Meet Mrs. Kandara

I was placed with Anna Maria Kandara at A.I. Steenkamp Primary School in Katatura. Right away, it was clear that Mrs. Kandara and myself were a wonderful match. It has been great getting to know her. I was surprised after I saw what all we needed to write about in this paper, because I had already had conversations with her about almost all of the topics we needed to cover.

She has a pretty amazing story. She identifies herself as being a member of the Damara tribe, however she says that there has been a lot of mixing in her family so it is difficult to say which tribe she belongs too. Born and raised in a small village in Riemvasmaak, South Africa (near Kakamas), she didn’t come to Namibia until she and her family were uprooted and moved to Northwestern Namibia during apartheid times. She grew up with her mother and her sister; her father died in a car accident when she was 6 years old. Her mother and sister were moved to Namibia in 1973. At this time she was finishing up college in South Africa and white South Africans let her finish school before they moved her. After moving to Namibia she met her husband whom she had four children with (2 girls and 2 boys). Their daughters are now married, however neither of her sons are married yet. They both still live with her, which is nice, since her husband passed away a little over a year ago. She is so open and willing to share her story, just like Uanee said many people here are.

She is one of the kindest people I have ever met. She loves her learners and you can tell in everything she does! Not only does she not believe in or practice corporal punishment, I have never even heard her yell at her kids. We have had numerous conversations about all the violence that our kids see in this culture. She explained to me one day that corporal punishment really contradicts exactly what we are trying to teach our kids. Punishing a child for hitting another child by hitting them doesn’t teach anything. It just teaches them that it is okay to use physical violence to solve problems rather than using words. She made it very clear to me that for her that is not an option.

When I asked her what her teaching philosophy was she responded with, “I teach what I am.” She cares deeply for each one of our students and I see it in the way that she knows all of her students’ names, which is not common at Steenkamp. Many teachers don’t make an effort to get to know their students at all, but she is the opposite. She recognizes that not all students are going to get straight A’s and she is dedicated enough to figure out the strengths that each one of her students does have.

It is clear that she believes everyone has something to bring to the table and she praises her kids when they do well on things whether it is schoolwork, athletics or showing kindness to their peers. Her goal as a teacher is to give them something that they will be able to take with them and use throughout their lives. She told me that teaching is her passion. She retired in 2010 and it only took her six months to realize that she needed to go back to school to teach in order to live her passion.

It was quite interesting when I asked her what she liked to do in her spare time, because it was similar to what I like to do. She said that she spends time doing needlework for herself and also really enjoys knitting, as do I. We also talked about the large role that religion plays in her life. She is a Christian woman who is extremely strong in her faith. This is another aspect of her life that I can identify myself with.

I agree with almost all aspects of her educational philosophy. Building relationships and using positive reinforcement are both at the heart of my educational philosophy as well. It is very nice to get to work with someone who is as passionate about teaching as I am and really just wants the kids to learn. We also agree that student successes should be celebrated no matter how big or small. The only piece of her philosophy that I don’t necessarily agree with is that learners should be grouped based on how they do on their standardized tests. She feels that it is more beneficial for all of the “low” learners to be together in one group, however I feel that having students of all different levels in a classroom is more beneficial for everyone’s learning. I do see that with the way the educational system is set-up it is extremely difficult to differentiate instruction when you only end up having your learners for about 25 minutes.

As far as our backgrounds go, I grew up in a suburban area and she grew up in a very rural area. Similarly, I grew up with one sibling, however I did have, and still do have both of my parents. Getting to know Mrs. Kandara has been amazing! I have learned so much from her and feel that I have grown as a teacher getting to work with her.

Q and A

I got an e-mail from my favorite 4th graders back home the other day. They asked some great questions, so I figured I would share them with all of you. Here it goes:

Hello my lovely 4th graders!
I hope I have answered all of your questions in enough detail:

From Jaden and Kody: What are some things that are the same as here?

I can still get a lot of foods that we eat in America.

We still have a TV and access to internet. There are swimming pools to swim in here. We have the same kind of bathrooms as back home, with a toilet, a shower, a bath-tub and a sink. I also get to sleep in a bed similar to my bed at home. People also drive cars here, however most people walk when they need to go somewhere.

