Hey everyone,
I just started teaching yesterday, so I'm hoping to be in a good routine to write more often (and post in a timely manner).
My mom found a pretty sweet phone card if anyone wants to give me a call. It's at "availcom.com", they are an internet clearing house for hundreds of phone cards. The card she purchased was a "Saturn" phone card, but there were several different options for Namibia. She chose that one because it is refillable (so you don't have to constantly change the PIN), no connect fees, service fee is $.69 biweekly, and was comparable to the other choices at about $.15-.16 per minute... now that's a steal to hear my charming voice I have to say. Just remember that I'm nine hours ahead of Idaho (Mountain Time for anyone unfamiliar) and I work until around 7 during the week. After that, I'm usually free.
I've got to go to work, planning lessons and whatnot, but hopefully you'll hear from me soon. Hope all is well back home!
Beau
P.S. I posted a few photos of Mondesa and some kids (mostly randoms, not my actual students) on my picasa site (http://picasaweb.google.com/viroshi/). The connection is still really slow, but I'll try to upload more soon...
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
Gobabeb, again...
Wednesday, 24 January 2007
I want to start off by finishing my Gobabeb stories. After I finished writing Monday night, we had a great dinner and then all sat together by the fire to watch the sun set—comet still in view. Then some of our group busted out a guitar and started a little sing-a-long, complete with traditional Namibian songs. Two of the girls, Alexis and Pam, have fantastic voices, which made it all the more enjoyable to lie down on a big rock and look at the stars while they were singing. The Southern Cross came out for the first time since I arrived, so now I know what the Kiwi and Aussie flags are all about. After the fire started to dwindle and most everyone went to bed, Lexy, Reggie and I stayed up playing around on the guitar, making up songs and taking turns trying to play whatever. I think I might have to give learning the guitar another go, based on the quality of my playing (or lack thereof).
The ride home went better than I expected with our combi not really overheating too much. We also got to see a little wildlife along the way. A few ostriches were running parallel to our dirt road, so we ended up in a little race with them… we won. Alexis, Casey and I are aching to see some real African animals. There are quite a few springbok wandering around in the areas near Swakop, so they’ve kind of lost their novelty. We’ve got a trip to the Etosha Game Park planned with the Grade 6 students in August, so if I haven’t seen anything too exciting by then I’ll be more excited than the kids to see elephants, zebras, rhinos, lions, etc.
It looks like this is going to be a short entry, so feel free to take a minute and leave a comment (hint, hint). Hope things are going well wherever you are. Miss everyone lots.
Beau
“If you wish to travel far and fast, travel light. Take off all your envies, jealousies, unforgiveness, selfishness and fears.”
Glenn Clark
I want to start off by finishing my Gobabeb stories. After I finished writing Monday night, we had a great dinner and then all sat together by the fire to watch the sun set—comet still in view. Then some of our group busted out a guitar and started a little sing-a-long, complete with traditional Namibian songs. Two of the girls, Alexis and Pam, have fantastic voices, which made it all the more enjoyable to lie down on a big rock and look at the stars while they were singing. The Southern Cross came out for the first time since I arrived, so now I know what the Kiwi and Aussie flags are all about. After the fire started to dwindle and most everyone went to bed, Lexy, Reggie and I stayed up playing around on the guitar, making up songs and taking turns trying to play whatever. I think I might have to give learning the guitar another go, based on the quality of my playing (or lack thereof).
The ride home went better than I expected with our combi not really overheating too much. We also got to see a little wildlife along the way. A few ostriches were running parallel to our dirt road, so we ended up in a little race with them… we won. Alexis, Casey and I are aching to see some real African animals. There are quite a few springbok wandering around in the areas near Swakop, so they’ve kind of lost their novelty. We’ve got a trip to the Etosha Game Park planned with the Grade 6 students in August, so if I haven’t seen anything too exciting by then I’ll be more excited than the kids to see elephants, zebras, rhinos, lions, etc.
It looks like this is going to be a short entry, so feel free to take a minute and leave a comment (hint, hint). Hope things are going well wherever you are. Miss everyone lots.
Beau
“If you wish to travel far and fast, travel light. Take off all your envies, jealousies, unforgiveness, selfishness and fears.”
Glenn Clark
Gobabeb
Monday, 22 January 2007
I am sitting in the shade of my bungalow at a beautiful ecological research center looking out at the massive dunes and it’s inspired me to sit down and write to you all. We’ve had a busy, busy, busy few days. This seems to have become my signature statement recently, but it’s pretty well true. There are quite a few stories to relay, so I’ll do my best to get them all in without rambling on for pages. If any get left out, they will probably make the next cut.
On Saturday we went for a braai (bbq) out in the DRC (Democratic Resettlement Community—the poorest part of this area if you remember). The mother of our student, Mary, was kind enough to invite us around for some dinner and fun. By now, there are six of us with MYO in Swakop—myself, Alexis, Casey (all teachers); Rob (our president); Katie (our field manager); and Bill (a visitor who is considering coming over to do some work for an extended period of time). Now, it’s not every day that six white folks wander into the DRC. I would say that it almost never happens, actually. Having said that, the people are incredibly friendly, though not too outgoing—meaning lots of smiles, waves and hellos. Once we arrived at Mary’s, Alexis and I decided to go visit another one of our students, Heleni, just up the street. It had been her birthday the previous day so we wanted to wish her a follow-up Happy Birthday. Much to our surprise when we arrived, the whole family was over for a birthday party. We introduced ourselves and chatted for a while before I took the camera out. This is where things get usually get interesting in the township. Not many people get to see digital cameras very often… if they every have. So I pretty much ended up taking pics of the birthday girls (Heleni is a twin), the family, the siblings, the brother and his friend making poses, etc. Then the girls did a traditional song and dance for us (shyly), which was great. After all that excitement, we figured we had better head back to Mary’s before people started to wonder where we disappeared to.
