so much to be thankful for...

*real turkey
*cranberries, not the ones in a can
*a kitchen that smelled like my mom's
*a Namibian family to share the American Thanksgiving with

It's all true.

A real, American style Thanksgiving was celebrated
with turkey and all of the fixings here in Namibia. We (myself and
fellow PCVs) prepared the whole feast for Jaco's family. Everything
turned out great, many thanks to our families in the U.S. who emailed
recipes and suggestions...a dad's special mashed potatoes, a mom's
special rolls, etc, etc until the whole table was full of delicious
food! We (PCVs and Namibians) all enjoyed it immensely!

reflecting on the year

You never know exactly what is going to happen in your life from year
to year. Particularly, if you move someplace new. For me that move
was to a whole new country! My first year as a Peace Corps volunteer
has been so much more that I ever could have expected or imagined!
On November 7, 2005, I said my final goodbye to my parents at the
security gate of CWA (Central Wisconsin Airport). All of us in
tears, but I think that all of us knew this was exactly what I was
supposed to be doing. After eight weeks of pre-service training I
was sworn in as a true PCV. I even gave a speech in Afrikaans
thanking the trainers and staff for all that they shared with us over
those eight weeks. I never thought that I would speak in front of a
room full of peers, Namibians, and diplomats in a language that I
only began learning two months before!

Since moving to Mariental and beginning work at the TRC in January I've:

*found two homes away from home here where I know I can go if I need
anything at all or just to hang out
*explored a rare lily pan that only forms if there is enough annual
rainfall
*survived a flood here in desert and helped clean up the aftermath
*met a incredible guy, Jaco, and started dating a couple months later
*experienced life on a farm in the Kalahari Desert
*spent Easter on the coast in Luderitz
*travelled throughout central Namibia on a ten day camping adventure
(Oanob Dam, Gross Barmen Hot Springs, Omaruru, Swakopmund, and the
Namib Desert)
*had a visit from my mom and sister and got to share parts of Namibia
with them (Etosha, Swakopmund, Okahandja, and Anib Lodge in the
Kalahari Desert)
*hitch-hiked to the far northwest corner of Namibia with Dani to
paint a world map mural in a library at a village school
*visited Epupa Falls and then spent one night on an Oshiwambo
homestead outside of Ondangwa
*worked with Megan and Dani to paint 3 world map murals (2 schools
and 1 library)
*attended numerous school functions such as performances, athletics,
a funwalk, and an awards ceremony
*assisted with training teachers to facilitate holistic HIV and AIDS
clubs
*visited 27 primary schools with my counterpart, Heidie, to observe
classes, offer support & feedback to teachers, promoting reading
development, promote the TRC & available resources, and help the
teachers to understand learner-centered education better
*started a Girls Club at a local school with Dani
*collaborated with other volunteers to put on a leadership/women's
empowerment conference for Girls Clubs in the south of Namibia
*helped plan & prepare the training for the next group of volunteers

I had no idea what my life and my work would actually be like here,
but now that it has been a year I can honestly say that I have no
complaints! Yes, there are plenty of challenges along the way, but
it is all worth it and the good far outweighs the bad. Even though I
am a foreigner here, I feel much less like one than I did a year
ago. If I have experienced so much in this year, what will 2007 bring?

Girls Club End-of-Year Celebration

This was the first year that a grade 8 Girls Club was available at Danie Joubert in Mariental.  The aim of the Girls Club, facilitated by Dani and I, was to build self-esteem and self-awareness, strengthen and empower girls to make educated decisions, and to address issues of concern identified by the girls.  Session topics included, but were not limited to, self-esteem, respect, friendship, team building, relationships, women’s health, HIV and AIDS, future, goal setting, careers, role models, stress, trust, nutrition, exercise, parents/families, self-defence, drama/acting, t-shirt making, and women’s art.  Six girls attended the Southern Girls Conference in June to promote the development and networking of girls clubs throughout southern Namibia.  Two sleepover parties were held this year with themes of self-esteem and friendship/overcoming differences as well as many other fun activities.  Girls Club has been a rewarding and growing experience for all involved this year!

At the End-of-the-Year Party the girls participated in activities that reflected what Girls Club meant to them through out the year.  “Most Moments” gave each girl an opportunity to share one moment from girls club that was most...educational, creative, funny, ridiculous, etc.  One participant said, “The most educational moment for me was the HIV and AIDS session.”  Another girl said, “The most growing experience for me in Girls Club was sharing with others and learning from each other.”  As reported from the girls, the “most wonderful” part was the sleepover and the “most funny” session was self defence.  The girls then had time to write in their journals about what the most meaningful aspect of Girls Club was to each of them.  This activity was followed by “Strengthening Our Sisterhood” in which each girl selected a wrapped gift as a representation of what Girls Club meant to her.  All of the girls shared what their gift meant placing the gift back in the middle of the circle.  Then each girl selected one of the gifts from the centre based on what they would take away from Girls Club for the year.  Everyone received a surprise to unwrap as a token.  

