principal is willing to back me up and go to bat for me. I know other PCVs don’t have that same support and as this story shows, it clearly is valuable. Helps make me a little more enthusiastic about proof reading reports and letters to the region! J

Back to the last term thing, I have to keep repeating it because I can barely believe it myself. It’s strange how time has gone. Sometimes I feel like this has been a long experience, sometimes I feel like only a few weeks ago I arrived. But because I know the end is coming soon and I’ll be returning to somewhere very different, I’m having many moments of: This feels normal! Woah! Things that I had to think about to understand and accept or learn to deal with, now feel like that’s how life has always been.

For example, how I know that when the principal greets the staff as a whole no one is truly expected to respond. There are a few mumbles of “fine, how are you sir?” but nothing rousing or enthusiastic.

That going to buy milk in Okahao, may involve standing in line in a stifling hot concrete building (Vols call that store the hot box), waiting for 30 minutes because the person at the checkout has decided to use all of their change to buy all of their bulk food. I don’t blink when the meme behinds me presses up against me the entire time, mumbling about her discontent.

That often times an expected response to questions is a long drawn out oookkkkaaay.

That everyone in a 15 kilometer area knows my name or knows the village I live in and that I am expected to know the same about them.

That coming into a staff meeting my principal will say, “just few few points to discuss” and I will be sitting in the same place 2 hours later.

That climbing into a back of a pick up truck and traveling to my village or on the way to town, is one of the most relaxing and freeing experiences. There’s something about weaving through the fences and trees, feeling the wind in my face and hearing the chatter of Oshiwambo that puts me in a new place.

That the music coming from the nearest cuca shop at night no longer feels like a disturbance, but comforting and reassuring.

That I spend afternoons talking to a nearly 3 year old in two different languages not truly understanding each other but being totally content. Her vocabulary is rapidly expanding and I’m struggling to keep up. She is fine with just an eewa or ee from me. Yesterday I said a few things to her in English to which she responded, okay Mee Briana. She and I have seemed to reach an understanding.

That not being comfortable when I travel is completely normal.

That greeting everyone in passing, upon meeting, or if we happen to be in the same place, is expected and when done, can make life a whole lot easier.

There are more normals I can’t think of now, but you get the idea. That sums up the worry of being back home. My normals won’t match. There’s a hope that I’ll fall into the old normal, but it may be a bit tough. Despite that, I am glad to have had a chance to experience a new normal, with the challenges and surprises that brings.

Here’s to a countdown!

Best,

Bri

A little rant, a little happy

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 09:05:47 GMT

Today is one of those days. I think it’s a symptom of the end of the term. I’m surrounded by my colleagues and not by kids. In this setting my frustrations seem to grow and my patience thins.

In addition, projects have stalled and expensive equipment is missing. Our tour will not happen in August. Our request for a bus was denied, but not until the end of July. This means I kept planning appointments, accommodation and getting learners excited for the tour in August holiday. Then just 2 weeks ago, the only transportation affordable for us was no longer available. Now I’m scrambling to see if we can put something together for September. But again, the ministry bus is not definite. It “might” be used for another purpose, the officer is “not really sure.” If they don’t end up needing it, then it’s ours. Great, thanks.

Also the last computer that needed to be repaired is missing. After many phone calls and arguments, I finally found out the company that repaired it, sent it on the 15 July. The other times they repaired and sent to us, it took 2 days to reach our post office. It is still no where in sight. I’ve called the main office, no answer. Our local post office doesn’t seem to be able to track it from their office. I called the larger branch and we had quite a difficulty understanding each other. Now one post office says it was sent to the wrong address, while the company we purchased from said they sent it to the correct address. Both sides sent faxes of the form they filled out with the addresses. The faxes are unreadable. Now what? I called the postmaster for the region and in so many words told him it was HIS problem. We’ll see if that helps. This has DEFINTELY been the most frustrating experience thus far. The fact that everyone says, I’ll call you back, but by 48 hours later, they still haven’t. If this was a small parcel, or even one that personally belonged to me, fine. But it’s a COMPUTER that belongs to our school. The entire process of dealing with the store we purchased from has been an entirely frustrating and tiring experience. It’s definitely put my coping mechanism of telling myself that I control what I can and let everything else go, to the test. Despite that mantra, this situation has gotten to me.

I realize some of this negative attitude is because it’s the end of the term. Not to mention my second to last one. I think in both of those ways, I’ve lost some of the most important patience. Partly it’s the lack of concern I receive for how one person’s actions effects another. I know this happens everywhere in the world, but somehow I feel like I’ve been dealt more than my fair share lately. Due to the fact I am so different, I’m starting to feel like I’m not really seen as a person. It’s fine to bother me and invade my space. Whatever someone thinks about me, it’s fine to say out loud, so many pre-tenses seem lost. I’m tired of being studied, observed, and examined. I know all the reasons it happens and it’s understandable. But in many ways I’ve reached my limit and ready to be less intriguing. I’m ready to be ordinary and regular. Walk down the street without someone’s head turning all the way around or being shouted at to say hello. I’m tired of being the white celebrity.

Wow, this is a rant. But I guess it’s honest and it’s the biggest feeling I have at the moment.

Here’s one good thing that happened today. So we have this fancy TV now. One of my biggest fears would be teachers would just come and watch, leaving learners out. At this point, the TV doesn’t seem to be that popular with a majority of teachers, it may have to do with not feeling comfortable with the technology.

