Rights of Passage

So, I have had some pretty insane experiences with public transportation in namibia... but today, I honestly think that the comvee driver I had won some kind of prize for worst driver ever. I mean... so a couple of other pcv's and myself decided to meet down south for just the weekend. Its a pretty long trip for me, so I left at 6 am this morning to get a hike from Ondangwa, which was one of my Namibian friend's idea. Clearly, she had never done this before, b/c we end up getting there at 7:30, which is fine. Then, the taxi driver takes our luggage out before we knew it and puts it on a comvee... we thought he was joking so helena asks him to open the trunk and our luggage has been deloaded on to this bus. Meanwhile, there is a police man trying to get us on this minibus, which apparently is going to leave first. Clearly, this man is confused b/c, as we found out later, none of those buses were gonna leave any time soon. So I am getting irritated and we decide to go to Shoprite and get some food for the trip, and we find another comvee driver who tells us he is leave now and isnt going to wait to fill up the entire bus... instead he promises to fill up along the way. After waiting at our comvee for about a half an hour, we decide to finally go over to the other comvee that said it was leaving soon. The guy puts down our names, and asks us to pay, and I decide, from previous experience not to pay the guy until the bus starts moving...he's like no we are leaving now! And I am like ok, I believe you, I will show you my 100, but I will not give it to you, and seriously, the man is starting me down. But at this point, I am still believing that I am gonna go this weekend, but by 9:30, i know it is going to be too late, but probably will still go anyways. Still, we have not left, so I start yelling at the guy about how he has lied to me and how this is a serious problem and we need to leave, so the comvee starts moving! yesssss! noo... wait, we are pulling up to the gas station. However, we are not filling up, we are just standing there, picking up more fares. The police man shows up and randomly shuts the door about every 15 minutes to say that no one else gets on the comvee, but clearly, he's officially proved himself to be worthless b/c no one in any of the comvees is listening to him and besides, the comvees not exactly overloaded. So i wait another half an hour...clearly at this point I am livid and literally start yelling at the driver b/c i know he's gonna stop all the time on the way. I ask him to give me my bag so I can go to OMuthiya, b/c I"ll just take a taxi back, but he says no... at some point I threatened to not pay him anything, and by the end, I was like you should just give me my bag b/c i swear you will not get a dime from me. I doubt he understood what i was talking about, but he knew what I meant when i said "no money." but back to the saga... So we move again... to the gas pump. Then, we're leaving again... getting excited! but no... we pull up to the hike point again. And 20 minutes later, we're leaving again... and no... we go back to the gas station. We do this about 3 more times until I am at the point of hysterical tears, but then, randomly, this guy on the bus starts getting pissed too, except he sounds like oscar the grouch..maybe something scarier. Everytime he talks, I can't concentrate on what is going on because its hilarious. Unfortunately, his voice does not intimidate the driver into leaving, but finally at around 11:15, we do leave, and find ourselves stopping about 5 more times on the way to omuthiya. Somewhere in there, someone on the bus gets a phone call, and starts saying in very very loud oshiwambo something about how the driver is completely dishonest and cheated them out of their money. Thank god I wasn't the only one. When I got off at Omuthiya, they were still trying to convince me to go to Windhoek and were liek I will give you a discount, but not really that much of one. Clearly, they did not realize how close they came to me biting their heads off. They were like, ah man, you are not good. I was liek did you really think you were gonna screw me over like that and still make money of me. I swear I know they're just trying to make a living, but I need some service please? Off course my morning ended with a bunch of little kids from the primary school following me and laughing. I still don't know whats behind my back, but this evokes sad memories of the 5th grade and I dont want to relive them so I leave. Ah... clearly, we had no rights of passage, but helena thought of the title, and it seemed appropriate. I hope you all have a good weekend... and that I do too :( now that the comvee driver ruined my plans.

Water Shortages motivate me to organize.

Basically, I have decided that my blog needs to make more sense. I have lots of time to do this, so I don't know why it hasn't happened yet. Honestly, I've never had this much time in my life, and until very recently, didn't exactly know what to do with myself. I'm not really sure that I do now, but I am working on it. Its kind of exciting actually, because one of the reasons why I wanted to come to the peacecorps is to do the things I've never had time to do. And help people, off course.

PHE Class

Anyways, yesterday, I had my second PHE class, it was much better than the last. 4 out of 5 of the learners seemed to understand me, and we played musical chairs, so that was great. Also, I think I am getting better a gearing the activities towards learners here—obviously, i still have a lot to learn, but I can relate to the teachers. Things you would normally expect to go wonderfully (or things that have gone really well for me before) can fall flat here... well honestly, i can't even tell if they're going well or not because the kids are so quiet. I know its cultural that the kids are so shy, but I also feel like despite culture, I don't want them to be shy around me. I don't have to deal with the same discipline issues that teachers do, because fortunately, I already have good learners.

Discipline

Speaking of discipline issues I had a conversation with some teachers on saturday about methods of punishment and not using verbally abusive language to punish learners, but i was kind of caught in my own inexperience. I guess it was obvious that I was speaking to them from the perspective of a student, just having finished being a student myself. Basically though, they had a valid complaint... people are always saying they should do things differently, but they never suggest how. I can understand that, but still have nothing to offer them. Any suggestions? I am thinking about it and realize i should ask fozia, since she is the only person i know with real training to be a teacher. If you're reading this... yeah, let me know.

