This Sunday I went to my first Namibian church service. Namibia is a Christian country, with 95% of the population identifying as Christian. We have a large Lutheran church in Okahao. I asked one of my colleagues if I could go with her, and she was excited to take me. It’s a big church, with a large congregation. The entire service is in their native language, Oshiwambo, so I didn’t understand much! I brought my Bible in English, so I was able to follow along with the scripture readings. The singing was definitely my favorite part! The men and the women have such beautiful voices. The men really sing here! No one holds back, and it makes for an entire church congregation choir. The only song I recognized was the Doxology, but it was sung in Oshiwambo.
To say that I stood out would be an understatement. I was the only white person in the whole building. This gave cause for a lot, a lot of staring. You have to go up to the front to offer your offering and again to take Communion, so there wasn’t a soul in the place who did NOT see me and wonder who I was.
Mrs. George, my colleague, did her best to interpret the highlights of the three and a half hours long service. It was very, very long, especially not in English. While there was a language barrier, worshipping God is a universal experience, and it was amazing to be with others praising the Lord in the middle of Namibia.
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Teaching: Week Two
This week was my second week teaching at Shaanika Nashilongo SSS. Having a week under my belt made for a more confident, prepared Miss Dana.
My classes for the teachers began on Tuesday. I am teaching an advanced class and a beginning class. Both classes meet on Tuesdays and Thursdays for one hour in the afternoon. Preparing for these classes are especially time consuming, but it was fun to interact with the teachers on a new level. My advanced teachers are pretty advanced, and we will begin with Microsoft Excel this week. My beginners are definitely beginners! I have some of the older teachers in the group, and it’s exciting to see them make an effort to learn about computers. The turn out for all of the classes has been great. Almost all of the teachers attended at least one of the classes. In typical Namibian style, many beginners missed the first day, so I scheduled a make up class on Wednesday.
Teaching my Grade 11 and 12 learners has been a combination of exhausting, rewarding, overwhelming, exciting, and frustrating. It is challenging, to say the least, to teach a class of 45 learners when there are only 20 computers and chairs. Many of my learners are standing in the aisles and do not even get to access the computer throughout the class. It’s hard for some of them to even see my demonstrations over the heads of their classmates.
Some classes are very encouraging, and others, not as much. Sometimes they are very engaged and ask questions, others give me blank stares. It’s so hard to gauge the comprehension of what I’m teaching them. I began all of the classes with a basic knowledge assessment and learned that a handful know a little bit about computers, but most of them know very little, if anything at all. Based on the results, I made the decision to start from the very beginning. My lessons so far have focused on the parts of the computer, the parts of the keyboard, and getting familiar with your computer (turning on the computer, logging in, learning the desktop/icons, how to minimize, maximize, close, etc.). It’s pretty incredible realizing that you have to start as basic as how to double-click on the mouse, how to click and drag to highlight, and use the cursor. These are all completely unfamiliar terms and skills to most of them. I do my best to walk around the computer lab to see if they can actually practice what I’m teaching. I find a lot of them struggle with the basics and really need more guidance and one-on-one instruction than I am capable of providing with such a large class.
In addition to the large class sizes, the classes are only 45 minutes long, at best. Many of the learners show up late, causing a delay at the beginning. They have a rotating seven-day class schedule, and so I only see each class twice every seven days. With the short amount of time that I’m here, I can’t help but feel like I will struggle to get beyond the basics and teach them all that they really need to know. They are so interested to learn more and I hate that I will leave before we can go into more depth.
Last but not least, often times the computers don’t work! Right now, there is a problem with the server and a window pops up that we don’t know how to get rid of. Hopefully the technicians from the Ministry can come out first thing on Monday, but I am learning that I have to be flexible and be able to teach computers without the computers…
All that aside, I’ve found a lot of success roping them into my teaching style by showing them how fast I can type! I project my screen onto the chalkboard and look straight at them while I type 70 WPM. It’s amazing to see their reaction. Learners run up to crowd around my computer, exclaiming in disbelief! This has been one of my favorite parts of teaching so far. Then, I begin by asking them if they want to learn to type that fast, and all hands are in the air. I tell them that if they listen to how I will teach them to type, practice using the typing skills program I put on the computer, then they will learn how to type, fast and the right way. This gets them very excited and all eyes are on me for the rest of the class period! I’ve been teaching them about the home keys, and walking around to each computer asking each learner to show me their fingers on the home keys. Even after the lesson, I have to correct many hands and fingers…it’s just such a new and foreign concept.
