What the Dixons are thankful for...

Ok, so it is past Thanksgiving, but reflecting on what you are thankful for can and should be done more than just once a year! Here is just a small list of the things that first came to mind of what the Dixons are thankful for this year.

1. Dad and Mom (Paul and Jill)
2. the unconditional love of God poured out through countless people who loved, supported, cared for, helped, and encouraged not only Dad and Mom, but Luke, Ellen, and I as well!
3. a bazillion cards and emails sent to Dad (and Mom) at the hospital and the house
4. a beautiful new bedroom with a deck and a wheelchair accessible shower on the first floor and every single person who contributed with ideas, hard work, materials, food for the workers, time, financial donation to the lumber store, and for some long distances travelled to work on it
5. new landscaping to accommodate the addition
6. additional modifications to the house and garage
7. the organization and delivery of a van for Dad to drive
8. dedicated, caring therapists for massage, physical therapy, and pilates
9. countless personalized, thoughtful gifts sent to the hospital and also to Medford10. many wonderful gift certificates
11. all of the visitors who made the trip out to Colorado and those who have come to Medford this fall
12. the surgeon who stabilized Dad's back
13. the staff of Craig hospital who cared for, encouraged, and prepared Dad and Mom for the transition home
14. the community of patients at Craig who they could share the ups and downs with
15. Packer tickets
16. Project Walk
17. GENUINE, LOVING FRIENDS and FAMILY from near and far
18. the Medford community (co-workers, friends, acquaintances, Klingbeil Lumber Co)
19. the fact that the support has not stopped! people still come over, help out, give love and support. even here in Namibia people still stop me and ask how my dad is doing.
20. Luker being a rockstar this summer and holding down the fort in Medford while working super-full time and training for a marathon
21. Ellen and Gloria (pilates teacher) going with Dad to Portland for Project Walk seminar for a week
22. the technology that has allowed for communication through email, cellphone, and blogging to get out updates and news on Dad's progress
23. that the accident did happen in Colorado where the best surgeons and rehabilitation are for spinal cord injuries
24. that the insurance agreed to let Dad stay there for the rehab at Craig Hospital
25. for the chance to see another day

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope that all those of you in the US enjoy the day, take time to
think about what you really are thankful for and thank God for the
blessings and provisions in your life! We don't have the day off
here in Namibia, but will celebrate by going out for dinner tonight
with the new volunteers who will take over for Megan and me in January.

This is now my third Thanksgiving in Namibia, specifically in Mariental!

First, Megan and I were here for our site visit during our pre-
service training in 2005. We went to Wimpy for burgers, fries, and
milkshakes to feel like we were having American treats on
Thanksgiving Day.

Last year in 2006 we made a fabulous Thanksgiving dinner with Jaco
and his family. We even watched a recorded football game from the US
after the meal and made the day as traditionally "American
Thanksgiving" as we could!

This year Jaco and his family are looking forward to Thanksgiving (we
will have it on Saturday) and even sharing in with preparing some of
the dishes this year. I hope that our Packers vs Redskins game comes
in the mail by Saturday so that we can watch another football game
this year. Plus, Megan it would be the perfect rival game for Megan
and I since she is from DC and a huge Redskins fan! Also, there are
three new volunteers visiting this week, so they will join us. There
will be so many people that we might have to implement the "kids'
table" for the youngest :-)

Hopefully by Monday I will have more posted on Thanksgiving. For
now, enjoy the day, the time with family, and all that you have been
blessed with :-)

Happy Halloween!

Halloween is not celebrated here in Namibia, but the girls club asked me about it a while ago, so I planned a girls club around it. I shared stories of dressing up in costumes, trick or treating, carving pumkins, and going to parades. Then the girls made their own little masks out of paper plates and we went out trick or treating to some of the offices of my colleagues at the Ministry og Education (people that I had prearranged with), and also bobbed for apples to round out the Halloween party activities. It was a fun way to share a bit of my culture/traditions as an American with the girls club here in Namibia.

Hope that all of you enjoy your Halloween with trick or treaters and making jack-o-lanterns! :-)

PHENOMENAL GIRLS OF MARIENTAL

THANK YOU for your support of this project. Special thanks to Diane Rydel-Milanowski, and Martha Rydel for donation that helped with purchasing supplies for the conference!! The Peace Corps Gender Awareness In Namibia (GAIN) Committee also helped out and everything was covered! It was a fantastic day with good participation from all of the girls!! See the article below for more details. Again, thanks for supporting projects like this!!

:-) beth

PHENOMENAL GIRLS OF MARIENTAL
I am a woman phenomenally, phenomenal woman that’s me.

These words from Maya Angelou’s poem, Phenomenal Woman which served as the theme for the day, kicked off the first ever Mariental Girls Conference early Saturday morning (13 October 2007) at Danie Joubert School Hall. The purpose of the conference was to imbue a sense of empowerment in the girls and to encourage each one to make healthy life choices that will enable them to reach their goals.

