My new home

Hi again, blog readers!

First of all, let me point out a new feature on my blog! See that little box to the right that says something about entering your email address? Enter yours there if you would like to receive an email notification every time that I post a new blog!

So, I’m now officially in my new home in the North! In case you forgot (which you probably did) I’m at Oshikulufitu Combined School in Onhokolo village, outside of Outapi town in the Omusati region in Namibia. Phew! It’s a lot of words that start with “O,” isn’t it? Welcome to my struggle with learning Oshiwambo! It’s hard to keep the words straight when most of them start with o!

Anyway, I’m getting settled into my new home here. I have a foster family (which is like a host family, except I only stay with them on school breaks and some weekends) and my own teacher’s flat. I stayed with the foster family this past weekend when I first arrived in Onhokolo. They are so, so nice and I even have a host sister my own age! I was so excited when I found that out. They are really sweet and excited to help me learn about the traditional culture and language. I’m looking forward to staying with them for ~6 weeks over the December holiday! During that time, I’ll be working in the fields with my host family and helping to plant and harvest mahangu (aka millet) and a few other things.

My flat here is incredibly nice! The teachers’ flats are government-owned and are on school grounds. There are roughly 9 flats at our school and many teachers are sharing flats (and bedrooms) because they’re over capacity at the moment. Luckily, one of the teachers was willing to move in and share with another so that I could have my own place, as they are intended to be. So, I have my own studio apartment! It is a modern building with a kitchen and a bathroom. The Namibian Ministry of Education (my other “employer” besides Peace Corps) provided me with a stove, a fridge, and a bed. There’s also a table and two chairs coming at some point, but until then my bed is also my dining room table! J The flat has running water INSIDE with a kitchen sink and a bathroom sink. I also have a shower with hot water (!!!!!) and a flushing toilet! It is seriously “Posh Corps” life here, not Peace Corps! Haha. Despite being a nice place, it wasn’t in great condition when I arrived here on Sunday. It was a male teacher living here before and he was a bit dirty… it seemed as though it hadn’t been cleaned in months and there was a serious cockroach infestation in the kitchen. In addition, the place is slightly infested with three different types of spiders and some ants. I think I’ve remedied almost all of the infestations, thanks to many hours of hard work and some pesticide spray! So, for anyone back home who is planning to visit, don’t be turned off by the infestations! They’ll certainly be cleared up by the time that any of you come to visit! As I’m writing this, I’m watching a tiny lizard crawl along my ceiling… so you may have to put up with some reptilian friends!

Anyhow, a more important topic—my school! As it’s a combined school, it houses many grade levels. It’s all the way from pre-primary (American kindergarden) until grade 10. I’ll likely be teaching English in the upper grades (8-10) along with ICT, or Information and Communication Technology. ICT is like a computer class. As this is a village in a developing country, none of the kids have any exposure to computers before this class. So it’s very basic and teaches them how to search for information on the internet, how to send emails, and how to use Microsoft Word and Excel.  Oshikulufitu is very lucky to have been renovated by the Millennium Challenge Corporation and the Millennium Challenge Account-Namibia and that’s why the school has such great resources, like 35 laptops for the learners and two projectors. MCC also rebuilt most of the classrooms and installed high-tech pit latrines. Before, the toilets were just an area walled off with a traditional wooden fence and sheets of tin and the classrooms were very similar in their construction. It’s great that there are organizations like MCC/MCA-N to help with the development of many of these rural schools that otherwise would be disadvantaged.

And now, an even more important topic—the teachers and the learners at school! They have all been wonderful and so welcoming. The learners were distracted all day today by their excitement of my arrival! The were smiling all day and running up to the classroom I was in and peering in, looking at me, until I said anything to them and they sprinted away! For them, having an “oshilumbu,” or white person, at their school is both exciting and out of the norm. Even though I’m used to hearing “oshilumbu” murmured in my presence, many of the learners were using it to address me today as I was walking around the school. The mentor teacher, who was showing me around, was quick to correct them and say that they must at least refer to me as “Miss” if they want my attention.  A few of the young ones also sang songs for me and it was so cute! Overall, the learners really seem sweet and well behaved. I was appreciative of this! The other teachers have been incredibly welcoming so far. I shadowed the ICT teacher today and she is about my age and really nice and fun. I’m glad she’s so great, as I’ll be working with her a lot next year! The mentor teacher, who assists new teachers, also showed me around and brought me into every classroom to introduce me to all of the learners. He also drove me to the nearby mini-market (think teeny-tiny, rural village type of 7/11) so that I know where it is if I need anything from there. After that trip, we came back to the staff room and enjoyed the air conditioning in there! It’s about 100°F this time of year, so the A/C was much appreciated!

Speaking of which, I really need to invest in a fan. It’s hard to sleep in this weather, and it’s only late spring now, so I’m scared of the summer here! I guess I did choose to move to Sub-Saharan Africa, so it is what I signed up for J That’s all for now—I’m off to begin day one of a 30 days of yoga challenge!

All the best to you and yours. As always, I’m sending love and happiness your way! Thanks for reading.

Christy