I went to the CAA (Catholic Aids Action - my internship) this morning. Chilled out for an hour. Talked to the director and was a little tired. I played with Denzel for a long time which was cool. He’s really a great kid. I think he might have vision issues which leads to problems with his counting but maybe he will be able to get better with time. I also played with kids in a matching game and dominoes. I must at admit that at first I am very turned off by their behavior but I think that it is a condition of their circumstance. Therefore there circumstance must be changed in order to alter their behavior. Respect and other admirable qualities need to be fostered with time and effort, the latter of which I have a lot of the, former of which I am lacking for the moment. Maybe when I make this a profession it won’t be so bad.
I came home and we did a homestay prep which I was very tired for. I am beginning to realize that about 2-3 in the afternoon I go through this intense wave of tiredness and then im pretty peppy afterwards. I cant really explain it; maybe jet lag, maybe heat and water?
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Tuesday 3 Feb
Today we went to Out of Nature outdoor center to do some team building activities. It was nice we did the web of support thing which didn’t work particularly well but we got the message. We did egg races which were a lot of fun. And other stuff like safety scenarios. We also all shared our roadmaps with one another. I really liked that part of it. I think it was nice to hear everyone’s stories. I felt a lot closer with everyone afterward and grateful that that they shared with us. I had a lot of fun playing Frisbee as well although Yedidya almost killed Carolyn. The mountain scenes on the way back were beautiful.
Monday 2 Feb – My Birthday
It was the first day of the intership today. I got there only a few minutes before Mary Beth and stood awkwardly in the office before she arrived. She gave me and Barbara a proper orientation and showed us all around the compound. There are tons of things that can be done. And I am definitely the type of person who thrives off there being stuff to do especially when it is physical, productive labor in warm climates. So I cant wait to get to work. She also gave us a tour of the local neighborhood. Then she took us to a school where she used her magic to get a boy who had been out of school for a year back in. She also payed for it. It was pretty amazing to see. We then went to pick up Denzel and Dapne both of whom are disabled so we give them some morning education. Daphne is eighteen, deaf and has been abused. She is afraid of men so I have to be careful but she was in a good mood that day and laughed and smiled and got along with me really well. Denzel is awesome and I have a lot of fun with him. He is in a wheelchair and has braces on his legs. That morning they taught me some really interesting games like lucky 6 and some card game which was kind of like "rat screw" but for kids. It was awesome. It was first experience learning with disabled kids and is hard to get used to but you pick it up quickly. You need to slow everything down and realize you’re trying to get them to learn.
After working with them for a few hours I had my lunch and then the kids started to come in. Before you knew it there was a swarm of them. 200-300 everywhere. I read to some at first and then Cathy asked if I wanted to try out the kitchen to see what it was like. There were miles of bowls of soup. They kids come to a door with a ticket for soup and get a little bowl with a little piece of bread in it. After everyone has been served they can come back for seconds or as they call it “second chance”. Its absolute pandemonium at that point. It’s a little bit sad because you can tell they are very hungry. They are all screaming and yelling for more soup and bread. Some fight over the chance to finish off they pots of soup with the bread. I can see why the organization wants to work on manners and respect so much. They are good kids they just lack a lot important socialization at home because of the poverty. I believe they cant be blamed for it but at the same time they need to learn proper manners. I don’t know if I have the right to say that? For the rest of the afternoon basically I worked with a girl on her factors. It was difficult for me to remember the easier maths because adults get so far removed from it, that it is difficult to keep up with it. But I tried and I hope it helped. Who knows? I think Mary Beth was happy with the work I did. Hopefully I can keep it up and make some lasting/sustainable improvements there. I am pumped about the stuff I have to do.
After working with them for a few hours I had my lunch and then the kids started to come in. Before you knew it there was a swarm of them. 200-300 everywhere. I read to some at first and then Cathy asked if I wanted to try out the kitchen to see what it was like. There were miles of bowls of soup. They kids come to a door with a ticket for soup and get a little bowl with a little piece of bread in it. After everyone has been served they can come back for seconds or as they call it “second chance”. Its absolute pandemonium at that point. It’s a little bit sad because you can tell they are very hungry. They are all screaming and yelling for more soup and bread. Some fight over the chance to finish off they pots of soup with the bread. I can see why the organization wants to work on manners and respect so much. They are good kids they just lack a lot important socialization at home because of the poverty. I believe they cant be blamed for it but at the same time they need to learn proper manners. I don’t know if I have the right to say that? For the rest of the afternoon basically I worked with a girl on her factors. It was difficult for me to remember the easier maths because adults get so far removed from it, that it is difficult to keep up with it. But I tried and I hope it helped. Who knows? I think Mary Beth was happy with the work I did. Hopefully I can keep it up and make some lasting/sustainable improvements there. I am pumped about the stuff I have to do.
