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.

Vacation

I just wanted to let everyone know that I will be on vacation until May 16th so, check back around then for an update about the end of school, mid-service training, and my travels to the south of Namibia.  Thanks for reading.

Bret

Major flooding, wrapping up Term 1, and over 30 pictures are after the text!

Rain, rain, and more rain. Water? Water? Still no water.

In my last post I mentioned the summer, from about January to April, is the rainy season. From what I could tell at the beginning was that things were pretty normal. It rained the entire first week I was in the North, but from there, rained a few times a week with a few weeks getting no rain. At times it had been wet even changing the way I walked to school, but seemingly normal until a few weeks ago. Since then the entire North and some of the Northeast of Namibia has experienced severe flooding. Schools have closed, both crops and roads have been damaged, and some people have been forced from there homes. In Omungwelume the paved road to Oshakati has been washed away, cutting all traffic, and the water from the tap has been off since Wednesday 23 March.

Pictures from Raucana Falls

 More pictures can be found on my Facebook page at www.facebook.com/bwmcspadden

 

A great weekend trip and progress at school...

Just so you know I will be posting pictures asap.  I couldn't wake up last night when the internet is free from 1-5am.  I will try to get them up tonight.

Wow! Has it really been a month since I last posted? The answer is yes. I apologize for the delay and hope you enjoy reading what has been going on. It has been an interesting few weeks. I took an incredible and refreshing weekend trip to Raucana Falls and have had a variety of emotions regarding teaching and the work I am doing here. Overall, things are going well and I am glad to have finally got the ball rolling on some extra projects I have been wanting to do. Time is flying by and it has been a challenge to keep up.

A few weeks of school and travel. Address also included.

Sunday 2/6

So, it's been a while since the last post minus the pictures. I hope you enjoyed those. I am still getting to know my way around blogging so I apologize there are no descriptions and if they don't look good on the page. I may have mentioned it before, but the way you pay for internet here is by usage, really per megabyte of data. Fortunately, the internet provider, MTC, does have an internet 'happy hour' from 1-5am where the internet is free. So, what I'm getting to, is that I don't let my web browser load any pictures during regular hours and haven't seen the way the ones I posted look on the page. I was just able to load them to the web page right before 5 Saturday when I set an alarm to wake up and use the internet. Also, rushing to get them up I was unable to give them descriptions before the 'happy hour' ended. I will put up descriptions asap, but until them enjoy.

In addition to a long post, I do finally have my address. I did get word today that a package sent from the U.S. on December 29^th has just arrived! I think this is normal, so electronic might be the best bet, but you are free to send packages and they don't even have to be for me. The learners would appreciate anything you would like to send as well. The address is as follows:

BRET MCSPADDEN

OMUNGWELUME JSS

P.O. BOX 2370

OSHAKATI, OHANGWENA

NAMIBA

Here is the link to the USPS international mail website with more information if you need it... http://www.usps.com/business/international/welcome.htm. Also, this sounds terrible, but I have heard that if you write things like “God Bless You”, “Jesus Loves You”, or even put “Father” or “Sister” in the address, things will arrive faster and will not be broken into. I don't really know if this is true, so I wouldn't really worry about it. Just something I've heard.

On to the post...

Pictures!

Orientation Over and First week in Omungwelume

Sunday 1/24

Hello all! It's been about 2 weeks since the last post and so much has happened. Last week we finished Orientation on the 15the with final sessions on a past volunteers perspective on the classroom, teaching speaking, basic language instruction on the tribal languages of our region (mine is Oshikwaynama, oshi-qwan-yama, a dialect of Oshivambo), our syllabuses, continuous assessment, a security brief from the U.S. Embassy, testing/grading/assessment, health and safety, hand-washing clothes tutorial, our Emergency Action Plan if we have to evacuate, challenging situations, first day tips, fears/expectations/hopes, logistics/evaluations, and an amazing dinner at a local restaurant called Fusion (the food was modern takes on traditional African dishes and was one of the best meals I've had anywhere). Overall, it was great to be done with Orientation. Although it was very informative and a great few weeks getting to know the staff, their husbands, and the other volunteers, I had been ready to get to my placement, unpack/settle in, and start at the my school.