Once back at the braai house, we played games with the kids there: soccer, keep away, etc. It was a lot of fun, even with a 6-7 year old boy making me look retarded with a semi-deflated soccer ball. It wasn’t long before the kids from Heleni’s house showed up to join the three neighbor kids who were watching us from the edge of the “yard”. We had another chat with them, and ended up inviting them to share our meal of steak (of some animal), sausage and pap with corn (porridge). (I would love to take the credit for that, but Mary and her mom deserve it all… they are great people.) When everyone had finished eating, the extra cuts of meat were passed out to the kids and man did they eat. Two of the boys were even cracking the bones in their mouths so as to not miss out on the marrow or anything else… I felt bad for having given my fat and bone scraps to a dog a few minutes before. After all that, the campfire became the center of attention. I was talking to Bill, a middle-aged guy who had not really traveled much before coming here, and we made the observation that campfires everywhere have the same allure. No matter what, where or under which circumstances, kids will always be playing with the flames, poking at the embers, and everyone will huddle close when it gets cold. It’s kind of nice to have those little reminders of how we are all the same at a basic level.
That pretty much brings me to where we are now, in Gobabeb. We came down here yesterday for a staff retreat, which was basically relaxing last night and tonight with meetings/workshops most of the day today. To get here, you have to drive south from Swakopmund for about 2 ½ hours… most of which is on dirt roads. I’m not a big fan of them, but let me tell you that when your van starts overheating about 90 minutes from modern (stressed) civilization they are a whole lot less inviting. Luckily we made it with a few stops to let the engine cool. Once we arrived, the worries of the trip were soon forgotten. The Gobabeb research site was built here because of three different ecosystems that come together—the Namib Desert and gravel flats separated by an ephemeral river (one that flows only about once a year). The stark contrasts make for a beautiful view as well as some scenic walks/hikes. It’s difficult to describe how the dunes look along the horizon over the trees from the riverbed, not even the pictures I’ve taken do it justice. Last night, we walked across the river onto the dune side to watch the sun set. A comet just happened to be visible just after the sky went dark, which was a nice treat. It was gorgeous. First, only its head was visible, but once it got darker we could see the pale green tail extending perpendicular from the horizon. Once again, gorgeous. The number of stars visible that far away from civilization took me by surprise as well. The Milky Way showed up really bright, and seeing Orion was a challenge because there were so many other stars out. I didn’t get to see the Southern Cross, though… maybe next time.
In the morning, Casey and I got up early to run up the dunes for a little workout, and that was killer. Although, once we arrived at the top of one of the larger ones the view was spectacular! To get back to “camp”, we just pointed ourselves downhill and ran. I highly recommend running down big sand dunes at least once in your life, it was a blast. On the walk back across the riverbed, I was hoping to see some animals, but no luck there. I guess that might have been better since meeting a baboon or some other crazy animal on its turf probably doesn’t go over too well.
Then the group of us spent the day in our meetings and workshops just trying to hammer out a few more details about the upcoming school year. We’ve got about 95 kids in 4 grades, but only one large and one small classroom to teach them in. So along with our limited tennis court space—3 courts and only one functioning net—things are pretty jammed from a logistical standpoint at the moment. Luckily we’ve got plenty of staff to help juggle it all.
That’s pretty much all I can think to tell you about right now. It’s about time for dinner, too, so I’d better head over the kitchen since I’m on braai duty tonight. Hopefully all of this craziness will die down in the next few weeks so I’ll have more time to write on a regular basis. This place is amazing and putting it all down on paper, especially at the beginning of my trip, is a big priority. Until then, keep checking back for the 2 page synopsizes.
Beau
I am sitting in the shade of my bungalow at a beautiful ecological research center looking out at the massive dunes and it’s inspired me to sit down and write to you all. We’ve had a busy, busy, busy few days. This seems to have become my signature statement recently, but it’s pretty well true. There are quite a few stories to relay, so I’ll do my best to get them all in without rambling on for pages. If any get left out, they will probably make the next cut.
On Saturday we went for a braai (bbq) out in the DRC (Democratic Resettlement Community—the poorest part of this area if you remember). The mother of our student, Mary, was kind enough to invite us around for some dinner and fun. By now, there are six of us with MYO in Swakop—myself, Alexis, Casey (all teachers); Rob (our president); Katie (our field manager); and Bill (a visitor who is considering coming over to do some work for an extended period of time). Now, it’s not every day that six white folks wander into the DRC. I would say that it almost never happens, actually. Having said that, the people are incredibly friendly, though not too outgoing—meaning lots of smiles, waves and hellos. Once we arrived at Mary’s, Alexis and I decided to go visit another one of our students, Heleni, just up the street. It had been her birthday the previous day so we wanted to wish her a follow-up Happy Birthday. Much to our surprise when we arrived, the whole family was over for a birthday party. We introduced ourselves and chatted for a while before I took the camera out. This is where things get usually get interesting in the township. Not many people get to see digital cameras very often… if they every have. So I pretty much ended up taking pics of the birthday girls (Heleni is a twin), the family, the siblings, the brother and his friend making poses, etc. Then the girls did a traditional song and dance for us (shyly), which was great. After all that excitement, we figured we had better head back to Mary’s before people started to wonder where we disappeared to.
