Now that I have gotten official Ministry of Education approval!!!! I have some big/exciting/overwhelming news!
I am building a classroom.
My friend Karen made the difficult decision to leave Namibia earlier this year, and she graciously left behind a very generous amount of extra fundraised money for me to use at my school. Thanks to some additional funding from family and friends I have enough to build a classroom.
I have been in a constant struggle over if this is the right thing to do. The government has the money; however, because of a variety of political factors and my school being a primary school, the government is not going to build a classroom anywhere in the foreseeable future. It is very similar to the discrepancies remaining in our country. Ever watch the Corridor of Shame or seen some of the schools in Appalachia?
The reality is the kids are the ones suffering.
When I arrived at my school, I was shocked at the conditions of the buildings, even more shocked when I was led to the hut that is the grade 4 classroom. When I say hut I mean hut. It is not the rock, mud/cement huts that people live in, it is literally some sticks with gaping holes in the "walls" and roof.
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| Grade 4 Classroom |
It's their reality, it always has been and more than likely always will be. It's what they know. They are resilient and show more courage than I can possibly fathom.
When I first arrived I was thinking "I have to build a classroom." A few months in I was thinking "whatever the kids are fine." Term 2 came along and the grade 4 teacher left on maternity leave. Due to some ministry paper work delay concerning pay they were without a teacher for a few weeks. During this time the upper primary teachers and myself went and taught them during our free periods.
That was the first time I had ever spent time in the hut. It was miserable! Namibia is cold right now and that hut was about 100 times colder than being outside. I was bundled up, gloves, hats, scarf, fleece jacket, and I was freezing. Now imagine scrawny little children with short sleeves and no shoes. I was unmotivated to teach anything. It would have actually been more effective to just teach outside.
Even in the afternoon when it was warmer, the conditions were horrendous. The roof was caving in, there were huge holes in the wall, I kept hitting my head on the low ceiling, and there was almost no light. It just wasn't right. I wasn't motivated to teach, and I can imagine those kids weren't motivated to learn. I can't even comprehend how terrible it would be during the 5 month rainy season.
This leads me to "out of sight out of mind." I had "seen" this hut for 5 months and thought it wasn't "that bad." That was until I was forced to teach in it for one or two periods a day.
It's not going to drastically improve the quality of their education, it's not the library my blind optimistic self dreamed of creating pre-departure, it's going to cause me huge headaches, someone will probably rip me off at some point, something will most definitely go wrong, BUT at least I know it will be used.
I am using a local contractor, and we are trying to get community member involvement to do the manual labor. Hopefully, the community will respond and this will be something they can take pride in completing.
These kids may never leave the village but they deserve to feel like they are worth an actual school building and not a makeshift hut. Because they are worth it.
Prayers are most definitely appreciated and needed as I embark further along this endeavor. This is Africa and I'm attempting to build a building?
Please join me in praying for Amy, Sivara (her school), Dudu village (where her school is located), and the Ministry as they all work together to make this vision a reality. Pray for wisdom as they make decisions, expedited processes, honesty in their work, and an unrelenting excitement for this new space. You can follow Amy's blog and her progress here!
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