Sunday 1 Feb
I got up early and took a cab to the pool to meet my internship supervisor a day early. The first day of the internship was scheduled for Monday but Evan, the internship coordinator, told me I could meet Mary Beth, my supervisor with the kids at the pool on Sunday. So I went. The cabby, joking around, tried to charge me 50 N$ for the ride which would only be 5$ in America, probably an appropriate amount for the distance. However the price is only supposed to be N$ 7.50 or $.75 American. I promptly and sternly told him “no”. He laughed and said "haha ok ok" and gave me the correct change.
I walked up to the entrance of the pool where about 200 kids were sitting. I asked them if they were from Catholic AIDS Action to which they said yes. I told them I was Clarke and I would be working with them this semester. They all promptly jumped up and surrounded me. They instantly want to touch you, look at your watch, feel your arm hair because its so different, feel your hair hair which they say is very soft and be all over you. We played some hand games while waiting for Mary Beth. She took her bike around the back end of the pool and when the kids saw her they all started chanting her name. They know what to do as well because they line up by girls and boys. She gives them a prep talk before going in and tells them to behave. I meet her and the other volunteer from Germany, about my age, Barbara. Barbara says if I like having kids all over me I might as well jump in. So I got to the locker room to change. The boys room has recently burned down so after climbing over the door lying on its side to get in imagine a room where the burnt ash and effluvia of the ceiling are all over the floor. There are holes above you letting the sky in and burnt and blackened pipes lying crippled from the ceiling every which way. I changed in a little cubby with no curtiain, I wasn’t worried, no one else was coming in. It smelt like fecesand urin. I went to the bathroom on one of those large metal wall urinals where it is literally a wall that several men can pee on at once. It was warped from the heat of the fire.
I then got in the pool with the kids. Ten of them jumped on me at once. It was so much fun. You just throw them around and have a ball with them. Take some to the deep end etc. I then actually go to teach 10-12 boys for a while. They loved it and were pretty attentive for a bunch of really enthusiastic little kids. It was awesome. I had a nosebleed so I had to get out for a while. I talked to Mary Beth and found out about her travels to south America and the middle east and now here. I met Cathy from New Zealand and Lynn from England. Both of these women help Mary Beth out and are referred to as Grandma. It was a really good time.
I then took a cab ot the parliament gardens to meet the rest of the crew for our community meeting which was really nice. Kristen laid out he basics and told us she was a bit homesick. We played an awesome game of ultimate and I sucked a little bit. Then we went home and chilled out and got ready for the internship.
I walked up to the entrance of the pool where about 200 kids were sitting. I asked them if they were from Catholic AIDS Action to which they said yes. I told them I was Clarke and I would be working with them this semester. They all promptly jumped up and surrounded me. They instantly want to touch you, look at your watch, feel your arm hair because its so different, feel your hair hair which they say is very soft and be all over you. We played some hand games while waiting for Mary Beth. She took her bike around the back end of the pool and when the kids saw her they all started chanting her name. They know what to do as well because they line up by girls and boys. She gives them a prep talk before going in and tells them to behave. I meet her and the other volunteer from Germany, about my age, Barbara. Barbara says if I like having kids all over me I might as well jump in. So I got to the locker room to change. The boys room has recently burned down so after climbing over the door lying on its side to get in imagine a room where the burnt ash and effluvia of the ceiling are all over the floor. There are holes above you letting the sky in and burnt and blackened pipes lying crippled from the ceiling every which way. I changed in a little cubby with no curtiain, I wasn’t worried, no one else was coming in. It smelt like fecesand urin. I went to the bathroom on one of those large metal wall urinals where it is literally a wall that several men can pee on at once. It was warped from the heat of the fire.
I then got in the pool with the kids. Ten of them jumped on me at once. It was so much fun. You just throw them around and have a ball with them. Take some to the deep end etc. I then actually go to teach 10-12 boys for a while. They loved it and were pretty attentive for a bunch of really enthusiastic little kids. It was awesome. I had a nosebleed so I had to get out for a while. I talked to Mary Beth and found out about her travels to south America and the middle east and now here. I met Cathy from New Zealand and Lynn from England. Both of these women help Mary Beth out and are referred to as Grandma. It was a really good time.