A lot of people play soccer here. My learners love to play and I play with them at break time sometimes.

What are the things that are different?

The schools here are very different! Instead of having the same group of students all day, I get a different group every 35 minutes. We have 9 periods throughout the day, so I have about 320 students in my classroom in one day. In each one of my classes I have between 35 and 45 kids.

A lot of people live in homes that are not permanent structures, meaning that they will not stay there forever. Most of these homes are made out of sheet metal, cinder blocks and other found materials like sticks and plastic.

So, I mentioned driving cars above, but it isn't exactly like we drive in the United States. In the cars here, the driver sits on the right side of the car, instead of the left, and they drive on the left side of the street instead of the right. It is very interesting, but I am getting used to being on the "wrong side" of the street.

People also eat lots of different foods here like goat, donkey, and porridge. Porridge is a staple in there diet. It is made from maize, which is what the people here call corn, sugar, and oil. I got to taste it at the children's home I am working at after school and I thought it tasted pretty good.

Some sports that are very popular here that aren't necessarily common in the United States are Rugby (a combination between American Football and Soccer) and Netball (similar to basketball).

Tommy: Does it rain there a lot?

It is the rainy season here, however when we first arrived it was about 95 degrees on average each day. It has cooled down some and is now in the low 80s everyday. Nearly every afternoon we have a big rainstorm. Yesterday when we were coming home from school, the streets were so full of water they looked like rivers.

Aylyn: Does it snow there?

It doesn't snow anywhere in Namibia, but it does snow in some areas in South Africa, which is one of the countries that boarders Namibia. My students have never seen snow before and really don't understand what it is. I'm so jealous that you got to play in the snow while I was gone!

Is it sunny there all the time?

Like I said when I answered the question above, it only rains in the afternoon and is mostly sunny the rest of the day. We woke up on Tuesday morning to fog, which is rare here, and it reminded me of home. It really made me miss home.

Tommy says thanks for the blog, We are really enjoying learning about your trip!

You are welcome! I'm so glad that Mrs. Stagg has been able to share it with you!

What is the fun thing to do? What are your students' favorite subjects?

My favorite thing to do since I have been here is to travel around Namibia and see different parts of the country. My most favorite weekend trip was when we went to the Sand Dunes in Sossusvlei.

My kids really like to play soccer and swim during their free time. Just like all of you, each one of my kids has a different favorite. A lot of my kids really like Math and Science or Home Ecology. In Home Ecology they get to learn about how to eat healthy, set the table, and store and prepare food properly among other things.

What languages do you speak to the kids? Are they teaching you a new language?

All of my kids speak at least 2 languages, more commonly though, they speak 3 or four different languages. English is not any of their first language. Most of them learned how to speak Damara, Afrikaans, or Ochiherero, maybe all three, before they ever started learning English. At school that take one language class either Damara or Afrikaans, but all of their other classes are taught in English. I teach all of my classes in English, but sometimes, my kids have a hard time understanding, so another student will translate what I am saying into another language that they understand.

My kiddos are teaching me some Afrikaans and some Damara, but it is difficult for me. My goal is to be able to count to ten in Damara before I leave. I have taken some videos of my kiddos talking so I will share them with you when I get home!

What kind of food do you eat?

I have eaten a lot of pizza while I have been in Namibia. I have also been eating a lot of pasta and hamburgers with fries (here they call the fries "chips" though). I have also eaten some other things that we don't necessarily have in the United States...Kudu, Gemsbok, Zebra, and Crocodile. Of the not so common foods I have eaten, I would say that Gemsbok is my favorite. I will show you pictures of all of these animals when I get back to Tacoma!

Avari says we miss you!

I also miss all of you! I cannot wait to get to see you in a couple weeks!!

Kylah wants to know if you see lots of spiders? Like a Black Widows?

There are A LOT of spiders here! The first day we got here we found a spider that was as big around as the bottom of a coffee mug. We find spiders in our room almost everyday, but I have gotten used to them. They don't have Black Widows here, but I attached a picture of the kind of spiders we see most often here.

This is a spider that was in Anna's tent at Mushara Bush Camp.

