Flooding

Hey friends, fam, and curious strangers!

What's new with you? (If I don't know the answer to this question, please reach out! I miss you!)

At the moment, there's a lot new with me. Hence the blog post! First and foremost, I have been evacuated from my site at Oshikulufitu Combined School in Omusati region in Namibia. The flooding from above average rainfalls has resulted in areas of the village that have standing water above the knee. The water started accumulating in earnest mid February and has been steadily increasing in severity since then. 

Flooding on the walk between school and the road

Flooding in Oshakati town

In the northern parts of Namibia, we have what are called "oshanas"-- areas of low lying and hard packed soil that become seasonal pans. The oshanas are the first place to flood. We have one enormous oshana in front of our school on the way to the tar road. This oshana was filled knee deep on 17 February. In between the oshanas, there are a few dry patches. The inside of people's houses are still mostly dry, unless their house is very near to an oshana. Many of the mahangu fields are flooded; as the rain continues to fall and the flooding is worsening, concerns about about the crop dying are mounting. 

Some shabeens (bars) underwater

The oshana in front of school. Looks like a lake, doesn't it?!

Many of the oshanas are about 50 meters across (or bigger!), which means lots of wading through water. Our school serves about 5 surrounding villages and some kids walk as far as 8 kilometers to school. Of course, it takes a bit longer to walk through the water and the older kids really need to look out for the younger kids to ensure that they don't drown in the water on their way to school. 

Someone didn't choose a wise location to build in!

On March 3rd, we decided that we needed to move the start of the school day from 8am to 9am, since all of the kids were coming late anyway! We did that for a couple of days until it was decided on March 7th that we needed to close school completely until further notice; it was no longer safe for the kids to travel to and from school. Additionally, the river at the border with Angola is expected to overflow its banks and bring loads more water soon. 

Some of my colleagues on their commute to work 

On March 8th, with Peace Corps' insistence and approval, I evacuated from my site. I packed my hiking backpack full of clothes and important documents. I lined my pack with a trash bag, put my laptop, kindle, passport, and marking inside of a giant Ziploc bag, and put my rain cover over my bag. Scouts' motto, always prepared! 

Two of my colleagues and I had arranged to make the journey out together. Our plan was nearly thwarted by rain, as it hardly let up for long enough for us to make the hour long journey out to the road. Luckily, we got a quick gap between storms and got on our merry way! 

I am SO happy that I was with my colleagues Eufemia and Maria on the way out!!! We navigated together (it's hard to navigate when you can't see the dirt roads and all you can see are trees), laughed (a lot) together, took pictures together, and (most importantly) held on to each other and physically supported each other every time we almost fell walking through the thick muck! I would have seriously been so scared alone. 

In the shallow areas, you can see giant (mutant?!? JK) tadpoles, snails, frogs, and the occasional creepy thing that looks like a cross between a crab and a scorpion. (pro tip: run away from those.) It's also very possible for there to be snakes in the water or trying to use you as a way to escape from trees that they're trapped in. Terrifying. Luckily, most of the water is now deep enough and murky enough that you can't see what's in it-- ignorance is bliss! However, the bad thing about the murky water as well is that it's that way due to super soft/saturated soil below. When you walk though those areas, your feet sink down into the muck. With every step, you are ankle deep in muck and sometimes get slightly stuck. As I'm sure you can imagine, feet being stuck in place + momentum of walking = a dangerous combo! Thank goodness that Eufemia and Maria and I were holding onto each other. We would grab each other or push each other in the right direction when one would start falling! Thanks to them, I managed to stay vertical the entire trip! 

The water is encroaching on the tar road

So, now, some of you might be asking yourselves: "Where is Christy living? And what is she doing now that her school is closed?" Good questions. Very astute. Well, I'm doing my best to enjoy the homeless life! Another PCV, Anna Loeske, has wonderfully invited me to stay with her for the foreseeable future. She only lives about 40km (on the tarred roads, 17km as the crow flies) from my school. Despite the proximity, her school is still quite accessible and the flooding isn't too bad. Her school plans to remain open. I stayed with her for a couple of nights before I headed south for a planned committee meeting in Windhoek. For the weekend prior to the meeting, a few PCVs and I decided to go to the coast for a night and enjoy the spoils of Swakopmund (excellent coffee, gluten free food, the Atlantic ocean, cocktails, etc.). It was so nice to treat myself and then go back to Windhoek for a committee meeting. Both events brought a sense of normalcy back to my life! 

Right now, I'm staying with another PCV, Hannah Sieben, just south of Windhoek. It's fun and interesting to see another area of Namibia with a different tribal identity and very different school/town/social issues. I'm currently entertaining myself by writing a blog post, but have loads of committee work to do. That's my next plan, assuming that the electricity comes back on to charge Hannah's laptop! I probably could keep myself quite busy for about 2 full weeks with the committee work I have at the moment. It really is a blessing in disguise because I'd go crazy with nothing to do for weeks on end! 

Next week is mid-term break and Peace Corps decided not to deduct leave days from us if we choose to travel. So obviously I've gotta travel! Four other PCVs and I (Lena, Ben, Anna, and Morgan) are renting a car and going camping at Spitzkoppe (a beautiful mountain) and then going to Swakopmund (again lol). After break, I'm not sure where my home will be. Maybe Anna's again? Who knows! I'm homeless! The options are endless! 

Again, some of you may be asking: "How long is Christy's school going to stay closed?" Wonderful question. I wish I had an answer to that. Some of my colleagues thought that it's possible that we'll open after the mid-term break; most of my colleagues seem to think that we won't open until term 2 at the very end of May. It's impossible to know at this point, but after 1.5 years of Peace Corps service, I've gotten pretty good at rolling with the punches and having loads of unknowns in my life. So, I'm doing alright with the situation. I'm glad my kids are all safe and not risking their lives to come to school anymore. I'm glad that it's possible still that the crops may survive. I'm glad that I'm not stranded at school! 

That's all for now folks. Keep in touch!