WorldTeach Namibia 2011-2012: Finally, a new post. An update to get completely caught up. Lots of pictures including holiday, Term 2, projects, wildlife, and more! Enjoy.

So, three months. Sorry for the delay and broken promises. I do have some exciting stories to tell. I will not bore you with the details of everything, but some things I can' pass up. This is an attempt to get caught up to the present and touch on the highlights of my first holiday and Term 2.

We ended Term 1 after three weeks of testing and preparing reports of our results for the Ministry of Education. Overall, I was a little disappointed with the performance of my learners. I had expected, irrationally, to come to Namibia and have a drastic impact on the students. Although I have seen a lot of improvement in my learners, the test scores were pretty average. I did meet my schools goal for test average and am proud of that, but was really looking forward to Term 2. Last term I was really winging it, but now, with the test in mind, I am able to have a better plan for my class has much more structure.

I traveled to Windhoek for our WorldTeach mid-service and then began my travels south. We had almost 4 whole weeks off and two volunteers and I had planned a nice trip. We were heading to the most southern area of Namibia to hike Fish River Canyon, an 85km walk through Earth's 2^nd largest canyon, the Grand Canyon being the largest. From there we planned on visiting the coastal town of Lüderitz, a colonial German port, and then hitting up Namibia's most visited site Sossusvlei and the huge sand dunes there.

Before we entered the canyon we had a few days of relaxing, warm up hikes, and good food at Gondwana Canyon Roadhouse. We finally entered the canyon May 3^rd. Karen decided she wasn't capable of going due previous injury, so Hannah and I entered alone.

Here area some pictures from Gondwana and the rim of the canyon before we decended.

Gondwana Roadhouse

Warm up hike

Fish River Canyon

The decent was very steep and challenging. We reached the bottom in the early afternoon and decided to camp on the large sandy bank there. The next two days were extremely frustrating because we only covered about 10km in 16 hours of hiking. This was due to the river running higher than normal and forcing us to go over larger boulders further from the river bed. There was really no trail.

Here is the sandy bank at the bottom of the decent and our friends Gail and Jared.

We couldn't believe the terrible progress and made a big push on day three to get out of the boulders and deeper into the canyon where it widens and flattens out. In addition to being forced onto a slower, more technical route, the high river made crossing the river much more difficult. The river must be crossed at each bend as the river zigzags through the canyon in order to keep on the inside bend. If you don't cross, as we found out, the outside bend is very steep and requires even more technical climbing. Not crossing also adds many more kilometers to the hike. By day 3 we were feeling good. We had crossed the river many times and were getting better getting across the by choosing the proper route and sometimes even swimming (although swimming with a full pack was scary, we had no choice). The canyon also flattened out and we covered about 20km that day.

On the fourth day we again got up early. Day three had given us hope on finishing either that day or easily on day five, but our plans were interrupted by the opening of two dams upstream. Apparently as we were hiking the authorities had closed the trail to hikers and the park was trying to delay the opening of the dam, but heavy rains forced the dam to open. So, at about 11am tons of water came flooding into the canyon while we were there.

It's hard to even describe how fast the water came. I had just finished crossing the river and was standing on the bank while Hannah was crossing. She was about 2/3 across when I noticed that she seemed to be struggling more with the current. I also realized that the rock I was standing on, previously dry, was now wet and I was standing in water. I moved to another dry rock and in seconds was in water. By this time I realized something was very wrong. The water had risen almost instantly and was continuing to rise. When I crossed the water was below my knee and now was above Hannah's waste as she battled the extremely strong current. Eventually she couldn't even move. The current was so strong and was knocked down twice and pushed downstream. Somehow she stood up. I dropped my pack and rushed into the water to get her out. I reached her and we struggled to the shore. We both were speechless and took a minute to collect ourselves.

It took a while for the situation to really sink in. The river had become so violent it was uncrossable, trapping us on one side about 30km from the end. Also, a group behind us had sent three people ahead who were waiting on a rock bar in the river before it rose. When the river rose it trapped them in the middle on only a few feet of dry ground surrounded by raging rapids (they were rescued after spending 2 nights standing out there). The other members of that group were on the other side, so we decided we had to continue to the emergency exit at the 65km mark to alert the authorities. We spent about an hour drying Hannah's gear and set off.