Dirty Details

Outside of work, Omuthiya is fine, except there is no water for the second week in a row. Well, to be fair we had a small intermission between pipe breakings last week, but then someone accidentally hit the water pipe again saturday and the water has been out since then. Fortunately, my homestead has an outdoor tap that I can fetch water from, but I really am not enjoying doing it for extended periods of time. Plus, it does put a damper on my avoiding the pit latrine scheme, b/c a pit latrine is really the cleanest option during a water outage. I am sure you all wanted to know about that... haha, but you wanted the dirty details on Namibia, so there you go.

Chickens and Cats

So, I've grown pretty accustomed to seeing animals everywhere. Its just how it is, people let their animals roam around, and I can't really think of a problem with it, its just weird at times. For example, yesterday, I was sitting in the computer room, and a chicken walked it, and just chilled out in here for a good 15 minutes. For some reason, the contrast of me sitting online reading CNN and typing up my PHE syllabus for the afternoon while a chicken clucked around me seemed hilarious. Unfortunately, I had no camera, but one day, it will happen, and I will display it for all to see forever when I return to the states. Yesssssssssss.

Also my cat, which i am starting to hate, has started doing this creepy thing where it jumps through my window at night and tries to jump on my bed. Eeeeeeek. This morning, i seriously freaked out. It also has the effect of ruining my screens. Well, that is all for today. I realize that is more understandable, but probably more boring. Like I said, I'm working on it, I have time.

Packages are wonderful.

I got my first package from my birthday this weekend, from my parents! Did anyone else send packages? if so... I will eventually get them, PC just takes forever to got them to me. For now...I have to figure out my P.O. Box situation in Omuthiya. I had a box from the previous vol, but then, she had left all these fines on it and I thought I could just open up a new one on Feb 1st, but then there was a delay and now its March 1st. I hope that date doesn't change... if it does, i'll just give you the schools P.O. Box, b/c my friend whose box i was thinking about using actually has a bocx in Ongwediva, which is a bit far. I mean not really, but I dont wanna go up there every weekend to check my mail.

Anyways, so the last week or so has been kind of eventful... I started my peer health education program. Think kids staring at me blindly while most likely having no idea what I'm talking about. It was ok though, i think i will warm them up soon enough. We played this game where you spell your names with your hips b/c they really weren't talking. I think the next time I will have to be enthusiastic enough for all of us...they willllll talk to me! Next week, i'm going to do what some of the education volunteers did with their PE classes... play duck duck goose. ALthough, there is a fine line between enthusiastic and scary that I might cross if I'm not careful... I dont know why I feel like games will make them open up, but it seems like a good icebreaker, which we clearly needed. I also think I was aiming my curriculum for town kids... kids in Tsumeb were far more responsive to the types of activities I came up with, maybe just because they were able to express themselves better in english. Plus they've been through workshops and stuff before. Maybe it will be good... i can work out a curriculum that can be used universally for village kids. or maybe its just the fact that I dont know any Oshiwambo. AHHHHHH!.

Also, I went up to Ongwediva with Amon from the LAC on Monday, and on Tuesday we spend a couple hours going over what they want me to do, and it seems pretty exciting! They want me to hold these legal clinics where i just do intake for them... which worries me a little bit, but they said they would get someone to help me with the oshiwambo for a while so that will be nice, and I dont really have to dish out any legal advice. Although they have all these trainings they want to give to people, and I went to this meeting for community AIDS volunteers and it seems like they would be really open to it. Everyone basically wants to figure out how to make money, so information on grants and income generating projects seems like the best way to go and the LAC has some trainings on that! I mean, they need lots of things, but I can understand why their primary concern is finding employment...People have information, they just need a reason to put it into action...aka a real life with food on the table.

Well, we'll see... Gis might actually come up this weekend... a combination of things from parents meetings to broken water pipes in omuthiya have kept it from happening, but we are determined! Or at least I am. haha... ok that is all for now. Commentt pleaseee, it makes me feel good to know that ppl are still reading my blog, plus I wanna know what you think.

Pictures

Some pictures up on webshots... takes forever to load, so not really alot of them!

French Fry Sandwiches

As you may be able to tell from this heading, I discovered a new namibian delicacy this weekend. The French Fry Sandwich. Basically, you buy chips (aka fries) and you put them in bread... sometimes with vinegar or mayonnaise (the ultimate namibian condiment). Just had to write about this, b/c it reminded me of a) the atkins diet, ahahaha...... and b) sharita b/c it seems like her ideal sandwich. Anyways, thats all I have for now. just thought i'd put it in!

Meetings Meetings Meetings

So, yesterday was kind of a low point for me, b/c i came to school b/c we had a staff meeting and realized I have no real job here yet. It kind of sucks. Also, it is hard not being near to people who you can be close to. It was easier in Okahanja b/c everyone was going through the same thign so we all needed to hang out, but here everyone else has a life, so while I have made friends, its still a bit lonely. I did go over to a friends house Tuesday to watch the season finale of Paloma When you are mine, aka the namibian national obbession... she was totally into it... it was interesting in the same way a good bollywood movie is... aka bollywood could be huge here and they need to bring it here to make money except there are not really movie theaters that i know of in the north. Well apparently there used to be one in ondangwa, but now its gone. Anyways, back to the job, But i do have a job at the community center and we met the regional councilor today and apparently some of our income generating projects are possible except he didn't really give us concrete details. Hopefully that will work itself out...i mean he wont mind us bugging him b/c we definitely will! The school is even willing to share a soccer field with the community so that is also excellent. Today I have more of a job, b/c i have to write some letters and convince people to donate some stuff. Apparently ppl at the school are already doing this (asking people to donate)... another reason why I feel superfluous here, but who knows. The resources are here, whether they would be used or not I dont know. I hope so! So I totally didn't realize that my blog is amusing... or that people are reading it, so thats exciting. since people are will post more regularly!