The last way I have found success is candy! Some things do not change, no matter where you are. Kids love sweets. I bought a few bags of candy and gave them out to learners who volunteers to give answers to some activities we worked on. This exponentially increased the number of volunteers for answers…shocking!
While there are many challenges, it is extremely rewarding to teach a subject that is so new to them and so useful. Namibia feels a century behind the US in so many ways, computers and technology one of the glaringly obvious areas for development. I’m excited to be part of Namibia’s Ministry of Education’s movement to improve this area in their schools, and really do feel like I’m making a valuable contribution to the learner’s computer literacy!
My classes for the teachers began on Tuesday. I am teaching an advanced class and a beginning class. Both classes meet on Tuesdays and Thursdays for one hour in the afternoon. Preparing for these classes are especially time consuming, but it was fun to interact with the teachers on a new level. My advanced teachers are pretty advanced, and we will begin with Microsoft Excel this week. My beginners are definitely beginners! I have some of the older teachers in the group, and it’s exciting to see them make an effort to learn about computers. The turn out for all of the classes has been great. Almost all of the teachers attended at least one of the classes. In typical Namibian style, many beginners missed the first day, so I scheduled a make up class on Wednesday.
Teaching my Grade 11 and 12 learners has been a combination of exhausting, rewarding, overwhelming, exciting, and frustrating. It is challenging, to say the least, to teach a class of 45 learners when there are only 20 computers and chairs. Many of my learners are standing in the aisles and do not even get to access the computer throughout the class. It’s hard for some of them to even see my demonstrations over the heads of their classmates.
Some classes are very encouraging, and others, not as much. Sometimes they are very engaged and ask questions, others give me blank stares. It’s so hard to gauge the comprehension of what I’m teaching them. I began all of the classes with a basic knowledge assessment and learned that a handful know a little bit about computers, but most of them know very little, if anything at all. Based on the results, I made the decision to start from the very beginning. My lessons so far have focused on the parts of the computer, the parts of the keyboard, and getting familiar with your computer (turning on the computer, logging in, learning the desktop/icons, how to minimize, maximize, close, etc.). It’s pretty incredible realizing that you have to start as basic as how to double-click on the mouse, how to click and drag to highlight, and use the cursor. These are all completely unfamiliar terms and skills to most of them. I do my best to walk around the computer lab to see if they can actually practice what I’m teaching. I find a lot of them struggle with the basics and really need more guidance and one-on-one instruction than I am capable of providing with such a large class.
In addition to the large class sizes, the classes are only 45 minutes long, at best. Many of the learners show up late, causing a delay at the beginning. They have a rotating seven-day class schedule, and so I only see each class twice every seven days. With the short amount of time that I’m here, I can’t help but feel like I will struggle to get beyond the basics and teach them all that they really need to know. They are so interested to learn more and I hate that I will leave before we can go into more depth.
Last but not least, often times the computers don’t work! Right now, there is a problem with the server and a window pops up that we don’t know how to get rid of. Hopefully the technicians from the Ministry can come out first thing on Monday, but I am learning that I have to be flexible and be able to teach computers without the computers…
All that aside, I’ve found a lot of success roping them into my teaching style by showing them how fast I can type! I project my screen onto the chalkboard and look straight at them while I type 70 WPM. It’s amazing to see their reaction. Learners run up to crowd around my computer, exclaiming in disbelief! This has been one of my favorite parts of teaching so far. Then, I begin by asking them if they want to learn to type that fast, and all hands are in the air. I tell them that if they listen to how I will teach them to type, practice using the typing skills program I put on the computer, then they will learn how to type, fast and the right way. This gets them very excited and all eyes are on me for the rest of the class period! I’ve been teaching them about the home keys, and walking around to each computer asking each learner to show me their fingers on the home keys. Even after the lesson, I have to correct many hands and fingers…it’s just such a new and foreign concept.