Once back at the braai house, we played games with the kids there: soccer, keep away, etc. It was a lot of fun, even with a 6-7 year old boy making me look retarded with a semi-deflated soccer ball. It wasn’t long before the kids from Heleni’s house showed up to join the three neighbor kids who were watching us from the edge of the “yard”. We had another chat with them, and ended up inviting them to share our meal of steak (of some animal), sausage and pap with corn (porridge). (I would love to take the credit for that, but Mary and her mom deserve it all… they are great people.) When everyone had finished eating, the extra cuts of meat were passed out to the kids and man did they eat. Two of the boys were even cracking the bones in their mouths so as to not miss out on the marrow or anything else… I felt bad for having given my fat and bone scraps to a dog a few minutes before. After all that, the campfire became the center of attention. I was talking to Bill, a middle-aged guy who had not really traveled much before coming here, and we made the observation that campfires everywhere have the same allure. No matter what, where or under which circumstances, kids will always be playing with the flames, poking at the embers, and everyone will huddle close when it gets cold. It’s kind of nice to have those little reminders of how we are all the same at a basic level.
That pretty much brings me to where we are now, in Gobabeb. We came down here yesterday for a staff retreat, which was basically relaxing last night and tonight with meetings/workshops most of the day today. To get here, you have to drive south from Swakopmund for about 2 ½ hours… most of which is on dirt roads. I’m not a big fan of them, but let me tell you that when your van starts overheating about 90 minutes from modern (stressed) civilization they are a whole lot less inviting. Luckily we made it with a few stops to let the engine cool. Once we arrived, the worries of the trip were soon forgotten. The Gobabeb research site was built here because of three different ecosystems that come together—the Namib Desert and gravel flats separated by an ephemeral river (one that flows only about once a year). The stark contrasts make for a beautiful view as well as some scenic walks/hikes. It’s difficult to describe how the dunes look along the horizon over the trees from the riverbed, not even the pictures I’ve taken do it justice. Last night, we walked across the river onto the dune side to watch the sun set. A comet just happened to be visible just after the sky went dark, which was a nice treat. It was gorgeous. First, only its head was visible, but once it got darker we could see the pale green tail extending perpendicular from the horizon. Once again, gorgeous. The number of stars visible that far away from civilization took me by surprise as well. The Milky Way showed up really bright, and seeing Orion was a challenge because there were so many other stars out. I didn’t get to see the Southern Cross, though… maybe next time.
In the morning, Casey and I got up early to run up the dunes for a little workout, and that was killer. Although, once we arrived at the top of one of the larger ones the view was spectacular! To get back to “camp”, we just pointed ourselves downhill and ran. I highly recommend running down big sand dunes at least once in your life, it was a blast. On the walk back across the riverbed, I was hoping to see some animals, but no luck there. I guess that might have been better since meeting a baboon or some other crazy animal on its turf probably doesn’t go over too well.
Then the group of us spent the day in our meetings and workshops just trying to hammer out a few more details about the upcoming school year. We’ve got about 95 kids in 4 grades, but only one large and one small classroom to teach them in. So along with our limited tennis court space—3 courts and only one functioning net—things are pretty jammed from a logistical standpoint at the moment. Luckily we’ve got plenty of staff to help juggle it all.
That’s pretty much all I can think to tell you about right now. It’s about time for dinner, too, so I’d better head over the kitchen since I’m on braai duty tonight. Hopefully all of this craziness will die down in the next few weeks so I’ll have more time to write on a regular basis. This place is amazing and putting it all down on paper, especially at the beginning of my trip, is a big priority. Until then, keep checking back for the 2 page synopsizes.
Beau
Monday, January 15, 2007
Lost Week
Sunday, 14 January 2007
So it looks like my plan to write every day went down the tubes a little earlier than I expected, but in all fairness it has been quite the week. We started working on Monday and it’s been rather intensive. A few key people involved locally with MYO stopped by the office to give us presentations about teaching in Namibia and Rob also went over a lot of the basics: logistics, administration, etc. Other than that, we’ve been looking over the curriculums from both the Namibian government and the previous MYO teacher, Shannon. At first glance, the scope of the academic program intimidates me, but hopefully Casey and Alexis will be able to keep me afloat with their teaching experience. I don’t mean to get too precise with our goals and bore you, but it looks like we’re aiming to coordinate our curriculum with the national one to make everything look and run better as well as make lesson planning easier for the future. Believe me, if all that sounds overwhelming… I feel your pain. Things should get a little less hazy in the next week or so, though. That’s when the last volunteer, our manager, Katie, shows up.
Another project we’re working on is driving around to get updated pictures and biographies of the returning students. That part has been very interesting since we get to visit the kids at home, meet their parents, and get the community more and more used to seeing our faces. It seems like most people already recognize our combi (van) with the MYO logo, but the three new white faces driving around in it are a different story. This is especially evident in places like the DRC (Democratic Resettlement Community), the poorest part of the township. Its location about a kilometer beyond Mondesa sort of isolates it from most outsiders, particularly whites. The residents are sometimes taken back by our presence there, but those who know us seem to be especially friendly to us—probably because they realize that our work carries particular importance to the futures of their children. Overall, meeting the kids makes the experience here in Namibia the most worthwhile. I get the feeling that I will be repeating this point over and over again in many ways throughout the year, but it cannot be overstated. One smile or one hug can erase an entire day’s worth of frustration or stress from the office (or even a bout of homesickness) so I hope you’ll forgive me there.