Meeting!

Yessssssss... today Helena (the Comm Development Coordinator) and I held a youth meeting and I even introduced myself in OShiwambo and they understood me. At first no one was there, but then like 60 ppl showed up and once they came they wouldn't stop talkign! Apparently, although there is a youth officer for Oshikoto region, he's really not meeting their needs. CRAP, we have a lot of work to do, but I am super excited about it. Anyways, another highlight to my week... also I am loading pictures on my webshots. clearly, these are really old pictures b/c i kind of stopped taking pictures when i realized i couldn't load them. but i am going to steal other people's pictures when i go visit them and soon I will post everything! it will just take time...

YESSSSSSSSSS!

Oh my god, I am so excited, I am going to be working with the Legal Assistance Centre's Aids Law Unit... It will be awesome! They sent me an agreement and everything and they're gonna pick me up and take me to Ongwediva to meet the lawyers... so so excited. I will mostly be doing awareness programs and client outreach and intake. Basically what I would have been doing for the Washington Lawyer's Committee except for HIV/AIDS. I was really determined to work with them so this is like the highlight of my life. So I spent the whole weekend here this weekend. I know why PC volunteers don't lose weight now. I cooked everything. I made lasagna, chicken, saag something and parathas, brownies for Helenas birthday, potatoes, bread. And I ate cucumbers. besides that my weekend was pretty boring. I hung out with maria, who is one of Jennifer, the old PCV's friends. She is really cool, but unfortunately is pregnant, so we really can't do much. But i brought her some lasagna and she liked it... ok yes, i live a really boring life. but... besides that... Work is picking up, we're having a youth needs assesment meeting tommorow, plus we should have a cluster (group of 6 schools) meeting on thursday, so I will start having things to do, b/c I am supposed to work with OVCs from the cluster (Orphans and Vulnerable Children). Really I am just wondering when the staff meeting for the school I am at will be. Who knows? guess I will find out! Allright... thats all for today... probably for a while unless the youth meeting is particularly eventful

Tandi Kunu omakunde

So basically, yesterday, i started working on this Peer Health Education program... it is kind of a lot of work? I also met the OVC coordinator from the primary school near by which was cool, b/c he told me that they needed help. Ahh, then again this is what everyone says, but with what, is still pretty amibiguous. He did talk about Windows of Hope, so my UNICEF obbsession will be allowed to continue, yess! Anyways, after a day of accomplishing nothing conclusive I still went home exhausted for some reason, and decided to take a nap until my host sister, Donnacky knocked on my door and asked me if i wanted to sow beans. Unsure of what this meant, but having little else to do, i decided to check it out... basically what she meant was digging a little hole with your bare feet and throwing two beans in. It was cool yesterday so it actually turned out to be a lot of fun, and was also great because it reminded me of why I wanted to be in a more rural area at the end of the day. I also sort of bonded with my sisters and learned how to say... my family loves me b/c i sowed beans today in oshiwambo. YESS. On my way to fluency. Just kidding... but really I am working on it. I am starting to love the greeting stuff b/c it makes people really feel like i know what i'm doing. Anyways, after that I was going to cook dinner, but realized I was seriously craving mahangu and whatever they were cooking (fish!) and ate with my family... i dunno whats happening to me, but i even liked the sandy texture. Although, I have to admit, i loved the way they cooked meat from the beginning b/c they make it spicy. It was just the oshithima, which is the mahangu porridge which I had to get used to... guess i'm there. Allright, lets see who will actually read this blog so often now that I have regular internet access! Haha...

ps. took a shower outside and discovered that we actually have hot water! Oh my god... it kind of cancels out the pit latrine. Which i still avoid like the plague, but still.

A Cool Day in Omuthiya

By cool, i mean literally cool, its fabulous outside today. Apparently this season is really not supposed to be as scorching hot as it is outside here, and today we got the weather we're supposed to have yess! so sorry i have not updated in a while, but I have been settling in to my permanent site in omuthiya. our new years was kind of anti-climactic, but we did have brunch on the day of made by some of the ladies in our group. It was nice...but anyways, we swore in on January 7 and then most of the health volunteers (excluding myself) left right after the ceremony, which was pretty depressing for me as I am very close to them. We were also on national television! Apparently they had a shot of me, but only people who were looking for me saw it. I looked pretty different anyways, as I was wearing indian clothes and looked nice. Other people took pictures which I am going to try to steal and put up... its just that most ppl dont' have the same internet access i do, so they can't exactly update it on a regular basis. Another vol, chris, put some pictures up, but none of them are of me, although you can look if you want at www.sundaymorningblues.com. Well he doesn't know that i am giving out that link or anything, so don't link it anywhere.

Anyways, i got to site and after some obsessive cleaning, my place is fairly nice. I have electricty and sort of running water... no faucets in my part of the house but an outdoor shower and a sink in the kitchen on the other side of the house.