What do you teach the middle school kids?

I have been moving around a little bit and I have gotten to teach 5th, 6th, and 7th graders. Between the three grades I have about 800 students, a few more than when I was back at home. I have mostly been teaching Science, Home Ecology, Art, and Math. My 7th graders really like to play math games just like you do! My 7th graders are working on multiplication and division right now, so there are lots of fun games to play with them. During Art I am having my 6th graders write you letters that I will bring to you after I get home.

From Kylah: Do you get to teach 4th graders? or spend any time with the 4th graders?

At A.I. Steenkamp, I am only working with 5th, 6th, and 7th graders, but two days a week I am also volunteering at an after-school program kind of like the Boys and Girls Club. When I am there, I get to teach English to 4th and 5th graders. My 4th graders remind me of you I wish you all could meet one another, because you would be very good friends.

Juan says he is thinking of you and we can't wait to hear all about your adventures!

I am thinking of all of you also. I hope you are all learning lots! I will be coming in right after I get back to show you pictures and tell stories. Thank you all so much for all the questions! If you think of anything else you would like to ask, please let Mrs. Stagg know so she can e-mail them to me.

Love,

Ms. Austin

I hope you all enjoyed the questions as much as I did :-)

Love Is In the Air!

School was definitely interesting this week! Valentine’s Day was CRAZY. I got so many amazing notes from my students, telling me how much they love me and how they are going to cry when I leave. Just reading the letters made tears well up in my eyes. I cannot imagine leaving these kids unfortunately my trip comes to an end in only two short weeks. It seems impossible that I have already been living in Windhoek for 6weeks, but that is the reality.

I really wasn’t sure what to do for Valentine’s Day considering I have approximately 320 students through my classroom each day. The only thing I had enough of to give to them were golf pencils. I wasn’t sure what to expect as a reaction from them, but as soon as I told them I had a gift for them and passed the pencils out, smiles filled my classroom. The pencils were like gold to my learners. At the end of the class, a number of the kids tried to give them back to me and I said, “I gave those to you as a gift to keep forever!” Again their faces just lit up! I heard lots of “Thank you Miss,” and got lots of hugs. These kids just have so much love to give it is amazing! Watching the kids give Valentine’s cards to their Valentine’s partners was precious. The brought imitation flowers, homemade cards, and sweets for one another. It wasn’t so cute the next day though after they had all crashed from their sugar highs.

On Wednesday, I had to have a group of my grade 7 students to put their heads down for part of the period, which was definitely a first for that particular group. We had quite the discussion about what it meant to be respectful to one another and by Thursday they pulled themselves together. They had all of their homework done and were extremely engaged with the HIV/AIDS lesson I taught. It really was like night and day. I brought my camera to class and took pictures of lots of my kiddos during my art lessons and also at break time. It is amazing how they all want me to “catch a photo” of them. They are so adorable and as soon as the camera comes out they are posing for as many pictures as I am willing to take. Kids run from all the way on the opposite side of the courtyard just to jump into the picture. It is really funny. It will definitely be nice to have the photos to remember all of my beautiful Namibian kiddos.

Hanging with some of my grade 5, 6, and 7 learners at break time.

Hard at work on a self-portrait in Art :-)

Some of my grade 7 learners posing for a photo.

Me and some of my grade 7B girls.

After school on Thursday Kristin and I went on a home visit with one of our lovely 5E learners that we also teach at the BNC (after school program). Our school counselor from Steenkamp, Mr. Boyce, drove us to her home in the Steenkamp school bus, which seemed a little excessive with their only being three of us in the back, but it was a very nice gesture. When we got to Odette’s home, her mother welcomed us with open arms. The homes of families here are much different than those that we are used to in the United States. Some would enter into these homes and see how little the people have and automatically think that they must be unhappy and poor. On the contrary, this house was more full of love than many I have seen back home.