On a different note, we took a day off and went camping on the coast with a few of the kids Thursday. It was a little more hectic that I would have expected, but I’ve never taken part in a 14 person excursion either. 4 kids from MYO went, along with 1 sibling and 2 other girls. Each time I get a chance to do something new with the kids from Mondesa, it really opens my eyes. They are so well behaved and generally excited to be doing something new that it makes it fun just to be around them.
The place we went camping was just about 90 minutes north of Swakop, at a place called Mile 72. (I’m not sure if that means it is 72 miles north or not; I wasn’t really paying attention… plus the distances are all metric here.) Along the way to the campground, we stopped to see a seal colony at Cape Cross. Holy shit were there a lot of seals! I took a lot of pics so hopefully I can get them uploaded to my picasa site for viewing soon. The “do not cross” rails were very close, so they would come up pretty close to us and bark, smell bad, etc. Cape Cross is also the first place where the Portuguese explorers landed in southern Africa, so there were a couple of crosses commemorating that landing inscribed in Latin. While a couple of us went to read the plaques near them, a little game of soccer broke out, too. Ah, traveling with kids.
From the seal colony, we headed to make camp. Mile 72 is right on the coast, and the actual campsites are just off the beach. (I hear there is another campground a little farther north where you can camp right on the beach… I’ll definitely be visiting that one ASAP.) Once we arrived and set up camp, which was basically 2 small tents next to the combi, everyone went down to the beach. It was pretty chilly, like an overcast 65 degrees, but a few people still went into the ocean. The boys played soccer on the beach, and the rest of us relaxed. After a while, I started employing a new technique for finding pipis (shellfish, like muscles) that my Australian counterpart taught me. Soon enough, with the help of a few others we had a heap of the little guys. I learned how to open, clean and cook them, and soon enough we had our appetizers. Some of the kids were really into them, others not so much. One in particular, Ephraim, couldn’t get enough. I think he burnt himself a couple of times because he was dropping them on the edges of the open fire and pulling them out with his fingers since he didn’t want to wait for them to cook in the skillet. Yours truly was also in charge of dinner because the girls (Lexy and Kc as they will often be referred to) prepared everything for the braai (Namibian barbeque) we had the night before… oh yeah, we had a braai the night before to meet one of our local board members and his family; it was very nice. I made a Greek salad that was a hit, and let one of our local volunteers take care of the braai since it’s a big Namibian tradition for the men to braai (think running the grill in Texas). I’m pretty sure the tales of my manliness in salad-making will soon spread throughout the region.
Somewhere in the fray before dinner we also got a pretty competitive game of half-field cricket going (thank you Mr. Sean Flower for teaching me that one). After dinner, my Canadian counterpart took charge and got the smores going. In retrospect, feeding 7 kids chocolate and marshmallows before bed probably wasn’t the best idea, but they did enjoy it. So then the chore was getting everyone to bed at a decent time, and that was pretty much a losing battle. I did get to sit up late with Julian, our tennis coach, talking about all kinds of stuff: travel, work, Namibia, etc. One of the other great parts of MYO that doesn’t get as much publicity is how Rob has managed to get local young people that don’t have much opportunity and/or direction involved so they can learn skills and gain mentoring that will help them make more of their own lives. I’ll take a moment here to thank everyone who has served as a positive role model for me and taken the time to teach me basic work ethic, problem solving, among so many other things. Those are things that I take for granted, but I’m sooooo glad they are a part of me now. I digress.
Sleeping arrangements were a little here and there. With only 6 tent spaces and 4 in the van, Rob, Alexis, Casey and I were relegated to sleeping “under the stars”. It wasn’t too bad until the mist fell in the middle of the night, then again when the boys in the van woke up at 5:30am and started making noise. Ah, kids. The morning went pretty quickly, and we only had a few hitches. The most important for me was not having enough fresh water for coffee—and let me just advise against boiling instant coffee mixed with milk in the same pan that was used to serve oily Greek salad the night before. Enough said.
I’m rambling on now, but I have one more story to tell. Yesterday (Saturday) we finally got to see a few of the kids in action on the tennis court. They are pretty legitimate little hitters. I got my first doubles action with Julian as my partner against a couple of kids, and we definitely weren’t cleaning up. Then after thoroughly tiring myself just hitting for over an hour, I challenged Ephraim to a little match to 5 games. About 3 games into it, I remembered that I hadn’t put any sunscreen on and panicked. So I finished him off as quickly as I could (5-2, Mr. Beau victorious) and ran home to lick my sunburned wounds.
Ok, I’m getting hassled for “writing a novel” so I’ll spare you all from having to subscribe to Mr. Beau’s book club (kind of catchy, neh?). I’ll be back with more soon. Goodnight and good luck.
Beau
P.S. If anyone wants to call me, feel free (family pay attention here). I’m not sure how much it costs, but there is calling card info all over the net… and let me know if you find a good one so I can spread the news. I can call the States, but it’s pretty expensive. I tried to send texts, but they’re blocked. I haven’t been able to get to the internet café much recently, plus the connection makes me want to punch myself in the face. Sorry, if it takes me a while to get back at you.