About 30 girls from Danie Joubert, Empelheim JSS, and Mariental High School came together for this special one-day event. The idea for the conference started in June with a small group of girls who attended the Southern Girls Conference (SGC) in Keetmanshoop and wanted to share what they gained there with more girls in their community. These girls generated a list of the most important sessions and a list of possible guest speakers for this one day event. The conference was then organized by local Peace Corps Volunteers and funded by the Peace Corps Gender Awareness In Namibia (GAIN) Committee as well as private donations. Some of the SGC participants played active roles in this one day conference. Charisma, from Danie Joubert, gave the opening remarks and purpose. Patricia, from Empelheim JSS, lead one of the energizer games along with Franzinia and Rachel also from her school. In addition, a teacher working with girls club activities from each of the three schools assisted in the event. The following three teachers deserve a thank you for taking up a whole Saturday to invest in the lives of girls from the Mariental community: Ms. Sonia Cloete from Danie Joubert High School, Ms. Elsibe Beukes from Empelheim J.S.S., and Ms. Denise Bock from Mariental High School.

The schedule of the day was jam packed with informative, enjoyable, beneficial, and some just plain fun activities! A team of Peace Corps Volunteers lead sessions about teenage pregnancy, self-esteem, appropriate relationships, and women’s health. Each participant received a journal that they used to record important thoughts and lessons learned throughout the day. After lunch, the girls listened to four phenomenal women discuss strategies for how young women can achieve their goals. The panel included Hannah Baldwin, Peace Corps Country Director, Ms. Louw, Principal of Empelheim J.S.S., Ms. Patricia Beukes, Mayor of Mariental, and Ms. Katrina Hanse-Himarwa, Governor of Hardap region. The speeches certainly made impressions on the young women and highlighted the importance of knowing where you come from in order to look forward and determine where you want to go.

Smiles and laughter throughout the day confirmed that the girls were having fun. Exchanging of phone numbers in a rush before leaving at the end of the day showed that the girls made new friends from other schools in Mariental that they would not have had an opportunity to get to know otherwise. In addition to having fun and making new friends, the girls also learned a lot. To wrap up the conference these young women were asked what they will take away from the conference. Besides receiving certificates of completion and t-shirts, the girls had very insightful responses about what they would take with them from the conference: new friends, self-confidence, self-respect and the power of being a phenomenal woman! For all involved, it truly was a phenomenal day!

what i get to wake up to...

Isn't this amazing?!?!?! Normally there aren't any clouds, but I enjoy the sunrise nonetheless as I sit on the counter by the window and drink my coffee with the cool morning air coming in the window. This moring, because of the clouds, I had to run outside and get some photos! Hopefully soon more clouds will come and clump together so that Namibia can get some much needed rain!!!

Enjoy the photo! I will miss these sunrises, the sky is just so HUGE here!

Lekker naweek vir julle! (Have a great weekend everyone!)

Reminder about Mtal Girls Conf $

Mariental Girls Conference is just around the corner on Saturday 13 October!
Thank you to those of you who have already sent gifts to my mom for Mariental Girls Conf!! I may have confused some of you a bit, please make the check out to me (Beth Dixon) or my mom (Jill Dixon) and put "Mariental Girls Conference" in the "memo"line. We still do need donations, so if you are thinking about it and want to help out with this conference, please send your check to my mom at:
Jill Dixon
W5380 Jolly Ave
Medford, WI 54451
We have confirmed the governor of the Hardap Region and a member of the regional council as well as a local principal and a teacher to speak on a panel highlighting women role models in the community! This afternoon Megan and I are meeting with the other teachers involved to finalize the plans and confirm the number of girls who will attend. Thank you for your support of this project!!!

Readathon in Namibia

Each year in the end of September Namibian schools have a national readathon or at least they are supposed to.  One school that does participate is Danie Joubert Combined School.  

This year I was invited to read to the grade four classes that I taught during the first term.  While I was their substitute teacher I read them Click Clack Moo: Cows That Type as part of a unit on communication.  It was great fun and they kids LOVED the book.  Not only did it have many different examples of communication in it, it was highly entertaining with cows typing letters to the farmer demanding electric blankets because the barn is cold.  I promised the classes that I would look for the next books when I was home in the US.  Thanks to my generous mom Danie Joubert Combined School now has a nice hardcover copy of Click Clack Moo, Giggle Giggle Quack, and Duck for President.  During readathon week I got to present the books to the school and read Giggle Giggle Quack to both grade four classes.  It was really fun for the kids and also for me since I miss being in the classroom and really enjoy sharing books with kids to get them more interested in reading!  

In addition to reading with the grade fours, I was also asked to be a judge for a costume contest.  On Friday of the readathon week kids could come to school dressed as their favourite character from a book.  There were so very good costumes demonstrating the creativity of the kids and their interest in reading!  It was such a fun competition and a nice way to promote reading in the school.  

The readathon week ended with a school wide 30 minute period of reading.  I brought books for the grade fours since they do not have a classroom reading corner and they read the whole time exchanging books quietly when they had finished one.  Even the ones who can't really read were trying and looking at the pictures.  It was such a nice scene.  Also this week, the second of two boxes of donated books from Dani, a former volunteer in Mariental, arrived for the school library.  This school library is actually functioning and utilized by the learners at the school!

If you would like to donate books to the Danie Joubert school library, here is the website for it: http://www.thelibraryproject.org/volunteer_display.cfm?VID=1003  If you do send books, please do include a note and a return address because they like to be able to send a thank you and know where the books came from.  Thanks!

If only ALL Namibian schools valued reading enough to have school wide reading periods and use them, to promote library use, to share the nice books in their libraries with their classes!  If only...well, at least for this week there was some emphasis placed on reading :-)