The last way I have found success is candy! Some things do not change, no matter where you are. Kids love sweets. I bought a few bags of candy and gave them out to learners who volunteers to give answers to some activities we worked on. This exponentially increased the number of volunteers for answers…shocking!
While there are many challenges, it is extremely rewarding to teach a subject that is so new to them and so useful. Namibia feels a century behind the US in so many ways, computers and technology one of the glaringly obvious areas for development. I’m excited to be part of Namibia’s Ministry of Education’s movement to improve this area in their schools, and really do feel like I’m making a valuable contribution to the learner’s computer literacy!
iPad Debut in Okahao
The iPad makes an appearance and Namibian learners and teachers are awestruck.
Literally…excitement over the iPad was rampant! Pretty exciting to see the faces of those who have not seen anything other than a PC and and iPod react to the iPad.
I brought my iPad to school to play music during class when the learners are working on an activity. At the end of each class, I show them the iPad, including the album of photos of my family. They have a hard time believing that I am the first-born, Ethan, when you are the tallest! People do not have pets here, so it’s hard to explain that Rosco is my dog and my pet. I also like to show them how green it is where I live compared to Namibia. They love seeing the photos, and also seeing the iBooks feature and all of the books that I can read on one machine. They get a real kick out of me showing how to turn the pages using my finger!
The teachers were pretty ecstatic too. One teacher, Mr. Ndaamekele is surprisingly techie, and he freaked out the first day I brought it to school. I’ve let him take some time to play with it, and the first song he chose to play on it was Katy Perry’s “I Kissed a Girl”. I found this pretty entertaining…he played it out loud in the middle of the staff room and talked about how much he loved this song and the music video!
Literally…excitement over the iPad was rampant! Pretty exciting to see the faces of those who have not seen anything other than a PC and and iPod react to the iPad.
I brought my iPad to school to play music during class when the learners are working on an activity. At the end of each class, I show them the iPad, including the album of photos of my family. They have a hard time believing that I am the first-born, Ethan, when you are the tallest! People do not have pets here, so it’s hard to explain that Rosco is my dog and my pet. I also like to show them how green it is where I live compared to Namibia. They love seeing the photos, and also seeing the iBooks feature and all of the books that I can read on one machine. They get a real kick out of me showing how to turn the pages using my finger!
The teachers were pretty ecstatic too. One teacher, Mr. Ndaamekele is surprisingly techie, and he freaked out the first day I brought it to school. I’ve let him take some time to play with it, and the first song he chose to play on it was Katy Perry’s “I Kissed a Girl”. I found this pretty entertaining…he played it out loud in the middle of the staff room and talked about how much he loved this song and the music video!
My Namibian Colleagues
My Namibian colleagues are fabulous. I really lucked out with an amazing staff of teachers.
Jen, my roommate and fellow volunteer, was out of town this week so I was on my own to start building ties with my fellow teachers. One of the nights I invited a group over to my house to watch the Ghana-Germany World Cup game. I picked up some cool drinks (what they call sodas), a six-pack of Windhoek lager (the favorite for beer), chips, and hoped for the best. It was a great turn out, with Miss Josephina, Mr. Kanjala, Mr. Enjala, Mr. Hamatuma, and Mr. Shivute coming over for the game. It was fun to socialize with them outside of the staff room and watch a great soccer match!
One of my favorite teachers goes by the name of “Kuku”. Kuku means “grandmother” in Oshiwambo. The first time I met her, she introduced herself as Kuku, and said, “You are now my granddaughter!” From now on, when she sees me, she greets me as her granddaughter, saying, “Good morning, my granddaughter! How is the morning?!” I’ve never met someone who embraced her grandmother-ly-ness so much! My favorite thing about Kuku is the entrance she makes into the staff room. She struts in with a little walk all her own, and loudly announces, “Kuku in the staff room!” Just so that everyone knows that she has arrived!