The entire home was the size of Joel and my dining room back home. There was one queen size bed, an armoire, a refrigerator/freezer and a small stand that held two hotplates for cooking. Odette, her sister, her two brothers, and her mother live together in this space. The house was mad of cinder blocks and the floor was cement. We sat and talked with Odette and her mother for about twenty minutes about how great of a student Odette is and answered questions for one another about our cultures and lifestyles. Kristin and I gave them a box of Almond Roca that we had brought from Tacoma. They graciously accepted the box and Odette’s mother said, “When this box is empty, I will put it up in the window so we can always remember the nice American women that came to visit us in our home.” Again, my eyes welled up with tears and I got goose bumps.

While Kristin and I were talking to Odette’s mother she went outside and came back in with a small potted plant. She and her mother spoke to one another in Damara for a moment and then she handed the plant to us and said, “We would like to give this to you, it is our only green one.” Part of me didn’t want to take it, because it was their only green plant outside, but then I realized how much it meant for this family to be able to give something to us. We took the plant and said thank you and commented on how beautiful it was. Odette’s mother began talking about ho important plants are. She told us that you can tell a lot about a person from their home. She pointed to a hanging basket in the center of the room that was made from strips of cotton. It had a plant sitting inside it. She told us that if a person doesn’t have plants inside their home it reflects in their heart and means that they don’t have anything to live for. If they have plants in their home it means that their heart is beautiful and full of love and life. It was so interesting to hear how much a simple thing like a plant plays such a role in her life. After having this conversation, Odette took us next door to meet some more of their family.

Her Grandmother, two aunts and about ten of her cousins stay in the house next door. This home was a little bit larger and even had a small kitchen. It was great to get to talk with her aunt and hold one of her beautiful baby cousins who was just a few months old. I have never been in a home that is more filled with love than this one. I am so thankful to have gotten this experience.

Opuwo and Beyond

I know it has been some time since I last posted and I'm sorry to keep you hanging after my last post, but I have just been so busy. I guess I need to go all the way back to about three weeks ago when we headed up North to Opuwo and then headed to Etosha National Park. The trip up North was amazing! At times we were at one another’s throats, but I think that is pretty normal when you are traveling with a group of twenty people and you are spending the majority of your time on a small bus (or as we like to call it, the great white). Thankfully we had the most amazing tour guide ever! Yet again Uanee was able to accompany us on this adventure.

We left early on Wednesday morning and spent most of the day traveling. With a few stops here and there we made it to Opuwo in about twelve hours. It was rainy for most of the day which made travelling nice seen as how our vehicle was not equipped with air conditioning. Along the way we saw lots of the same kinds of animals we had seen at Okapuka our first week in Windhoek. There were lots of baboons, wart hogs, springbok and even a tortoise. I’m not really sure how Uanee spotted it from the driver’s seat, because it was only about 5 inches in diameter. We were trucking right along and all the sudden Uanee stopped the bus, jumped out and started running down the highway back the way we had come. None of us knew what was going on. Once he was about 100 yards away, he bent down, picked something up and started running back toward us. When he got closer to the bus we could tell he was carrying a small turtle. By this time we were all off the bus and ready for a photo shoot with our new friend.

Sam scaring the tortoise into its shell...poor thing.

Uanee returned our tortoise friend to freedom and we boarded the Great White and pushed on with our journey. We stopped in Outjo to find some Makalani nut carvers that would be able to carve all 500+ nuts, while we were in Etosha, we wanted to take home to friends and family. The plan was that we would give them our lists of names and they would have the nuts finished when we came back through on Sunday. While Paula negotiated the price for the nuts, we looked in some little shops and got pastries at the well-known bakery in town. After the short break, we loaded back in the Great White and continued our adventure. We stopped about an hour later for a picnic lunch that Reuben, one of the chefs at Casa, had prepared for us. It consisted of 2 slices of brown bread with butter, 2 maxi slices (the Namibian equivalent to American cheese), an apple, juice, a bottle of water, and of course meat; a pan fried pork chop to be exact. Not exactly like our sack lunches in the United States, but it sure was tasty. After lunch we climbed back on the bus, we were now only a couple of hours from our destination for the day, which was Opuwo. In order to get there we would be passing the western border of Etosha National Park.