Oh my god it started raining... so exciting. Clearly i am turning into a Namibian, but we've been waiting for the rain forever, and I am pretty sure all their crops depend on it. Anyways, I can't leave so this entry may be a little longer, yess. So Omuthiya is an interesting little place. I realized last night when hanging out with one of my friends here that there are little "town", "location", and village sections of Omuthiya. Its supposed to expand to become the center of the Oshikoto region, but currently much of the stuff that is the center of the Oshikoto region is located in Tsumeb, so i'm pretty sure officials there must be dragging their feet to get it started b/c Tsumeb is so beautiful i doubt anyone wants to leave it. Omuthiya is pretty nice too though, its just neither as green nor as developed (which is the thing i think really gets people). Its located really close to a spring and Etosha National Park, both of which I am going to try to see this week when Gisella arrives (she is visiting me for the weekend!), should be very exciting. Anyways, I am still trying to figure out my job although now I am working to start a peer health education program b/c my future is my choice, the existing UNICEF program, does not have the funding to provide more trainings. I am using it as a basic template though, and hopefully getting in touch with planned parenthood of namibia b/c they fund some PHEs up in the Ohangwena region. There used to be a volunteer there, but she got into a car accident! I think she wants to come back, but she's in the US/South Africa (not sure which) in physical therapy. aaaaaaah. It sucks to lose members of the group! Anyways, I am also working with the Community Development Coordinator to organise a youth meeting and possibly a work shop based on youth needs. We'll see what happens. Apparently in a few months I will have more work than I can handle, and I can't wait! I have so much downtime here its ridiculous. If only i could hook up my comp to the internet i would respond to all emails, but... yeah. I'm working on it. Anyways, keep me posted!

Tsumeb Final Update + beggining of last two weeks

ok so this first part is a couple days old, i just couldn't post it until now, from Tsumeb, which i miss dearly:

so to update my blog, it has been an interesting couple of days. my host sister left and now rika, my host sisters best friend is staying with me and she is hilarious, but also really honest with me so i end up having semi serious conversations with her about stuff i should know about all the time. also i've started watching this hilarious mexican soap opera that everyone is obbsessed with here.... Paloma when you are mine. its melodramatic and possibly has more close up face shots than your average 90s bollywood film. The story line is about Diego and Paloma and their love, except diego is dumb and gentle and has been framed by his cousin fabien who wants to own the family business at the expense of everything. diego makes me want to get some tp. (side note on toilet paper... people here reference everything to it, but mostly they talk abuot hanging themselves with tp. not serious, its like when i say shoot me now. but i think it has more serious undertones b/c pppl have a more fatalistic attitude here, but its hilarious when rika says it, so now i say it all the time now). back to paloma, people are always crying in hilarious scenes where they also look like they are constipated... apparently the two stars came to namibia last year (they are more famous here than in mexico i am so sure) but they couldn't speak english except to say "I love Namibia." oh yes, and after paloma yest, i was brushing my teach and heard a loud, waterfall like gushing sound in the kitchen... it was in fact my tap exploding and water was pretty much shooting up like a geyser all over the kitchen floor. it was pretty funny and there was nothing that the three of us (me, my host mom, and rika) could do, so we pretty much just started cracking up. then this morning just when i wanted to take a shower there was no running water, so i took a sketchy sketchy bucket bath. fun stuff... but also the highlight of my day. my friend megan has the best host family ever... well no mine is better... just kidding. haha. but anyways, they are hilarious also... all of the host families here have been trying to make us get fatter, b/c apparently thats a good thing here, and megan was wearing tight jeans or something and her oma (afrikaans for grandmother) was like "yayyy! you are getting fatter!" and her host aunt goes, "oooo... no more sexy body." hahahaha. ok sorry it was really funny while i was sitting there.
the music here is also interesting... have i already written about gazza and the dogg? they are the two msot famous mucisians in namibia, and i didn't realize how big a deal it was until i started hearing ppl yelling gnp and mshashu being yelled by random bored kids. really they don't sound all that different to me but ppl seem to know them. i have to get their cds for my host siblings, fun fun.
sorry... trying to address everything... oh yes so, in work news, this week as i said earlier, we planned a youth work shop for the kids, which actually was GREAT. 62 kids showed, and we got great feedback, and i was actually pretty proud of what we put together... i think most of the kids left learning something, even though i was definitely in the least technical sessions (condom negotiation, stigma, at risk groups/risk factors)and we didn't actually change behavior , but i think they turned out well. ok, cbt is coming to an end so i will probably have less internet access, but that is no excuse to stop emailing me. dddddddddddooooooooooo it. i miss you alll! amiiii
oh yeah... HAPPY BIRTHDAY MALA! (no clue if you will ever read this... but its the best i can do)

soo.. it is dec. 27, now and unfortunately i found out that manoj kaka died, so that was pretty terrible. I am glad everyone was together and was really sad that I couldn't make it for anything...

Christmas was not bad here they had a braai/barbecue for us which basically kept us occupied and its nice to see all the people from education that we were seperated from during community based training, but i miss the intimacy of CBT. now that we are back in okahanja, we're planning an HIV/AIDS workshop for the education volunteers... it is a little weird b/c we have to make it relevant to their lesson plans and sometimes i feel like i know more about what they need to know than they do when in fact i probably don't. we'll see... its starting tommorow and i'm doing the session on stigma and gender. I hope they like it! We also have our language assessments so I have been frantically studying for those even though i dont feel like i dont know anything... it'll be fun. also my language instructor teaches me one new destructive phrase everyday... today it was otandi kuu dhipaga (sp?) which means I will kill you, now. i love saying it to people, i guess i've developed a morbid sense of humor here, but my lang trainer also finds it to be hilarious, so at least i've bonded with a namibian (well i have bonded with other namibians, rika sends me texts and i love her! new goal in life, to make sure she goes to college, which she probably will b/c she's pretty smart). Besides that I'm mentally prepping myself for permanent site and becoming increasingly attached to the people i know and love here, so I will be visiting them often, especially since most of my site work initially may be needs assesment. who knows. ok, well people are waiting for the internet, so sorry for the short update but once again, little is happening here. inda po nawa!

