Running Water?!

Hello All,

This past weekend has given me a recharge for this week of teaching. I was able to go right after school on Friday and travel to Ongwediva to meet up with some of the other volunteers. Onwediva is about an hour and a half away on a good travelling day. I caught a ride down the road to the hike point with one of the other teachers and then hopped in the back of a pickup truck driving by going toward Ondangwa. From Ondangwa I then caught a taxi that was going into Onwediva and they dropped me off at Benny’s. Benny’s is a wonderful amusement/lodging park that has a pool, water slide, and wonderful rooms to stay in overnight. I met up with Monique and we checked into a room. The moment we walked in I instantly fell in love with this place! It had a comfortable bed with a pillow (exciting because I left my pillow in a lodge on accident while I was travelling up north and I’ve been using my sleeping bag as a pillow ever since) and it also had….RUNNING WATER! It was crazy to be able to turn the faucet and be able to shower and wash my face whenever I wanted to. At my home in Onambutu I shower in a tin structure outside and carry my water in a bin and wash my hair with my water bottle.

The weekend was so wonderful. Monique and I eventually met up with two other volunteers who hung out with us for the weekend and stayed with us. We were able to swim in the pool and on the second day I got a pedicure. I think I take many things for granted when I’m in the U.S. however, I didn’t realize that properly taking care of my feet was one of them. We also went dancing on Saturday night at the club at the hotel. It was pretty much dead there so the four of us busted out our dance moves and requested songs freely. I requested my new favorite song called “Windeck” (it’s an Angolan song) and the others requested Beyonce. Yes we busted a move to “Single Ladies”!

On Sunday I stayed in Ongwediva until about 5:30. I was able to grab my groceries on the way out to put into my hiking backpack. I also bought puppy supplies. In two weeks I will be picking up my new puppy! I am beyond excited to be bringing him home with me and train him. Because I live in my house alone it gets very lonely at night. This puppy is two weeks old right now so I’ll be getting him when he is a month old. He is black and white (not sure what kind of dog it is it’s probably a mix) and I’m naming him Hunter. I have a teacher who has offered to take him at the end of the year when I come home.

As for my teaching and an update on that…I don’t have much yet. On average I teach about four classes a day. I’m teaching English to grades 8A and 8B and I’m teaching computers (also called BIS here) to grades 8A, 8B, 8C, 9A, 9B, 10A, and 10B. That is 9 classes total! Right now I’m trying to find the best system I can to keep track of what I’ve done in each of the classes in order to plan better. In my English classes so far they have written introduction papers and played some introductory games. In my BIS classes I’ve asked them to write introductions and let me know what they remember from the other WorldTeach volunteer from last year. She was here for two months teaching them some basic computer skills.

It’s been extremely hard to plan because I haven’t taught any of these subjects before and I need to get a sense of how much English or computers they know. The learners here are for the most part quiet and are having a hard time participating and asking questions. They are used to most of their teachers writing on the board and having them copy it down. My teaching style is much different than I think they are used to so it may take some time.

 I’m personally having a hard time with how little information I’m given. We had a staff meeting today about ordering composition notebooks for our classes and I think the teachers may forget that I won’t know how everything is done. I end up having to beg the Head of Department for Languages to help me understand what’s going on. Hopefully as the year goes on I’ll be more self-sufficient with a lot of these things.

Also during the staff meeting today they were talking about the sports starting up after school here. They also mentioned that they need to raise some money for some equipment and jerseys for the girl’s netball team. I’m mentioning it here because maybe some people back home would be interested in donating a few dollars for their cause! Feel free to contact me if you are interested either on here or through email (cewing22@gmail.com) I was talking to the coach and he said they need about 1,000 Namibian dollars which is about $125 US.

Peace and Love,

Chelsea

Rise Above It

Hey There,

So last night I decided that I was done feeling sorry for myself for having no running water and living in conditions that I’m not used to. I was sitting in my room listening to sad music as I’m sure a lot of us do when we’re sad and I was thinking about how I’m in this building alone and all of my colleagues and their kids are next door to me. I was sad that they all know each other and I am the outsider here. Then I thought to myself “Chelsea, it’s not going to change unless you do something about it”. So I picked up some of the bubbles I had brought with me for the kids and I walked next door and sat with the kids and blew bubbles for them. I made fast friends with this 3 year old Julia who was fascinated. She was a tough egg to crack at first but by the end of the night she wanted to come home with me and cried to her mother when I said I had to leave.

