Narnia

Each week this term, I have been reading "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe" to my grade 11 and 12 classes. This has been a hugely challenging task for them as they try to listen to me read aloud in my American English accent and try to understand a story written by C.S. Lewis in British English. Despite it all, they've done a decent job understanding the basic gist of the story and the main characters. In fact, when many of them see me walking around the school grounds, I can hear them whispering "Narnia!" or calling out "Lucy!," mimicking the way I pronounce these important words in the story. It's endearing and hilarious.

Today was our last reading day and instead of trying to cram one last chapter into their heads in the midst of being bogged down by impending exams, I decided to show them the first part of the Disney movie.

They were elated. To watch a movie during class is certainly a luxury! They all scrambled to the front of the classroom with chairs and desks to sit and stand as close to my little MacBook as possible. Despite the small screen and soft audio, they were rapt. When each character appeared on the screen for the first time, they fondly whispered their name out loud. It was like they were meeting long-lost friends for the very first time. They laughed heartily when they saw the goofy-looking Mr. Tumnus, gasped when the White Witch appeared, and ooh-ed and ahh-ed at the sight of snow.

It was a really special experience to watch their faces as they watched the movie. As I read these chapters three times each week (I feel like I could almost recite it these days), I constantly envision the characters and scenes from the movie. I hope the viewing today brings the story to life in their imaginations and helps them continue to understand it better.

And props to Disney for following the book so closely, at least during the first six chapters. The movie really is so magical and was quite the second-to-last-day-of-classes treat!

Happy Birthday, Jenny!!!

I've known Jenny McGee for twenty years now. Twenty years! I think that makes both of us old.

From her birth in 1991

To teaching her chubby arms how to fly

From celebrating our birthdays together every Easter

To countless photos riding Dumbo in DisneyWorld

Happy birthday to the BEST sister ever! Blog readers: please enjoy this sweet video my grade 11 learners made for Jenny. They all admire her because she's 20 and already in university - and they love that she's becoming a nurse! They burst with excitement when I told them I'd send a video of them to America. So click here and enjoy!

TIA Tuesday

Three large pigs have taken up residence in my front yard as a result of all the garbage and sewage that’s been strewn about from the floods. They try to fight me away every time I come home (and probably could win). TIA.

I ran out of butter and haven’t made it to the market because of the water. TIA.

Twenty minutes of our morning staff meeting was spent arguing about the time change this coming Sunday. First, which direction it was going in and whether or not that meant more sun or less sun in the morning (“can’t have the learners wading through chest-deep water in the dark!”). Secondly, whether or not we would observe it. FYI we’ve decided not to observe it even though the rest of the country is. Does any of that make sense? TIA.

Found out I had a package sent to me on January 16 that still hasn’t made it. Who knows when it will arrive! TIA.

When I told my grade 11 class that I was going to take a video of them and “send them to America,” they almost peed their pants with excitement. TIA.

Go Dores!

Check this out.

Vanderbilt mailed out its Class of 2015 acceptance letters last week. We all know that Vanderbilt University is and always will be the BEST university in the world. But while I am proud of the c/o 2015, I couldn’t be more grateful to not be a senior in high school anymore. This is getting out of control!

Most shocking stat of all? The middle 50% SAT is 1440-1590. That means that about 25% of the c/o 2015 got a perfect score on their SAT. Ahhhh. Vomit now.

VU!

Water, Water Everywhere

I had a fantastic weekend in Rundu with Amy and Tanya (and other expat friends along the way)! Truly, I couldn’t have asked for a more rejuvenating, relaxing, and enjoyable time.

However, returning back to Owamboland was a shock. This is rainy season, so the oshanas have been full for a while – that’s nothing new. However, as soon as I caught a taxi north from Ondangwa, I was filled with a foreboding sense of disaster.

The floods have hit, and they’ve hit hard. Many people suspected that we had avoided the floods since they usually occur in early March at the latest. In fact, rainy season should be ending any week now, so the fact that things have worsened is surprising. People say the pattern of floods here has changed drastically since 2008 because of Global Warming. I’m no expert, but those of you with good internet should look into it.