We were heading for a shortcut, but realized that we couldn't make it past a section on our side. After studying the map we headed up a small ravine parallel to the real shortcut hoping we would reach high ground and come down on the right path. It was beautiful up there and I wish we had pictures, but we weren't really in picture mode (we saw a fox like animal and large deer like animals). When we did make it to the high ground and looked off it seemed like we were completely lost. We ended up heading toward the shortcut and were able to see the river. We came down another ravine and made it to a sandy bank around dark. As far as we could tell we had cut a lot of ground and had to backtrack to the emergency point the next day. The only problem was how we would cross the river. Everywhere shallow enough to walk was raging rapids and the calm areas were moving pretty fast and were very wide stretches of water.

It was a sleepless night. The next day we walked back toward Four Finger Rock where we hoped make our way out. As we were walking we saw something shiny near the large rock shaped like four fingers on the other side, but didn't say anything for a while until we realized there was a small pickup truck parked there. From our distance it was hardly visible, but as we neared we saw two people coming down toward the water. My heart raced knowing there were people there, but it seemed like they hadn't seen or heard us and were walking back to the truck. We were yelling and walking fast and as we neared the river again (we had crossed over a wide, sandy inside bend) we heard someone yell out from nearby, “Hello, we are here to rescue you.” My feelings cannot be expressed. On the other side of the river were five big guys in black speedoes preparing for a rescue operation. One swam across with a rope and was pushed a hundred yards downstream by the current. He made it and told us they were a group of South Africans who had come prepared to hike, but were not allowed in after the closure. They stuck around for a few days and were finally asked if they could help the park ranger rescue all the people in the canyon. They were former South African military and were eager for the adventure and signed on. We had found them just as they were starting the rescue. We gave them our map and showed them where we last saw the other group. The finally brought down a canoe and got us across before they headed in for the others. They ended up completing the rescue the following afternoon and everyone was safe.

We stayed at Ai-Ais, an awesome hot springs at the end of the trail, for two days before heading off to Lüderitz and the dunes. Overall, it was an awesome vacation and one I will never forget.

Here are some links relating to the trip: Hannah's blog with her excellent account and a newspaper story from The Namibian (most read national newspaper) about Hikers Trapped in Fish River Canyon. It was on the front page! We are obviously the two Americans mentioned.

Here are pictures from the hot springs. The beer and hot water were heavenly. Also included are a deserted mining town being reclaimed by the dunes near Luderitz, seals on a rock, shot of Luderitz from across the bay, and sunrise at the dunes.

Once I got back from break I got right into school. I planned my weeks revolving around the 3 main pillars of the English curriculum and exams (Reading & Writing, Compositions, and Listening) in hopes of improving scores and overall skills at the same time. We were also visited by some inspectors from the Ministry. Although they really laid into the English department, it was really helpful for me to get a better understanding on the teaching methods and types of activities they prefer. Overall, the weeks absolutely flew by. It's really incredible how fast they went.

In addition to teaching I have also been very involved in some extra projects at school. First, I got the library organized and functioning well. It is open Monday through Thursday from 2 to 4 during mandated study time after the class periods are over. Each day I have 4 volunteers who check in and out books and keep the place as tidy as possible. I have really enjoyed getting to know these learners better and for the first time feel like I am making a personal connection with them in ways that I can't during regular classes. Most of the volunteers are my best students and have been the most interested in me throughout the year, so I think it's fun for them to get to know me as well.

I also have began setting up a computer lab, although this has been a frustrating experience. For one, my principle and I decided to put the 4 computers they own in a new storage room that was part of a new 2 classroom block built before this school year. It's not wired for electronics, so I have to be careful to not overpower the breaker. Also, the computers are probably over 10 years old and need a lot of work and the keyboards and mice are in bad shape as well. I am no expert and sometimes things go wrong in ways I have never seen. Last, but not least, the learners have never used computers. I am literally teaching how to hold the mouse and click to 8^th, 9^th, 10^th, and 11^th graders. My goal next term is to get some help from the staff who have some knowledge and have a teacher and volunteers in there everyday with sign up sheets for the learners. We will see how this goes, but I am confident that with a little support I can introduce most of the kids to computers for the first time.

The last project I have worked on is easily the one I am most proud of. With funding from some additional donors and help from my mom, Marilyn, and Grandpa, Charles Hubbard, I repaired 63 chairs and 30 desks. Overall, the chair and desk situation at the school is very poor. For the first part of Term 1 we had no desks for Grade 11 which was added to the school this year. Also, some of the furniture is over 40 years old and, as you can imagine, has taken a beating from thousands of school kids. Before our project many chairs were missing the back rest and seat and many desktops were broken off. Much of this furniture, even in its poor condition, was still in use because the school did not have enough complete chairs for each classroom.

