1st Week, PST, and Host Family!

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 36^th 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 1^st 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 1^st 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 30^th. 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.