There is water everywhere. What used to be several oshanas spaced many kilometers apart is now one giant flood plain. Entire homesteads and villages have been washed out and people are struggling more than ever to get food and clean water for their families.

school under water

Even my own house and village have been affected. An entire stretch of shebeens, hair salons, and small family businesses in town are completely underwater. As I returned home Monday evening, I approached my house to find it surrounded by high-standing water several yards around. As I stood and assessed the situation, I realized the very thing that we all have to come to terms to – you just have to deal with it. You can’t move to a new location and you can’t stay holed up in your house. You simply have to wade through the water and pray for health and safety during these flood days/weeks.

The biggest issue with the floodwaters is the filth that fills them. As I’ve said before, cattle roam freely north of the Red Line in Namibia. That means we frequently have cows, goats, pigs, chickens, guinea fowl, and various dogs roaming in our front yard – and “doing their business.” Clearly, that creates an issue when mixed with water. There are also no laws against littering, so garbage and broken glass is strewn across yards and streets in places – also not a good thing to have floating through the water. However, despite the rare risk of typhoid, cholera, and schistosomiasis, people walk through these waters every year and survive.

stretch of shebeens and small shops in ohangwena

The floods clearly cause many issues. When businesses and homes are washed out, families lose their few possessions and their livelihood. When homesteads and farms are washed out, families and communities can lose a year’s supply of food (remember that it only rains for three months of the year here). When learners have to walk through chest-deep water to get to school every day, they drown. Already we’ve heard that there have been several drownings in the north-central regions just in the past few weeks, although all of our learners have thankfully been spared.

shebeens under water - usually thriving with life and loud music every time i walk past!

On Wednesday, I received many texts from fellow volunteers concerning our schools’ decisions about the floods. Today, I learned that 26 out of 31 schools in our circuit have closed for the next 2-3 weeks minimum. This is a HUGE deal. In the immediate time frame, it means all those children are at home or on the streets with nothing to do. Learning completely ceases for the weeks that the schools are closed. The term is scheduled to end in four weeks; the last 2-3 weeks of the term are used for circuit-set exams. With big exams coming up, clearly closing schools right now will have a huge effect. Thankfully, like the States, the schools are required to make up these “flood holidays” just like we have to make up snow days. Unfortunately for everyone, that means the April holiday will be significantly shorter.

As I’ve mentioned before, Grade 10 is a crucial year in the Namibian education system. Our school has already been warned that as one of only five schools remaining open in the circuit, we will likely have to take in Grade 10 learners in the coming weeks so that they will still be prepared for the upcoming exams. It’s great that we (supposedly) have the facilities to take them in, but it will be a challenging logistical situation, for sure.

school under water

And what about our learners? Several of my homeroom learners have been absent for many weeks in a row simply because they cannot get from their villages to school due to the waters. Again, that’s a huge deal with exams coming up, and unfortunately exams are the most important thing in a learner’s success. Perhaps our school will work to house more learners in the hostel, but even that has been a difficult situation in the past few weeks.

So, if you’ve made it to the end of this lengthy blog post, please pray for the following things:

-       that learners stay safe as they commute to and from school

-       that the flood waters recede

-       that we all make wise decisions in how to deal with the floods

-       that the people with power (at the circuit, region, or Ministry) make wise decisions concerning education and safety over test scores

And rejoice that Namibia even has rain! A taxi driver admonished me for even mentioning the fact that the waters were “floods” today. “Rain in Namibia is a good thing; a very very good thing.”

TIA...Thursday?

Sorry avid readers (if there are any of you?)! I flaked out on TIA Tuesday this week, which I promised myself I would never do. My excuse: after spending a long holiday weekend away, I returned home with a nasty cold that kept me in bed for two days.

No excuses. Here are a few of the TIA moments that have happened over the last week:

"Can you help me a black pen?" "A black one? Just use your blood!" TIA.

