Site Visit

Site Visit I am back from my site visit, and have a lot to report! The Peace Corps (PC) method is such that trainees (we are PC trainees until we complete training and are officially sworn in) undergo 4 weeks of language, cross-cultural and technical training. Then, we visit our site for about a week, and then return for 4 additional weeks of training. This gives us a context within which to apply our training and preparation. PC also embeds two homestays within the training so that volunteers are given a deep understanding of the local culture. While the homestays may stretch our comfort zones, there is no better way to gain an inside insight into Namibian culture. Once I get to site, I will have another 6 week home stay with a family, and then will be moved to permanent housing. More about that below… Last week on Thursday and Friday, we all met with our PC supervisors for orientation and training. On Friday, I departed with my supervisor, Mr. Peacock, for Kalkfeld, where I will be working for the next 2 years. It isn’t far from the capitol of Namibia, Windhoek. I enjoyed meeting Mr. Peacock very much and it will be nice working with him. He has a strong leadership style and has initiated a professional development program for his teachers and takes them on an end of the year party each year to show his appreciation. Arriving at my site was a bit sobering – it is quite rural. It is close to a large shopping hub, but in and of itself, it is small, with about 4k residents. There is the school, a post office, police station, petrol station and very small store. Our school is in relatively good condition (see photos below), but is certainly resource-scarce. In one classroom, there was a large hole in the wall. The library is severely lacking in books and organization. But on a very bright note, there is a computer lab with Internet access – this provides a huge opportunity for the local community to communicate with the outside world. One thing that I particularly enjoyed about the visit was meeting both my colleagues and some of the students. (I will only mention them by their initials here.) My counterpart is a younger teacher who is very good in the classroom. I also met some of the other teachers. The dorm (or hostel, as it is called here – many of the students board at the school because their families live very far away on farms) superintendent also impressed me with his approach to education. He views it as a service to others, as a vocation, and works to surround himself by motivated teachers and professionals. The students, too, impressed me! Two young women in particular, “B” and “J.” B came up to me one afternoon where I was reading outside. She explained to me how even though she is 19 years old and still in 10th grade, she is so grateful to be in school. She had to take some years off due to financial struggles and her parent’s inability to assist her with her education. But she is back and she is committed. She is one of the diamonds in the rough, the David vs. Goliath cases, where she is overcoming the poverty around her; she has not succumbed to teenage pregnancy like many young girls in Namibia. She was a breath of fresh air, and I can’t wait to work with her and the other students. Another young woman, “J” was my running partner one day. She told me how much she loves to run, how great it makes her feel, and how she and her brother used to run the 3.5 hours home to her village (!!!). Needless to say, she was an awesome running partner. It is women like these that I cannot wait to work with. Moving on to my site visit…..I am very much looking forward to this. I will be staying with a Grandma in the “location” or township area of town. She is simply amazing! She is fluent in German as her older sister used to work for a German family in the area, and she learned German by spending time with them. Her German is better than her English, so we will be speaking all German. This is a win-win as she can communicate better, and I can practice my German. She was truly lovely, with such a rich expertise of the area, and a wise and accepting approach to the world. I also found it refreshing that she does not necessarily agree with some of the traditional gender roles found in Namibia, which can be quite shocking and starkly different from norms in the U.S. One of the best parts of her home was her PUPPIES! I am including a photo of them below. There is also a photo of her cooking pot – she lives in a mud hut, and cooks 100% outside. This will be an amazing learning experience to live with her for 6 weeks. After my site visit at the school in Kalkfeld, I moved on to Otjiwarongo for a site visit and shadowing with another PC volunteer who has been on site for 1 year. It was great to see her classroom and all of the policies and procedures that she has put in place. She is impressive in all that she has accomplished in her small time at the school. I enjoyed touring the other school, one of the largest in the region with 1,200 students (my school has 400). We were even able to attend a wedding reception for one of the teachers. This was an amazing opportunity and we gained an insider perspective on the Namibian engagement and marriage process. The toasts were very personal and the colleagues treated the teacher as a true family member, giving him heartfelt advice and best wishes for his wedding. To celebrate the wedding, the staff wore traditional Namibian tribal attire. The main tribes were the Oshivambo (in the pink striped dress), the Herrero (in the fancy Victorian-style dresses with the bull-horn hats – a remnant of the German colonialism here), the Damarra and the Nama (the patchwork-style dress on the woman shown with Marsha, another PC volunteer). Touring the schools helped me to approach the many challenges in the Namibian school system. Namibia gained independence from S. Africa and the apartheid system in 1990. At this time, the language of instruction changed abruptly from Afrikaans to English. However, it was impossible for all teachers to suddenly switch languages of instruction. So strong English skills are severely lacking in my students and even in the teachers (which is why the Namibian government originally invited in the PC after gaining independence). Other challenges include poverty, teenage pregnancy, the high HIV/AIDs infection rate, gender roles, a lack of understanding of the role and potential that education can have in one’s life, high unemployment rates (which can be demotivating for students who don’t see strong career opportunities in their future), and more. Of course, the US education system also faces many challenges! Part of the goal of the PC is to engage in a positive cross-cultural exchange. Power reflexivity, the process of mutual and collaborative engagement, is so important in international development. Here, I know that I am gaining as much or more than any of the students I teach or community members I interact with. Peace Corps is a process not only of training, but of exchange, reciprocal engagement, and deep learning from all sides. Peace Corps continues to be the “toughest job you will ever love,” and I am not even at my site yet! I am experiencing the joys, challenges, and deep learning that PC affords. Thank you for following my blog! Love to all of you!