I then took a cab ot the parliament gardens to meet the rest of the crew for our community meeting which was really nice. Kristen laid out he basics and told us she was a bit homesick. We played an awesome game of ultimate and I sucked a little bit. Then we went home and chilled out and got ready for the internship.
Saturday 31 Jan - Mom's Birthday!
We finally got some rest in the morning today. This was quickly trumped by a lengthy student forum that went on for hours in the afternoon. We met with local Namibian students to discuss everything under the sun (literally) which was nice but they stayed for a very long time. Most of the US students went into the house after a couple of hours because of the sun and heat but some of us had to stay out so the Namibians were not by themselves.
Since they stayed so long we had about an hour to get ready to go out for My, Justines, and Abbie’s birthdays. We went to Joe’s Bar which was huge and had a great time. I got he Bushmen Sosatie platter which included, Ostrich, Crocidile, Zebra, Kudu, and last but not least, Chicken. I had my first Guinness in Africa. Hurray. The three of us also got different deserts which we passed around to everyone. It was pretty sweet.
Since they stayed so long we had about an hour to get ready to go out for My, Justines, and Abbie’s birthdays. We went to Joe’s Bar which was huge and had a great time. I got he Bushmen Sosatie platter which included, Ostrich, Crocidile, Zebra, Kudu, and last but not least, Chicken. I had my first Guinness in Africa. Hurray. The three of us also got different deserts which we passed around to everyone. It was pretty sweet.
Friday 30 Jan
Today we did the Katutura Quest. We were all assigned different places to check out in Windhoek. I went with Justine and Hannah to an orphanage run by just one lady and her helpers. She gets donations wherever she can and has taken in about 21 one kids. It was a very free lance type of orphanage because parents could just sort of come by and pick up the kids whenever. The owner did a really good job at improving the place. She had just built a new building with bedrooms and bathrooms for boys and girls along with a 2 rooms for homework, playing, etc. it was amazing what she had done. The kids were very young and climbed all over us. The practically tackled Hannah. They loved being lifted up and thrown around. One or two of them had AIDS which is a very hard thing to hear. Another girl was very disabled and forced to squat in order to walk around. She was very kind.
We had a debriefing about the quest and worked out some very interesting calculations comparing prices/minium wages for Namibians and Americas. For a Namibian to buy a pack of diapers it would cost them 51 Namibian dollars(N$) or 5 American Dollars. If they get the average Namibian salary ( 3 N$ an hour) it means they would have to work for 2 days to get one pack of diapers. If an American worked for two days at a minimum wage of abou 5.25 an hour it would mean that an equivalent pack of diapers would be $96.01. So although some assume its cheap for the average Namibian to live here its not if we turn it into an American equivalent. Pretty crazy. TIA.
We had a debriefing about the quest and worked out some very interesting calculations comparing prices/minium wages for Namibians and Americas. For a Namibian to buy a pack of diapers it would cost them 51 Namibian dollars(N$) or 5 American Dollars. If they get the average Namibian salary ( 3 N$ an hour) it means they would have to work for 2 days to get one pack of diapers. If an American worked for two days at a minimum wage of abou 5.25 an hour it would mean that an equivalent pack of diapers would be $96.01. So although some assume its cheap for the average Namibian to live here its not if we turn it into an American equivalent. Pretty crazy. TIA.
Wednesday Jan 28
Today we finally head for Namibia. The general consensus among us was that, although we all loved SA and our time there we really wanted to be settled and not living out of suitcases any more. The flight was easy except for Britta who lost her passport. It was found by the lady at the desk literally as the last bus was leaving for the plane. It could not have been cut any closer. We arrived safely and got through customs pretty easily. The drive from the airport to the house was beautiful: flat semi-desert in the foreground and beautiful mountains in the background. We saw baboons and 1 elk on the way there. We arrived in the house which I was totally impressed by. Its awesome, large and very comfortable. The power and internet have been cutting out but TIA. Once we arrived we had dinner which was fine although the food over the last couple days has been fantastic! We did laundry and had a very long intro discussion with the staff. We got a tour as well. Some of us headed up to the Carboard Box up the street which is the local bar. Its pretty cool there. Great environment, nice and open. As far as beer goes, Windhoek Lager = good, Tafel = Eh and Windhoek Draught = Ok. I was awful on there pool table. The balls were smaller.
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