...still here

.... still here.

wow, it feels like we've been in Tsumeb foreeeeeeeeeeever ever. it is really nice here as i said, and my host family is pretty sweet too. I have also gotten the chance to get close some people in my group and to miss people properly, but the training here is... interesting. I'm not entirely sure we're getting everything we need here, but we have had some interesting speakers from the legal assistance centre, windows of hope (of unicef), nawalife (the johns hopkins program in namibia), and now we're planning a workshop for the youth in Tsumeb. we initially went out into the community to interview people for needs assessment since we could'nt do the proper 3 month long integrating into the community required for needs assessment... people were pretty interested. its always refreshing to know how much people want to know here... not just about general things but like hte specifics of the biology of HIV/AIDS... something i didn't know at all before i came here (and to be honest don't really know all that much about now). some heads butted when we were trying to plan it, apparently they were annoyed at the inefficiency... but today the workshop turned out allright. tommorow i'm doing the condom demonstration from PHE where we make the kids turn in a circle so they're dizzy while putting a condom on, b/c apparently alcohol is a big problem here. it'll be fun!!! besides that, i'm really really glad i will not have to work with 20 others on site even though i will miss (most of) them. we've been learning oshiwambo daily too, althouhg i don't know ANYTHING except ee-e, and greetings, (ee-e means yes, its pronounced eayyeeeeee, yes drag it out). i had a small crisis the other day when i realized my host family communicates with me even less than i thouhgt b/c of the oshiwambo tendancy to say ee-e to everything. i mean everything, so, they respond to everything they don't understand in english as yes. well my host sister deos even though she does know some english to her credit. the other day we had a picnic for our host families and it was cute. i hitnk my host mom likes me, but honestly i won't know b/c she doesn't speak english. or afrikaans, not that i really know how to speak that at all. so yeahh.. my life at their house.. we pretty much eat mahangu + chicken everyday, but it tastes allright so i can't say that i mind... often i find myself waiting for the dinner b/c i am starving all the time here. the other day i made them chicken curry (i tried making it for one of my trainers, gisella first, although it may have turned out better the first time.), and i think they like it but once again will never know. they did say they were gonna save up and make it, although i had tried to make something that had cheaper ingredients incase they liked it! they are pretty damn good cooks. anyways., sorry this is once again a pretty boring blog entry. the only thing worth writing about that is happening besides the stifling heat and bugs everywhere (EVERYWHERE AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH) is the sunset here. the sensets are GORGEOUS, everyday. i have like 500 pictures of them, will send them home on a cd. anyways, reposting windhoek address, b/c some ppl could'nt find it! let me know how things are going with you all.


ps. have no idea who the guy who transferred is.

Tsumeb

Hi everyone! I'm in Tsumeb, which is definitely the most beautiful city I have seen in Namibia so far (granted my total is only like 4 towns). Its supposed to be the copper center of Namibia, but really it is known for being green all year round, which is refreshing after Omuthiya, which has greenery, but it comes up later in the year. We are doing our community based training here which means that we are staying with a local family who will practice our language with us. I have a really cool family, and a great combination of running water, electricity and tradition (yess... i love running water and electricity, i have realized). So far we have just been walking around town, but its cool b/c all 22 health vols are in town so we see each other all the time. The only thing that is weird here is that ppl are really shocked by the fact that I am indian... in a good way, sometimes too good. I mean at least everyone thinks I am beautiful, but um... i dont know. But anyways, we stayed at this hotel the first night the hotel malakani which was really nice and then we went to this never ending world aids day parade in a neighboring town, which literally took forever. I was in a really bad mood until I got to my CBT house. We went grocery shopping together... I feel like I finally have a permanent place after being in transit for like 3 weeks. I unpacked... bought cereal and sandwich stuff (as yo ucan see food is a dominant theme in all my entries, but I am totally gonna lose weight b/c I walk everywhere). It was nice, and alos my host mom cooks me food which is also great b/c for three days in omuthiya i was a bit lost... even thouhg I could cook here b/c i have elec! But i think I will be able to post pictures from here, so I will try to post as many as possible. Oh yes, list of things to send me: burn mp3s (not wav files) on cds and send to me. Also pictures! Yesssssss. Althouhg the last couple days have also been a little bit crazy b/c people are eting (early termination), and sadly its three people I'm very close to. Its kind of upsetting and it made me make sure I want to be here too, but i didn't have to think much to realize that this is really where I want to be. really really want to be. I can't explain it b/c there are plenty of uncomfortable moments and also plenty of ppl that I miss very much, but there's something that feels right about my experience here. Maybe better next time. Ok, well I better go now, but here is a pic of Tsumeb (not one of mine). oh yeah ps. can you guys post the pictures from that saturday when you guys had the dinner party for me?! Thankssss! AMI

Thanksgiving and Most Amazing Dance Party Ever + P.S.

Soo... this is out of order but I feel like I should write it b/c we did have a thanksgiving dinner... it was huge and good....and I just realized that I have to pay for this icafe, so i better go. but I will talk about dance party + thanksgiving later!

P.S. A few things I learned: if you want to send me something here (address I can email you), put it in a package that is hard to open, aka, wrapped multiple times. also DO NOT write something that someone else would want on the customs slip. Also, address it to sister ami shah, and put multiple pics of jesus on it. DO IT, and send me things yayyyy! jk. althouhg if you guys have extra floppy disks that you would like to donate to my school, you should actually send them, b/c they use them here, and i'm pretty sure most comps there don't even have floppy disk drives. Also any ideas about peer health edu programs, public health, aids, or anything that will make me qualified to do the HUGE job I am setting out to do!

