Wonderful Namibia!
Hello Everyone!
I want to first apologize for not updating more frequently. Internet is truly a scarce and valued commodity here in Namibia and the Peace Corps! Very strange considering almost everyone has a cell-phone, even my 5 year old host-brother! I am almost finished with training, I have been teaching in a 'model school' for the past 2 weeks to practice teaching and learning the ropes of the profession. On Saturday we will leave for Okahandja, a small town outside of Windhoek for the last 2 weeks of training.
Teaching is difficult. My respect grows daily for those that make it their profession. I think am getting better, at the very least I am less flustered by the small things. My typical day by now is very predictable: get up at 6am, eat some bread and coffee for breakfast, teach from 8-12. After school we stay for language and cultural lessons. Finally I go home at 6pm. My host-family lives about 1.5 miles from the school; I usually get a ride in the morning and walk home. The evening usually consists of dinner at 8, watching cheesy American soap operas (they leave the TV on constantly), reading, preparing lessons, playing with my 5 little brothers and sisters,playing guitar, listening to the iPod. All in all its a comfortable routine, not really any of the hardship I imagined the Peace Corps would entail.
There's really no way that I could convey everything that's happened over the past 5 weeks so instead I will try to more diligent in updating. This may be a difficult goal. My permenent assignment will be in Kahenge, a small village on the Okavango river, on the Angolan border. I will teach at Kahenge Combined School, a 1st-10th grade school with around 600 learners. Currently I am supposed to teach grades 9 and 10 Math and Physical Science. In addition I will help with the Science Club, reinvigorate the HIV/AIDS awareness club, help with OVC (orphan and vulnerable children) projects, and ingeneral, help my community however I can.
I visited Kahenge for 5 days before starting model school in Grootfontein and visited the house I will live in. Compared to the villagers of Kahenge I will live in luxury! I have running water, a shower, my own bedroom, electricity, and my housemate, the superintendent of the Kahgenge CS hostel, even owns a TV and has one channel of cable television. Truly, a contrast with my conception of living in a grass hut and taking bucket baths. Also, living in Kahenge is sharply different than the perception most people have of Namibia, namely, that Kahenge is a lush and tropical place--It rained heavily each day I was in Kahenge. The consequence of this is that Kahenge looks verdant, there is thick underbrush and beautiful trees, and cows and chickens and goats running around everywhere. Lastly, the Okavango river is a high-risk Malaria zone meaning the mosquitoes swarm everywhere.
Overall, I am doing very well. I am happy and healthy and not that homesick. Namibia has been a very welcoming country. I still have to face leaving my fellow Americans after training but I think I will do well. Sadly, I don't have any pictures yet-- I left my camera in Okahandja with most of my luggage. While I want to keep in touch with everyone, the reality is that Kahenge is a remote site. In truth, I will probably only be able to write and check e-mails once a month.
I do have a cell phone and coverage is almost everywhere. This is what you dial: 011 264 81 336 5943
I can receive mail at:
PO 6111
Nkurenkuru, Namibia
I hope you are all well.
Love,
Ben
I want to first apologize for not updating more frequently. Internet is truly a scarce and valued commodity here in Namibia and the Peace Corps! Very strange considering almost everyone has a cell-phone, even my 5 year old host-brother! I am almost finished with training, I have been teaching in a 'model school' for the past 2 weeks to practice teaching and learning the ropes of the profession. On Saturday we will leave for Okahandja, a small town outside of Windhoek for the last 2 weeks of training.
Teaching is difficult. My respect grows daily for those that make it their profession. I think am getting better, at the very least I am less flustered by the small things. My typical day by now is very predictable: get up at 6am, eat some bread and coffee for breakfast, teach from 8-12. After school we stay for language and cultural lessons. Finally I go home at 6pm. My host-family lives about 1.5 miles from the school; I usually get a ride in the morning and walk home. The evening usually consists of dinner at 8, watching cheesy American soap operas (they leave the TV on constantly), reading, preparing lessons, playing with my 5 little brothers and sisters,playing guitar, listening to the iPod. All in all its a comfortable routine, not really any of the hardship I imagined the Peace Corps would entail.
There's really no way that I could convey everything that's happened over the past 5 weeks so instead I will try to more diligent in updating. This may be a difficult goal. My permenent assignment will be in Kahenge, a small village on the Okavango river, on the Angolan border. I will teach at Kahenge Combined School, a 1st-10th grade school with around 600 learners. Currently I am supposed to teach grades 9 and 10 Math and Physical Science. In addition I will help with the Science Club, reinvigorate the HIV/AIDS awareness club, help with OVC (orphan and vulnerable children) projects, and ingeneral, help my community however I can.
I visited Kahenge for 5 days before starting model school in Grootfontein and visited the house I will live in. Compared to the villagers of Kahenge I will live in luxury! I have running water, a shower, my own bedroom, electricity, and my housemate, the superintendent of the Kahgenge CS hostel, even owns a TV and has one channel of cable television. Truly, a contrast with my conception of living in a grass hut and taking bucket baths. Also, living in Kahenge is sharply different than the perception most people have of Namibia, namely, that Kahenge is a lush and tropical place--It rained heavily each day I was in Kahenge. The consequence of this is that Kahenge looks verdant, there is thick underbrush and beautiful trees, and cows and chickens and goats running around everywhere. Lastly, the Okavango river is a high-risk Malaria zone meaning the mosquitoes swarm everywhere.
Overall, I am doing very well. I am happy and healthy and not that homesick. Namibia has been a very welcoming country. I still have to face leaving my fellow Americans after training but I think I will do well. Sadly, I don't have any pictures yet-- I left my camera in Okahandja with most of my luggage. While I want to keep in touch with everyone, the reality is that Kahenge is a remote site. In truth, I will probably only be able to write and check e-mails once a month.
I do have a cell phone and coverage is almost everywhere. This is what you dial: 011 264 81 336 5943
I can receive mail at:
PO 6111
Nkurenkuru, Namibia
I hope you are all well.
Love,
Ben
posted by Complacently Neurotic at 1:06 AM
3 comments