 It’s interesting getting to know the little kids here because they all speak Oshiwambo and practically no English. This is where the human language comes in. Smiles are my best tools to get the kids to understand where I’m coming from. Julia keeps dabbling on in her native language and laughing constantly. I think after a few days of sitting and listening to the people speak here I can almost understand without knowing the language. There’s something about facial expression and tone that can transcend language barriers.

Today I woke up feeling much better and it was my second day at the school. I haven’t taught anything yet but I made a point to walk into my 8^th grade classrooms and introduce myself and drag them out of the room to play some games with me. I know that everyone warns to start off strict and I hear them loud and clear but I think that some ice breaker games never hurt anyone. As I was playing a hand game with my 8A class we saw something quite strange unfolding around us. Some of the older learners were carrying someone on a chair while most of the staff followed behind. After a bit I decided to go ask the staff what was going on. Apparently one of the teachers here was preaching to the learners about how Jesus was within him and carrying on about bible study instead of the subject he was intended to teach.

I followed some of the teachers to the main gate where this man was sitting in his chair and tapping his hand saying that it was what Jesus had commanded him to do. When one of the teachers asked him about me standing there he said that my skin color did not matter and that we were all mere flesh. He then said that I didn’t matter to him and no one did. We were all sinners and should repent before it was too late. I was a little overwhelmed with this all happening so once I heard that they were calling to get him taken to a larger hospital in the area I left and went to my other section of learners to keep playing games.

At the end of the day I finally got my schedule for teaching so that I know where I should be and when. This makes tomorrow my official first day of not wandering around like a lost puppy. Speaking of puppies, I think I’m going to get one for my house! I’m so excited about this idea and I have a teacher who has offered to take him/her at the end of the year when I leave. I really want a dog to have as a companion here and to share some of the lonely nights with. Who doesn’t like to cuddle up to a furry little puppy at the end of the day?

That’s about all I have the energy for as of now. I will update soon. Until then…

Peace and Love,

Chelsea

Steady As We Go

Hello There,

This is my first weekend on my own without the support of my fellow volunteers. However, being as blessed as I am during this journey, help is always at hand when you need it. (Okay that just reminded me of Dumbledore telling Harry that help is always at Hogwarts for those who ask for it) I have a volunteer nearby in a town called Eenhana. He is a wonderful man who has dedicated a lot of his life to volunteering around the world. He is 63 years old and decided to take this year long trip while he was still physically able. He left behind his wife and kids to do this. But anyway, he is just a short hitch hike away from me and I decided when I woke up on Saturday morning that I was overwhelmed with starting my life here and wanted to see a familiar face. I walked with the Head of Department here (Mr. Emmanuel) to the hitch hike point which is about a mile walk down the road from my school onto the main road (which is also dirt). We also had one of the dogs that hangs around the school follow us all the way up the road. We waited a while on the side of the road until a car came and I climbed into the back with 5 other people and set out for the town. I can now say that I am a hitch hiker! (Side note: for all of you that read that and are now worried sick…it’s totally normal here to do this and very safe)

 I arrived in town and met up with Mike. We sat at a restaurant and had some lunch and then headed to the local supermarket so that I could look at what I could buy the next day for groceries. We then walked about another mile to get to his school placement. He has running water at his school so thank goodness I got to take a shower. We spent some time talking about my placement and how overwhelmed I was the first day. The next day we took some lawn chairs out and enjoyed the morning in the shade and talked about the next year and how important it is to stay and keep strong. We then walked back to the market and I filled my hikers backpack with some essentials I didn’t have when I arrived (food, pots, pans, silverware, dish soap). I then asked around for a ride back into Onambutu (harder than I thought) and again hitch hiked back to the school and trekked back the mile with all of my new things for my home.

When I got back today I unpacked my things and cooked my dinner on a hot plate that Mr. Emmanuel was kind enough to bring to me because they haven’t hooked up my gas stove just yet. To my surprise, the electricity and cell phone service then went out for several hours. Apparently this happens every so often and more so in the rainy season (which we are in right now even though I haven’t seen rain yet at my placement). I think I’ll just have to get used to it and everyone back home will have to be patient with me if we had planned to talk at a certain time.

That’s just an update of a few things that have been going on with me since I’ve reached my site. Tomorrow is my first day of school and I am nervous to meet everyone officially. The teachers go home on the weekends so I haven’t met many of them just yet. We have a morning assembly tomorrow that I will go to after I meet the principal and formally introduce myself. I should probably go to sleep now and try to rest before the big first day.

Here’s to a better day! Cheers!