With the help of my principle, Mr. George, and my colleague, Mr. Haindobo, we counted and collected all the chair and desk frames and priced new wood from a local wood shop in Oshakati. At first I was disappointed that I wouldn't be able to fix them all, but when my mom and grandpa arrived in Windhoek they brought additional donations they received right before they left which allowed me to order and purchase everything we needed. In addition to the wood and other hardware we bought an electric drill, handsaw, riveter, hacksaw, drill bits, and extension cord which were donated to the school after the project.

Over the course of the next week we worked hard. In addition to teaching my classes together with my mom (we did a weeks lesson on the basic elements of non-fiction stories and then had the learners write a story of their own), we worked on the chairs during all my free periods. Because the project was a little more technical than I expected we weren't able to introduce the learners to the power tools, but they did get the chance to help assemble the chairs. My principle and his right hand man were very happy with the project and took a lot of interest in our work, so I was happy that they were able to see what we were doing and hope they can continue the project in the future. After working most of the day Saturday we finished with the help of my friends Bernie and Hannah.

Here are pictures from the project.

This project was great for the school, but...

...there is still a lot of work to do.

It was very nice to have my mom and grandpa visit. They stayed for 11 days. I picked them up in Windhoek and we visited Etosha National Park on the way to the north. I had visited during the rainy season in January, so I was looking forward to seeing it in the dry season when the animals are forced to come into the waterholes. We spent 1.5 days in the park and were able to see lion, rhino, elephant, giraffe, zebra, kudu, springbok, and some other antelope type mammals. It was really cool and very nice to have family around for a few days.

Here are some pictures from Etosha.

This elephant was one of the highlights. As we were driving Grandpa spotted it out the window. Then...

...it walked across the road behind our car. It wasn't more than 20 yards away.

Some final notes:

The floods were gone when I returned from break, but their ill effects are still felt. All the learners who depend on their crops for their yearly food have said how this year will be a hungry one due to a poor harvest. The flood did bring lots of fish which they preserve by drying in the sun, so I hope they will be OK. They also have an amazing knowledge of the land and eat off what nature provides. For example they eat the palm nuts, the seed pods from Baobab trees, and wild “Jackal” berries.

I had another chance to visit my principles farm, this time about 100km away near Okahao, deep in the bush. I was very excited to see how they harvested and helped them harvest mahangu. This is their staple crop which I have discovered is pearl millet in English. They eat it everyday in a thick porridge made from the flour. I also harvested some sorghum and ground nuts (similar to peanuts but softer). It is amazing to me how much time farming takes when done by hand. They cut each stalk individually. Others carry it to the truck. Then they bring it to the house where they pound the heads to release the grain. Then they pound the grain with a weighted post to get to the actual fruit. Using the wind they let the chaff blow away leaving the grain which they then pound by hand into flour. It took some of the learners families over a month to complete this process. Mr. George, my principle, does get some of his grain mashed with a machine, but this is more rare than common.

I also was able to return to Tsumeb over a long weekend with my friend Kaylan, anther volunteer. If you remember, we did part of our training there and met some learners that we formed a great bond with. We promised we would return, so we made the trip. We spent 3 hours trying to track down Bernard and his sister Helena, but finally found their houses in the “locations” of Tsumeb. We spent the rest of the Saturday with them and bought them lunch and things they needed for school. The next day we had breakfast, made sure we had better contact information, and said goodbye. I am really happy I fulfilled my promise and was able to see them. We text message every so often and I hope to return in the future. My Facebook has some pictures of us all in Tsumeb.

This week August exams are starting and will last until the last of the month. After that we have a 10 day break where Bernie, 2 other volunteers, and I are planning on exploring northwestern Namibia where the Himba tribe is located. They are one of the most traditional tribes in the country. Like the Ovambo in my area they live in small, grass huts, but have not taken many steps toward western customs or dress. They still wear animal skins and have very “tribal” hair and jewelery. If you have seen the documentary Babies, one of the babies they follow is Himba and lives where I will be visiting. Check it out. The film is cool in itself, but you will be amazed at the Himba. Anyway, it should be very interesting and I am looking forward to seeing parts of Namibia I haven't seen, especially since they are close to where I live, but are very different in culture.

Thank you all for you continued support and interest. Again, this would not be possible without you all. Keep reading and stay in touch. Questions and comments are welcome as always. Below are some more pictures.

Teaching with my mom.