My holiday tour of Namibia was absolutely fabulous! Check your map of Namibia to follow the path that I took. I left Mariental and headed north to Rehoboth's Oanob Dam. From there I went to Gross Barmen hot springs near Okahandja and then up to Omaruru to visit my host family. These photos are just a small sample of the 500+ that I took on the adventure. The next stop was Swakopmund which reminded me a lot of Florida. I did not see Brangelina even though they are staying near there. From there I went into the desert on a gravel road which felt like I was driving to the ends of the Earth! I stayed on a gorgeous private farm called Oase about 30k from Solitaire. If I had known how welcoming and fabulous this place was, then I would have planned to stay longer. The last stop on my tour was Sesriem which is near Sossusvlei, an area of the desert with beautiful red dunes that Namibia is famous for. I did climb Elim Dune while I was there. I was quite pleasantly surprised by the amount of light green grasses covering the dunes. The longest stretch of the drive was from Sesriem back through Maltahoe and on to Mariental. This trip allowed me to rest, relax, soak in some of the beauty of Namibia, and get rejuvenated for Term 2 of school/work to begin!
Two days after returning from holiday, Heidie and I began another Window of Hope facilitators training workshop. We had 18 teachers from in and around Mariental who came to receive training on the Senior Windows of Hope program for grades 6-7. Some teachers barely knew each other or knew what WOH was and others have been leading the Junior WOH clubs at their schools. By the end of the week we had a team of 18 equipped, empowered, and bonded teachers who were ready to go back to their schools, start their Senior WOH clubs and share what they gained with their colleagues! I also ended the week feeling much more equipped to lead future WOH workshops AND feeling that I had broadened my network of teachers and schools to support/work with in the future. The Window of Hope training was an excellent way to kick off the week!
By Friday I was quite tired, but not yet finished with the week. I had girls club at Danie Joubert (local school)! From the first day of school on Tuesday the girls where asking Dani about when we would have girls club that week! Dani met with them on Wednesday and then I was able to join them Friday afternoon after closing the WOH workshop. We did many team building activities with the girls and allowed some time at the end for reflection/journaling. I was refreshed by their energy, enthusiasm, and excitement to be there on a Friday afternoon! These are some committed and exceptional ladies! Seven of them have applied to attend the Southern Girls Conference and we will be able to take all seven!!!
Saturday afternoon was the Pretloop (Fun Walk) at Danie Joubert, so I bundled up and did the 10k walk with some of the girls from girls club. Ah, if only it was a 10k run! However, it was fun to walk and talk with the girls. We did jog the last few kilometers back to school at the end :-)
Now, after being away for nearly a month, I am back at the TRC! This week will hopefully allow me to go through all of my notes & materials from the Peace Corps Reconnect conference and flesh out a game plan for this second term.
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