Peace and Love,

Chelsea

My New Home

Hello Readers,

I have just arrived today at my school in the Onambutu village. I was supposed to arrive yesterday however, after the 8 hour drive from the backpacker there were complications with our rides to our schools so five of us stayed in the town lodge in Ondangwa. This was a secret blessing in disguise because not only was this going to be the last hot shower i'm getting for a while, we were also paid for by the Ministry of Education in Ondangwa. They paid for our accomodation and dinner and in the morning there was a buffet for breakfast! I got to have a cup of coffee which was really exciting. Not only did the Ministry do all of this for us, but they also met us personally and had their drivers bring us to our sites.

So this morning we set out bright and early and I arrived at my school. I was so overwhelmed with how excited I was to see all of the learners running around that I teared up. A lot of them tried to get my attention from their classes yelling "MISS! MISS!" and as I waved and said hello they burst into laughter. I met with the Head of Department here Mr. Emmanuel and he showed me to my apartment. I have a kitchen (with no working stove) and there is a resident salamander that lives in my cupboard. I will have to name him. I also have the entire building to myself which includes a common area with a fridge and a non-working bathroom and shower. My room is pretty large with a closet, a bed, and a chair. One thing i'm kind of sad about is leaving my pillow I bought at the lodge in Ondangwa on accident. I guess i'll live without for a while. I will also be living off of a tap water system that I have to fill buckets and bring them to my house for bathing in the outside enclosed tin building. I also have an outhouse...which a salamander and a rather large spider live in.

After the tour around Mr. Emmanuel walked with me around the village to show me the few shops that are here and where the "hike point" is so that I can catch a ride into one of the nearer bigger towns. Yes I really do have to stand at the side of the road and hitch hike out of the village on the main road which is dirt of course. I know it probably sounds like I am complaining about the accomodation but in all reality I love it here and I think with some adjustments and practice hitch hiking I will be very proud to be a resident here for the year.

I will take some pictures of my new home soon to show everyone and I will try to post some on here. Until then, I hope everyone is nawa nawa (very good).

Peace and Love,
Chelsea

Etosha...you win.

Hello People,

I was able to update once in Ongwediva about the teaching experience. I have some quiet time now to recap some of what happened after Ongwediva and into our trip to Tsumeb. We travelled away from the dormatory where we were staying and teaching and made it to Tsumeb to a really nice backpackers. I say nice only because it was so exciting to get to the room and see a fan and a pillow! The things you appreciate when you're in Africa... :)

The first night in Tsumeb we relaxed in the common room and stayed up talking to the nice couple that owned the place. Taught them how to play "never have I ever". It was quite funny. We had yet another night of eating pizza (it's almost all we have eaten here because it's cheaper to feed the group...side note on that...if I never see pizza again this whole year...i'll be quite alright with that) and then we went off to our nice beds with...let me restate this for emphasis...PILLOWS AND A FAN.

The next morning we got up for what turned out to be a pretty epic day. We left for Etosha National Park around 7:30 am and drove the hour and a half to get there. We decided to do our own drive through with the two Ministry of Education vehicles that we were riding in. It cost us 80 Namibian dollars to get in (which translates to 10 US dollars). I was in the van where we pack in 13 people on a normal day. We drove through the park for...are you ready for this...12 hours! It was such a long ride. However, we saw so many cool animals. We saw girrafes, elephants, cheetahs, a leapord, hyenas...etc! It was such a cool experience to watch all of these animals in their natural habitat. Apparently seeing cheetahs is very rare in Etosha but seeing a leapord is unheard of!

Here's the absolute best part of the trip....we got stuck in the sand in the middle of Etosha. There are signs everywhere saying that you cannot get out of your car and we had to get out and try and push the van out. We of course had someone as the animal lookout to let us know if we needed to jump back into the van. This is one of those stories i'm never going to forget! It'll be one of those "remember that time we got stuck in the sand in Etosha and had to watch for lions?" Etosha 1-WorldTeach-0 (You win this time Etosha...touche...)


So right now it's Monday night and come Thursday morning...I'll be at my teaching site for the year! It's so crazy to think about right now but i'm so excited to meet everyone and settle in. I am beyond excited to meet my students. After working with the students in Ongwediva and playing games with them and teaching them I cannot put into words how happy I am that I'm here and about to teach.

I hope everyone is well and happy.

Much Love,
Chelsea

Reflections and Thoughts

Hello World,

So today we had our second day of our teaching. It becomes more and more rewarding as we go on. Today we learned that some of our learners have walked two hours to come and be taught by us for two hours. I think we can all agree that in most other countries this would never be the case. A lot of the kids in the U.S. can’t stand outside for five minutes to wait for the school bus to come without their parents or themselves complaining about the weather or an inconvenience. The kids here in Namibia walked two hours in 95 degree weather for a chance to learn more English.