But today, I walked into the library, where the TV is housed, to find a colleague allowing 50 or so primary learners around the TV to watch coverage of the Olympics. He made sure they walked in slowly and tried to arrange them so they could all see. So many times discipline here is simply yelling angrily and becoming upset easily. He seemed amazed at the number of learners who came to watch, but understood why they were so interested. They’ve never seen anything like this and as long as they weren’t crazy, it was a good opportunity for them. So 50 grade 1-4 learners, huddled together, saying “Mem!” when they were surprised and gasping at moments, watched the USA basketball team play Angola. Quite appropriate I think. The learners behaved and quietly watched. The difficult part came when it was time for them to go home. It took quite a bit of coaxing and a switched off TV before they would leave the room.

I suppose I was so inspired by this because it’s something I don’t think I could manage to do. I feel in control of grade 8, 9 or 10 because they would understand my instructions and I know those learners well. Thus I feel grateful that someone else sees the reward of exposing such young learners to new things. With some of the initiatives and actions that have been taken by my colleagues lately, I feel less like things will be idle when I leave. It seems some things will continue to evolve and grow.

With that in mind, it gets me to thinking about what is the benefit of me being here. In terms of purely English teaching, it is a pretty good exposure for the learners. Because of where they live and who they are surrounded by, it may be the only chance for them to talk with a native speaker which when learning any language can be a huge benefit. In terms of general development, things like computers, policies etc, my newer colleagues seem to have a plethora of good ideas and new strategies that have already started to benefit the school. Many of them are not that different then what I would have suggested. Such as the new HOD suggested we should recognize the top learners at our last assembly of the term. Some teachers were opposed, as it would take more time at assembly on the last day, when everyone is itching to go to holiday. But I think it’s an excellent idea, the kids who work hard don’t get enough recognition, and spoke up about it. That seemed to be the support that was needed to run with it. Yet the idea didn’t come from me, I just seconded it. So why am I of any more benefit than a new Namibian teacher? I think the biggest benefit comes in the fact that I teach much fewer periods than my colleauges. They teach 38 or 39 periods out of 40, while I teach 25. This is due to the fact as a volunteer PC says we must have at least 30 percent free for that purose, to do other projects and implement new ideas. For that reason, my presence is a benefit. If only new teachers got the same buffer, only 70 percent load for their first 2 years, I think the changes seen at Namibian schools would be drastic. But that’s only my opinion. Yet that’s what I’ve come to in my two years, my ideas aren’t necessairly better, I just have the time to put them in action. With that said, I still am impressed what my new colleagues have done in a short time here.

So I’m off to holiday. Last one! Amazing how so many things of this experience now feel normal, which a year and a half ago were new things to learn. It seems to happen so quickly!

Lots of love,

Bri

Old old! Written 31 May

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 08:56:43 GMT

So sitting here in the library on a Friday afternoon I’m trying to find my words. It’s just me, the primary school kids who take 3 hours to clean their classroom because it’s fun for them, and the cows (there are cows that get let into the fence everyday to eat the dead grass that remains). And sitting here I know I am long overdue to update the blog, but my brain is feeling a bit mushy as it usually does by Friday afternoon these days. Yes, yes, I’m busy, whats new? So I feel guilty with all my excuses for not sharing with others who don’t live inside my head. Today during period 8 while, 9B was looking at newspapers, magazines, and borrowing books I felt a glimmer of inspiration. I will you about my favorite things and my not favorite things. Perhaps the easiest way for me to share life with you at the moment so let’s go.

My current Favorite things

Learners when they hunch over a book or newspaper- leaning in so closely and intently as if they have 2-3 minutes to take in all the information and memorize the picture before someone suddenly causes the book to vanish beneath their fingertips.
When learners scrunch their face in attempt to understand me or something they are reading. It’s such an intentful look, as if it will help the words make sense.
Kakune saying something that slightly resembles “Howareyoui’m fine” to me on repeat after I arrive home.
Coffee and oatmeal in the cool mornings
The cows that roam the school grounds as the removal system for the dead grass. I’d grown used to goats around, but something about the enormity of a cow can put a smile on my face.
The phrase “Not Serious.” Perhaps I have mentioned it before, but it is one poor usage of English in Namibia that I have embraced. It can refer to a learner, high tech store employee or the store’s policy, a malfunctioning computer program, or the water situation in general. Fantastic. It’s the perfect opposite for fantastic. Not serious.
Dried pears. I still really don’t like the real thing, but the dried version is my current favorite treat.
Watching 3 male colleagues gather around 1 computer, watching someone install a program. The interest in fascination seems so similar to the male stereotype everywhere. It’s also a favorite thing that Mr. Sheya was doing the installing and he was happy to have the audience, teaching as different things happened. I don’t know if I could be as patient or pleasant in that situation.
The grade 10 parents meeting we had on Wednesday. They were supportive and enthusiastic about the tour planning and eager to have their children go. They also gave smiles and support when I explained in 1 sentence I was sorry for not speaking Oshiwambo they gave me huge smiles and appreciation for just managing the one sentence. I was humbled by their acceptance and a bit disappointed in myself that I had practiced that sentence in my head for a few hours before I said it. Nonetheless, the whole room was smiling.
Spending time at other volunteer’s houses. It’s an interesting comparison and everyone has reached a true comfort point, so it’s cool to see the impact and connections everyone has made in their own place.
My principal said, “when you arrived I didn’t think you would stay 2 or even 3 months. I thought you would think this is a silly place and then leave!” Mostly I like it because he used the word silly.
Making learners imagine. I don’t think that word is said very much in primary school so it’s one of my favorite things to ask grade 9 or 10 learners to do it. This week they had to write a journal entry about if they could fly or read people’s minds or be invisible, what they would do (We were practicing using could, would and should) and the way some learners’ eyes get big and fidget in their seat, you know, you just know, their brain has been waiting YEARS for a teacher to say such a topic. Then their ideas are always interesting, they always are able to surprise me!
New ideas! From my colleagues! It’s inspiring! Now only to take them into action…
6 months to go. When I let myself I enjoy dreaming of snow, Christmas cookies, familiar faces, and Caribou coffee.