So it looks like my plan to write every day went down the tubes a little earlier than I expected, but in all fairness it has been quite the week. We started working on Monday and it’s been rather intensive. A few key people involved locally with MYO stopped by the office to give us presentations about teaching in Namibia and Rob also went over a lot of the basics: logistics, administration, etc. Other than that, we’ve been looking over the curriculums from both the Namibian government and the previous MYO teacher, Shannon. At first glance, the scope of the academic program intimidates me, but hopefully Casey and Alexis will be able to keep me afloat with their teaching experience. I don’t mean to get too precise with our goals and bore you, but it looks like we’re aiming to coordinate our curriculum with the national one to make everything look and run better as well as make lesson planning easier for the future. Believe me, if all that sounds overwhelming… I feel your pain. Things should get a little less hazy in the next week or so, though. That’s when the last volunteer, our manager, Katie, shows up.
Another project we’re working on is driving around to get updated pictures and biographies of the returning students. That part has been very interesting since we get to visit the kids at home, meet their parents, and get the community more and more used to seeing our faces. It seems like most people already recognize our combi (van) with the MYO logo, but the three new white faces driving around in it are a different story. This is especially evident in places like the DRC (Democratic Resettlement Community), the poorest part of the township. Its location about a kilometer beyond Mondesa sort of isolates it from most outsiders, particularly whites. The residents are sometimes taken back by our presence there, but those who know us seem to be especially friendly to us—probably because they realize that our work carries particular importance to the futures of their children. Overall, meeting the kids makes the experience here in Namibia the most worthwhile. I get the feeling that I will be repeating this point over and over again in many ways throughout the year, but it cannot be overstated. One smile or one hug can erase an entire day’s worth of frustration or stress from the office (or even a bout of homesickness) so I hope you’ll forgive me there.
On a different note, we took a day off and went camping on the coast with a few of the kids Thursday. It was a little more hectic that I would have expected, but I’ve never taken part in a 14 person excursion either. 4 kids from MYO went, along with 1 sibling and 2 other girls. Each time I get a chance to do something new with the kids from Mondesa, it really opens my eyes. They are so well behaved and generally excited to be doing something new that it makes it fun just to be around them.
The place we went camping was just about 90 minutes north of Swakop, at a place called Mile 72. (I’m not sure if that means it is 72 miles north or not; I wasn’t really paying attention… plus the distances are all metric here.) Along the way to the campground, we stopped to see a seal colony at Cape Cross. Holy shit were there a lot of seals! I took a lot of pics so hopefully I can get them uploaded to my picasa site for viewing soon. The “do not cross” rails were very close, so they would come up pretty close to us and bark, smell bad, etc. Cape Cross is also the first place where the Portuguese explorers landed in southern Africa, so there were a couple of crosses commemorating that landing inscribed in Latin. While a couple of us went to read the plaques near them, a little game of soccer broke out, too. Ah, traveling with kids.
From the seal colony, we headed to make camp. Mile 72 is right on the coast, and the actual campsites are just off the beach. (I hear there is another campground a little farther north where you can camp right on the beach… I’ll definitely be visiting that one ASAP.) Once we arrived and set up camp, which was basically 2 small tents next to the combi, everyone went down to the beach. It was pretty chilly, like an overcast 65 degrees, but a few people still went into the ocean. The boys played soccer on the beach, and the rest of us relaxed. After a while, I started employing a new technique for finding pipis (shellfish, like muscles) that my Australian counterpart taught me. Soon enough, with the help of a few others we had a heap of the little guys. I learned how to open, clean and cook them, and soon enough we had our appetizers. Some of the kids were really into them, others not so much. One in particular, Ephraim, couldn’t get enough. I think he burnt himself a couple of times because he was dropping them on the edges of the open fire and pulling them out with his fingers since he didn’t want to wait for them to cook in the skillet. Yours truly was also in charge of dinner because the girls (Lexy and Kc as they will often be referred to) prepared everything for the braai (Namibian barbeque) we had the night before… oh yeah, we had a braai the night before to meet one of our local board members and his family; it was very nice. I made a Greek salad that was a hit, and let one of our local volunteers take care of the braai since it’s a big Namibian tradition for the men to braai (think running the grill in Texas). I’m pretty sure the tales of my manliness in salad-making will soon spread throughout the region.
Somewhere in the fray before dinner we also got a pretty competitive game of half-field cricket going (thank you Mr. Sean Flower for teaching me that one). After dinner, my Canadian counterpart took charge and got the smores going. In retrospect, feeding 7 kids chocolate and marshmallows before bed probably wasn’t the best idea, but they did enjoy it. So then the chore was getting everyone to bed at a decent time, and that was pretty much a losing battle. I did get to sit up late with Julian, our tennis coach, talking about all kinds of stuff: travel, work, Namibia, etc. One of the other great parts of MYO that doesn’t get as much publicity is how Rob has managed to get local young people that don’t have much opportunity and/or direction involved so they can learn skills and gain mentoring that will help them make more of their own lives. I’ll take a moment here to thank everyone who has served as a positive role model for me and taken the time to teach me basic work ethic, problem solving, among so many other things. Those are things that I take for granted, but I’m sooooo glad they are a part of me now. I digress.
Sleeping arrangements were a little here and there. With only 6 tent spaces and 4 in the van, Rob, Alexis, Casey and I were relegated to sleeping “under the stars”. It wasn’t too bad until the mist fell in the middle of the night, then again when the boys in the van woke up at 5:30am and started making noise. Ah, kids. The morning went pretty quickly, and we only had a few hitches. The most important for me was not having enough fresh water for coffee—and let me just advise against boiling instant coffee mixed with milk in the same pan that was used to serve oily Greek salad the night before. Enough said.
