Volunteer Teachers in Namibia

Apologies up front for this being a lengthier-than-normal post. Bear with me.

I want to share with you a little insight into one of the many reasons I left Namibia, which was that my service was, in fact, hurting my community more than helping it. I'd like to give you a little context from my own experience, the writings of another volunteer teacher, and a favorite book of mine.

When I left my teaching site, another WorldTeach volunteer took my place for the remainder of the last two terms of school. It was a relief to know that my classes would not go untaught, but still left me feeling conflicted knowing that the school was no longer benefitting from volunteer teachers.

I have no doubt that the first few volunteers at my school (which we'll abbreviate PSSS for anonymity and brevity) were beneficial. It is, after all, a rural school with more learners than any given teacher should have to oversee in one class. And I'm sure that at some point it did not have many resources.

But today, after eons of a white ruling principal and over five years of white volunteer teachers since, PSSS is a school at which many Namibian teachers are eager to teach, despite it being "in the bush." It is one of the more reputable schools in the country. And it is very well resourced compared to most schools in the region, with internet (even wi-fi as of late), a full and well-organized library, many computers, what appears to be an unlimited supply of paper, two copy machines, some air conditioning, and some of the highest paid teachers in the region.

Needless to say, PSSS does not need volunteer teachers.

Read what the volunteer after me wrote about in her blog when she left the school at the end of last year (reprinted with permission):

I was summoned back to school for a department meeting where we discussed who would take over which classes in the 2012 school year. One teacher got a new job in Katima, so we were short one teacher, and then there was the issue of the volunteer. The Head of Department, who is very dedicated and an awesome guy, turned to me and indicated that I should just ‘pretend’ like I was the volunteer and to take whatever classes I thought they would want. I responded with an inquiry, “What volunteer?”

I told WorldTeach long ago, as did the volunteer before me and the one before her, that [PSSS] does not benefit from having a volunteer after five years of non-sustainable assistance by untrained teachers. They looked at me quizzically, “The one that will come when you go.” I replied, stone-faced, “WorldTeach is not sending another volunteer to [PSSS].” It is not sustainable to have a volunteer year-in and year-out, and they have had Peace Corps volunteers, JICA (Japanese Peace Corps, basically), and WorldTeach, back-to-back, for more than 5 years. [PSSS] is apathetic to volunteers’ needs and wants and therefore, despite the convenient location of Ohangwena, should not be given preference when it comes to new arrivals in my opinion. Like I said, the previous two volunteers said the same. Their response shocked me:
“Why not?”
“Well, you didn’t request one, and all of the placements have been made, and there isn’t one assigned to [PSSS]; I checked weeks ago.”
“Of course we would have requested one; that doesn’t make any sense, we request one every year.”
“Well, no one did this year, and now it’s too late.”
“We will call Monday and request.”
“Well, alright, but it’s too late, really, they already did the assignments for next year and they have been placed at other schools. There aren’t any more.”
“We will just order more.”
“What do you mean?”
“There are always people wanting to volunteer; we will just order another one.”

To think that they honestly believe that they can simply “order more” volunteers – not unlike a textbook – without even having to request them on time makes me nauseous. I have told them numerous times that we pay for the experience, that we want to teach and to come to Namibia and to learn about a new culture and to be challenged. For some reason they still think that we simply have nothing else to do. They feel entitled to a volunteer and do not realize what we sacrifice to be a part of their community. Not that we are martyrs – I don’t mean that at all, since we do want to do it and have a desire to change ourselves and our communities through our work – but we do re-wire our brains for the duration of our stay here that we are here to help others and ultimately do what we are told. We often work harder than our colleagues with no thanks. Simply put, Namibian teachers do not understand the ‘volunteer spirit’ or why we come here, because they would never have the opportunity to do such a thing and likely even if they did, they wouldn’t, because they typically don’t travel and don’t see the value in it.

I wish I could say I was shocked when I read her post. But frankly, it didn't surprise me. I sighed and moved on.

The issue with development work is that we all should be striving to work ourselves out of our jobs. After all, "the entire goal of development work is for the local people to take charge of their individual lives and community" (p112)

It appears that PSSS is suffering immensely from years and years of unintentional paternalism. Intentional or unintentional, it's destructive. And it's time for them to get on their own feet and take charge of their lives, their systems, and their community.

Avoid paternalism. Do not do things for people that they can do for themselves. (p116)

There are two kinds of paternalism that affect PSSS: labor paternalism and managerial paternalism. The former is present when we do work for people who can do that work themselves. As I said before, I played a key role in labor paternalism at my school. I hate that.

Managerial paternalism occurs when we plan, manage, and direct things when locals could be doing that themselves. When Helping Hurts laid out several reasons why locals allow managerial paternalism; they fit my experience in Namibia so well that I unintentionally wrote "NAM" next to every single one.

- They [locals] do not need to take charge because they know that we [outsiders] will take charge if they wait long enough.
- They lack the confidence to take charge, particularly when the 'superior,' middle-to-upper-class North Americans are involved.
- They, like we, have internalized the messages of centuries of colonialism, slavery, and racism: Caucasians run things and everyone else follows [an exceptionally tender issue since apartheid was only just abolished 22 years ago]
- They know that by letting us run the show it is more likely that we will birng in money and other material resources to give to them. (p119)

Woof. Makes you want to vomit, right? There are so many ways that we can cause harm.

Needless to say, I'm grateful that PSSS finally has the opportunity to step out on its own. I'm excited for them to have an all-local Language Department. I'm glad that they're finally responding to the Ministry's kick in the pants to hire a local. I'm eager for them to learn that they can not only exist, but succeed without a white teacher at their school. They fear that the only possible outcome in this "sink or swim" situation is sinking, but I know they'll do the latter.

My, how much we all have left to learn.