A Narrative of A Peace Corps Parent

As a Peace Corp Parent you experience a range of emotions when your child is nominated to serve. First of all you are proud of the fact that you actually raised a child who has such an open mind, adventurous spirit and giving nature and is willing to give up their comfortable suburban existence to live in the third world. You are anxious for them and maybe fearful of what leaving home will be like for them, knowing you can’t protect or comfort them when they are thousands of miles from home. Or, if you are like me you’ll think “Cool! My kid is going to live in Africa and I finally get to go there!”  You see, since I was a kid and saw the movie Born Free with Elsa the lion I dreamt of living in Africa and raising orphaned  lions, (not children) . I even convinced my parents to take me to the Lion Country Safari in Florida just to see lions, and once there was a “get your picture taken with a lion cub” at our mall so of course I convinced them to do that too.  SO, fast forward about 40 years and here is my opportunity to live vicariously through my Peace Corp kid and travel to Africa.

Now, another thing that is interesting about being a PCP (Peace Corp Parent) is people’s reactions to your child’s service. Everyone is very interested in learning about the Peace Corp and thinks it’s a wonderful thing to serve , however the “ I could never handle my child leaving for that long/go that far” is a pretty common statement.  A side note, most men have a very strong reaction to having a daughter serve, an emphatic “I would NEVER let me daughter do that”, which I find interesting and somewhat chauvinistic. Would they “let” their son serve? Realistically can we stop our children from doing anything?  Reactions to my travelling alone to Namibia were the same from men, “ I would never ALLOW my wife to go  alone” …hmmm…anyone who knows me knows that the words “ allow my wife” wouldn’t fly at my house!

So, as quickly as Shannon got her assignment in Schlip, I began to plot our Mother Daughter Namibian Adventure. Armed with a travel book and the power of the internet I was able to plot out a 10 day trip for us. What I was most excited about was spending 10 days with one of my kids, just the two of us.  As any parent knows, as your children get older you spend less and less time with them, and certainly one on one time is a rarity if you have more than one child, so this was a great opportunity to just be together.  I was eager to see what kind of life she really was living, and although I was pretty sure she was happy and safe, it was good to see that for myself!

I arrived in Windhoek late at night in the middle of a thunderstorm and there was Shannon waiting at the gate for me, which was completely unexpected and since we are so restricted in airports now it was fun to see your loved one right there at the gate! Our first night was spent with two of Shannon’s fellow PCVs, Derek and Rochelle. It was great to be able to be a “Mom” to all of them , watch their sheer joy as they ate Christmas cookies and listen to their PC adventure stories.  Our trusty Toyota Corrolla took us through rocky roads and a dried up riverbed  that had actually turned into a river and we arrived in Schlip on Christmas Eve in time to check out the village and meet some of Shannon’s families.  We got to visit the family farm and learn about goat and sheep herding and witness the first hand the pasture to table path an unsuspecting goat takes.  The best part of Christmas, besides the fantastic  Christmas Day feast that I completely overindulged in, was going to one of the small churches in the village with Aunti Tina.  It was a very small congregation, so right away everyone in attendance knew we were somebody new! Whenever I hear Christmas carols I get kind of weepy;  I’m not a particularly religious person, nor do I attend mass on a regular basis, however  I think hearing  Christmas carols just  kind of takes me back to being a kid, and all the memories of Christmas past, and it is nice. So hearing Christmas carols sung in Afrikaans really got to me; with tears streaming down my face I thought “ How can it be that I am sitting in a little church building, in Africa, with Shannon, and she actually lives here?” It was all so surreal, and soon we found ourselves the center of attention, being recognized as honored quests, and being prayed over by the folks in this tiny community, who in their generous spirit assured me that as a community they would watch over my child and care for her, and that they were thankful God sent her to their town.  This generous and welcoming spirit was what impressed me most while in Namibia. Everyone was so kind, and courteous and giving, leaving me with a really good feeling that Shannon was in a great place. Especially when the congregation broke into a rousing rendition of Felize  Navidad , in English, just for us!