I’m rambling on now, but I have one more story to tell. Yesterday (Saturday) we finally got to see a few of the kids in action on the tennis court. They are pretty legitimate little hitters. I got my first doubles action with Julian as my partner against a couple of kids, and we definitely weren’t cleaning up. Then after thoroughly tiring myself just hitting for over an hour, I challenged Ephraim to a little match to 5 games. About 3 games into it, I remembered that I hadn’t put any sunscreen on and panicked. So I finished him off as quickly as I could (5-2, Mr. Beau victorious) and ran home to lick my sunburned wounds.
Ok, I’m getting hassled for “writing a novel” so I’ll spare you all from having to subscribe to Mr. Beau’s book club (kind of catchy, neh?). I’ll be back with more soon. Goodnight and good luck.
Beau
P.S. If anyone wants to call me, feel free (family pay attention here). I’m not sure how much it costs, but there is calling card info all over the net… and let me know if you find a good one so I can spread the news. I can call the States, but it’s pretty expensive. I tried to send texts, but they’re blocked. I haven’t been able to get to the internet café much recently, plus the connection makes me want to punch myself in the face. Sorry, if it takes me a while to get back at you.
Saturday, January 6, 2007
05 January 2006
I didn’t really expect to be writing an entry every day (and to be honest, once I get busy I probably won’t be able). However, today I’ve got a lot to write about and combining it with another day would make for a very long read. So there is your warning, you’re in for a fair bit of reading today… but I, as the writer, think it will be worth it.
We were taken around Swakop a bit this morning, and then given a tour of Mondesa in an attempt to visit some of the students who are not gone during the summer holiday. Don’t get me wrong here; these kids aren’t on the beach in Cape Town. Apparently, a lot of them go with their parents back to their tribal villages to visit family or even go alone if their parents can’t get away. In some cases, the parents have even left to find work but have left their children where they believe the best education can be had—so these ones go away at the break to see mom and/or dad.
After some breakfast and coffee at a local café, we took our Combi (Afrikaans for van, I think) out to Mondesa on our mission to find some kids. First we picked up Julian, the MYO youth tennis coach. He is a fantastic guy who has been with the organization for a while and as such knows the kids quite well. Also, we learned that he’s the man to find if you need a guide in the township. The place where he lives really broke my vision of a typical black home. It was a comfortable little house with a view of the ocean—provided one has 20/20 vision. There has been talk that we volunteers may move to a similar house in the township, so the preview was well appreciated. The beauty of the neighborhood struck me, and the colors up and down the block were nothing short of amazing. I am still kicking myself for leaving my camera at the house… damn.
Once we had Julian with us, the mission of rounding up the kids began. First we stopped at the home of Christa, a 6th grader this coming year. She was standing outside sketching when we pulled up, an appropriate start to my journey with these kids I think; one of them spending their time outside the classroom working on a self-inspired project. I would describe Christa’s reaction to the MYO combi pulling up as happy, but I don’t think that really does it justice. I’m going to get a little ahead of myself here, however I must mention that I’ve seen more genuine smiling faces in the last 4 hours than I’ve ever seen in a week. Rob said it best when he mentioned that if one ever gets burned out with fundraising, administrating, etc., you just have to catch a glimpse of these beautiful, hopeful faces beaming at first sight of you. But I digress… After the brief welcome from Christa and her family we gathered the two girls up and took them along for the rest of the ride.
We visited several of the children’s homes and got to see most of the township, from top to bottom. The “tour” started out in a reasonably nice part of Mondesa, as I mentioned, and then continued down the chain of poverty. Another stop that sticks out in my memory vividly, too; it was at a young girl named Mary’s place. We pulled up and approached the shack, and a small boy greeted us by retreating up a clothesline post. (I tried to coax him into playing and even ventured to teach him how to high-five… a necessary skill in my opinion.) Now when I say shack, I am describing a 12x15 ft makeshift enclosure made of all manner of materials (old sheet metal, wood scraps, etc.) that houses a family of 5 or 6. Unfortunately, Mary was not at home. She had gone up north to visit family, but her mother and siblings were more than hospitable. While mom was outside talking to Rob and Julian, I ventured into the house upon invitation with Casey and Alexis. The coziness of the little place struck me. On the floor, a big piece of linoleum had been laid over the dirt in the dining room/living area and beautifully colored pattern material was draped over the entrances to the bedroom (containing two beds) and the kitchen.
While exploring Mary’s home, I met her two older “siblings” (one actual sister and the other a cousin, I think). The girls were 14 and 16 years old but could not have been much taller than your average American 10-12 year old. The malnutrition here has a very adverse affect on the normal growth of the children, and it also contributes to much of the disease transmission from what I am told. The two young ladies did not come right of their shells, but enough questions sufficed to get them talking a little bit. I would have thought that the novelty of having a white person come to their home spurred the shyness, but it seemed to be more a case of being intimidated than anything else—that and some kids are just more bashful than others. Once we got the two talking, they were very talkative. One fun conversation was trying to explain the concept of a vegetarian to kids that have never had enough to eat to be choosy. Alexis sort of got written off as a crazy Canadian; perhaps with a little bit of my input… score one for the yanks. Although, she did gain back some ground with her interest in the girls’ hair twists and braids. After some brief chit-chat with the girls and then Mary’s mother, we took off to visit more of Mondesa with an invitation to come back around soon for dinner.