So not to be negative, but…

My least favorite things

Teenage boys. Are they this lame everywhere? And did I really like them at one point, meaning when I was a teenage girl? Eesh.
Customer service in Namibia. Perhaps systems of planning in general. My dad had mentioned that in planning their holiday that the main system here is faxing. I’ve encountered it as I try to plan a tour. We don’t have a fax machine at school so it becomes extra steps and work to put things into writing. Often I call somewhere and then they tell me I have to fax to which they won’t respond to on their own, I also have to make a follow up phone call to see if they received it. If they did, they will tell me yes and say they are sending their answer or quotation via fax. Eesh. It’s annoying, especially when the nearest fax is 30 km away. I just don’t like faxing anymore. I hope I never have to fax ever again after this tour is over.
Conveniences that are taken away. The electricity doesn’t work, the gas runs out and doesn’t get replaced for a few days, or the water tap is out because of a broken pipe somewhere along the line. I realize all of these are HUGE conveniences considering where I live. But the thought is once you have it and then it’s taken away, it’s worse than if you never had it. This term all of these things have not been in working order. It’s tiring. But that said, for each situation I get help from my family, or the principal, or a volunteer in town who has electricity. I never have to suffer alone.
People have always been interested in my “stuff.” I’ve gotten used to it not making me uncomfortable, but lately I feel like people are paying closer or attention or maybe I’m paying more attention, but it makes me want to crawl into a hole from time to time.
6 months to go. I want to feel like I’ve done all that I said I would do. Leave projects in a place that my colleagues can take them up and learners feeling equipped.

Cheers!

Bri

Something I wrote awhile back...

Sat, 05 Jul 2008 08:43:29 GMT

So this is something I wrote last year about an event that happened not long after I had started at my school. I submitted it to Peace Corps here and it was published in our newsletter with positive reactions. So I'd like to share with you too! Cheers!

Life is hard. It’s never easy, no matter where you live or what your job is. I try to tell myself that when life gets hard here. When I have a difficult day or I am feeling frustrated, I remind myself, it’s not just Namibia, that’s life. It is not easy. Yet I also try to remember that there are different rewards here than those I would get if I was doing some other type of work. That as I get frustrated or tired, there are some incentives that are worth moving through the hard stuff to get to.

There was one particular moment that I first truly realized this during my teaching in northern Namibia about three months after I arrived at site. To reach my village from my nearest town, I go to the petrol station that is at the far end of town and wait. Taxi drivers ask me, “Tsandi,” the next town down the tar road. “Aiye, no,” I reply. A look of confusion fills their face, “Ombalantu?” The next town after Tsandi. “Aiye,” I repeat, this time with a smile. “Peni,” they inquire, where could this oshilumbu possibly be going? “Onakaheke,” I say extending my hand to the far side of the road, pointing that I am somewhere off into the homesteads. The taxi drivers will often shake their heads in amazement and move on, looking for another customer.

I walk to the concrete steps beneath the Shell Petrol station sign and unload my bags. Immediately, a petite woman with striking eyes greets me. She addresses me as Meme Frau, suggesting that she is from my village, she knows I am a teacher. She then tells me in English that she is the mother of one of my grade 8’s, Petrina. She smiles broadly when she says it, the words her daughter has spoken about me, floating around in her face. Immediately I see the resemblance between the mother and daughter, big eyes, round face, both a brand of strong beauty. I reply, “Oh! Petrina is very clever! She is always answering questions nicely.” And she truly is. It had been difficult walking into the grade 8 classrooms, with learners who were unsure if they understood me and very shy to take a chance to participate. I made a seating chart just from the class list, Petrina’s place was in the back right hand corner of the room. I can still see her in her first hair style of the year, swept up into a side pony tail, wearing a green track jacket over her uniform, skirt too short, showing off her skinny strong legs. She not only answered questions, she answered them with authority. Standing straight up, hands at her sides, not hiding into the desk as many other learners did. She was confident in her English, willing to shout it across the classroom, for all to admire. I was willing to call on her often, as she made a valiant effort and her classmates and been slow to respond in the first months.

After I tell her mother that her daughter is clever, she again just smiles and asks if I am going home. I say yes and agree that we should find a hike, a lift with a baakie going to our village, together. After awhile, a baakie does pull up and the tate kulu driving shouts, “Nakaheke!” To which the mother looks at me and says, “let’s go.” I am pulled into the cab, as a teacher, a foreign teacher at that, I often get the comfortable cab seat without even a request. Petrina’s mother sits next to me, our legs wedged together to make room for the manual stick. The back of the baakie fills up with others headed home and the driver takes off, in the opposite direction we normally go. Petrina’s mother seems to sense my confusion, and says, “we are taking the old way. No one really goes this side anymore.” I nod in understanding as the driver stops at the post office to run one last errand.

I hear Petrina’s mother sigh loudly, I can tell she is searching for words to say. Language barriers often make for awkward silences. Then she begins. “Petrina says to me, mommy, there is one teacher I know loves me more than all the others. She says it is you, you know.” Great I think, I have tried not to play favorites, but it is hard in such a judgmental subject as English. The area between right and wrong is fluid and so I often let those with strong voices, like Petrina, participate as often as they like. Petrina knows this, that I have seen her talent and I let her use it. Her mother continues, “She is always trying to speak like you. Even when we are at home, she is walking around speaking your English.” She says it in a way as if to say, there is no need for English at home, we all understand Oshiwambo properly there, but Petrina cannot stop the English from coming out. Finally she says, “I can see she is trying very hard.” If she had stopped there, had left it at those words, I would have been pleased. I knew walking into this job That I may not get perfect test scores, but I may be able to inspire learning in some of the learners I taught. Help them see that it could be interesting and perhaps, fun! But she adds something more that hits me straight in the gut. “Thank you,” she says squeezing my hand. Then she is finished, those are all the English words she desired to say. A learner’s mother has thanked me. I am struck, I don’t even know how to respond. Thank you, she said all those things so she could thank me for inspiring her daughter to walk around speaking English. Petrina’s mother is the first parent I have met and the fact that this first encounter includes a thank you is more than I could ever ask for.