Our adventure continued as we made our way North to Etosha with a stop in Okahandja to stay at the Sylvanette Guest House, where Flip, the owner told us that Namibia was the equivalent of “Africa Lite” because it is such a  tourist friendly country. I couldn’t agree more! We ventured to the craft market with money tucked in our bras and a plan to negotiate our way to the best deals possible to fill up my suitcase with treasures. We were quite successful with our “good cop/bad cop” routine, when Shannon let the crafters know she was not just a tourist, she was a local!  And after throwing out a few key phrases in the local language, we were on a roll! I assured them that if we were offered a fair price I would be sending her back for more goods…mission accomplished!

Our next night was spent at what I call the “Peace Corp Hotel” in Otjiwarango.  We stayed with some of Shannon’s fellow volunteers and had a fun evening of me “interviewing” all the kids there and them dutifully answering my questions…”where are you from, where did you go to college…why are you here…where do you live…do you have enough to eat….do you have a toilet….” The usual Mom kind of stuff! We dined on chicken patties, French fries, salad, cheese and cookies, all foods that most PCVs cant really afford on their living stipends, so I was happy to be able to treat them to a feast, Peac e Corp style!

The highlight of our adventure was visiting Etosha National Park and staying at the Taleni Etosha Village. By chance I found the Etosha Village on the internet and it was everything I had hoped for. We were greeted by the Village’s general manager, Hein, who I had been emailing about 100 times with 100 questions about our visit and game drives.   The village is made up of 40 private campsites and then a main dining area and pool. It was absolutely beautiful , with a large air conditioned tent to sleep in(yes AC in a tent!)  and an outdoor kraal style shower, toilet and sink, as well as an outdoor kitchen and patio area. Using the “facilities” under the stars was awesome!

Our Kitchen

Hello Kelley

We chose to not prepare our own meals, so each day we dined on different game meats, like Zebra and Impala, which made us a feel a bit guilty after seeing the animals in the park, but not guilty enough that we didn’t enjoy it!  Our game drives were incredible and we got to see rhinos, zebras, giraffes and much to my complete joy, lions!!!  I had told Shannon that when I saw a lion I would probably cry and or pee my pants with excitement.  I’ll admit to crying…. When we saw the first lion he was about 100 yards way lying under a tree, just peeking out as if to say, “Hey, Kelley, glad to see you finally made it here to Africa!” The next day we encountered two large males, one within 50 feet of us and it was magnificent! I could have sat there all day and just stared at him. We also saw a lioness and two nearly grown cubs, and got to see another lioness casually saunter past a group of very frightened Impalas as she made her way to a water hole.  I could never get enough of just watching  all these animals, in their habitats, and how they interact with one another. What an experience!

We had to leave Etosha on New Year’s Eve and travelled back to Windhoek for my flight out the next day. We rang in the New year watching the Namibian equivalent of Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin Eve, on TV, which was occurring downtown just 10 minutes away  from us but we weren’t motivated enough to check out. Actually, it was nice to have a quiet night, talking about our adventures and talking about future plans for the New Year.  It was really hard to get in the cab and leave on New Year’s Day, thinking I probably won’t see Shannon until the end of her service.

What started out as a fun opportunity to travel with Shannon also turned into a very enlightening experience.  I’ve come away so thankful to have had the opportunity to fulfill my own personal childhood dream, and most importantly, to have had the privilege of experiencing my child’s personal dream of living in a different culture.  I know there are probably very few Peace Corp Parents that get to travel to see their children’s new home and meet people they serve with, it’s truly an overwhelming experience to get to do this.  It’s  also a very eye opening, meeting people from half way across the world who have such a curiosity about the United States, who ask really good questions about our social and political systems, who probably know more about us then we do of ourselves! We may view them as cultures and countries that need help to live a better life, and in lots of ways that is true when you look at it from an economic perspective.  It’s made me think more about how people in other cultures live their lives, and what is truly important no matter where you are from.  The generosity and curiosity of people from what we view as a Third World Country  is inspiring, and something we in the First World need to perhaps be more aware of;  to take the time to look beyond our comfortable lives and explore another culture and realize that there are more common bonds that could unite us, instead of separate us.