The Big Reveal, Where the Next Two Years of My Life Will Take Place

Exciting news everyone! I officially know where I will be for the next two years! I have been assigned to a small village named Schlip in the Hadap region of Southern Namibia (I dare you to find something about it on the internet) and I will be the English teacher for grades 8, 9, and 10 at Pioneer Junior Secondary School. The school has a whopping 139 students, 7 teachers (I will make number 8), and the community as a whole +250. No I did not leave off a 0 or two. I can already say off the bat that coming from a university of 50,000, moving to a village of 250 is going to be quite a challenge yet an extremely unique experience for me. I do not think that in my life I have ever been a part of a population smaller than maybe 300. My elementary 6^th grade class moving on to junior high was 100 but we were moving from over a 500 person school to a 1000 one. My graduating class was 700 and even being in James Madison at MSU there were 300 of us in my class. Small communities is not something I have experience with.

Aside from the super small community, it is also fairly isolated but its not too bad. I can apparently get necessary essentials in my village but my official shopping town where the main post office and bank are is called Rehoboth (Rehoboth actually has a lot of history which you CAN look up if you want). It is about 100km away. While I am still trying to figure out and mentally calculate km into hours, the application says it should take an hour and 15. However, depending on my mode of transportation (i.e. do I have a set up ride or do I need to find a hike) it could take longer or shorter. One of my nearest volunteers is also in Rehoboth so that is good.

Now the big question: Will I have to poop in a hole and live in a mud hut? I’m sorry to disappoint but no. I actually have a 3 room flat to myself on the school hostel grounds (I forgot to mention the school is a hostel school, kinda like a boarding school). From the application it says that I have running water, electricity, cement walls, and a modern kitchen (modern used loosely – could be a room with a sink and a two burner stove…) I am assuming that I will live next door to other teachers from my school and here is the best part: distance to work is 100 m. I’m not good with long commutes which is probably reason why my entire college career was centered around a small residential college on one of the largest campuses in the nation.

As far as my actual job goes, due to the extremely small size I believe I will be teaching every English class at the school. That is good because I will be able to get to know every student however; that makes me question what they are doing now and what will happen if I am not there? It also says that that will only be 20 periods a week which is actually really good, I will not be overloaded, nor do I feel I would ever be pressured to. So in teaching English, they want me to help with increasing the pass rate (which I will go into more detail later) but also help with getting the library in order. I don’t know what status their library is currently in but I am suspecting it isn’t good if they want me to “get it in order” as opposed to “take over task of running”. My school also apparently has a computer lab and they noted that it would be nice if I could help in there. I don’t know how much help I could do but I do know a few very nice IT guys here that could probably help me out.

As far as for the rest of the community I don’t know what I could potentially do, it was only noted that I could maybe do something at the local multi purpose center. So we will see what I can come up with…. J

The Beginning Realities of Teaching in Africa

So I figured it was about time to actually begin talking about what I have been doing day to day. The past few weeks have been dedicated to a program Peace Corps Namibia just started called Model School. About two years ago the trainees said that they wanted more technical training before beginning their service as trainers. Listening to presentations about classroom management, lesson planning, and teaching to multiple skill levels was only so helpful; trainees wanted more. So last year was the first year that Model School was launched. Pre-Service Training (PST) is scheduled conveniently during a school holiday break for Namibian learners. During this break Peace Corps rents out a local school and students voluntarily come to our fake classes allowing us to practice teaching techniques and become slightly more comfortable in the classroom. Immediately, us Americans thought to ourselves “yeah this would never happen in the US, volunteering to come to school on a holiday? You couldn’t even pay kids.” This thought process was reason for our complete and utter shock when 800 kids showed up for our Model School Fun Day.