A drive through the Democratic Resettlement Community (DRC) took up the last leg of our township drive. I’m not sure about the particulars of the DRC, but it is the poorest part of Namibia I have seen so far. The shanties are the smallest and most poorly constructed, and some of the kids we saw at a stop near a religious charity were the most disadvantaged I saw all day. Yet they were not a sad sight, I must say. They were cautious, or maybe shy, but you can’t blame them because most whites definitely don’t make it out that far. Once the camera came out, smiles, shenanigans and poses were unleashed. Casey started out to take a picture of one child and ended up with at least 15 I’m sure. These kids were mostly younger, so I didn’t get to chat with them as much, but taking pictures and shaking hands was enough fun.
After visiting all of the kids we could find, we ventured into town with three girls for ice cream. We still had Christa and her little sister Estella, plus we picked up one of our tennis phenoms, Paulina, along the way. The ride from Mondesa into Swakop and back was great fun. The older girls were doing impressions, singing and generally hamming it up like your average 12 year old with an audience. Once at the gelato shop/café, I was brought back to the reality of this society. There were not any blacks in the whole place, which was German owned, and it was pretty easy to see that not many ever made it in. I wouldn’t go as far to say that our girls had never had ice cream, but I doubt that would be a long stretch of the imagination. The price of goods in town is far too expensive for your average low income family to afford. It did not seem to affect the kids though, which I found to be encouraging. But I can’t say I’m not disturbed by the whole thing.
So we ate our treats and took off back to Mondesa to drop off the kids before running our last errands of the day. I finally have a Namibian phone! The number is 011-264-81-332-8059. We also visited our facilities, but I’m sure they will come into the picture more later so I won’t get into that right now. Good night and good luck.
We were taken around Swakop a bit this morning, and then given a tour of Mondesa in an attempt to visit some of the students who are not gone during the summer holiday. Don’t get me wrong here; these kids aren’t on the beach in Cape Town. Apparently, a lot of them go with their parents back to their tribal villages to visit family or even go alone if their parents can’t get away. In some cases, the parents have even left to find work but have left their children where they believe the best education can be had—so these ones go away at the break to see mom and/or dad.
After some breakfast and coffee at a local café, we took our Combi (Afrikaans for van, I think) out to Mondesa on our mission to find some kids. First we picked up Julian, the MYO youth tennis coach. He is a fantastic guy who has been with the organization for a while and as such knows the kids quite well. Also, we learned that he’s the man to find if you need a guide in the township. The place where he lives really broke my vision of a typical black home. It was a comfortable little house with a view of the ocean—provided one has 20/20 vision. There has been talk that we volunteers may move to a similar house in the township, so the preview was well appreciated. The beauty of the neighborhood struck me, and the colors up and down the block were nothing short of amazing. I am still kicking myself for leaving my camera at the house… damn.
Once we had Julian with us, the mission of rounding up the kids began. First we stopped at the home of Christa, a 6th grader this coming year. She was standing outside sketching when we pulled up, an appropriate start to my journey with these kids I think; one of them spending their time outside the classroom working on a self-inspired project. I would describe Christa’s reaction to the MYO combi pulling up as happy, but I don’t think that really does it justice. I’m going to get a little ahead of myself here, however I must mention that I’ve seen more genuine smiling faces in the last 4 hours than I’ve ever seen in a week. Rob said it best when he mentioned that if one ever gets burned out with fundraising, administrating, etc., you just have to catch a glimpse of these beautiful, hopeful faces beaming at first sight of you. But I digress… After the brief welcome from Christa and her family we gathered the two girls up and took them along for the rest of the ride.
We visited several of the children’s homes and got to see most of the township, from top to bottom. The “tour” started out in a reasonably nice part of Mondesa, as I mentioned, and then continued down the chain of poverty. Another stop that sticks out in my memory vividly, too; it was at a young girl named Mary’s place. We pulled up and approached the shack, and a small boy greeted us by retreating up a clothesline post. (I tried to coax him into playing and even ventured to teach him how to high-five… a necessary skill in my opinion.) Now when I say shack, I am describing a 12x15 ft makeshift enclosure made of all manner of materials (old sheet metal, wood scraps, etc.) that houses a family of 5 or 6. Unfortunately, Mary was not at home. She had gone up north to visit family, but her mother and siblings were more than hospitable. While mom was outside talking to Rob and Julian, I ventured into the house upon invitation with Casey and Alexis. The coziness of the little place struck me. On the floor, a big piece of linoleum had been laid over the dirt in the dining room/living area and beautifully colored pattern material was draped over the entrances to the bedroom (containing two beds) and the kitchen.
While exploring Mary’s home, I met her two older “siblings” (one actual sister and the other a cousin, I think). The girls were 14 and 16 years old but could not have been much taller than your average American 10-12 year old. The malnutrition here has a very adverse affect on the normal growth of the children, and it also contributes to much of the disease transmission from what I am told. The two young ladies did not come right of their shells, but enough questions sufficed to get them talking a little bit. I would have thought that the novelty of having a white person come to their home spurred the shyness, but it seemed to be more a case of being intimidated than anything else—that and some kids are just more bashful than others. Once we got the two talking, they were very talkative. One fun conversation was trying to explain the concept of a vegetarian to kids that have never had enough to eat to be choosy. Alexis sort of got written off as a crazy Canadian; perhaps with a little bit of my input… score one for the yanks. Although, she did gain back some ground with her interest in the girls’ hair twists and braids. After some brief chit-chat with the girls and then Mary’s mother, we took off to visit more of Mondesa with an invitation to come back around soon for dinner.