Today my co teacher and myself taught a lesson that was supposed to last an hour. It ended up taking us about 50 minutes. So I made the executive decision that we would play games for the last ten minutes. We got up and walked outside to a shaded spot where we played a get to know you game followed by hot potato. The kids absolutely loved it. I even had one of the learners tape us playing the game because she thought it was so interesting. Who knew that teaching someone a game that most people find repetitive and boring back home would be such a rewarding experience?

I think that teaching in a foreign country gives a person a whole different perspective about everyday life. The kids here are so wonderful and I feel so blessed to have the opportunity to learn and teach with them. I don’t think that I can express enough how lucky I feel to be able to come on this journey and learn so much about myself and about others.

No matter how mentally or physically draining this experience is I think I’ll come out of it with more good than bad experiences. As my mom always says, if it’s not good more than 50 percent of the time, it may not be worth it (whatever “it” may be). I would like to add a clause to this statement. If the experience makes you a stronger person or changes yourself or someone else for the better, it’s worth it. I may be tired of not being able to have running water all the time or feeling thirsty and hot all the time. I may be tired of remembering to take my malaria meds or sleeping under a mosquito net.  I may be tired of having to hand wash my clothes or work all day long and only have time to sleep and wake up and do it all over again. However, despite all of this, I truly believe this is the best thing I’ve ever done and may ever do in my life.

On that note, I hope everyone is doing something they find rewarding in their lives right now. Do what you’re passionate about. Don’t wait until life has passed you by to think about what you could have or should have done. Take every opportunity that comes no matter how daunting or challenging it may seem.

Peace and love,

Chelsea

On the road again

Hello Readers,

I am currently in Ongwediva for my teaching practicum for the next couple of days. We left yesterday from Windhoek and made the eight hour drive up to northern Namibia. We arrived at the school here yesterday after literally sweating in the ministry of education vehicle for the entire ride. I don’t think that anyone has appreciated a shower more than me now that I’m in Africa.

This morning we got up bright and early to start teaching our learners that we recruited from the community. Apparently last year there were no learners that showed up on the first day. It almost brought me to tears this morning when I saw the group of about 55 learners that showed up on their vacation time to be taught by our group.

I team taught with another girl from our group to about 22 high school kids. It was like pulling teeth for the group before us to get the kids to talk and participate. Once it was our turn to get up and teach I decided to ask them to stretch and shake it out. Seeing their faces when I asked them to get out of their chairs and do something silly was priceless. Smiles as wide as you can imagine.

I’m using my Netman here for internet (like a USB but for internet) and it’s so wonderful. It’s faster than the wifi at the hostel in Windhoek. Hopefully the internet holds out for when I get to my site. This blog post is short and sweet my friends because I’m about to climb under my mosquito (mossi) net and head in for the night before we wake up to teach again tomorrow.  

When I get back to the hostel in Windhoek I’ll post some more pictures!

Peace and love,

Chelsea

Life is beautiful

Ongaipi!

The past couple of days have been pretty busy but I enjoy taking the time to post a blog entry to document the experience and to share with everyone reading! So we ended up going into the open market place two days ago and did a treasure hunt. We were handed index cards with some words that we had to ask the sellers about. I had kopana and this meant the open places where the men sell meat after they cook (braii). I keep switching the spelling of this word but I believe it's braii.

I met some adorable little kids who sat with their mothers as they sold their food. They have things they call hot cakes here and they are delicious fried bread (kinda like fried dough). One costs 1 namibian dollar which is about 21 cents in the U.S....pretty awesome! Here are the children from the market...so adorable I can't stand it!

So after we went to the market we took a picnic to the Goreangab dam. My table of girls and myself decided that we needed to leave our mark in charcoal as others had before us so we signed the top of the picnic overhang with "World Teach 2012". Just trying to leave our mark :)

Yesterday we had a speaker come and talk to us about HIV in order to be better prepared for what we are to encounter and how to deal with different situations with our learners. For example, now we know that there is free testing in clinics to check the status of anyone who would like to know. Apparently a lot of men are apprehensive to get tested and women get tested more often.

Last night we met some other volunteers who are teaching in Zambia who came through the hostel on their way back from their vacation. It was a lot of fun to meet EVEN MORE people that are from the U.S. and teaching in Africa. Of course we sat with them and chatted and then we all played a round of Kings Cup with our African hard ciders and other fun drinks. Having things in common with other people here makes it a less lonely experience. Not only in the group that I am with but also other people just passing us along this journey.

