Term II
on Marika VSO-ing in Namibia (Namibia), 12/Jun/2010 09:56, 34 days ago
Katima and the people have been welcoming on return. I’ve eased myself in with work, but at the same time with a bit more determination to get things moving along a bit faster, more productively, and more effectively than last term. The pace already feels like it’s picking up a bit. Nevertheless, my motivation continues to fluctuate. It was reallyhelpful having VSO Namibia’s Education Programme Officer, Ehrens, visit the region for our placement reviews. A bit feared in the same way as an appraisal, but turned out to be incredibly helpful talking through things and discussing issues. An opportunity cut short in ICT 2, but better late thannever. Ehrens is such a lovely character, admirably positive despite a rotten personal year for him and makes you feel at ease at all times. This was in theory a seemingly late ‘initial placement review’, and another mid-placement review should be due in August. I’m switching in my mind between whether I am a third of the way through my year (thinking in terms) or half way through the year (thinking in months), and although I try not to put too much emphasis on it, I find myself preferring to think of me as being almost halfway. Maybe this is a bad sign, or maybe I’m just going throughthe classic teacher countdown habit, but it is without the intention to wish the year away already. Either way, I will also blame this trail of thought on the socialising with various volunteers over the holidays that are nearing the end of their placements and talking about leaving. Here's a shocker for the week: I was working with a newly qualified teacher, not trained to teach Maths but teaching it to 3 Grade 9 classes anyway, so frustrating as Sheriff continues to be unemployed despite having been ideal for this position. So in visiting her, we are planning together and I ask her to divide 22 by 2. After two incorrect answers, I think being 12, then 10, she then types it into her calculator to answer me correctly...We spent the last weekend attending a‘Global Education’ event at Ngepi camp. VSO manages to get some funding to sponsor this bi-annual event for volunteers with the aim to ‘educate’ us I guess, a bit more, about Namibia. With this event having the theme of environmental sustainability, we proposed this venue as it a relativelyeco-friendly campsite with a vision and combined it with some presentations on this theme including like a mini success story of the fisheries James (in Divundu) has been volunteering for. On the other hand, most of us see it as an opportunity to gather together from across the country (with VSO requesting leave from our employers to allow for travel), meet, talk, relax etc. I took the opportunity to take my first ‘Makoro’ (dug-out canoe) ride on the beautiful environment of the Kavango River, seeing my first crocodiles, two little ones. Such a serene place, I definitely hope to visit again, being only 3 hours away. If I ever I want to hear the hilarious nightly noises of the hippos at closer proximity than our house in Katima, I know where to go. Together with the best outdoor showers I’ve ever used, the cute campsites that lie precariously close to the open river bank, gorgeous sun deck overlooking the river, bar, fireplace, bean bags and more, Ngepi still wins in my mind as the best campsite I’ve been to.I feel like I’ve spent a fair amount of time with other volunteers, especially as a result of the holidays and various organised VSO events, and it has been a slow process getting to know the Namibians well. Many others I have spoken to also relate to this regarding the Namibians, compared to other places, cultures where they have travelled/volunteered before, but who’s to say I’m not equally difficult to get to know? I’m keen on developing these community relationships a bit more, but at the same time, I’m aware that my relatively short stay here as well as the restrictions in socialising in theevenings could be limiting in this. Socialising with volunteers is in a way the easier option, especially as there is already a lot of shared feelings in common and it is like this ready-made network you find as you enter the country as a volunteer. Hard to turn away from as they regularly turningup on our door en route to Vic Falls or Chobe and I am happy to have them alongside my determination to fill up this big empty house, but I’m secretly hoping this feeling of imbalance will change at least slightly this term. I’m continuing my efforts in trying to pick up the ‘Nam-glish’ lingo such as, ‘sharp’ (like ok/agreed) ‘squared’ (when something is completed), ‘freshers’ (refreshments)...and more.The weekends are now more greatly appreciated for the mere reason that I can wake up AFTER the start of morning birdsong and a temperature closer to that of the rest of the day. As the temperature fluctuates between roughly 5-30°C within just a few hours in the morning, demanding a lot of thought on clothing at silly-o’clock in the morning when you can’t even look out to see the state of the sky. On the other hand, I am grateful we have yet to reach the frost temperatures I am hearing reports of down South from the Windhoek-ers. Today, I could finally welcome the light into my room by opening the curtains in the morning, something I didn’t feel comfortable doing whilst the guards were walking around. We are feeling pretty safe with our new burglar bars, so we’ve temporarily transferred them to Rani and Manna’s house that had an attempted burglary last weekend. I’ve also finally managed to get the hot water fixed, so I no longer need to ask for hot showers and it even feels a luxury to be able to wash my face with lukewarm water in the morning rather than grumpily dashing cold water for a rude awakening. It’s surprising how much faster things will get done by the ministry if you offer to pay for the parts. This ‘job card’ had been ignored for 15 months with the excuse of them not having the money. With this still being the excuse at the beginning of the financial year, I simply forked out the N$100 (not even £10) and the labour was readily provided. I thought maybe this had something to do with VSO’s requirements for the minimum housing criteria they need to provide us with is not hot water, but just water. Poor Rani and Manna still don’t even have a geezer and continue to bucket-bath. So now I can at least offer hot water to more people without having to ask each time.World Cup fever is definitely present here, including the morning off lessons yesterday to play‘soccer’, volleyball, running, and netball at Mavuluma and everyone dressed informally for the occasion. Why all 4 sports you might ask? I wondered too. It was really funny to see the bold division of the girls and boys for the different sports, but great to watch how quick and easy they start the games with just a few lines drawn in the sand and what seems like organised chaos forming with minimal communication between all parties. The girls found it greatly amusing as I substituted a player for the netball team, drew on what I remembered since being on the team at my school, and managedto score a goal for the team. It did irritate me though that even the kids at school still call me ‘the makuwa’, even after having a 'makuwa' at their school for all this time (before me too). Maybe my sensitivity is heightened as I hadn’t heard it for a while during my travels and this regular calling I get on the street whenever I walk around Katima has become one of the most irritating annoyances of my return to Katima. So the excitement of the World Cup is felt my almost everyone. In speaking to people, they are so proud for it to be on African soil, if you ask them who they are supporting the answer will usually be South Africa (a bit surprisingly, but very likely in their view, with the support of copious witch doctors, how can anyone else have a chance!?) or ‘any African country’ because ‘we must keep the cup on the African soil’. There is also the continuous randomblowing of vuvuzelas in the background as a constant reminder – very annoying but funny as they kind of remind me of elephants. Or is this a symptom of Caprivi fever?