A drive through the Democratic Resettlement Community (DRC) took up the last leg of our township drive. I’m not sure about the particulars of the DRC, but it is the poorest part of Namibia I have seen so far. The shanties are the smallest and most poorly constructed, and some of the kids we saw at a stop near a religious charity were the most disadvantaged I saw all day. Yet they were not a sad sight, I must say. They were cautious, or maybe shy, but you can’t blame them because most whites definitely don’t make it out that far. Once the camera came out, smiles, shenanigans and poses were unleashed. Casey started out to take a picture of one child and ended up with at least 15 I’m sure. These kids were mostly younger, so I didn’t get to chat with them as much, but taking pictures and shaking hands was enough fun.
After visiting all of the kids we could find, we ventured into town with three girls for ice cream. We still had Christa and her little sister Estella, plus we picked up one of our tennis phenoms, Paulina, along the way. The ride from Mondesa into Swakop and back was great fun. The older girls were doing impressions, singing and generally hamming it up like your average 12 year old with an audience. Once at the gelato shop/café, I was brought back to the reality of this society. There were not any blacks in the whole place, which was German owned, and it was pretty easy to see that not many ever made it in. I wouldn’t go as far to say that our girls had never had ice cream, but I doubt that would be a long stretch of the imagination. The price of goods in town is far too expensive for your average low income family to afford. It did not seem to affect the kids though, which I found to be encouraging. But I can’t say I’m not disturbed by the whole thing.
So we ate our treats and took off back to Mondesa to drop off the kids before running our last errands of the day. I finally have a Namibian phone! The number is 011-264-81-332-8059. We also visited our facilities, but I’m sure they will come into the picture more later so I won’t get into that right now. Good night and good luck.
Here goes nothing...
So here I am, two days in Africa. I’ve only just arrived in Swakopmund, where I’ll be living for the next year. It has been a while since I left the States, my flight itinerary kept me busy for about 30 hours. I can’t complain much about that experience, though. The domestic flights left something to be desired, but I enjoyed my 15 hour halfway-around-the-world leg. Many movies, interactive chess and tetris kept me busy. My advice, steer clear of Johannesburg airport if you like your luggage. Both of my bags are still missing, and only one has even been located as of yet.
After arriving in Namibia, I had a short stay in Windhoek, the country’s capital. It is a charming city hidden in the hills of central Namibia. Rob Myers, the president of MYO, showed me around a bit and took me along to a few meetings while we were there. The first thing that struck me about the area was how different it appeared from what I had expected. I guess this is to be expected considering the usual picture that one’s mind conjures when Africa is mentioned. The usual urban mix of restaurants, service stations and traffic lights (among other things) did not seem much different from a small European city. Unfortunately, none of the townships or other poorer areas were on my list of travels, but I hope to visit the township of Mondesa outside of Swakop (as the locals call it) and be able to give a better idea of how the poorer segment of this society lives.
I guess I should briefly explain MYO, or Mondesa Youth Opportunities, the organization for whom I will be working. We are basically an after-school program for young children from Mondesa. The program focuses on three tiers that promote overall development for the students involved. The first area encompasses education. Students will be either re-enforced in the subjects they are currently learning in school or given extra teaching if they are lagging behind in the curriculum. We also focus on sport training. Tennis takes the primary position as of right now, but an intramural sport system is in the works to provide more options and opportunity for the kids. Finally, MYO works in life skills mentoring since most of the students have not been able to develop certain skills that will help them succeed as they progress through the program and through the rest of their lives.
I had better get to bed if I want to get a head start on my jet lag. I hope this inaugural message/post/entry finds everyone well. This opportunity that has been given to me is very exciting, and although I my family and friends, I really believe this year will reward me in so many ways—and hopefully the students as well. Keep in touch everyone.
Beau
P.S. The two other volunteers I’ve had the pleasure of meeting so far—Casey and Alexis—are lovely people. The house should be a lot of fun this year!
After arriving in Namibia, I had a short stay in Windhoek, the country’s capital. It is a charming city hidden in the hills of central Namibia. Rob Myers, the president of MYO, showed me around a bit and took me along to a few meetings while we were there. The first thing that struck me about the area was how different it appeared from what I had expected. I guess this is to be expected considering the usual picture that one’s mind conjures when Africa is mentioned. The usual urban mix of restaurants, service stations and traffic lights (among other things) did not seem much different from a small European city. Unfortunately, none of the townships or other poorer areas were on my list of travels, but I hope to visit the township of Mondesa outside of Swakop (as the locals call it) and be able to give a better idea of how the poorer segment of this society lives.
I guess I should briefly explain MYO, or Mondesa Youth Opportunities, the organization for whom I will be working. We are basically an after-school program for young children from Mondesa. The program focuses on three tiers that promote overall development for the students involved. The first area encompasses education. Students will be either re-enforced in the subjects they are currently learning in school or given extra teaching if they are lagging behind in the curriculum. We also focus on sport training. Tennis takes the primary position as of right now, but an intramural sport system is in the works to provide more options and opportunity for the kids. Finally, MYO works in life skills mentoring since most of the students have not been able to develop certain skills that will help them succeed as they progress through the program and through the rest of their lives.
I had better get to bed if I want to get a head start on my jet lag. I hope this inaugural message/post/entry finds everyone well. This opportunity that has been given to me is very exciting, and although I my family and friends, I really believe this year will reward me in so many ways—and hopefully the students as well. Keep in touch everyone.
Beau
P.S. The two other volunteers I’ve had the pleasure of meeting so far—Casey and Alexis—are lovely people. The house should be a lot of fun this year!
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