            Fun Day was a day hosted at the Okahandja Soccer Park, it included a free lunch and was an afternoon of various games with the intention of us new teachers meeting with some of our new students. There were soccer games, netball games (which is a slightly more confusing game of basketball), volleyball games, dance lessons (Namibians totally digged the Cupid Shuffle and the Cha Cha Slide), yoga sessions, and a talent show. All thrown together in a short few days. When 800 learners showed up we were shocked especially since our Peace Corps staff members were telling us we only had a budget for 400 learners for the next two days.  Here is the album of pictures from Fun Day https://www.facebook.com/shannon.riley1214/media_set?set=a.10200619336546876.1073741830.1263690154&type=3 

            I decided to learn (or try to learn) how to play netball. I figured, yeah I had basketball experience and being taller and twice the size of most girls playing I could at least put up a fight. Yeah no. These girls were crazy good. There was no ay I or any of us other white girls were keeping up.

            So even though 800 turned up for Fun Day, thankfully on the first day on school only 575 arrived. This was still almost 200 more students that we could afford. We tried to help think of solutions to help these enthusiastic kids and so many of us trainees stepped forward and said we didn’t mind teaching to larger classes. Teaching larger classes at site is potentially a huge reality for many of us so we figured we wouldn’t mind the extra challenge. We were then told a harsh reality, many of the kids are actually here, at school on a holiday, because they are promised a meal.  Whether coming was their choice or not, this could potentially be the only meal these kids get all day. We couldn’t promise nearly 600 kids lunch for two weeks when we only had the money for 400 so if they were not there for 8am registration on Monday they were not getting a spot. (Mind you we were still all in utter disbelief that 575 kids from one town showed up for holiday school.)

            Monday was completely hectic. Our first two days we would be observing Namibian teachers to get in the swing of things and unfortunately there were half as many teachers as trainees so we were told classes would be slightly larger. By slightly larger we didn’t realize they meant over 80 students and one teacher. This classroom was also about half the size of an American classroom (at least from what I remember). There were kids sitting on desks and sharing chairs, mind you one chair could probably fit half my butt, like those kindergarten size chairs where your knees almost touch your chest. Not only were we shocked that the registration room continued to send student to our room, every student was completely excited to be there.  There was so much enthusiasm and excitement, we just added it to the list of things that we couldn’t explain and that would never happen in the United States.

            Adding to the things that would result in a lawsuit and the suing of a school district in the United States includes broken desks and chairs. When Derek and I (Derek and I are partnered during Model School co-teaching and observing one another) arrived in our classroom, we attempted to set it up and quickly realized that half the desks at the tops just sitting on the base and half the chair seat just placed on the legs. Many of the chairs are cracked or have giant holes in them making it nearly impossible or a type of core workout just to sit in. Not nearly up to any standard that would be fought over in the US.

            On top of the sad conditions of desks and chairs, I will say that it is a very humbling experience to teach with little to no resources. We were given the nation wide syllabus for English learning in Namibia and told have fun. Although we have been given a “Zero Prep” help book, teacher resources are limited. Actually, resources in general are limited. Actually almost non existent. At least right now we are encouraged to try teaching non-promotional classes such as art and PE. Our resources: paper, a pen, and whatever you can find outside. Unless you want to invest your own money. I am going to be the most resourceful person after my time here!

            Amid these conditions, the students really were excited to be with us over their holiday. Derek and I asked our students for homework to write us a letter talking about themselves not only to find out how they write but to also try to get to know them in the short time we have together. We got some interesting responses including “You need to know about me that I am are girl of swag.” But also some very heartfelt thanks for teaching them English over their holiday. We were told how grateful our students were to have a respectful teacher who was nice.

