Omungwelume SS Culture Group - Endola Circut Culture Competition 2012

Until I get my detailed post up, here is a video from Saturday's Circuit Culture Competition.  These learners represent all the grades at Omungwelume SS, grades 8 - 12.  Included with the dancing and singing are traditional items from the culture including baskets, pots, traditional food and traditional beer.   Enjoy!

Guest Post: St. Mary's Fundraising

I mentioned in my first post this year that I was hoping to give a more well rounded view of my activities this year.  Some of those things are in the works and I should have a guest post by a student and photos of the farming going on during this time up soon, but the first post is here!

None of the things I have done in Namibia would be possible without outside funding.  From what I can tell, many developmental efforts come down to having funding or not.  There are a million awesome ideas and projects, but limited money.  Where it comes from and how it is used is extremely important.  I have been so happy with the results from my fundraising and I cannot thank those of you who have donated both money and supplies enough for your contributions and hope you all are happy with the results thus far.

One group that has made huge contributions to my projects is St. Mary's High School and specifically their Spanish Club.  They have organized several fundraisers and are continuing to do so this year.

I spoke to the school and club while I was home in December and was glad that they were interested in being a part of this blog.  I hope you enjoy seeing their efforts to help out my school and I, again, thank all of you who have donated throughout my time in Namibia.  The following is an email they recently sent and some pictures.  Enjoy.

Hola, from St. Mary's High School's Spanish Club!

The students of St. Mary's are very happy to be supporting your
students in Namibia. We have been keeping an eye on your blog and have read your updates. Namibia is a very beautiful country, from what we have seen on your blog. If possible, we would also love to have a chance to communicate with some of your students.

The Spanish Club is currently organizing fundraisers to help with your classroom needs in Namibia. Going to a private school where uniforms are required, we chose to have four jeans days throughout five months. On these jeans days students can pay two dollars to wear jeans and a tee shirt the color of Namibia's flag.

From our last jeans day on January 13th, 2012, the students wore the color green. We were able to raise $175.25. (Our students will do anything to get out of their uniforms) Our next jeans day will be February10th (Blue Day), followed by March 9th (Yellow Day), and April 23rd (Red Day).

We hope to hear from you (and hopefully one of your students) soon!
Adios Amigos,
St. Mary's Spanish Club

January 2012 Pictures

As promised, here are some pictures!  Again, I am going to attempt to give you an idea of what it looks like here and how the seasons effect peoples lives.  Because most people where I live are subsistence farmers, they are both very dependent on and in tune with the land.  I will try to capture what they are doing throughout the year.  I was a little disappointed to not have more pictures of them working the land.  I was unable to find the a learner's house and land that I was planning on photographing due to the already high water.  I was forced off the road I knew and didn't know where to go.  Very frustrating when I was within a few miles.

School is going well and I will put some pictures up of what is happening there as I get settled in.  It has been difficult to get back into the swing of things and, although I know some of the things I want to do, I have had a little trouble starting and putting a plan in place, but it is coming together.  

Enjoy the pictures and, as always, let me know what you think or would like to know more about.  I am more than happy to try and write about and photograph things you want to know about.  (As the weeks go by you will probably see some of the some familiar photos.  I am taking a few shots from the same place to hopefully capture the changing seasons.)

Also, coming soon... The first 'Meet a Namibian' guest post from a student, Jona Nangolo.  I am really excited to post his story.  It will give some insights into the lives of many of the kids I work with.

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The first few pictures are all taken from my backyard before and during the first big storm since I got back.  It rained for 4 days and the waters in the surrounding oshanas (seasonal ponds) are higher at this time than last year.

This is a learner of mine and her sisters.  They are harvesting some grubs from the animal pens to eat for dinner.  The pictures of the fields are their plots.  They are pretty big plots.  Right now each family has plowed and planted.  Each day they spend a lot of time hand weeding sections with a hoe.

Sunset photos from the 28th as I was looking for my learners house.  These were taken a few miles behind where I live near the large oshana.  The light was not very nice to see the landscape in detail, but it is very green here with lots of tall grass.

Back in Namibia

After another long hiatus, I'm back and excited about a new year in Namibia. Although I really would love to detail the end of last year, I believe it is best to start fresh in the new year and, hopefully, do a better job this year blogging consistently. My goal this year is to have more regular posts that don't just talk about me. I will keep updating about what I am working on, but I hope to give you more insight into the lives of my learners. I will also be attempting to post more pictures to let you see the change of seasons and how that effects me, my school, and the community. Finally, I hope to allow some guest posts from individual learners so you can get a chance to see Namibia from their perspective. There also may be guest posts from St. Mary's High School documenting their efforts to fund raise for my school. Overall, the goal is to give a complete picture of my experience and the experiences of those around me, not just my perspective. I hope you enjoy reading and following what is happening in Omungwelume, Namibia.

I do want to touch briefly on last year. I had a great experience and was very happy with the amount of success I had. Not everything went according to plan, but more was good than bad. To review, I repaired about 60 chairs and 30 desks, replaced the school uniform for 4 learners, created a scholarship that will assist paying 8 learners' school fees, helped reorganize the library into the proper form and set up a library club to operate library, and began optimizing available technology and training teachers in computers. I am also very happy to report that I had a 93% pass rate for English in Grade 9 where I taught all the classes.

I learned so much in the first year and am going to put that knowledge to work this year both in the classroom teaching and within the school to help the school continue to improve. Thanks to hard work from everyone involved, the school made large strides in the quality of education it is providing as shown in our improved end of year examination marks, and we have started off on the right foot this year.

My goals for 2012 are to continue what I was doing last year, but make it sustainable for after I leave. I will be moving the library into a new building being finished now and will continue working to get it properly set up and run independently by learners. I hope to invest in more technology to optimize what they have and help the school run more efficiently. I am also planning on helping fund a school garden with the hopes of being able to make a small profit or at least sustain the project for years to come. The garden might also improve nutrition for learners, be a model for growing more diverse crops, and help experiment with different growing techniques . I will also continue with the chair and desk repair.

Thanks to some generous friends and family members, I have arrived in Namibia with some funds to assist these projects. If anyone reading would like to help Omungwelume Secondary School financially or in other ways (ex. donating supplies) please feel free to contact me through email at bwmcspadden@gmail.com.

All donations benefit the school 100%. It is also not my intention to subsidize projects that will not be continued after I leave. My goal is that these funds help provide an initial investment or boost to get some things started they otherwise cannot afford, but can maintain with their own funding in the future. For example, I have already received a commitment from the school to split the initial costs for the garden. Without a matching donation, the project would not get started. Now, it will and should be able to be maintained by possible sales and their own funding.

Feel free to send any questions or comments to my email or post in the comments section below. I apologize this first post doesn't have pictures, but I will be sure to post some next weekend. Thanks for reading and check back soon.

Pictures!

I am working on a new post with details about the end of Term 2, my trip during our short break, and the beginning of Term 3, but for now enjoy some pictures.

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.