CBT and Getting in the Classroom!!

It has been a whole month since we arrived in Namibia.  Thus far, I could say I am adjusting pretty well. I lived with a host family for almost three weeks in Okahandja, which was really nice. Our family ranged from five to eight people on any given day as family members moved in and out of our house. Permanent members are my host mom and dad and my host brother. A week ago we moved, however, to our CBT. The way that our group 42 is undergoing CBT (Community Based Training) is slightly different from the way they have done it in the past. Now, we all move to a new site based on our language groups and undergo language as well as technical training. Seven of us moved to Outjo last weekend to begin this training. Ideally, we live with a family that speaks our language, Khoekhoegowab (KKG) or Damara-Nama. There have been some complications for me on this front as my KKG speaking family members have either been out of town the whole time (in the case of my host parents) or are around 10 years old and will not talk to me in English or KKG. The two people in the house who do speak to me do not speak KKG. One is my host sister, who speaks English, Otjiherero, and Afrikaans, the other is her two year old son who only speaks Otijiherero! My parents returned yesterday and a few other members of the family came over. We had a total of ten people in our house and it was a bit overwhelming!

Since coming to Outjo, we have also finally started working in a school. Our group was divided into two groups, four at the primary school, three at the secondary school. One member of the primary school group ended up deciding to ET (Early Termination) Sunday night, so only three of us started school on Monday. Though those teaching at the secondary school have been having a tough time, the three of us at the primary school are living it up. We get along well with our colleagues, who seem to like us. The student adore us and we have a lot of fun interacting with them. Our school is amazingly well organized, which is something I’m learning is quite special. For most of the week we have been observing classrooms at our schools. This has resulted in some amazing learning experiences, some positive, some negative. A few of the teachers are just amazing teachers. It’s been a real treat to watch their classes. Some of them are less interested in their students, and some seem to downright hate them. I sat through a class where the teacher did nothing but scream at the students, calling them stupid and all sorts of things. I was a horrible moment in my week. The next day we switched sides and we went to observe classes at the secondary school. It was very unwelcoming and there were multiple classrooms where teachers hadn’t shown up all week. I ended up in one of those classrooms and sort of filled in as the teacher. I had a good time with the students and got almost everyone to participate in one way or another.

The next day, we were back at primary school, except we weren’t. I got to school at my usual time only to have the principal pull me aside and ask if the three of us would attend a conference for novice teachers. I said it sounded like something we would benefit from since only one member of our group was an experienced teacher. I told the others about it when they arrived and we quickly came to realize that she meant for us to LEAD the workshop, not merely attend. In an hour we threw together a presentation and some activities on how to asses and incorporate different learning styles and ways of expression into our lessons as well as implement word walls to create a classroom environment that encourages reading across subjects. The teacher member of our group was amazing in organizing everything, but me and the other non-teacher helped out quite a bit and at the end of the day, everyone in the workshop was feeling inspired and like they learned something (including us!). Though ridiculously stressful, I felt so accomplished and inspired by the end. The teachers that attended were from rural areas and talked about some of the challenges but also rewards of teaching. Their concern for their students was powerful. It made me so eager to start teaching!

Now, let me tell you a bit about how my day goes here. I wake up at 4:40AM most mornings and get ready for work. At 6:00AM I begin my 2km walk to school in the dark. The moon and stars have been beautiful walking companions. I get to school around 6:40, just in time to greet people and be ready for the staff meeting at 6:50. School starts at 7:00 and ends at 12:00. We have an hour break for lunch, though we usually combine that with debrief, and then language lessons for an hour. Some days we get out by 2:00PM, others it’s closer to 4:00PM. Then I walk 2km back to town. I usually spend some time with the other volunteers after work and then head home around 5:00/6:00. Dinner is at 7:00 or 8:00. Sometimes I cook, sometimes I just help, others I do nothing. I usually try to get in bed around 9:00, but some nights I just have too much to do to make that a reality. Then I get up and do it all again! This week I’m going to push to get home earlier some nights so I can spend more time with my family.

Oh! I forgot one of the most exciting parts of my week! There are two Japanese volunteers in my town. One of them even teaches at my school. We had coffee earlier this week and will go again next week. It was such a relief to be able to speak Japanese again!! They also gave me the contact details for a Japanese volunteer in the other town where we will finish training.

Let me just say, while this week (or even this month) has been far from easy, I have had so many wonderful experiences. I know I’m not even an official volunteer yet, but I still can’t help but think that joining Peace Corps was the best decision for me. I hope that I can keep up this attitude in the future!