Hello from Omuthiya

Hiii! So, I am now visiting my permanent site in Omuthiya. I am lucky to be in a small town that has internet access and also basic amenities. I'm also about an hour outside of two major cities in each direction. It is really funny, b/c everyone gets really confused when when i say ami is my name b/c to add to the collection of things my name means, here it also means 'oh me'? I'm sure that will amuse those of you who have been telling ppl to pronounce my name "ah-me" for years, hahaha. They also take the greeting thing really seriously. Like, you greet each person (mostly older ppl) in turn, with the same long greeting (walala po, eee, nawa tu, eee nawa). Its cool b/c I can participate without having to say much, but i think they all think i am funny, which is probably true, lol. but yeah, so I am an HIV/AIDS coordinator, and I think my job is basically whatever I want it to be b/c they created the program to get a peacecorps vol. Just kidding... well not completely, but what they want me to do is to develop a Peer Education program for people that is not limited to HIV, but behavior change, stigma, alcholism, etc. Also, they want me to develop their computer skills and internet capabilities, but as there have been three vols here in the last 6 years, it seems like a lot of people are pretty well versed in computers. Also, they want me to particpate in income generating activities and help them to get funds for these activities, and on top of that, I should be incorporating OVC (orphans and vulnerable children) into this. and start a school newspaper and if possible other confidence building activities. Sprinkle in a little community development, and its gonna be a packed two years. I am a little worried b/c i'm not sure if they are just giving me info b/c they wanetd a pcv or they really need help. I'm also worried that there are already other organizations doing what i am supposed to be doing, aka unicef, (aka it would be amazing if i could actually work with unicef). If I can pull it off, it seems like it will really exciting, especially b/c there are ppl here who will help me out, as opposed to other jobs that I've heard about, but it also does seem like it will be slow going. Other ppl have much swankier jobs working for non-profits in major cities with much more structure, which kind of worried me at first, but I think that I am actually best suited to this position, where I can kind of make my own way. Besides, it seems like sitting in an office is just not my destiny...as you can probably guess if you know the other things I can do. I did freak out when I first got here, b/c I am staying at a homestead, and I guess I just wasn't prepared for it. It is very pretty in this traditional sense--at night, when they all sit around the fire and cook and eat dinner and play their battery powered radio, and I can't see the bugs, it is amazing. BY the way, as you probably could have guessed, my fear of bugs is a constant source of amusement. I dont know if this was the exp I was originally thinking of, but you have to hand it to the peacecorps, they did listen when i told them what i wanted to do, and i think that I can really make a tangible impact here, which is more than we're taught to hope for ("its the little things you will remember") which I am sure is true, but itd be nice to have a big thing to cherish too. we'll see. THanks for all your commments... if you have a user name, that doesn't say your name (or if i dont know what it is) pls leave your name at the end of the comment! thanks!

Hello from Okahanja!

Hey guys, sorry it has taken a while to write from here, but internet access is a little bit limited. There’s one internet café in town, and the guy pretty much just opens up for the peacecorps volunteers… he’s extended his hours for us! So basically, here are the facts: we’re in Okahanja, which is a town about an hour outside of Windhoek (pronounced Vindhok). Apparently I can’t be too specific on this blog, but I guess if you want more details you can email me. Namibia is really beautiful… pretty much like all the pictures with dust. There are 67 of us training to be volunteers in Namibia, 45 education and 22 Health volunteers. Last week, we spent an entire week over viewing all the things we are going to start doing later on… apparently making lists of our goals and objectives on flip chart paper is a Namibian tradition. Besides that, everything has been great. Our training staff is really nice, and many of them are very close to our age. We start each day by singing the Namibian and American National Anthems, and two other songs (although now that we are in our technical week, we took of the two songs, which were actually really awesome). Then we have sessions… broken up by two very awesome tea times, lunch, and dinner. Unsurprisingly, it only took me a day to adjust to tea time—now I am hungry at 10:30 on the dot everyday. Maybe I always hungry then and didn’t know for what… tea time where have you been all my life? Unfortunately, the other food eaten here is mostly meat… a lot of meat. Ah well. Anyways moving on to more serious things, our technical week has been amazing! We’ve met with really prominent gov’t officials, doctors, and also seen two hospitals, a traditional healer, and a home based care center for HIV/AIDS in the location (here the word “location” means what traditionally were black townships/slums… they’re not necc slums, b/c some are nicer than others, but they are usually poorer areas). Namibia is a really exciting place to be in terms of HIV/AIDS work because of the combination of the high rate of infection and co-infection with TB and also the government’s willingness and helpfulness in attacking the program. Everyone in Namibia can get free ARVs and counseling if they qualify and free testing. That is amazing for a country with a budget of like $2 mill. But I’ve also realized that I have a lot to learn and my job could be really really frustrating b/c of cultural differences. I had this great convo with one of my favorite trainers, and basically she told me that in Namibia, it is not only socially acceptable, but expected for a man to date more than one woman at once (one of the problems leading to AIDS I guess). I mean, its not necc a bad thing (I am working on being culturally open…but it doesn’t mean I am gonna be ok with it in my own life!), if women know and protect themselves, but if they don’t it’s a problem. Also there’s not really a concept of time, but that is better for me as I am always late everywhere. The language I am learning, the Oshindonga dialect of Oshiwambo, is primarily spoken in the north, so I am guessing that’s where I am. All the health volunteers will have running water and electricity… although everyone is trying to scare me by telling me about very long and thick millipedes. UGHHH. I had a larium (the malaria propalaxis (sp?) we’re taking, which gives us vivid dreams and hallucinations, among other side effects) about bugs last night which I will spare all of you. But really I have been very good about bugs… they’re kind of everywhere and I’ve dealt with it! I haven’t screamed once. Amazing if you’ve ever seen me around a bug. But anyways, back to Oshiwambo, all I know is greetings, so Walala Po! (good morning, sort of, but that is not a literal translation). What is amusing is really the Nomlish, or Namibian English… an example is… I am coming means, I’ll be back in 20 minutes. just now means some time soon, and now now means now. It seems like what a lot of ppl speak, although the universal language is really still Afrikaans among ppl that don’t speak the same dialect. Although a lot of the black Africans say they will not speak it to a white person no matter what. I guess they are still dealing with the legacy of apartheid here but, things are getting better it seems, and the Namibian government is doing a decent job even though there are problems like unemployment and alcoholism. One example of something they are doing right is the clean water that the majority of the country can safely drink from a tap! Ok sorry that is a ton of information… its so much, I didn’t know where to start, and now it was kind of coming out all in one breath. Or that is what it must seem like, but I honestly don’t even know how to edit it, so sorry guys! Next blog may or may not be more organized… be flexible… (aka the motto of the peacecorps!). kala po nawa!