This morning a doctor came to speak with us about precautions for different diseases and how to get healthcare if we need it. All of the Namibians I have met are SO nice and will help you out in any way that you can. I have become close to some of the people that work at the hostel. Dean is probably one of the funniest people I have ever met and he said something the other night that was very refreshing "I am having a wonderful night..I dunno I just feel that I always have those because life is such a good time". It's a great outlook to have about life. We then ended up chatting with some of my other friends I met at the hostel about Jeff Dunham and talk nonsense until about 3 in the morning. I think those are the best nights. When you really connect with people and laugh until your face hurts.

This afternoon we went to the teacher store called Edumunds and bought some supplies that we might need for our teaching practicum in 2 days and also for our own classrooms. Wandering around the store today made me so excited to teach! When I teach I feel like i'm doing what i'm meant to do and I enjoy every minute of it. Ok so I think that is a good overview of the last couple of days here.

Ka la po nawa!
Chelsea

Wato ke lwapo

Wato ke lwapo (good evening) everyone,

Ongaipi! (hello) Clearly I started my language classes today and i'm trying to use the words so that I can possibly remember them. I'm in the Ohangwena region in northern central Namibia for my placement and i'm learning to speak Oshiwambo and more specifically Oshikwanyama. Sounds pretty daunting but so far it's a fun language to start to speak.

So today we worked on lesson planning and language orientation. We went into town this morning and I got my Namibian cellphone and Netman (for internet). Walking into town is fun and wandering around the mall while mentally counting how many stares we get as white people here. It's very interesting because there are white people here but they are Africaaners who are native to Namibia. They are mostly dutch descendants. Anyways, so this man at the post office today was talking to me while we were in line and said that it is very easy to tell that we are American from our accents. I'm pretty sure it may also be the khaki shorts, plastic watch, and untanned skin. This screams, "I just got off the plane and I don't know what i'm doing!"

Oh so I would love to share last night with all of you. (Don't know how many people actually read this thing but...oh well I'll write anyway! Please feel free to comment if you do read this) Ok back to last night. There was a flood of people coming into the hostel which was weird because it's mainly just been us for the past couple of days. Come to find out that they were all Peace Corps volunteers here! It was so nice to meet other Americans who are doing the same thing we are doing. They have been here since August and are going to be here for the next two years. They sang us a Namibian song and it was so incredibly beautiful. I can't wait to meet my learners (they are called learners not students) and hear them all sing during morning assembly!

Tomorrow we will all be piling into one of the Ministry of Education vehicles and getting out of the hostel for a while to see the town. I am SO EXCITED. You know when you're in one place for days on end (maybe refer back to the power outages for 6 days that happened a couple of months ago...for all you New Englanders) and imagine the cabin fever going on. I am in Africa but I don't really feel like I am IN Africa yet. Okay now i'm rambling...so i'll say Ka la po nawa! (stay well)

Peace and Love,
Chelsea

New Year...New Adventures

Hello everyone,

So last night was New Year's Eve (earlier for us in Africa...we saw the new year 7 hours before!) and I had a fantastic ringing in of 2012. All of the volunteers and myself sat out under the roof for part of the night and watched the two adorable little girls from the hostel play and dance. Did I dance? Oh of course I did! The girls taught me some new moves...I hear there's a video of it so maybe I can get my hands on it to share. I also broke out some of my bubbles that I brought and watched as the girls were fascinated with popping them. As I tried to put them down one of them said, "You bring them back out" so of course I had to! That ended when she accidentally spilled them on the porch :( Then we moved onto playing a quick round of uno before our braai. The meat was amazing. For a braai they leave the grill to fire up for a few hours and slowly cook it.

After the braai we hung out at the picnic tables by the pool and talked until midnight where we counted down and toasted with some yummy champagne. Perfect way to ring in the New Year and celebrate new beginnings with some very nice people. I think 2012 will be a very rewarding and challenging year. Nothing that I'm not up for!

This morning we started our orientation sessions again bright and early. We learned a bit about our placements and about the Namibian culture. We also put on some skits in the new Namibian slang that we learned. I won't bore you with all of the details but it was a long and rewarding day. We finished the day off with some pizza and a quiet time where we all read books as the sun went down. I got to skype with my mom and dad (always wonderful to talk to them) right after dinner. Speaking of skype if you don't have my skype name yet it's chelsea_ewing please feel free to add me and video chat!

That's all I have the energy for right now (still recovering from jet lag..the 14 hour flight and layover and then another 2 hour flight just about knocked me out)

Peace and Love,
Chelsea