Peace Corps Weekend in Rundu

This Friday, I left school (which somewhat left me in a minor panic mode all weekend thinking about how things were going at school, but that's because I'm a control freak!), to visit a whole bunch of the Kavango Region Peace Corps Volunteers (PVCs for those in the know) as they said goodbye to Group 33.  Those volunteers have been here in Nam for 2+ years, doing all sorts of health projects for their communities and the country, and it was really nice to meet so many volunteers who love Namibia and their experiences so much!

This weekend was basically the weekend of gluttony  On Friday night, we went out for pizza, and Nathan (the PVC in Divundu) stayed in because he wasn't feeling well. I was going to bring back some of my pizza for him, but I housed the whole thing instead! It was delicious.  Sorry Nathan. Saturday morning, I went to the bank, got there at 8:20, it opened at 8:30, and I was done with deposits by 8:45.  Bam! So I went to Forget Me Not Cafe and ate for the whole rest of the morning.  Not solid eating for 3 hours, as I was also grading art books and planning the rest of this term, but still.  Omelet, toast, 2 cups of coffee (real, yummy coffee), and 2 milk shakes. Whatever. Went to a braai after that and had some coleslaw, sausage, baked goods and wine.  Also the most delicious Doritos I've ever had! Sweet Chili something-or-other. Yum. And today, I had Hungry Lion chicken and ice cream (caramel dip, obviously!).

But the important thing is that I did not have any fat cakes (fried dough that women sell on the streets and someone brought to the braai), so I'm there for going to continue my weight loss trend.  That's how it works, you know.

Other than the food, the weekend was amazing! Peace Corps people were really welcoming at the party, and I bonded with Steph, a newer PCV who is teaching in the region, about Taxoplasma gondii and dread locks; I might take Geo's cat; we're planning an Easter get together in Divundu.  This morning, we went to the Teacher Resource Center/PVC office in Rundu, and we helped Nathan and Andre (who looks just like Andre from The League for anyone who watches that show) discover Pinterest, and I tapped into their book and media supplies.  Altogether, this weekend was awesome!

This coming week, I'm having students teach some lessons on using files and folders to the grade 8 ICT classes. I'm really excited to see what they come up with!  And I'll let you all know how those lessons go for sure!

Drama-rama at RVS

3/3/2013

These kids are super talented and motivated and wonderful and happy.  They adlib, project and put a play together in 5 days. They performed their play last night, about how to take advantage of the opportunity they have to learn at the school. They wrote 4 songs about leaving home, coming to school, being hopeful, and how to best use this opportunity.  The plot followed 4 students, 2 two who took the opportunity and 2 who did not.  I wrote a bare-bones script based on the plot and characters outlined by a team of four writers, including the boy, Immanuel, who had the idea for the play in the first place. 

The actors got very into their characters, and added lines and pieces that made the whole thing so heartfelt and authentic.  Immanuel also suggested that to transition scenes, we have two lines on each side of the stage with the whole cast. The two lines crossed, and those in the previous scene joined the lines and those in the next scene stayed on stage.  It worked super well!

                …The government is looking upon you

You are the leaders of tomorrow

Take it in your hands

You have all the right

To brighten your future

This is your chance.

Dear learners, we are here for school…

                (I apologize for the poor video quality-my battery died right before the play, so I got this from a teacher who took it with his phone.)

           Our dining hall/school hall is very big with terrible acoustics, so projection was a major issue we worked on in rehearsals.  One girl, who often brings an “I can’t” attitude to things was struggling with being loud enough.  I took her to the window and had her get her friend’s attention from 100 yards away.  She aced it on the first try and during the play, was super audible.  Get it girl!

            

            Before and after the show, we had boys dancing kwaito, girls dancing cultural dances and hip hop.  All of the dancers just killed it!

             The whole night left me feeling high as a kite, and the kids feeling super proud and accomplished.  It’s moments like that which remind me how awesome kids are.

Driving in Namibia

24/2/13

This weekend, Wendy and I went back to Omungwelume to see a whole lot of the WorldTeach volunteers for Jessie’s 25^th birthday! It was awesome. 

                Travel arrangements could not have been easier.  Mr. Simubali, the history and geography (which is really like earth science) teacher, was travelling to that side to visit his girlfriend and friends, so we rode with him right after school on Friday afternoon.  We got to Omungwelume by 10, just in time for birthday cake! The ride back was perfect, and Simubali let me drive for a long time!  Mom, I feel your pain with driving on the left, but luckily, Namibia is super flat and empty, so I didn’t have to worry about going off at all, and the roads were really wide.  Two lane roads, 75 mph, and cattle walking, standing and sleeping in the road.  Exciting! It was really nice to drive though. I miss driving.