Reassuring Ideas

Hey guys!
Thank you once again for all the support, I'm gonna miss everyone so much. Today I had my first day of staging--I finally became a peacecorps trainee! I will not lie, I was scared out of my mind until I walked in, but the process was pretty reassuring. The Namibian ambassador introduced us to our staging! Very exciting... he was eloquent and pretty honest about the situation in Namibia. He also gave us some more details on Namibia, which I am sure many of you have been waiting for also! All in all the staging is not bad... people seem all right, they gave us monayyy to feed ourselves well, and they are sort of answering our questions about Namibia. I kind of started dozing off after the 4th or so ice breaker/morale prepping activity, but i'll chalk it up to a lack of sleep from the weekend. Its a little weird b/c they are assuming that we did not read any of the info they gave us. Maybe that is a good thing b/c it was a lot of stuff, and I am sure that I ended up glossing over some of it. For example, they introduced their safety plan, which is a five point action plan called VSSS (Volunteer Safety Support System), which was in the initial workbook. For the benefit of those of you worried for my life, the five points are

• Information Sharing- providing accurate information about Volunteer service to interested individuals
• Volunteer Training- equips volunteers with cultural, language, and health and safety issues
• Site Assessment- the Peace corps strictly regulates where Volunteers will live and work to make sure they are safe and secure
• Emergency and Communications Planning - Maintains contact with the peace corps office, also requires all volunteers to learn an EAP or emergency action plan to ensure that volunteers can be contacted in case of emergency.
• Incident Reporting and Response- volunteers are encouraged to report safety and security violations and the peace corps responds swiftly

Yayy! Safety. Girls, send it to those boyfriends who think i am a goner. I may still be, but probably b/c I'll trip and fall or something.

What was really fantastic about the staging is their approach to development:

"any process that promotes the dignity of a people and their
capacity to improve their own lives."

Best definition ever. I love it, even though it contradicts what development means to a lot of other people. I am definitely seduced by the idealism of it all... Something that became clear to me is that peace corps volunteers are very rarely people who are just excited about a cause. Instead, they are people who not only want to help, but who also want to understand how best to help. There's a huge difference in my mind, I only hope I can live up to it. Now I sound like one of those cheesy people, but all the goodbyes have been affecting me I guess. Anyways, I'll complete the wheel with a quote that sums up how I feel (most) of the time:

"Our Peace Corps is not designed as an instrument of diplomacy or propaganda or ideological conflict. It is designed to permit our people to exercise more fully their responsibility in the great common cause of world development."

John F. Kennedy

March 1, 1961

pS. During pre-service training, I will use the Peace Corps office address:

“Ami Shah,” PCT
Peace Corps
PO Box 6862
Ausspannplatz,
Windhoek, Namibia

The postal system is reliable, but service to the more remote villages is often slow. Mail from the United States to Windhoek, the capital, can take up to two weeks. From there, it could take two more weeks for mail to reach my village.

My mail will be forwarded periodically to my training site. Once I move to my permanent site, I will use the school’s address or get a private post office box.

Namibia + What I will be doing

So, most people haven't heard of Namibia--here is some background info. Its long so unless you're really interested you can just skim now and keep it as a reference, but I wanted to post it!

Skeleton Coast, Namibia

Namibia

Pre-colonial Namibia saw migrations of peoples from the south, central, and northeastern parts of Africa. At the time of the German conquest of Namibia in 1885, several groups of indigenous Africans were well-established throughout this vast land. Several important historical developments influenced modern Namibia:

• Germany’s occupation of Namibia and indigenous resistance, notably by the Ovaherero and Nama;
• League of Nations and United Nations mandates for the administration of Namibia after World Wars I and II and the United Nation’s subsequent role in rejecting Namibia’s incorporation into South Africa and promoting its full independence;
• South Africa’s defiance of the mandates in administering Namibia as a province and imposing apartheid on it;
• Organized resistance to South African rule (beginning in the early 1950s), including diplomatic initiatives abroad, internal political initiatives, and eventually an armed struggle, launched first from Zambia and later from Angola;
• The U.N. General Assembly’s recognition of the South-West Africa People’s Organization (SWAPO) as legitimate and the role of the U.N. and the Western Contact Group in working toward a peace settlement;
• Angola’s independence from Portugal in 1975 and the Popular Liberation Movement of Angola’s assumption of power in Luanda, which enabled SWAPO to move its bases to southern Angola;
• Cuba’s military support of the MPLA government and subsequent alliances among Angolan, Namibian, and South African political parties.