I also made a very strategic move and brought sweets to share in the staff room. This made me lots of friends, quickly. I just bought a bag of these candies called chocolate eclairs (dangerously good) and shared them during our break. People were appreciative and it was fun to share something with everyone. That is one amazing thing about Namibia – everything is to share. They really live the mantra, “What’s mine is yours” and it’s such a great way to approach life.
Jen, my roommate and fellow volunteer, was out of town this week so I was on my own to start building ties with my fellow teachers. One of the nights I invited a group over to my house to watch the Ghana-Germany World Cup game. I picked up some cool drinks (what they call sodas), a six-pack of Windhoek lager (the favorite for beer), chips, and hoped for the best. It was a great turn out, with Miss Josephina, Mr. Kanjala, Mr. Enjala, Mr. Hamatuma, and Mr. Shivute coming over for the game. It was fun to socialize with them outside of the staff room and watch a great soccer match!
One of my favorite teachers goes by the name of “Kuku”. Kuku means “grandmother” in Oshiwambo. The first time I met her, she introduced herself as Kuku, and said, “You are now my granddaughter!” From now on, when she sees me, she greets me as her granddaughter, saying, “Good morning, my granddaughter! How is the morning?!” I’ve never met someone who embraced her grandmother-ly-ness so much! My favorite thing about Kuku is the entrance she makes into the staff room. She struts in with a little walk all her own, and loudly announces, “Kuku in the staff room!” Just so that everyone knows that she has arrived!
I also made a very strategic move and brought sweets to share in the staff room. This made me lots of friends, quickly. I just bought a bag of these candies called chocolate eclairs (dangerously good) and shared them during our break. People were appreciative and it was fun to share something with everyone. That is one amazing thing about Namibia – everything is to share. They really live the mantra, “What’s mine is yours” and it’s such a great way to approach life.
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Experience with Police Corruption and Etosha National Park Trip
This weekend was a mandated home weekend for the learners, so the school was going to clear out. Three fellow volunteers and I decided to head to rent a car and head to Etosha National Park and go on safari for the weekend.
On the way to meet our friend in Tsumeb, two volunteers and I had our first experience with Namibian Police corruption.
I was driving along in our Toyota Corolla (on the right side of the car, and the left side of the road) and mostly adhering to the specified speed limits. However, we had some distance to cover before dark, and we were literally out in the middle of nowhere. I’m not kidding – nothing for miles. I figured going a little faster than the 120 km/hour speed limit wouldn’t make a difference to anyone, and there surely weren’t any police officers anywhere around. Needless to say, I was sorely mistaken.
I’m trucking along, and from out of the bush pops a person. I had never seen a police officer before, so my friends and I assumed it was a hitchhiker trying to get a ride. We kept driving along. About 10 minutes later, a police car drives up in front of me with its lights on. I start freaking out inside, knowing full well that I was speeding, and not knowing what the consequences could be.
The officer asks for my license, and then says, “Follow me to the bush!” angrily. Then he gets in his car (with my license) and drives off. I gather that I’m supposed to follow him, but I have no idea where we are going, and he is speeding off ahead of me. I lose sight of him for awhile, and then eventually see him at the side of the road. Once we stop, I am able to see that he had been operating a radar gun or camera of some kind, and that it was him, not a hiker, that had jumped out from the bush just a bit earlier, trying to flag me down.
He asks me to get out and I meet him over at his police car. He tells me he is going to write me tickets for speeding and for wasting government petrol. He says that I will have to pay the ticket in Tsumeb (about a 4-5 hour hike from Okahao) during business hours. Long conversation short, we get to talking about why I’m here, who I’m here with, how long I’m here, etc. I’m batting my eyes, and apologizing and explaining I’m here teaching voluntarily from the USA, I live very far from Tsumeb, I didn’t know he was a police officer, and it was my first time driving in Namibia. The conversation takes a turn for the better, and I have a feeling I’ve won him over. He says that he is starting to take pity on me and recognizes that it would be nearly impossible for me to get to Tsumeb during the week to pay the ticket. Ultimately, we come to an agreement that I will give him N$100 (about $14 USD) and he won’t write me a ticket! “This is just between you and me,” he says, in broken English. “I could get in a lot of trouble, so do not tell anyone. Warn your friends, too.” I run to the car to get the cash, return and trade him for my license. I bid him farewell in Oshivambo, and we’re on our way…my wallet a little lighter, a good story in tow, and definitely not driving faster than 120 km.