            Now generally, letters like these would make you think those are the teacher’s pet. Unfortunately this is probably not the case. Corporal punishment has been a method of classroom management for a very long time. While it is officially outlawed, that is more so just on paper unfortunately. Many teachers today see this as the only way to handle trouble makers in the classroom because it has always worked for them. Many younger teachers have gone through schooling where this is all they have ever known. In the room where we were teaching we found a large stick, some metal thing, and a windshield wiper on the teachers desk left there during the holiday. While we quickly confiscated that it still did not stop a Namibian teacher that we were observing from smacking a kid on the top of the head who was goofing off with his friends who were sitting by him. The teacher was spoken to and apologized to those of us who were watching him. He was clearly embarrassed but used the excuse that its all he knows and sometimes its just his reaction. He assured us it would never happen to which I just sternly replied that I hoped it never would either. Unfortunately this is might be a reoccurring struggle that I will be faced with as I move to my permanent site.

In continuing with the harsh realities that living and teaching in Africa bring there were a few children who missed the registration time. We absolutely could not sign them up and we told them to come back next year. Before escorting some of them away from the school because they were sneaking into classes they gave one of us this note.

After reading it we not only realized just how important education was to many of these kids but that they would give up a lot just to be taught, especially by an American.

On a happier note, I find out my permanent site placement on Wednesday! So brace for big news!!

Cultural Comparisons and Differences

So this post I actually wrote like forever ago and forgot about it but I am actually really excited to share with everyone because it is about the stark cultural differences between the US and Namibia. I’m sure more will be added to this as time goes on but a lot of our eyes have been opened to not only to a new way of life but to what and who we are as Americans. Us as American Trainees filled out post it notes of all the parts of the Namibian culture that we witnessed that was different from our own, and the Namibian trainers did the same thing (Theirs was a little skewed though because the only Americans they have come in the most contact with has been Peace Corps Trainees) I am going to try to organize this the best I can but please bare with me.

Greetings

In Namibia you say Hi/Good Morning/ Acknowledge EVERYONE. Since I am American Namibians do not always do it first and for reasons I will specify in a minute. But no matter where you are, what you are doing, who you are with, you say hi to every person you pass. Its just what you do. It is SO rude not to greet someone. What more important thing are you doing that you can’t say Hi to someone you walk by. One of our trainers gave us insight into why this is: She said “If you walk by me and ignore my being there because you are looking for someone else, what happens if you can’t find that person. Do you think that if you come to me asking if I have seen him or her do you think I am going to answer you? You walked right by me and now that you need something, now you talk to me?” Alright, she made a valid point.

In the United States though when walking down the street we tend to walk with our eyes down, not paying much attention to what’s passing us by. If someone goes out of their way to say hello to you you feel awkward, like they want something or maybe that they are coming on to you. The trainers also pointed out a pet peeve Namibians have with Americans and that is the fake smile. Maybe you do acknowledge people as they walk by you but do you quickly smile then relax your face again. Is it really ever genuine? I know I am guilty of this, but maybe because smiling is just a habit of mine and I do it as a response for everything. Their frustration can be understood though, why do we smile at someone and then relax our face when the person is still in our eye sight? Are these acknowledgements of presence ever really genuine in the US?

Offering Help

            This brings me to another situation that more critiques the US. Our trainers asked us why we never accept help when it is offered. For example, when we all arrived in Namibia we were all trying to juggle two 50lb bags and a carry on or two. In my case it was a purse, a backpack, and a Vera Bradley duffle that had a weeks worth of clothes, an extra pair of shoes, my keep sakes, and a giant pillow. Some people brought guitars, some people brought hiking backpacks. Regardless we were all clearly struggling in one aspect of another. Whenever a Namibian or anyone for that matter offered to help us we all quickly replied no that we had it under control and that we were fine but thank you anyway. So our trainers asked WHY? Why would we do this to ourselves, we all looked silly and everyone knew we could have used some help.  One of us replied that the Peace Corps made it very clear to make sure that we could manage our own bags and to not need to rely on help (We’ll get into other Peace Corps specific things that confuse Namibians.) So anyways, that was one reason. Another person suggested that being an American, one of the values that we hold near and dear to us is our independence. We don’t want to be perceived as weak, we want to make sure we can do things for ourselves, and reassure to ourselves that we don’t need others help. Whether you agree with this or not its still a subconscious state of mind and all of us agreed that this was probably the reason for us refusing help with our bags.

