On Thursday afternoon, after another ten hour drive north of
Windhoek, Ted and I were dropped off at our new home in Omungwelume, Ohangwena,
Namibia. Our house was still too dirty to live in by our OCD standards, so even
though we were beyond exhausted, we spent the rest of the night attempting to
clean and get our lives in order. We had to get up at five the next morning to
be on time for our first day of school, so time was appearing to move all too
quickly.
Friday morning, we parted ways at around sunrise. Ted walked
across the yard to his new school, Eengedjo Secondary School, and I took about
a ten minute walk across town to Omungwelume Secondary School. Neither of us
had a schedule, class list, books, or any of the “normal” things that we
associate with the first day of school (keep in mind, the learners fist day was
last Tuesday). Just about everything in this process was unfamiliar and seemed
out of sorts. Everyone assured us that this was ok, and we should just “go with
it”. So we did.
My new commute consists of walking down winding sand roads,
passing cattle, chickens, donkeys, dogs, countless kids, lizzards, and a few
goats, too. Arriving at school, everyone was staring at me as though I was a
creature from Mars. I kept my cool and tried to greet as many faces as I could
as I made my way to the Principal’s office.
I had my first “what the hell is going on” moments while
working with my Principal to figure out my schedule, what syllabi I needed, my
textbooks, etc. I attended the morning devotion, where the learners sing, pray,
and announcements are made. After, I worked with him to get all of the
documents I needed to secure a Tax-ID to get paid here. Ted came and met me at
noontime, and we hitched a ride to Oshakati, the nearest town with a ministry
of finance office. All of this went very smoothly, as I went in expecting all
things administrative to function in the same out-of-sorts way as the procedures
at my school. So we got everything done, and even managed to get some grocery
shopping done while we were in town. The supermarket is pretty well stocked,
the vegetable and fruit selection is decent. Getting the food home, however, is
not so pleasant. The trip from Oshakati to Omungwelume is only 30k, but takes
forever, as it is a bumpy sand-covered road connecting the two. The afternoon
sun is deadly, and the only ride we could get back was in the back of a pickup
truck. Here is the picture: two, pale white kids with bags of yogurt, vegetables,
eggs and bread. Baking in the sun. Bam. We were not a pretty sight by the time
we returned.
Anyway, we had a pretty relaxing weekend. We were able to
clean up our house and it is starting to finally feel like a home that we can
enjoy and spend time in together. We picked up some cheap South African wine,
which we have been enjoying as the sun sets every night. We have a new and
improved system for doing the laundry, and we are starting to figure out what
is going on here in our town. We shared some fresh mangoes from one of our
neighbors who sells them door to door. We spent our Sunday morning sitting
outside listening to the school children sing and dance in a chorus.
The teaching part is a bit overwhelming, as I feel that I am
carrying a huge weight since these kids are really depending on me for
something tremendous- my biggest fear is to let them down. I am working on
trying to figure out how to measure success, as I think that is the missing
piece in figuring out if I am being effective in my job here. My first day of
teaching (today) was a good start, and I am just hoping to continue on a
positive path. I had my first sessions with one of my 8th grade English
classes and one of my 10th grade BIS classes. I was most impressed
and excited to be working with the 8th graders. Today I learned that
all of my kids speak at least three languages (!!!) hence why English is hard
for them.
Being the center of attention (lots of stares and whistling
and such) is pretty hard when you aren’t in the mood, but all in all, the
people here are really nice and usually just so curious about who you are and
why in the world you are in Omungwelume. The scenery is breathtaking, the birds
are beautiful and are constantly singing at sunrise in our backyard, the kids
are fantastic, and just about every day, I have at least one overwhelming
moment where I have to stop and say to myself, wait, is this real life? Don’t get
me wrong though, I spend about 90% of my day here pretending to not be
confused.
The challenges ahead are grand and are constant, but I am
hoping that I can find the strength to endure and bring something positive to
this great little community.
No comments:
Post a Comment