Police corruption aside, the experience at Etosha was amazing! The park is huge, and just chock-full of animals of every kind. It was a very different kind of safari than the one I went on in South Africa. This was all on your own, no guides, and you’re able to camp out at the protected rest camps in the park. We were able to see a lot more animals and in the ultimate African habitat. At Etosha you just drive around, looking for wildlife, and hope for the best. We saw herds of giraffes, elephants, zebras, wildebeests, springbok, impala, kudu, ostrich, oryx, rhino, lots of bird, and more. Throughout the weekend I did all of the driving – about 18 hours worth – and I was exhausted by the end. It was a relief to make it back to Okahao after a long weekend, and time to get ready for week two of teaching.
On the way to meet our friend in Tsumeb, two volunteers and I had our first experience with Namibian Police corruption.
I was driving along in our Toyota Corolla (on the right side of the car, and the left side of the road) and mostly adhering to the specified speed limits. However, we had some distance to cover before dark, and we were literally out in the middle of nowhere. I’m not kidding – nothing for miles. I figured going a little faster than the 120 km/hour speed limit wouldn’t make a difference to anyone, and there surely weren’t any police officers anywhere around. Needless to say, I was sorely mistaken.
I’m trucking along, and from out of the bush pops a person. I had never seen a police officer before, so my friends and I assumed it was a hitchhiker trying to get a ride. We kept driving along. About 10 minutes later, a police car drives up in front of me with its lights on. I start freaking out inside, knowing full well that I was speeding, and not knowing what the consequences could be.
The officer asks for my license, and then says, “Follow me to the bush!” angrily. Then he gets in his car (with my license) and drives off. I gather that I’m supposed to follow him, but I have no idea where we are going, and he is speeding off ahead of me. I lose sight of him for awhile, and then eventually see him at the side of the road. Once we stop, I am able to see that he had been operating a radar gun or camera of some kind, and that it was him, not a hiker, that had jumped out from the bush just a bit earlier, trying to flag me down.
He asks me to get out and I meet him over at his police car. He tells me he is going to write me tickets for speeding and for wasting government petrol. He says that I will have to pay the ticket in Tsumeb (about a 4-5 hour hike from Okahao) during business hours. Long conversation short, we get to talking about why I’m here, who I’m here with, how long I’m here, etc. I’m batting my eyes, and apologizing and explaining I’m here teaching voluntarily from the USA, I live very far from Tsumeb, I didn’t know he was a police officer, and it was my first time driving in Namibia. The conversation takes a turn for the better, and I have a feeling I’ve won him over. He says that he is starting to take pity on me and recognizes that it would be nearly impossible for me to get to Tsumeb during the week to pay the ticket. Ultimately, we come to an agreement that I will give him N$100 (about $14 USD) and he won’t write me a ticket! “This is just between you and me,” he says, in broken English. “I could get in a lot of trouble, so do not tell anyone. Warn your friends, too.” I run to the car to get the cash, return and trade him for my license. I bid him farewell in Oshivambo, and we’re on our way…my wallet a little lighter, a good story in tow, and definitely not driving faster than 120 km.
Police corruption aside, the experience at Etosha was amazing! The park is huge, and just chock-full of animals of every kind. It was a very different kind of safari than the one I went on in South Africa. This was all on your own, no guides, and you’re able to camp out at the protected rest camps in the park. We were able to see a lot more animals and in the ultimate African habitat. At Etosha you just drive around, looking for wildlife, and hope for the best. We saw herds of giraffes, elephants, zebras, wildebeests, springbok, impala, kudu, ostrich, oryx, rhino, lots of bird, and more. Throughout the weekend I did all of the driving – about 18 hours worth – and I was exhausted by the end. It was a relief to make it back to Okahao after a long weekend, and time to get ready for week two of teaching.