Then one person spoke up and we all were shocked with what came out of his mouth. He said that in the US, people offer help all the time. People also always refuse help or deny the offer. Now this doesn’t apply to all Americans but generally, when someone says “hey can I help you with that” its not genuine, its polite, but they are also expecting you to say no and deny the offer because that would be polite. Why would you want someone else to suffer with carrying your bags when you were the one that over packed them. You wouldn’t want to carry a stranger’s overweight bags, that’s not your fault they can’t manage them.  On the occasion that the offer isn’t denied its not the end of the world, but in all reality, who really wants to carry a bunch of stuff for a stranger or go out of their way for someone they don’t know, especially if there is no material reward other than a feel good feeling in your tummy. Now when our fellow trainee was explaining this, some of our first thoughts were NO that’s not true, that’s looking at the worst of people, that’s not what Americans are like, there are many good ones out there. However, what was a second thought to us all was that we were those good ones. We’re Peace Corps volunteers so goodness sakes. We are giving up Western, modern comforts to live in huts eating questionable meat and sandy sides in order to contribute to the betterment of the world. Unfortunately though, once we realized that us and the people we were surrounded by in our lives were the cream of the crop that were actual genuine people, we realized what kind of culture and world we unfortunately lived in. Now I cannot reiterate enough how I know that this isn’t ALL Americans. This also isn’t an overgeneralization. Its more just the culture we live in.

Religion

Namibians are uber religious. Even if they don’t go to church every day or every Sunday. Religion is a huge part of the Namibian state and as I am here longer, I realize that more and more. While the United States has its fair share of religious influence (that is also often debated) as well Namibians take it to a whole other level and this could be for many reasons from colonial missionary influence to ethnic traditions. To begin, Namibians are very positive optimistic people, something I admire about them. The reason for this seemingly national happiness is their strong belief that God will sort everything out. Even if someone wakes up in prison during his/her life sentence they wake up with the attitude that it is a new day and God wants them to live it. Even if they are not actively religious (ie going to church, daily prayer) they believe God has a plan for them that will work out. Unfortunately there is a down side to this: Namibians are apparently horrible planners because of this mindset.

Another interesting note about religion in Namibia comes from an observation while watching TV. Let me preface by saying I watch a lot of TV. Like the entire time I am at home in the evening, the TV is on. Some popular shows that I watch with my family including my 11 & 6 year old host siblings include Criminal Minds, CSI, Under the Dome, and the ID network (which is all crime scene shows). Images, stories and thoughts of violence and adult themes are apparent during these shows and yet instead of beeping out swear words, they bleep out anything that takes the Lord’s name in vain. This includes anything from Goddammit to Oh my God to Jesus. Let me just interject and say it is quite difficult to fill in missing dialogue when you aren’t expecting them to bleep something like that out. Also on the note of TV and religion in Namibia, apparently there is a huge popularity with other host families in watching televangelism. Us trainees will sometimes debate whether watching that or the same Disney Channel episode for a double digit time is worse.

More interesting notes on religion: they are strong believers in superstition and this is apparent throughout the entire country. I do want to preface this by saying I completely respect all differing view points and fully recognize that people have different reasons to believe what they do and who’s to tell them this is wrong.  And also lets be real, we are in Africa, there are many different beliefs here. So anyway, at some point before our service we were told that there were many people who believed in things like witches and vampires (Hopefully it was Twilight that they were convinced by and not Dracula or some other creepy story). They believe this so much so that they sometimes do not let their kids out at night in fear that a vampire or something will get them. I didn’t actually believe this until I actually heard this. The first week we were here there was an announcement in the middle of church service that there had been sightings of a large dark winged creature around the town and that everyone was advised to be inside before dark fell. Our trainers later stood up in training the next day and assured us we had nothing to worry about contrary to the priest’s suggestions. In my own personal opinion, alcoholism is extremely high here and so my first hypothesis is that there is a connection here. But then again there is no way to actually know. I guess for me it’s a good thing I am ready to pass out by 8pm and don’t have to worry too much about being out after dark.