Keeping Busy. Tsumeb, my first teaching experience, and Etosha National Park

It's been a week since I last wrote. Sorry for the long breaks in posts. I hope to write more often once I'm settled. It's been a bit crazy with all the sessions, my first teaching experience (!) and traveling back to Windhoek from Tsumeb. Tomorrow is the mark for being here two weeks and I can hardly believe more time hasn't passed. I think because we have covered so much it seems like we have been here longer. Since I last wrote, we have began and finished our teaching practicum, and had sessions on teaching listening, the Namibian culture of indirectness, international development, teaching pronunciation, teaching reading, Namibian views of westerners, teaching writing, assessing learners, challenging school/community situations, teaching large/multilevel classes, teaching new vocabulary, teaching new vocabulary, and have begun basic language instruction. Again, quite a lot, but it does make the days go by pretty quick.

First update from Namibia!

The following is a compilation of a few journal entries I made since arriving in Namibia.  At first I did not have any internet access so I just wrote a little on the computer.  Now that I have access to the internet I hope to make more regular updates to the blog, but we'll see.  Anyway, enjoy and talk to you all again soon.

Thursday, December 30, 2010, Windhoek, Namibia

I have arrived in Namibia! After an overnight flight to D.C. through Atlanta, I left the U.S.A. the evening of the 28^th. The flight had a short stop in Dakar, Senegal and then made its way to Johannesburg, South Africa where we (WorldTeach group of 12) switched planes for a 2 hour flight to Windhoek. We landed around 9 pm on December 29th, disembarked the plane on the tarmac and walked through a slight drizzle into the airport. After getting my passport stamped, I continued on into the baggage claim area only to find that my bag did not make it. I'm not sure how this happened because we all checked our luggage at the same time, but two other members of the group are also missing baggage. I have been told this happens all the time and that it should arrive today. I hope this is true!

Finally, an update. Placement and more...

A lot has happened since the last post about my departure.  First, I cannot thank those who have donated enough.  My fundraising efforts generated a response I could not have ever imagined.  Thank you all again for your support.

Second, I have moved back to Kansas City for the remainder of my time in the states.  It has been nice to eat well, see my family and friends, and rest up for the journey ahead.  I finished most of the paperwork preparations in Philly but have tied up the loose ends while being in Kansas City and am so glad to have wrapped all that up.  It wasn't difficult, just time-consuming, requiring a lot of emails, phone calls, and footwork to get all the forms completed, vaccinations done, and other preparations complete.  One positive aspect was having time fly by as I was working hard. Now that it's all done and I'm just waiting to leave time seems to stand still.

Anyway, time for the real news.  I have learned I will be teaching 8-10th grade English and basic computing in Omungwleume, a large village/small town in the north near the Angolan border and about 30km north of Oshakati, the largest town in the central north (28,000 people).  I will be living with a fellow volunteer in a two bedroom house that sounds really nice.  Running water, electricity, cooking facilities, etc.  No hot water will be something to get used to, but I'm sure it won't be that bad considering it's nice and warm there.  I think I will be looking into some DIY projects and a solar hot water heater might be in order.

Again, I will be leaving December 28th from Washington D.C.  Upon arriving in Windhoek, the capital of Namibia, I will begin my training.  We will have about four days of orientation sessions before traveling to Tsumeb on January 3rd where we will doing our four day teaching practicum.  After that we will head back to Windhoek where we will wrap up orientation before departing for our specific placements.  I'm ready to start and can't wait to arrive.

Here is a map where I have placed markers on the different cities I have talked about so far.  I will keep updating it as I continue to travel and get to know more areas.


View Namibia in a larger map

Thanks for reading and stay tuned for more updates.

Departure Date

Departure date is set!  I will be leaving Washington D.C. December 28th and arriving in Windhoek, the capital, December 29th.  This is really happening but I still can't believe it.

Welcome to my blog

Welcome to my blog detailing my upcoming volunteer experience teaching in Namibia.  Thanks for visiting.  I appreciate your support.  My hope for this blog is to offer those interested the opportunity to follow what is happening in my school and community.  At the same time, I hope to create a dialogue between myself and you, the reader.  Feel free to comment below or email me any thoughts or questions you may have.

At this moment I am currently working on all the pre-departure steps which include obtaining my visa, getting checked out medically, and fund raising.  As you may guess, there are some serious costs in placing a volunteer in Namibia.  During my stay I will receive a small living allowance from my school, approximately $400/month, allowing me to live modestly in Namibia.  Other costs of the program include the cost of my placement, training, air travel, insurance, and field support for the year. If you would like to contribute financially please visit worldteach.org/donate or send a check to WorldTeach (Their mailing address can be found at the bottom of their website).  Please be sure to include my name in the "Purpose" heading on the donation page or the memo line of your check to ensure your support goes toward my program. Remember, all donations are tax deductible. 

Again, thanks for visiting and becoming a part of my journey.  Share it with others and check back soon for updates.