Namibia N O W ~: Swearing-in and moving to site

This past Thursday was our official swearing-in ceremony. We are now officially Peace Corps volunteers. The ceremony and reception was quite inspirational. We sang the Namibian, African Union and US national anthems, listened to an amazing youth choir, and enjoyed a number of excellent and motivational speeches. Each of our language classes also presented response speeches in each of the respective Namibian languages.

The new Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Namibia, reminded us to strike a balance between American pragmatism, idealism and tolerance. Mr. Gilbert Collins, the Peace Corps Namibia Director, urged us to visualize our community where we hope it will be at the end of our term of service. He likened this journey to a quote by Nelson Mandela, “After climbing a great hill, one will find there are many more to climb.” I have found that to be true – just when you think you are gaining your cultural footing, you slip and discover that things are much more complex (or just baffling) than you ever could have imagined. That is why it is important to integrate ourselves into our communities, to try NOT to view ourselves as outsiders (even though in some sense, of course we always will be). Gilbert went on, citing a speech that was given in honor of Peace Corps recent 50th anniversary:

“The Peace Corps opens borders, but more importantly, minds and hearts. It is more than 27 months of service, it is a way of life. . . eventually it becomes human meets human, heart meets heart.”

The swearing-in ceremony left me feeling inspired, motivated and ready to finally begin my Peace Corps service. I am grateful for the training we have been given and feel confident, but also realistic, about beginning my service.

Immediately after the ceremony, my supervisor (Mr. Peacock) and I left for my site. After a Stoney Tangawizey (ginger soft drink, like ginger ale, but WAY stronger), we were off. We headed directly to my new home at Oma Mathilda’s house (pictured below). Oma is a German-speaking Namibian woman of the Damara tribe. She speaks fluent German because she and her sister used to work for a German family. She is almost 70 years old and thus spent most of her life in the apartheid system which ruled Namibia until 1990. Since Germany colonized Namibia, many of the older Namibians speak German. Oma and I speak German at the house – her German is better than her English.

This was something I struggled with – speaking German in a country where the Germans did not leave a kind legacy. I have wrestled with my emotions regarding the German and Afrikaans languages – both could be argued to have been languages of oppression here in Namibia. But I observe in my community the many different colors of Namibians, which ranges from the very dark like Oma Mathilda to the very white descendants of Germans or of mixed German and Namibian blood. You can witness this, and see how peacefully people live together. Namibia has been, and remains, one of the most peaceful countries in Africa. All of this gives me hope and allows for the waters of forgiveness and reconciliation, even in one’s own heart, to flow.

Back to Oma Mathilda…living with her in her house is truly amazing. I feel like I am one of the boxcar children! We cook all of our meals outside on a fire. We gather firewood to make these fires. Oma has an amazing yard – with a lemon tree, a mango tree, an anise seed bush, cacti, chickens and lots of flowers (and honestly, a lot of random trash as well!). Her late husband built the house all by hand; it is made by sand/mud. Living here is a sort of romantic, surreal and calming experience. It was a real parody the first night I was here. My bedroom light didn’t work. So Oma called over her neighbor to trouble-shoot. It was then that I noticed that the “electrical wiring” is a very haphazard system if wires running through the sand-packed walls. I watched as the neighbor twisted some random wires together and then twisted plastic bags on top to seal it off. Finally, we got the light to work and were able to continue our evening.

Another amazing thing that first night was a hot-coal powered iron. No electricity required! Oma poured hot coals into the iron and ironed her clothes with it – truly the old-fashioned way.

I feel fortunate to be here, and already am feeling at home in my community. I have included photos below of the beautiful African sun in Okahandja the morning of our swearing-in ceremony, myself and a group of fellow PC volunteers being sworn in, Oma, our chicken and a landscape shot of Namibia.