They also believe in the Illuminati. I don’t know much about this though other than many rich and famous people are a part of it and therefore anti-Christ. So for example apparently Beyonce is the queen of it but since her music if good some people just pray before listening to it. Sounds legit.

Hand Washing Horrors

SO I know you are all eager in anticipation wondering what I am doing, and trust me I am right there with you. Just kidding, a little bit. Training has been a whirlwind and we have all been super busy yet when we sit down and wonder what we’ve been doing we can’t come up with much. I attribute a lot of this with the notion of “African” or “Namibian” time. Some of this is cultural, some of this is logistical. Culturally, things just don’t really start, end, pick up, or drop off on time. Its just how it goes and I’m sure I will have pleanty of words for everyone when a trip which should take 2-3 hours actually takes 7 because of working on “Namibian” time. Logistically, let me explain. I am going to steal this from a fellow Peace Corps Trainee’s Facebook. I want each and everyone of you to stop what you are doing right now and put a little TLC into your household appliances that turn hour long potentially bloody battles into a simple task of 5 minutes or so.

First and foremost being the ever so sacred washing machine. Like seriously hug it. Hand washing is currently one of the most miserable experiences in my life. And I am only saying currently and one of the most because I know that there will be more horrors in my life over the next two years however right now I am considering making a socks and underwear fund just so I never have to wash them again.

To begin with there is an ever distinct noise that is made when hand washing laundry. I can’t describe it, something between a squeegee and a squirt but made with your hands and fabric. Regardless you are only doing it right if you have to noise down. I’m just going to say that I do not. Second, depending on where you are and how much you have you may be bending over at the waist for upwards of an hour or more or kneeling on god knows what (including but not limited to tile, granite, grass, dirt, sand, or gravel) scrubbing. Then actually scrubbing to try to recreate this noise that every Namibian woman can make with ease. Works up a fricken sweat let me tell you. THEN, oh yes there is more, because you have been putting off doing your wash and now have more than you should your hands are submerged in soapy dirty, scummy water for that hour or more that you are also bent over. Because your socks and underwear need the most cleaning they are conveniently the smallest articles of clothing resulting in not being able to really rub the fabric together but rather rubbing your knuckles raw. I have the battle wounds and eventual scars to prove it (right next to my scar from taking a slight tumble off the roof of a noteworthy ice arena on MSUs campus while holding Taco Bell mind you). After the pain of rubbing your skin raw in soapy water you now get to utilize a whole new group of muscles and wring the clothes out. Sure you could do it lazily but if you are trying to conserve water then you are trying to squeeze out every drop of skanky water from those stupid high school sweat pants and Science Olympiad hoodie you just HAD to bring to Africa. Rinse and wring again. Hang on clothesline outside. God forbid though if you happen to drop something on the ground, there is no grass here to cushion any unfortunate article of clothing. You have to re-rinse the item and rewet the sores that are trying to heal, then wring out the water again. If you know me, you know that I get really lazy with things like this. Hence why after almost an entire load I just kinda swirled some of my t-shirts around in the water and called them clean. Just took a bar of soap directly to the armpits and decided no one would ever know. That is until I decided to post it in a blog for the world to read….its all good though because my rinsing techniques must not be very good considering when I went to get all my clean clothes they were all stiff and smelled of nothing but purple detergent. Job accomplished in my book.

The motivation to share with you all the joys of living without a washing machine comes from the fact that this was clearly a challenging experience for me yet people all over the world everyday live like this and that is all they have known. It is also motivated by the fact that I have an increasingly large pile of clothes that I will need to attend to this weekend while reliving my experience and hopefully perfecting my technique.