So when it is a hard day, or I’m frustrated trying to explain the difference between the present simple and present continuous verb tense or I am sick of saying, “Capital letters at the beginning of EVERY sentence!” I think of Petrina’s mother, of the few words she searched her mind to say and then I imagine Petrina walking around her homestead, speaking in simple English phrases for simply the sake of hearing her own voice speaking the language.

long time no see

Fri, 04 Jul 2008 15:27:45 GMT

So it’s been awhile. I had an infected jump drive and a lot to do. But hopefully this double post will make up for lost time.

As I sit here trying to psyche myself up to mark, I’m not exactly in the mood just yet. So I browse through what’s been saved on my laptop and decided for fun, to re read the blog dated 4 July 2007. Now as it’s a year later, I thought it’d be interesting to see what I was busy thinking about then.

To my surprise, the entry is largely a gripe out teaching argumentative essays, which I happen to again be teaching in this same week. A year ago I struggled for learners to find the format after I had tried to get them to make an outline to pre write. After that, the assignment basically went down hill. This time we made a simple positive and negative chart. I told them to choose what side they wanted to support and then use ideas from that side of the chart to write a 4 paragraph essay. The topic we used was less complicated, something closer and more directly impacting their lives. I proposed that all schools, not just the senior secondary in town, should have a hostel for learner’s to stay in. This worked. With resounding success. The issue was something they had thought of before and from talking to other people their age and siblings, they knew a lot about what was good in the hostels and the bad. The now grade 9s, who are either repeating or had me last year in grade 8, have written thoughtful, clear and well organized essays. Recently I have felt very not in control of my classes, that we really don’t accomplish what we should. But just seeing that I have indeed learned something about teaching at my school and hopefully learners have learned something about what I expect from their writing, makes me feel less hopeless.

I even see I struggled with homework in last year’s entry. It has definitely improved this time around, but I’ve also started to cut them more slack. I have had learners tell me, especially the grade 10’s, the long list of tests they have to study for and the long list of work they had to do at home. It some ways I was always aware of this, but now that learners are taking the chance to actually vocalize it to me, I decide its fair to cut them some slack. I even gave 10b time to finish their essay in class after they gave me their reasons. I’m trying really hard to teach them the lesson, I guess the life lesson, that the truth is always better than silence or a lie. I’m a register teacher for 10a, meaning together we are responsible for the cleanliness and condition of one class. I arrived in my room to teach one day and saw that someone had written the wrong date, (August?) on the chalkboard in some type of marker that didn’t come off with the duster. I gave my learners a talk about telling the truth and that to make it right they had to figure out how to get it off the board. It seemed to work as the marker was gone by the end of the day. That one about the truth may never really sink in, but I hope they know it applies in my classroom.

But those learners are sneaky about showing you what they know and what they’ve learned. I feel like grade 9 keeps their skills in their pockets and will randomly show you what they TRULY know when they want to. Last week I took a chance and did debates with them. I had done it earlier in the year with grade 10 to great success, but those grade 10’s have a lot of attitude and truly have bought into the game of “English with Miss Briana.” But I figured, why not? It could go well or dive bomb. I was willing to take the risk.

As I thought, it was somewhere in the middle. Some groups were great, others it was quite painful. But I find the difference is simply there are learners who have the confidence to try to find the words to express their idea even if they are not completely sure, while others would rather die then try. There are the learners who I KNOW will try. Their perseverance is consistent. I still smile when Ester Israel or Ester Uushona stands up and says something I hadn’t yet thought of. But what was really fun about the debate was that were some learners who put themselves out on that limb as they never had before.

One notable was Jonas Ndapo. I had Jonas last year in 9b. He failed, so he is again in 9c this year. Jonas is tall. He is by far the tallest Namibian I have met. He’s maybe 6’5? He’s huge. But he’s this towering guy, but he is absolutely and completely respectful and polite. I can see the effort in his face, but my encounters with his English have been discouraging. His writing his hard to decipher and he was quite quiet last year. Yet this year I can see for some reason he has decided that learning English is his main mission. He comes to ask me random questions, he’s a regular in the library, and he participates from time to time. Then during the debate, he shined. Sure his sentences weren’t perfect and it would take a few seconds of the eyes rolled to the back of his head to find the right words, but he would find them. Or something close to them. It was really cool. Kids are really strange about getting recognition, so I took a chance and just wrote him something simple in his composition book, about how he made some nice points and how his voice added a lot to the debate. Hopefully he’s not done yet.

Some days learners just do things to make me smile. I think they enjoy making me, and perhaps other adults, smile. I try to fight letting the big grin out when they say something clever or EVERY hand in the room is up and people are shouting, “Miss! Miss!” simply to get a chance to pass back their classmates’ marked books. It used to be one or two classes, but now all 5 do it as if it is the BEST thing they have a chance to do all day. It’s fun though. I find that walking to class I sort of dread it. Listening to my voice, being in charge, trying to be clear. But then when learners are active, or a lesson goes well, I leave the classroom on a bit of an adrenaline high. I try to remember that those moments are often in store for me.