                We arrived at the party to hugs and delicious vegetable chili! There were a whole bunch of volunteers there, and it was great to hear stories about other schools and their experiences.  Their classroom management horror stories made me feel really lucky to be at this elite school, where we’ll just send kids home if they’re not behaving as expected.  Additionally, we definitely have the brightest of the orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) at Vision School, based on the marks the other volunteers are giving.  Their kids are not qualified as OVC, but are scoring very very low on tests.  I wish I could spend some time in a “normal” school to see what it’s like there. 

                The stories made me really happy that Vision is happening.  Even if the changes to the education system that are being made aren’t always the ones I would make, and changes happen slower than I think they should, these changes are helping raise the chances that these kids will get the support they need to get to university and get into a good career path.  I would just love to see more counseling and student centered teaching in practice, not just on paper. 

                We got burgers for lunch on Saturday! We haven’t really been eating any meat, without a fridge, so that was amazing! Then we went to Bennie’s Park, which was like a resort/water park in Ongwediva, and hung out until it was time to hike to Jamie’s site in Onamutai, where we got hot dogs and fries and Hunters. Then we watched Dr. Who and ate cookies.  Overall, I’ve been a fatty all weekend. 

                But now we’re back to Divundu.  Under the advice of Nora, a PeaceCorps volunteer in Oshikati, we got lentils, to hopefully get more vitamins and protein into our diet.  So maybe some good cookin’ will be happening soon! 

We have computers!

                We have one whole class set of computers! We’ve been getting the learners onto the laptops this week, and making pictures in Paint.  Usually, we set up the projector, and then have the children work in pairs or groups of three: one who is more experience acts as the teacher, and the novice(s) is (are) their learner(s).  It’s going pretty well, and I think everyone is engaged and feeling empowered to use the computers.  The first day, I think many were afraid they would break the computer by pressing the power button too hard, but they’re getting used to it now, which is really nice to watch.  I’m taking a page out of Kristen’s book (she’s volunteering over near Oshikati), and giving them all a printed out keyboard.  I hope that will help them become familiar with the layout.  I will probably have them label the functions of some of the special keys, on it, so that they know. 

                Overall, classes are going really well, and the learners and teachers are settling into the routines and rhythms of the school. 

                One of the learners came to the teachers with an idea for a play to teach students how to take advantage and not waste this opportunity.   I have taken him up on the idea, and we (that learner, three other learners and I) have been writing the script for the play. Hopefully writing the script will be done by Sunday, and we can start to plan out and rehearse with play.  There are about 40 learners who want to help, so the interest is outstanding! I’m just trying to figure out a way to get everyone involved fairly.   Big, middle school style chorus numbers, anyone?! It’s bringing me back to my Mr. Putnam days! I love it.  Hopefully we can perform it one weekend coming up for a Saturday evening activity. 

                I also really want to have a cultural dance exchange one Saturday night.  I’m learning a lot of dances in the art classes, and I’m thirsty for more!

Cooking in Namibia (still without a fridge)

            We still don’t have a fridge, but we are getting paid this weekend, and the fridge is on its way.  We’ve been eating a lot of pb&j, canned veggies, pasta and eggs.  A pretty typical meal: Cheese omelet and french cut green beans from a can. Don't forget the water!

My first purchase once our paychecks and fridge arrive will be fruit, juice and a blender.  Smoothies galore! And meat.  So much meat will be had with Peri Peri spices.  We also need to get some staples, like flour, baking soda, butter, sugar.  We have garlic and salt, but that’s about it.  I want to make breads I think.  Maybe a pizza! 

A Post of Pictures!

 The Rukonga Vision School Choir performing at the debate night on Saturday, between debate rounds.

 The Multicultural group doing a traditional Ovambo dance between rounds of debate on Saturday.

Grade 11 boys dancing Kwaito.

 The dining hall/school hall, where we finally have chairs!!

Sun rising over RVS.

The deck at Divava.

Song and Dance

For art class this week, I asked the learners to tell me about three songs that they know.  They are telling me about how gospel music makes them feel closer to God, how Mariah Carey makes them miss their father who died a few years ago, how house music makes them want to dance, and how songs they have written make them feel happy.  These kids have such a good grasp on their feelings, and they write pages and pages about it.  Music is their main source of self and emotional expression. I think I'm going to just have so much fun with this class. Culturally, they are raised to be able to set any words to rockin' Gospel 5 part harmonies, and dances to the songs. It is so awesome!

I'm going to post video soon of my kids dancing. There is a five year old son of a teacher who pops and locks better than anyone I've ever seen. He laughs at me when I dance.  And he thinks he can grow up to be Spiderman. Buddy, you can be anything you want!

Huron, Seneca, Mohican... better watch out! Just sayin'. These talented kids are going to teach Miss Mayer how to dance next week.