Girls Club officially closed for 2006 with a certificate ceremony.  Following a reading of Maya Angelou’s poem “Phenomenal Woman”, the girls were presented with certificates that read, “This certifies that ______ is a phenomenal woman for participating in the Danie Joubert Grade 8 Girls Club.”  Each girl also received a copy of the poem “Phenomenal Woman”.  After many photos, hugs, thank-yous, and a few tears the Girls Club came to a close for 2006.

miss, my takkies are asking some porridge

WHAT?!?!?! One of the girls really did say this to me yesterday at
Girls Club. I was so confused. I know that takkies are sneakers or
running shoes and porridge is this thick cream-of-wheat staple food
here. Why were her takkies "asking some porridge"? At first I
wanted to say, "What are your takkies asking of the porridge?" The
sole was starting to come off of her shoe. I still don't know if she
wanted some porridge to stick her takkies back together, as porridge
can be quite sticky, or if the separation or the sole and shoe looked
like an open mouth that was hungry for porridge.

"Miss, this one, she just swore my mother." WHAT?!?!?! I had to
turn to Dani for translation on this one. Basically she was speaking
poorly of the other girl's mother or dishing out some "yo mama..." talk!

Needless to say, the girls were quite full of energy at Girls Club
and ready for our topic, exercise. We discussed muscles, why you
need them, and the heart as a muscle. We showed all of the girls how
to take their own pulse. Then we headed outside for a little
practical exercise. There was much laughing and talking on our
fitness walk, but after a fast paced game of frisbee they were sweaty
and exhausted. We had the girls check their pulse after the walk and
then after the frisbee game. Girls Club wrapped up with a
calculating beats per minute, analyzing the difference in our pulse
as activity increased, and then answering their further question
about exercise.

The takkies that were asking some porridge made it through this
session of Girls Club.

just an update

What?!?! It's been over a month since I have posted anything here.
For those of you who check this from time to time, I apologize. Life
has been quite busy.

As far as supporting teachers goes, I've been to ten primary schools
with Heidie in the past month. It's been rewarding and refreshing
for me to be in classrooms with teachers and learners. We do
classroom observations, offer feedback and support to teachers, and
answer any further questions they have regarding the new lower
primary curriculum, continuous assessment, learner-centred education,
etc. At each school we have a meeting after school with all the
lower primary teachers where I explain some more about learner-
centred education and give them some resources/ideas for promoting
reading development and Heidie explains the expectations for their
files, etc. At each school the teachers are so appreciative of our
visit and welcome the feedback, support, and ideas that we bring.
The plan for next week is to visit five more schools in rural areas
outside of Rehoboth.

Girls Club has also been going quite well. In the past month we
tackled the following: teamwork, parents, families, nutrition,
women's health, making pinatas, making t-shirts, another sleepover
party, and the movie "Remember the Titans" followed by some
interesting discussion about the parallels between the movie and
their lives here in Namibia. Today we have another PVC coming to do
a session on the basics of self-defense. All of the topics addressed
have come from the girls telling us what they want to learn more
about or discuss at Girls Club. They really have gained a lot this
year!

Security update: Peace Corps had another burglar bar door/gate put
on the back section of our house so that one can even access our
windows. Megan and I sometimes feel like we live in a fortress, but
it is for the best. It just feels strange to live in a flat with
bars on all of the windows and huge metal gates on the doors, but
that's normal here.

Upcoming events for me include: assisting with the training for the
next group of volunteers, helping plan a World AIDS Day celebration,
and the mid-service conference for Peace Corps (can't believe I've
already been here for nearly a year).

Thanks for reading this and checking up on me! :-)

no more photos for a while

Shortly after returning from the trip north, my flat was broken into
and my camera stolen along with a few other valuable things. I don't
feel unsafe, just bummed that someone would bend the burglar bars on
my window, come into my flat, dig through my stuff, and take things
that could be easily sold for fast cash! BUMMER! The biggest bummer
is that I can't take photos anymore.

I filed a police report (don't really know what they can or will do
about it) and also spoke with my neighbors about what happened.
There is a plan to put a security gate/door thing on that would close
off the outside, back section so that no one would even have access
to the windows. I just don't like having all of these bars and
gates, it seems so unwelcoming!

On the positive side, my mom has been super efficient in finding out
about my insurance and getting the proper forms scanned and emailed
to me. I did have personal article insurance through for PCVs and
just sent everything in today. Hopefully the process won't take too
long and I will be able to get a new camera by Christmas time.

Adventure to the North

In mid-August I traveled to the far northwest corner of Namibia with a fellow volunteer to paint another world map at a village school out in the bush. For those of you with maps of Namibia, dig them out and see if you can find Opuwo and Epupa Falls. The village that I was in is between those two places and is called Okanguati, don't know if you'll find it on a map.

There is a PCV teaching at Okanguati Combined School who runs the school library/computer lab that the previous volunteer established. We were there to paint a world map on one whole wall. It was the end of the school term, so there were many learners free from classes and available to help. Even teachers came to paint and contribute to the project. Working in this village school for a week gave me another view of life in Namibia, much different from my own, and also allowed me to see a part of the country that I had never been to before.

After the map was finished we traveled to Epupa Falls on the Angolan border. It was beautiful and well worth the bumpy, make-you-carsick drive on a gravel road. The pictures don't even do it justice, but I thought I would at least try.

The trip back to Windhoek took two days. The first day we traveled from Epupa Falls to Ondangwa across the north of Namibia. We spent the night with another PCV who lives on an Oshiwambo homestead (see photo of the "bath house" with the rusty truck for one of the walls) and then traveled to Windhoek the next day.