Another highlight is teaching computers to learners. Now that almost, things are SLOW here, all are computers are in place, I’ve been teaching computers to Grade 10’s once a week. Man, do they get excited. They are so eager for the chance to get their hands on the computers and figure things out. I can tell how much time these learners have spent with each other because as they work, they are willing and almost seem to anticipate when a classmate needs help. The ones receiving the help usually seem to be quite receptive to the help they get. It’s clear learners have learned to be teachers for each other. I teach English to 2 of the 3 grade 10 classes. But the last I only have for computer class. Those learners are the over 18 learners who started the year late. There’s a lot of complaining done in the staff room about them. Oh! 10c. Aiye. They don’t know. It’s clear their learning went off road long ago and they definitely missed some of the biggest basics in learning. So I believe it’s not really their fault. But their enthusiasm whenever I walk into a room with them is palatable. I taught them for a month or so and they always looked pumped to talk about English. Doesn’t mean they received A*s but the heart was there. So it’s fun to teach them computers where the same enthusiasm explodes each time I let them into the library. When two boys figured out how to open program, they threw up their hands snapping shouting, “Miss! Miss! WE KNOW!” I hope the short time we get together each week adds up for some much needed self-confidence in these kids.

I’ve tried to talk to my principal about that. How new, exciting technology cannot only inspire learning in otherwise uninspired learners, but can be a reward for improved or good performance. He always seems to look at me a little funny when I say that. But when I talk him through it, he seems to agree. I try to make it clear that we do want all learners to have the opportunity, but now, while’s it’s new and super interesting, use it as a way to motivate learners who would otherwise be a bump on the log.

Which brings me to the other technology that has recently descended upon our school. The cable provider in Namibia chose certain schools to donate a DSTV dish, large screen TV and VCR to. Somehow our school was chosen! So now in the library in addition to 8 computers is a TV and VCR with cable of educational channels like, Animal Planet, Discovery, and National Geographic. How cool! This also means the tapes that were donated, I can now put to good use! But man are learners pumped about the TV. EVERYDAY they ask me when we will go. I try to tell them there is certain business we have to finish, but as soon as we can get a chance, we’ll go. I’m hoping to use it as a motivator to get kids to actually do the homework on time and improve upon scores they have gotten. It will be interesting what role it will play in my teaching and in the school as a whole.

Just another note, last year the most common name learners called me was Teacher. Or Teachers which was the worst of all. For some reason, the trend this year is to call me Miss. Either Miss alone or sometimes Miss Briana. They especially like to stretch out the s, I often hear “Thank you Misssssss.” But I like it. It’s certain better than teachers and I’m the only teacher at our school who is in the realm of Miss, both in age or marital status. I like that I get the special place J

That’s all for today. Hope to be not such a stranger soon.

Oh, it’s COLD. This morning I was wearing long underwear under a long skirt, short sleeve shirt, cardigan, fleece and scarf. Still chilly. Is this Africa? Freezing! Yes, I will suffer in Minnesota J But I do look forward to suffering with my family around.

Lots of love

Bri

PS i meant to make this a double, but didn't get it on jump drive. next time next time

Long Overdue...Worth the wait?

Fri, 18 Apr 2008 09:04:41 GMT

Happy April! I know it's been months, but life has been busy, water has been plentiful, and computers have been full at viruses. This all add up to it being difficult to update the blog. But now here I am on the edge of holiday and I've finally managed to do it! I'm including a blog I wrote in the beginning of April, so it will explain the plentiful water comment.

Today I'm off to Malawi to visit Kevin! I'm terribly excited. New place, new people, another PCV experience. Hopefully I will have wonderful stories to tell.

The other exciting news is yesterday I purchased 6 new computers for Nakaheke! Woo hoo! Very exciting! So this means computers will happen full swing next term. THANK YOU again to those who helped with the project. I CANNOT wait to let learners get their hands on those computers and start leraning something new. Terribly exciting.

With that here's something froma few weeks a ago. Hope you are happy and healthy :)

I realize it has been a full and complete month since I last updated so I will do my best to give an idea of what’s been going on throughout March.

I’m still busy. It’s nice though. Days go quickly, I fall asleep easily, and I feel as though the time I’m spending doing various things are having a positive impact, however small it may be. Exams start (by the time you read this, have started) on the 4 of April. Thus this week was finishing up the last required activities on my grading sheet and a few days of review. From now until the end of the term I’ll be busy marking exams and compiling grades and paperwork for my register class. Each term that I have been here has gone progressively faster, this one flew. It’ll be interesting how the last two terms stack up. From the 19 to the 25 of March, I had a long weekend away from school due to Independence and Easter Monday. Prior to that weekend, I had been consistently tired and dragging a bit. But since Holly and I decided to spend the weekend largely on a couch, I am feeling motivated and energized to finish the last few weeks.

The biggest thing going on in my life these days though is WATER. Who knew the while I was living in a desert country, I would be so largely affected by an abundance of water. This time of year is considered raining season, about now is typically the end, but the amount of rain this year is the most since 1977! Every year there are seasonal lakes, oshanas, but due to the large amount of rain this year, they are HUGE. And deep. And in some places they are not receding, but still rising. I don’t quite understand all the logistics of it, but supposedly due to some bridge construction project over the border in Angola that has been stalled, water that would be flowing there, is now directed into Namibia, increasing the floodwaters. As most of my knowledge of this phenomenon is hearsay, I don’t quite know what is truly happening, but I do know the water has a current, like a river. In many different places you’ll see it flowing in a certain direction, quite quickly. Luckily, there isn’t much flooding in my village. Unless it is a very heavy rainfall, I only have to snake my way around puddles to reach school. A few days I have walked to school barefoot, like my learners, because the sand has been so mucky and there is nowhere to walk that is not in the water. But in the past few weeks it has continued to rain, but not as heavily so I have stuck to the shoes. Other volunteers that are near me have had to wade through oshanas to reach school everyday. Their dedication and patience is amazing. My village is dry, but between my village and the tar road there are some very large oshanas, oshanas that either didn’t exist or I didn’t notice last year. Now we cannot take the tracks that we have normally taken, we drive farther along the tar road and turn off in an area where we pass through the least amount of water. The water is often up over the wheels of the pick up truck. Now as it has been several weeks of water, the sand underneath is soft and full of holes from trucks moving through, so it’s a precarious crossing. Many drivers know where the holes are or people standing around fishing, there are small carp that are in the oshanas, will shout the best way to go, but it’s still possible to get stuck. Coming home from the long weekend, we passed a Land Cruiser truck (the same model that Peace Corps had shown me in an effort to say, look! We could come and rescue you!) had fallen into a hole and was sitting lopsided in the middle of the water. Then this week, my colleague that owns a truck and drives all the teachers that live in Okahao to and from school each day, got stuck for three hours in the oshana after school. He said there were dents in the car from the pushing that was needed to get the car out.

