Hello Folks,
Please
forgive the tardiness of this post. There’s a lot that has happened these last
few weeks. I’ll try to cover most of it (at least the exciting stuff). Ok, so
for those of you that don’t know, Peace Corps has a training period before the
official start of your two year service. This time is called Pre-Service
Training (PST) and it can be anywhere from about a month and ½ to 3 months. My
PST is 2mos and I’m about half way through.
My last
post was written on the plane from PA to Johannesburg. At that point I was extremely
thrilled and reasonably anxious about the unknown adventure that lay before me.
However, there was comfort in the fact that the other 34 volunteers in my
training group were in this with me and just as uncertain as to what to expect.
Peace Corps didn’t give details about what language we’d be learning, what
towns we’d be serving in, or what housing situation looked like. At this point
all we knew was that there were possibly eight different languages we could be
learning, that we could be placed anywhere in Namibia (urban or rural), and
that we would work in SUPEP or SEED, of which your job description could vary
drastically from someone in the same program. SUPEP stands for Secondary and
Upper Primary Education Program (that’s my program!) and SEED stands for Small
Enterprise Entrepreneurial Development. Those are the only 2 programs in our
group, out of the 8 that Peace Corps offers; the others being Health, Youth and
Community development, Environmental, Engineering, Agriculture, and HIV/AIDS.
Our group is the 36th group to be trained for PC Namibia and it
seems the programs alternate between groups depending on the host countries
expressed needs.
Despite all
the unanswered questions, after days of fatiguing travel, it was exhilarating to
finally arrive in Namibia. As we stepped off the plane in Windhoek (Namibia’s
Capitol), we were greeted by the PC Namibia staff singing to us in a native
tongue. The sweet African rhythm built an air of breathtaking excitement that
validated the reality of that moment. We were in Africa!
(Our arrival)
(Our field trip to Windhoek's Heroes Acre)
From
Windhoek we took a charter bus to Okahandja. Upon arrival we were welcomed
again with song; it was a warm reception. For the 1st week of PST we
all stayed together at a hostel in Okahandja. We arrived in Okahandja on
Thursday, July 26, the following Monday we were told what host families we
would be staying with, Tuesday we met them, and on Wednesday Aug. 1 we moved in
with them. That first week was fun and eventful. Us trainees bonded over card
games, music, meals, and of course dancing! There was a wedding reception at
the hostel the Saturday after we arrived and apparently everybody is invited to
Namibian weddings, so a few of us joined in the celebration. That night many of
us made friends with the locals. I’m thankful for that unique cultural
experience. We also went on a hike to a place called Pride Rock; it over looked
the entire town. Small lakes and dry bush land could be seen from the vantage
point. Two young Namibian boys helps guide us up the rocky trail, one of the
boys was barefoot. Along the way we got to see some baboons. Overall, the 1st
week was great way to easy into this new culture. The next step was moving in
with our host family.
(the hostel)
My host
family lives in Veddersdal, a small neighborhood about 15min driving distance
from Okahandja. Eight other volunteers have also been placed in my
neighborhood, others from our training group are staying in different
neighborhoods, and a few are in town. Peace Corps chooses to place volunteers
with host families to help them learn about the culture first hand. It is to
better equip us for our permanent sites. My family is the Van Wyks. My host dad
is a pastor, both my parents are in their 60s. I have 3 host siblings ranging
in age from 32-45. There is also a 6mos old baby that belongs to my host
sister. He’s precious. My dad is so sweet to me, and my mom too. They live in a
modern house and I am lucky to have electricity, indoor plumbing, and hot
showers. For the most part its much more comfortable then I expected. For the
moments that are strained, my host sister likes to remind me, “T.I.A. Sara,
T.I.A.” meaning, “This is Africa.”
(my host mom)
Most of the families speak the
language that we were assigned to learn, so we got our language announcement
when we got our host family announcement on Monday July 30th. Our
group is learning different languages because there are many tribes that speak
different languages and it just depends on the region your going to be placed
in. I’m learning Afrikaans which is great because it the common denominator
between most Namibians and therefore I will be able to communicate with more
people, rather then if I was learning a tribal language. However, the downside
is that some people have an idea of what site they’ll be placed at because of
language that is spoke in the different regions; I unfortunately have no clue
to where I’ll be placed.
Training takes place in the town
hall in Okahandja. We have training M-F, 7:30am to 4:30pm with an hour lunch
and 2 tea breaks, one in the morning session and one in the afternoon. We start
every morning with songs, which is interesting because Namibia is a really
Christian country and a lot of the songs we sing are worship songs. This
routine was a pleasant surprise to me because I did not expect to start my day
with worship every morning. Singing is one of my favorite parts of the day
(that and tea break). After singing we usually have language classes, break,
then some session, lunch, back to a new session, break, session, and then it’s
the end of the day. These days can be long and draining but I really enjoy being
with the other volunteers and learning skills for my job. So this is my life in
Namibia thus far.
….Ok so
this post has become quite lengthy, hopefully it won’t be long between posts in
the future. Thanks for trekking with me guys.
