While these may seem like disparate topics, they have been interwoven in my recent experiences at site…
I have not posted photos in a while, so below are some recent ones. The first series are from our community garden project. As you may remember, our village was awarded a U.S. Ambassador Self-Help Grant to expand a garden and open a soup kitchen. Below are photos from the growing and flourishing garden, and my good friend working in the garden:
After working in the garden that day, a huge storm was ushered in. I love this first photo of the rain pouring through the clouds, and then one of the fierce cloud formation. In the almost 2 years that I have lived in Namibia, it has been drought conditions, but finally we are being blessed with abundant rain. This makes the farmers and predominantly agricultural sector in Namibia very happy!
A few weeks ago, the Government of Namibia declared a national prayer day focused on stopped gender-based violence. There has been a plague of so-called “passion-killings” which has ripped through the country in recent years, and has intensified in recent months. Since January of 2014, almost 60 men and women have been killed as a result of jealousy and violence in domestic partnerships. This is tragic. You have the feeling that it is not safe to be involved in a romantic relationship; look at how things end. I have heard many Namibian women express that they feel safer simply being alone. The day of prayer was a national wake-up call to work together and to strive for gender equality and mutual respect between men and women. The services and prayers were held throughout the country. In our village, everyone was invited to the sports field for singing, prayer, and speeches made by religious and church leaders. While I did not understand most of the prayers as they were given in the local languages (Oshiherero, Damara, Afrikaans), the mood of the ceremony was somber and reflective. One hopes that it will make a difference in the hearts and minds of people, and that we can move forward respecting each other and stopping senseless killing.
The final photos were taken during the Basic Information Science (BIS) training that I recently attended. Part of BIS as a subject is fostering a love of reading in students, which naturally includes library management on the part of the schools. (It is common for Peace Corps Volunteers to be involved in the management and improvement of libraries in schools.) During the training, we toured a local high school. What struck me most about the school was the stark disparity between how well it is equipped and the school where I teach. (The school we toured was an all-white school under apartheid Namibia. The school where I teach was an all-black school.) The significant disparity continues. Now all of the schools are supposedly mixed. But I notice a lot of differences. You can barely compare the school below to the school where I teach. Where I teach in the rural Namibian bush, there are holes in the walls and ceilings, most of the windows in the school are broken, and until recently, most of the desks and chairs were in pieces.
Another example of the disparity between the schools, and the legacy of apartheid, where schools were divided between black and white schools was at a track and field meet held earlier this year. The richest, private, nearly all-white school’s athletes flaunted shiny new track spikes and enjoyed the advantage of starting blocks during the sprints…while most of the other (black) kids ran barefoot and probably do not know what starting blocks are. This disparity is shameful, and brings to mind how recently the country was ruled by an apartheid regime.
As an outsider in Namibia, as a visiting, white American, I can feel the racial tension at times. I also know that what I feel is only a fraction of the pain, persecution and oppression faced by marginalized populations all over the world: indigenous communities, women and girls, GLBTQ communities, minorities, those infected with HIV or other diseases, the economically and socially marginalized. The secondary pain, compassionate or ally pain that we feel as human rights workers is an important teaching and learning experience – it allows us to understand (while never fully) and sympathize with those whom we ally with.
It is important to have open and honest discussions about race relations, equality, and the struggles we face in this area both in the U.S. and other countries in the world. Bel Hooks has made a compelling case for this in many of her books. She implores us to be honest and aware of the legacy of oppression and white supremacy. She encourages us to understand the theory behind it, but also to move towards the practice of disassembling it.
I conclude with a hope that Namibia, South Africa, the U.S., and all of the countries in the world, will continue in strides towards true reconciliation. That one day we can all really and truly forgive ourselves and each other for the pain and darkness in the past, and work together to create the peaceful and synergistic reality that we all crave.
Hi! It has been a while since I have posted. I had some computer issues, which have now been solved! I hope that all of you are FINE!
I am currently at a training for Basic Information Science (B.I.S.) - information technology. This, along with English, is one of the subjects I teach here in Namibia. While it is an elective, it is important because it is all about accessing information. And I tell my students daily: information is power! And growing up in poverty, you need to access all of the information and power that you can! I enjoy teaching B.I.S. because it is also about research, accessing data and information, how to conduct research, how to use the library and the Internet, and fostering a love of reading.
In addition to our service, much of Peace Corps is personal growth, and seeing your "old life" and your country and culture in a new perspective. Teaching B.I.S. and accompanying my students on their educational journey, I again see how I extremely fortunate I am. (Thank you, mom, for bringing me to the library as a child! What a gift!) All of us who have regular access to libraries, the internet, and other educational and communication platforms, are not only extremely lucky, we are also very much in the global minority.
Nelson Mandela said that:
"Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world."
and
"Education is the great engine of personal development. It is through education that the daughter of a peasant can become a doctor, that a son of a mineworker can become the head of the mine, that a child of farm workers can become the president of a great nation. It is what we make out of what we have, not what we are given, that separates one person from another."
Here in Namibia, strides are being made towards harnessing the true potential of education. Last week, the government announced that within the next few years, junior secondary education will be free. Last year, primary school education became free and fuly subsidized by the government. Soon, school fees will be waived for all students in grades 1 - 10. Unfortunately, many issues persist. As I saw in Kenya and here in Namibia, free schooling does not equate with open access. Families who cannot afford school uniforms or school supplies still struggle to give their children access to education. In my village, many students raise themselves because their families are working far away on the farm, or perhaps they are orphans. (The HIV/AIDS pandemic strikes hard, leaving many children without parents.)
On another note, I would like to pay tribute to Peace Corps Namibia Volunteer Ashley Earl, who passed away last week. You can read more here: http://www.peacecorps.gov/media/forpress/press/2342/ I did not know Ashley well, but it is clear that she was a great person, and that in her short life she gave a lot back. When I met her briefly, she struck me as gregarious and full of life. Her death touched all of us in Peace Corps Namibia. When you live and serve far from home, you truly see each other as family, and her death really brought that home. The staff here did a nice job of arranging a memorial service for her. My heart goes out to her family and friends.
Ashley's death reminds me to practice gratitude for the people in my life, and for the many blessings we have. Thank you to her for her service and thank you to everyone who supports us as volunteers to make our work possible. Finally, thank you to our communities and the people we work with for letting us into your communities and into your lives. Her death is a reminder to count our days, to make them count. Each day is a gift.
Below are photos from a wedding last weekend. The flat, point hats are traditional Herero dress. The pink dress is from the Ovambo tribe.