Melt-My-Heart Moments
#1: One of the Grade 9 learners, Sam, comes over just about every night to watch the World Cup soccer games. One night, he asked me, “Miss, can you please teach me how to email?”
I say, “Of course I can. Sam, is there someone special that you want to email?!”
Sam replies, “Yes, Miss. I want to email you when you leave our school.”
#2: Last week, a colleague and I went to the Okahao Community Library (which consists of about four shelves of books to inquire about the use of a computer skills typing program. While we were there, my colleague needed to use the Internet (the only place in town where you can access the Internet, as far as I know) and so I waited for him to finish. While I was waiting, a group of about 13 Grade 2 learners came into the library. It seemed like they had just finished with school and were coming to look at picture books. They were about the cutest things I have ever seen – and were very curious about the white person in town.
I remembered that I had a book of stickers in my purse. I decided to give them out to each of the kids. They were SO excited by just getting a tiny little sticker on their shirt!
Once I had made sure everyone had received a sticker, I decided to sit down at the table where they were sitting and see what they were reading. It was obvious that their English skills were poor, if they knew any at all. They were looking through the books, and so I decided to pick one up and start reading it out loud. Within a matter of minutes, I had the most silent, intrigued, and mesmerized group of 7 year-olds. I read two books to them and they were practically sitting on top of one another to see the pages of the book. I’m pretty sure they didn’t understand much of what I was saying, but it was so precious. It made me wonder if anyone ever read to them before. I hope to go back to visit the library and have the chance to read to them again.
I say, “Of course I can. Sam, is there someone special that you want to email?!”
Sam replies, “Yes, Miss. I want to email you when you leave our school.”
#2: Last week, a colleague and I went to the Okahao Community Library (which consists of about four shelves of books to inquire about the use of a computer skills typing program. While we were there, my colleague needed to use the Internet (the only place in town where you can access the Internet, as far as I know) and so I waited for him to finish. While I was waiting, a group of about 13 Grade 2 learners came into the library. It seemed like they had just finished with school and were coming to look at picture books. They were about the cutest things I have ever seen – and were very curious about the white person in town.
I remembered that I had a book of stickers in my purse. I decided to give them out to each of the kids. They were SO excited by just getting a tiny little sticker on their shirt!
Once I had made sure everyone had received a sticker, I decided to sit down at the table where they were sitting and see what they were reading. It was obvious that their English skills were poor, if they knew any at all. They were looking through the books, and so I decided to pick one up and start reading it out loud. Within a matter of minutes, I had the most silent, intrigued, and mesmerized group of 7 year-olds. I read two books to them and they were practically sitting on top of one another to see the pages of the book. I’m pretty sure they didn’t understand much of what I was saying, but it was so precious. It made me wonder if anyone ever read to them before. I hope to go back to visit the library and have the chance to read to them again.
You Know You're in Namibia When...
#1: You know you’re in Namibia when the Acting Principal begins the morning briefing by letting all of the teaching staff know that class 12F’s classroom will not be able to be used for the morning. It is not in service because the door was left open overnight and goats came in and slept in the classroom and made a mess.
#2: You know you’re in Namibia when you go camping at a rest camp in the middle of Etosha National Park and that happens to be one of the few places to get a hot shower and a good meal in the whole country. I had oryx steak, and it might have been the most delicious meal of my life.
#3: You know you're in Namibia when nothing is easy, and things rarely work the first time. I am certainly learning to be more patient here. :)
#2: You know you’re in Namibia when you go camping at a rest camp in the middle of Etosha National Park and that happens to be one of the few places to get a hot shower and a good meal in the whole country. I had oryx steak, and it might have been the most delicious meal of my life.
#3: You know you're in Namibia when nothing is easy, and things rarely work the first time. I am certainly learning to be more patient here. :)
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