The Namibian Holiday (part one)

Hello America! Click the link below to check out the first week of Warren/Chris visit Tina...

The Boys in Namibia

A Video of our adventures...

Cultivating Patience on the Toilet, Genuine Laughter and Pythons...

People in Africa laugh. And do so with sincerity I have rarely seen. For example, Thursday, I went to the “sports field” or “the only spot where maize in not planted” to witness track practice. Kids ran barefoot in skirts and pants and dress shirts. The hurdles were two sticks in the ground with plastic string between them. Nobody knew how to jump them anyway. Kids held out vines to indicate a finish line. Kids laughed. Adults laughed. The sorta laugh that emerges from the soul. Sheer bliss. It is how it should be at sports event from time to time.

As a kid, I remember having a little jar to collect whatever insects inhabited the yard. I placed dirt and grass in it and poked holes at the top so the critters could breathe. The other day, I had an epiphany. I was inspecting the toilet for large spiders when it occurred to me that using a latrine during the rainy season is a little like taking a dump in an insect jar. The latrine has holes at the top, grass and dirt on the floor and every sort of flying, creepy crawling insect imaginable is housed within. Bugs fall on me. Fly into my face. Crawl across my feet. Sitting on the can is a fantastic place to cultivate patience. I owe any personal growth to the fact I used a pit latrine for two years.

Lusese was hit with a snake frenzy days before my return from Holiday. The highlight of which was the Python discovered in the wash area of a teacher’s hut. The snake was smothering its dinner, which on this day was a small dog. My neighbors walked in on the snake mid-squeeze. It promptly dropped the dog and made a hasty escape. Brave souls took chase and shot the snake in a field. I saw pictures and it goes without saying that anything that can devour a dog is large, impressively large.

I am teaching a Life Skills class. A learner asked me to teach him how to get a girlfriend. This is not my area of expertise. Wish me luck, or perhaps you should wish him luck;)

Warren and Chris arrive in a few days. I should have pictures of our Namibian adventures to share with you soon.

I miss you.

Help Me Help Them!

This year I have been asked to teach Life Skills to Grade 9 and 10. I am hoping to integrate the following program into this course. It is called Hero books and it has been used widely throughout South Africa. It is meant to empower individual children and families as well as entire communities. A Hero Book is a document, and a process, in which a child is invited to be the author, illustrator, main character, and editor of a book that is designed to help them set goals, and give them power over a specific challenge or obstacle in their life. At the end of the process each person has a hand-bound storybook of their own making which is a kind of solution focused mission statement but also documents, heralds, and reinforces their problem busting strategies and hero-survival-resilient abilities. The first draft of a Hero Book is made purely as part of a confidential therapeutic process and is explained to the participant as such. Participants are however offered the opportunity to think about “publishing” their Hero Book by hand-making or photocopying second editions. If you want to read more about Hero Books, check out the website: www.repssi.org then click on the Hero Book link on the left side.

I am hoping you might be willing to send much needed supplies so the children may be able to create a book. I appreciate all the personal things I have been getting, but I would love for you to consider sending items from this list instead. Email me with any questions.

Copier Paper
Lined Paper
Construction Paper (colors)
Pens
Pencils
Sharpeners
Markers
Colored Pencils
Glue
Packing Tape
Paint
Paint Brushes
Nails
Hammer
Paperclips
String/Yarn
Sewing Needles

A Holiday Photo Essay

Instead of boring you with paragraph after paragraph, I have handpicked the finest photo representations of my holiday. I limited my descriptions to just a few short sentences. I do hope your holiday was all you wanted it to be and then some. Happy 2009 America! I hope the year is fantastic and I hope to see you before its over. Just click on the picture below to go to my photo essay.

Opwuo to Cape Town 2008

More Pictures...

Me and Ed...

My garden...

Elephant footprint...

Baby Elephant footprint...

Elephant Shit Storm...

Mulotu (another wild animal)...

Mi Casa (or "The White House" as my principal calls it)...

Guava Trees, Snickers, Cheese Bread and more...

A Shirt.
A trend among learners here is to write on their uniform shirts. Here is what one learner scribbled on the front pocket of her nice white shirt:
Name: Lindah
Grade: Grade 7
School: Lusese Combined
Subject: Shirt

A Tree.
I planted two Guava trees in my yard, which was a feat in itself. I spent the better part of two weekends gathering sticks in the bush and creating a fence around each tree to keep out dogs. I am proud of my work. I am fond of working with the Earth. Planting things. Watering. Watching things grow. My garden is not turning out as I had hoped. It has lots of weeds sprouting and little else, which is why I put the trees in. I plan on getting flowers to plant around the trees.

A Moment.
The American Presidential Election was a big deal for the people of my village. I have always known the world watched American politics closely, but this was the first time I have seen it firsthand. I was touched by the reaction of my coworkers and my learners after Obama won. I was hugged. Learners cheered. It seemed to touch something in them. They felt a connection because of Obama’s roots in Africa. They felt it could be good for Africa. And regardless of ones political leanings, one can’t argue it was a significant moment in time and even those living in a tiny village in Africa with nothing but a cell tower can sense the importance of the moment. I am sure all of you can too.

A Birthday.
On my birthday, I ate a snickers bar that my village mate brought back for me from her trip to Botswana. My learners made me spectacular cards and I got lots of love from back home and from my NamFam (Namibian Family). Overall, it was a nice way to start pushing 40. Yeah, you read right. I am pushing 40.

A Sorta Thanksgiving
My Thanksgiving might not have included turkey and mac-n-cheese but it did have lots of thanks. I ate some fresh cheese bread from a grocery store in my shopping town and thought about how much I am thankful for in my life. hApPy ThAnKsGiViNg!!

A Farewell.
The last three weeks of school consisted of no teaching. The learners were writing exams and I was busy marking the exams. Today was the final day for kids. And now it is time for a break from Lusese. I am headed to Opuwo, which is in the Kunene Region of Namibia (northwest corner) at the end of next week. It is home to Ed, my boyfriend for the past few months. He is a fellow Peace Corps volunteer who works with the Namibia Red Cross. He is originally from Wisconsin, which means he talks funny and likes to hunt. I am going to be at his site for two weeks and then we are traveling to Cape Town for Christmas and New Years. We have a wine tour planned for Christmas Eve and we are diving with Great White Sharks on New Years Day. Stay tuned for pictures and stories from our trip. And if you don’t hear from us, it means we are shark food.