This was the transportation all of the teachers that live in Okahao counted on to get the 10 kilometers to and from school each day. There are still some trucks that will drive from the village to town, but there are not any that go from town to the village at that time in the morning. The fact that there is no transport is not an excuse for those teachers not to come to school. There is still a means of transportation left, their feet! So every morning, they get a lift as far as they can on the tar road, then walk through the three, at least knee-deep oshanas. There is also plenty of hearsay about what is now in the oshanas. Snakes is one I know to be true, I’ve heard learners even talk about that. But because there is the Angolan overflow, there are also rumors of crocodiles in some. No matter, my colleagues roll up the legs of their pants and wade through. After the big oshanas, there’s not too much water, so then it’s simply a 7km walk to school. They pass by my house to reach school and they often pass me on my walk, their fast pace leaving me in the dust. It’s also impressive because the seasons are changing and so it is dark in the morning until about 7am. We must be at school by 7:30. This means they are also walking in the dark! Many of them wear one outfit to walk to school in, and then file past my table in the staff room, into the storage closet to change their clothes.

That is one thing I have noticed about the flooding that has occurred here, the attitude of the Namibians around me towards it. They are amazed and terribly interested at the water. Most conversations involve the word omeya, Oshiwambo for water. It’s astounding and they really can’t believe it’s still raining, but that’s it. Life still must go on. They still have to find a way to work or to town. They don’t complain or seem to dwell in how many extra steps it adds to their lives. From what I can tell, they see the problem and then work around it. A fellow PCV Aurora seemed to describe it best. If the floods were happening in America, every media would show us horrible photos and crying families, saying what they had lost and how awful it is. From what I hear, the TV news does cover the floods and from what I read, there usually is a photo and a story or two about the water. But it all seems to be very matter of fact, as here is the situation. My meme, who is retired, agreed to help out a school in Okahao in need of an Oshiwambo teacher to fill in while they waited to receive a new hire. At the beginning of the year, she would walk for a while, but many cars would be going and she would get a lift a majority of the way. But now with the water, she also walks the 10km to town, in the dark, everyday.

The feeling that being present at their work is that important and that some excuses, like flooding, simply don’t count is interesting. I hadn’t even thought of it as that amazing, until I told my American mother about it. She was astounded that my colleagues were doing that each day. I realized I only see it in this context, I can’t really compare it to America. But I realize now that what my colleagues and meme are doing is quite impressive. And I think it speaks to the fact I mentioned earlier, that the flooding isn’t necessarily a cause for complaint, but a difficulty to work around and overcome.

I hope I have done the topic justice, but I’m not sure, so I may come back to it another time. With the water has come grass, flowers, and insects! It is SO green here! I had no idea that all of that sand had a capacity for all of the green! Much of it is long, thin, grass, about plains like. There are also lots of weed like flowers, but flowers all the same. It’s definitely been a nice visual change. But despite my appreciation of the grass, the general thought is the long grasses breed mosquitoes and the random grasses growing on the homestead are plain ugly. As a result, my family spends a great deal of time picking the grass that is around the homestead. I have even spent a few hours pulling out grass around my houses. Because the rain hasn’t stopped, the grass grows back, so it’s a bit of a never ending process. Last year, despite the rain we did have, I never dealt with mosquitoes when I was at home, but this year because of the large amount of rain, there are SO MANY mosquitoes. As soon dusk hits, mosquitoes are swarming my ears and hovering around me. They’re annoying and significant in number. I’m very appreciative now of my mosquito net!

With those things said, the seasons definitely changing. It still rains, but instead of everyday, it’s once every few days. It’s dark in the morning and lighter in the evening. On 1 April, we change to winter time, so that will reverse. It’s also cool in the morning and evening. The other day my hands were cold in the morning for the first time. That was a common thing last winter, so I know the seasons are changing! It’s nice to feel the subtle changes in the weather and know what it coming. Despite the fact the changes are not as drastic as the four seasons of the Midwest, what does change is enough to give some relief from every situation. I’m looking forward to winter: wearing my fleece, sleeping under a blanket, drinking a few cups of tea a day. It’s nice to know and like the change that is coming! Hopefully this year I will be able to avoid getting sick the entire term!

Hope all is well! Happy spring to you! Happy winter to me J

Love,

Bri

What's happening?

Sat, 23 Feb 2008 09:52:40 GMT

A full month into the school year? Six teaching weeks finished? Six more to go this term? I believe it and yet I don’t.

I believe it because I’m getting to know my classes. I can see their “class” personality and what activities they immediately pick up on and the ones that I have to repeat and repeat. I believe it because I’m starting to fill in my continuous assessment sheet and it is starting to look full. I believe it because whenever I open the library during a break I am bombarded by grade 5’s who barely understand me, but who can barely wait a second to get their hands on a library book. I believe it because we’ve had a meeting with the grade 10’s talking about what obstacles are in their path and what they can do to overcome them. In the meeting, I told them that I was in fact, a human dictionary at their disposal. This was met with a few cheers and an enthusiastic round of applause.