Physically shoved a Namibian man who was twice my size and yelled in his face - and he backed off! Chased after a taxi that decided to pull away with my bag in it, even though I wouldn't get in. Learning to be assertive! TIA.

Came home to shin-deep water surrounding my house because of the north-central region floods. Have to wade through it every day despite the filth that is in it. TIA.

"Miss! Are you not feeling well? You are looking so thin!" Thank goodness...it's about time. Too bad that's a Namlish insult? TIA.

Flash floods. TIA.

Opening two outrageously awesome packages from my dad. I was so filled with excitement that when tears started streaming down my cheeks, I was quite caught off guard. Who knew seeing Chips Ahoy, M&Ms, Kraft Mac & Cheese, Jello pudding mix, my ASB sweatshirt, Parks & Rec Season 2, and much more could make me so emotional? Only in Africa. TIA.

On Race in Namibia

Monday marks Namibia’s 21^st birthday – not only is a 21^st birthday a big deal (only in America, I guess), but it’s also its Golden Birthday! So hats off, Namibia!

On Thursday evening, the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology came to our school to show a film to the hostel learners about Namibia’s struggle for independence. The film, “Namibia: The Struggle for Liberation,” detailed Namibia’s long fight for independence through the eyes of Sam Nujoma, the leader of SWAPO (the South West Africa People’s Organization) and the eventual first president of the Republic of Namibia.

Despite its length (161 minutes...it went way past my 8pm bedtime), the movie was well made, detailed, beautiful, and raw. Many scenes in it made me cringe more than “Hotel Rwanda” and there were many scenes of torture, killing, destruction, and dead bodies that were almost impossible to watch. The almost 25-year struggle for independence in Namibia quite a horrific period in history.

In fact, a majority of the bloodiest fighting happened right in and around our village. Ohangwena is a part of the township of Helao Nafidi. which is named after one of the biggest fighters for independence in the north-central area. In the late 1980s, four learners and one teacher were killed at my school as it was shelled. The battle occurred right at my home and life just went on.

Mari and I went to view the movie and were the only foreigners in a room of about 400 learners and teachers. That made me the only white person there. While the struggle for liberation was Namibia against South Africa, this turned into a largely white versus black battle.

I have never watched a movie that had such a passionate audience! Well, perhaps the “High School Musical 3” midnight premiere came close, but this was unreal. The learners chanted along with the war chants, sang all the liberation songs, cheered when the blacks succeeded in battle, and booed whenever the whites appeared.

Namibia has come a long, long way since independence, and it’s important to remember that it’s only been a free country for 21 years. In my experience, blatant racism is not overt here. The country is truly free in many respects. But underlying race issues do exist.

As a white person in Namibia, you do get favored in strange ways. Afrikaners will offer you free rides while they refuse to stop for black Namibians. You may be told to sit in the passenger’s seat on a hike instead of the back of a pick-up truck because you’re a white woman. Or occasionally, you may even get to go to the front of the line at the bank.

But the subconscious race relations are the most heartbreaking and are something I only began to notice a few weeks ago. While Namibians are generally cordial and relatively welcoming, I have found it to be nearly impossible to form real relationships with people. Unfortunately, even if someone appears to want to be your friend, in nearly every instance it’s because they want something from you – money, your hand in marriage, etc. You have to put up your guard in every budding relationship if you don’t want to be walked all over.

As a relational person, these realities are blatant and sad. I came to Namibia hoping to invest in my community, form meaningful ties with the people, and be known deeply. While making relationships with anyone from a culture starkly different from your own is difficult, these race relations create huge – and sometimes impassable – barriers. It’s challenging to realize that I could leave Namibia without any persistent relationships.

This is definitely not a reason to give up, become anti-social, or conform to the racial barriers present in Namibia. I will continue to pray for relationships, greet people, smile, learn the language, and try to find commonalities with the people I do meet. I will continue to hope and believe that relationships are possible in Namibia. And I will remember that I’ve only been here three months.