The peace plan that was finally ratified in December 1988 paved the way for a cease-fire in April 1989, elections in November 1989, and independence on March 21, 1990. In the years since independence, Namibia has made social, political, and economic gains, promoting national unity, improving equitable access to social services, and maintaining an upward trend in economic growth. In 2005, Namibia held national elections that resulted in the democratic and orderly transfer of power to its current government of President Hifikepunye Pohamba. Government Namibia’s Constitution has been hailed as a model for other countries. It provides for undamental freedoms, environmental protection, and a two-thirds majority to amend the Constitution.

Economy

Namibia’s economy is mixed, allowing for several forms of ownership of capital. Although Namibia’s per capita gross domestic product (GDP) of more than $4,000 is high relative to that in much of sub-Saharan Africa, it is unequally distributed. Five percent of the population earns more than 70 percent of the national income. Those in the bottom 55 percent of income, overwhelmingly from the majority black population, are primarily rural and share 3 percent of the GDP, with per capita income of less than $100 per year.

The apartheid system of job allocation and education continues to influence employment in these sectors.

The overall unemployment rate in Namibia is in excess of 30 percent, and the highest unemployment rates are among the least educated and skilled.

HIV/AIDS has become the new emergency in southern Africa, threatening not only the lives of Namibia’s citizens but also the progress achieved since independence in developing Namibia’s human and natural resources.

Since 2002, Peace Corps/Namibia has supported the government of Namibia’s efforts to stem the spread of HIV/AIDS through more effective educational programming and youth outreach and community-based activities. In the future, the Peace Corps may expand to other critical development areas such as youth development, the promotion of healthy lifestyles through sports and support for expanded employment opportunities.

People and Culture

Namibia’s people have a rich variety of linguistic and ethnic origins. The principal indigenous ethnic groups are the Aawambo, Vakavango, Caprivian, Ovaherero (including Ovahimba), Colored, Baster, Damara, Nama, San, and Tswana. The white population is of Afrikaans, English, and German descent. The people who live in the Owambo, Kavango, and East Caprivi areas, occupying the relatively well-watered and wooded northeastern part of the country, are settled farmers and herders.

Urbanization, industrialization, and the demand for labor have led to peaceful interaction among these groups in recent decades. Most Namibians converted to Christianity as a result of missionary activity beginning in the 1800s and comprising several denominations, including Lutheran, Roman Catholic, Methodist, Anglican, and Dutch Reformed. Most Namibian Christians are Lutherans.

Environment

Namibia is located on the southwest coast of Africa. It borders Angola and Zambia in the north, Botswana in the east, South Africa in the southeast and south, and the Atlantic Ocean in the west. The total land area is 317,500 square miles (about 825,000 square kilometers), almost twice the size of California.

Most of Namibia consists of a high plateau, a continuation of the main South African plateau. Its average altitude is 3,600 feet above sea level. The strip along the coast consists of the Namib Desert, extending from the Orange River in the south to the Kunene River in the north. About 60 miles wide, this area is mostly uninhabited. The eastern part of the country, which forms part of the Kalahari Desert, consists mainly of sandy stretches but provides some grazing ground. The Etosha Pan in the north is the focal point of an important national park and game reserve. Namibia boasts clear skies for more than 300 days of the year, providing brilliant days and star-filled nights. The varied landscape provides opportunities for hiking, camping, birdwatching, and game viewing.

Geography and Climate

It covers some 317,5000 square miles and has a population of about 1.8 million. Namibia’s generally hot and dry climate ranges from true desert to subtropical. As in other parts of southern Africa, temperatures are closely related to wind systems, ocean currents, and altitude. Except for the highest mountain areas, the lowest temperatures occur in the Namib Desert region and are affected greatly by the cold Benguela current from the South Atlantic. Daytime summer temperatures in the desert frequently exceed 120 degrees Fahrenheit, and nighttime
winter temperatures can drop below 32 degrees. Rain falls mostly during the summer (October through March), and the winter (July through September) is very dry. The most pleasant months are April, May, and June. Windhoek is the seat of the national government and the business and cultural center. Keetmanshoop is the center of the karakul (sheepskin) industry, Tsumeb is the headquarters of copper-mining operations, and Otjiwarongo is the center of the cattle farming area. Swakopmund is a coastal tourist center, Oranjemund is a diamond-mining town, and Arandis is the home of the Rossing uranium mine. Walvis Bay is an important port and fishing center west of Windhoek.

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So sorry for the very long description, but you don't have to read it unless you have specific questions! The next question alot of people have is what are you doing? I am a health extention volunteer mostly handling HIV/AIDS education. Basically neither I nor anyone else I have spoken to here has any idea what that really means. But here is the short description they gave:

Health sector Volunteers assist individuals and communities in the prevention of HIV/AIDS and in mitigating its effects. They work with either the government or nongovernmental organizations to do this type of work.

So, we'll know when we know I guess!

Preparing for Namibia

Hi!

So basically, I am not great at blogging, but as many of you know by now, I have finally received my departure date for the Peacecorps, Nov. 10! I'll be leaving for staging on Nov. 6 and leaving for Namibia on Nov. 10 to be a Health Extension volunteer. I wanted to thank all of you who have supported me and hopefully, will continue to support me. I realize that the incredible support that I have received from all of you is a luxury that most people don't enjoy and I don't take it for granted! I can't express how much it has meant to me to be able to really follow my dreams and simultaneously have the support of those I love and admire. Well, enough cheesiness.

I know that most of you who are reading this are doing equally new and exciting stuff, so keep me up to date, and feel free to ask me any questions or give me any suggestions you like.

In the future, I'll probably be posting my pictures on flckr.com, or webshots.com, although right now there are not really any Namibia pictures on there.

http://community.webshots.com/user/sahrenn
http://www.flickr.com/photos/68989409@N00/

There it is!