Despite these signs, I still can’t believe it. I have been meaning to appoint library monitors. Hasn’t happened. I’ve meant to start netball. Hasn’t happened. Our HOD (Vice Principal) left last September. The post has been open since then and we still do not have a replacement for him. There is still a space in our timetable that sits blank, waiting for a teacher’s name to be added as HOD. There was a ministry regulation stating that once a learner turned 18, they could only take grade 10 once. Meaning if they failed, they couldn’t retake it in the traditional school setting. Because of the high fail rate across the country, this regulation has been met with some serious public outcry. It also means for about 40 of our grade 10s last year who failed, only 10 could repeat this year. So in response the Ministry first said, fine, we will let all learners who want to repeat, repeat. Then a week later, the statement was rescinded, no that’s a lie, we didn’t properly think through what that would mean, we will no longer allow over 18’s back to grade 10. THEN. This week our circuit inspector informed our principal that, again they changed their minds, we needed to admit the learners to grade 10. Six weeks in to the school year. I have been particularly concerned about this as I really like the grade 10 group as they stand. It’s a small class with motivated learners and they have verbally made many commitments that I can hold them to. So I was concerned what new learners would do to it. Instead the principal is simply adding another grade 10 class. Until this HOD appears, I will also be teaching them. So today we had a staff meeting, again, arguing over the allocation of periods, again. The timetable will be redrawn, again. Back to week 1. I’m still undecided about the issue. With the fail rate and fact learners will often take a year off of school or start late, the 18 year old barrier, isn’t very fair. It’s hoping to correct the problem from the wrong angle. Instead of focusing on grade 8, or grade 5, two years earlier that learners have to make a big leap academically, there is a focus where it’s do or die. It’s hurting learners who never had a chance to begin with. But now? Six weeks into the school year? It’s frustrating and confusing for everyone involved. Hopefully the ministry brouhahas will stick to this decision. They haven’t yet.

Another change this week. One of our math and science teachers transferred to a senior secondary (grades 8-12) in town and this week he was replaced. His replacement is a man who is just out of the teacher’s college. I haven’t asked, but this means he closer to my age then anyone on the staff. He’s talkative and had lots of ideas. He has a significant knowledge of computers that he’s willing to share and he is ALWAYS speaking English. Not only with me as most teachers did, but with every teacher, even though he is originally from this area. Today we sat in the staff room and discussed consumerism, voting, and California – not necessarily in respect to one another.

My world has been shaken. I have been so used to being in, most of the time, my own world at school. I spoke to others when I had to, or when just two of us were in a room together. I rarely was part of a general conversation or discussion. In essence, I did my own thing. It was fine, I managed. Now with my new colleague, I can understand most of the conversations around me. As I result, I am included. I have to think of interesting things to say. I get to laugh with my colleagues. Since his arrival on Monday, his subtle constant use of English has encouraged many of my colleagues to do the same, so even if he is not there, they may be conversing in English. I don’t know how simple it is for my colleagues, but it’s a change that has drastically turned my world upside down.

My new colleague has ideas, ideas, ideas. It’s amazing! He’s keeping me on my toes in terms of doing what I’ll say I do and if I truly am doing anything I can. It’s like the year has started all over again with new ideas, new people to talk to etc. So much still hasn’t happened.

So sometimes my brain hurts. I’ve got ideas and to do lists spilling out my ears. It’s at the point where I have so many ideas I end up in no action. I bought myself a planner and I strive to make short to do lists each day and just carry over what I don’t manage. It’s hard also because this is the year I have left. I can no longer say, maybe next year, or next time. It’s just this time and that can sometimes overwhelm me. I’m trying to take the energy of my new colleague and accomplish what I want to.

So much hasn’t happened. And it’s good because despite the fact it’s already been six weeks, I’ve still got 10 months to make it happen.

Before I finish I just want to say a HUGE, ENORMOUS, GARGANTUIN, GIANT (I love this part of being an English teacher) thank you to everyone who has donated to the computer project. My parents have updated me on its progress and I think we’re on track to meet our goal! I am boosted also in the fact that I now definitely have another teacher signed on to help me and then keep the place running after I go. Meaning the kids will get to use computers after I’ve gone. The pictures my parents sent my community of their visit was greeted with a million thank yous and even the Namibian undulation, so I will try to capture, or a fraction of the reaction of what thanks I’ll receive for an entire computer lab! THANK YOU!

I hope you are well! When you feel cold, just think of me, sweating, constantly J

Love

Bri

Round 2

Sat, 19 Jan 2008 08:51:39 GMT

This week I have been continually having, you know you are in your second year of teaching in Namibia/living in Namibia when moments. So many things have become familiar while others are new habits that I am now comfortable in.

The prime example happened Wednesday night. This week has been bearably hot. I don’t know if the cool wetness of Botswana or the dry, temperate heat of Windhoek had spoiled me, but either way I’ve been suffering. It’s been uncomfortable, but I’ve managed to sleep through the night since I arrived. Wednesday night was different. Clouds had rolled in, at twilight and of course we hoped for rain. Instead of immediately bringing rain it brought intense and stifling humidity. There was a slight breeze to fall asleep to, but I awoke again at 3:30am, feeling so hot and stuffy that I was almost claustrophobic and my hair and pajamas were soaked from sweat. I scrambled out of bed, opened my door, and plopped myself on my mini stoop in my doorway. I saw that the sky was filled with promising rain clouds and that the hair was slightly less still than inside my room. I sat for a half hour thinking, watching the sky. Then I saw lightning in the distance and after a few minutes heard thunder coming closer. The rain was coming! I realized I know now all the signs that rain is actually coming. Obviously clouds moving, but there’s also a breeze that picks up a bit. I’ve learned if it’s really windy and there aren’t serious clouds, its just going to be windy. But if the wind is subtle and cool, it usually means rain. The smell is also there. I don’t know if I have less bombardment here, but I smell it immediately and it takes over my senses. As the storm moved closer, the wind picked up and I wasn’t ready to sweat inside so I stayed put. I watched as the lightning became near and the thunder loud. Slowly, I heard raindrops. I stuck out my hand to feel the rain. There is some serenity and release that I get every time it starts to rain here. If I feel uptight or upset, the rain seems to take it away, as lame as that sounds. But it is true and so I embrace it every time it happens. There wasn’t much more than a heavy drizzle, but I got my pleasure from watching the rain clouds roll in and feeling the weather changing breeze on my back.

The other moments I have been having have come at school throughout the week. I feel so much more comfortable at the beginning of this year then I did last. I notice it in the amount of time I have on my hands. Last year I spent a great deal of that time worrying, this year it is spent talking to learners!

That’s the moment that continually pops up and is my favorite. Walking into a classroom and knowing a majority of the faces. It’s a great feeling knowing that I know a learner’s names, her strengths, her struggles, her personality, and how to win her over. Of course kids are never that simple, but just having a glimpse of those things is so reassuring! It’s definitely one less thing to worry about and means I can worry more about planning and other projects.

This year I’m teaching two classes of grade 10 and three classes of grade 9. By and large, I requested to move up with my learners. I only taught half of grade 9, so there are still plenty of new faces. Due to the fail rates, the classes are a genuine mix of those in the grade for the first time and repeaters. After two days of teaching, it’s interesting to see already that some of the learners repeating grade 9 who barely spoke, now are doing much of the talking in their new class. I’m both excited and apprehensive about teaching grade 10. There are a number of girls in the classes who were in the other half of grade 9 or who are repeating, who seem eager to be in class with me. They are attentive and already outspoken. I hope that I can keep them engaged and motivated! I am apprehensive as this is the year that learners take a national exam to receive what is called their Junior Secondary Certificate. If they do not pass the exam they cannot move onto grade 11. If they are 18 when they take the exam and they fail, they cannot repeat grade 10. It is also a widely published statistic and as a result a big concern of my principal. For both the learners and the school’s sake, I hope equip them well for the exam. I’m trying to put the horror stories about the exam writing and processing out of my mind and focus on improving their English skills to pass the exam.

The other change this year is I am teaching significantly more periods. Granted yes, I was teaching very few, in terms of normal load, last year. I knew it was a good possibility, but I was and still am a little bit, nervous about the change in my schedule. But I think it may be positive for me. It is not more prep work, but merely more teaching hours, aka more time with learners. I think in the end the less idle time will be mentally good for me. I work better under pressure and I think more time with the learners will keep me smiling too. Marking may become more of a significant task, but I hope I’ll figure out some happy medium system.

My principal is also showing signs of being serious this year. Last year it took until the end of the second week of school for the timetable of classes to be finished. This year we did subject allocation on Tuesday and the timetable was finished on Wednesday! Amazing! It was clear that it was unexpected and jarring for the other teachers, but I commend my principal for speeding up the process.

With that, that has been a work filled entry, but as the first week of school, it’s the exciting topic! I hope to less serious in later entries.

Hope all is well!

Xoxo

Bri

New year!

Sun, 13 Jan 2008 08:34:13 GMT

I realize it's been a very long time since I last updated and I apologize for that!

But now here I am back from an excellent holiday and trying to get in the mind set of a new year at school.

I did really enjoy the holiday. My boyfriend Kevin was able to visit from Malawi. It was of course wonderful to see him and it was fun trading facts about where we live. He was amazed by the dry weather, open spaces, and lack of people that is Namibia. We were able to see one of the big natural highlights of Namibia, Soussvlei, giant sand dunes. It was a lot of driving, but really spectacular scenery.

I was also lucky enough to have my parents visit! There were many highlights, but the two that reach the top of my list was the visit to my village and our stay in the Okavango Delta in Botswana.

To celebrate my parents' visit, my host family and principal put together a big celebration to welcome them. We were able to tour my school, the village, and I got to flex my Oshiwambo muscles by introducing my parents in front of the church. My parents got to participate in all the important USA discussions, help small kids practice their English, and sweat it out in a hut. It was a bit of a crazy day, but I'm really glad both my parents and Kevin have some frame of reference for where I live. I also proved that I do know at least ONE way into my village :)

The Okavango Delta experience was a world away from the village visit. Botswana was green, lush, and rainy. AMAZING. I almost felt claustrophobic by the amount of foliage that surrounded us at one of the lodges. The Delta was a beautiful place. The biggest perk for me was that very few decisions had to be made. There was a routine and system for everything and we just basically had to show up and enjoy the activities. We also saw lots and lots of animals, including being charged by an elephant and a night spotting of a leopard! I hope to write in more detail about the trip when I have more time.

So with all those experiences behind me, I'm tyring to focus on the next school year. I'm excited but also daunted by an entire year out before me.

With that in mind I am hoping to acquire 10 new computers for our school. I have requested funds through the Peace Corps Partnership Program. I worked with my principal to create a project proposal and budget to recieve funding for the new computers. The grant covers 75% of our total cost and our school community is responsible for paying the remaining 25%. This is a great situation as we will have a firm investment in the project. Any donation you may be able to give will be very helpful and will really benefit my community! The link below is to a short summary of the project and where you can donate online to the fund. Thanks for your support!

https://www.peacecorps.gov/resources/donors/contribute/projdetail.cfm?projdesc=697-046&region=africa

I hope to update a bit more soon, but my computer met its end during my parents visit, so I am holding up the line of volunteers to use the office computers. So soon I'll have more to say!

Happy New Year!