As we came upon Etosha we were hoping to see elephants, which unfortunately didn’t happen, but we weren’t skunked. Just as we came around a bend we had our first zebra sighting. There were between 20 and 30 mountain and plains zebra hanging out with about 10 giraffes. We were all so excited to see these gorgeous animals, but we weren’t close enough get any real good pictures (don’t worry there will be pictures of both soon enough). We were pleased with the animal sightings, but we were all ready to be to our final destination and get off the bus.

When we arrived in Opuwo, there was a woman waiting at the gate to the lodge we were staying at. We got off the bus and Paula ran over to her and gave her a hug. This was the infamous Queen Elizabeth. She is a woman who lives in Opuwo and sells bracelets, necklaces and many other goods as a means to make a living. We had all been told over and over again that she was the one we should buy our bracelets from, and boy did I. I bought 25 bracelets from her and almost everyone else bought a bunch also. After we bought all of our bracelets, Queen Elizabeth told Jan that she would now be able to pay her children’s school fees. This was very touching for me.

Once we settled into our rooms, we met for dinner. Mr. Kapi, the principal of he Ondau Mobile Schools, came and ate dinner with us at the lodge. It was great to hear his stories about his life and his thoughts on education. It made me so excited to head out to the schools the next day. After dinner we headed back to our rooms for a good night sleep before meeting teachers and learners at two of the mobile schools.

Uanee came and picked us up the next morning, despite the downpour, and we headed to the grocery store to pick up maize flour, sugar, and oil for the two schools that we were visiting. The first school we stopped at was actually a permanent structure. There were about four different buildings that housed classrooms, hostiles (for the students to stay in that travel far to get to school), and living quarters for the teachers. Everyone was so welcoming and thankful that we brought the maize, oil, and sugar. One of the teachers told us that many of the children had not eaten for three days and that the amount that we brought would feed all of the children four meals.

We walked into one of the classrooms and the learners weren’t sure what to think at first and neither was I to be honest. I didn’t know if they spoke English or really had an interest in getting to know us. Briefly, I scanned the classroom and saw a picture of Barack Obama on their wall. Right then I knew that we had a connection. I said, “Wow, you have a picture of our President on you wall. Barack Obama.” Instantly, the learners broke out with smiles. Their teacher asked us if we could teach them a song, so we did the Hokey Pokey, and sang Oh When the Saints Go Marching In. I asked them if they would share a song with us then and their teacher said that they only know songs in Ochiherero. We were thrilled and said we would love to hear it. They sang us three beautiful songs. I got chills listening to them. After singing, we took some pictures and got to talk with the kids, which was great; our cameras fascinated them. After checking out the rest of the classrooms, we got back on the bus, waived goodbye, and headed off to see the next mobile school.

All the windows in one of the classrooms were painted like this.

Some of the learners and myself after we sang for one another.

This school was at a traditional Himba village. There is one teacher and she teaches all the learners in a big tent. One of the reasons for having these mobile schools is to bring education to the children who couldn’t get to schools otherwise because they live in villages far outside of Opuwo and also so the children can wear their traditional dress as opposed to having to wear school uniforms. Unfortunately the tent wasn’t up yet when we got their, but because we brought them maize, sugar, and oil, they said they would put the tent up later that afternoon and begin class the next day. We got to spend some time playing with the kids and it was truly an amazing experience. I would not have traded this day for anything!

One of the beautiful Himba children in traditional dress.

The teacher's quarters.

Jan playing with one of the children.

And the Challenges Begin

The last few days have definitely been a challenge. I showed up to school on Monday and was told that I was being moved to Ms. Mabuku’s class from Ms. Kandara’s class. I knew this move was coming, but had been told that it wouldn’t be happening for another week. I did my best to smile and say thank you when they informed me of the change, but inside I was extremely frustrated. The night before I had spent time making posters and planning lessons for Ms. Kandara that I would no longer be able to use. I gave what I had planned to Ms. Kandara and made my way to my new classroom. Throughout the day I taught a couple science lessons and a couple art lessons and they went well, considering I had not had anytime to plan.

On Tuesday, I was able to teach the lessons I had planned for Ms. Mabuku. During break, we had a staff meeting. The principal had not covered all of the material she had wanted to before the bell rang for period 5 to begin, so she asked the five of us from PLU and the five student teachers from University of Namibia to be in charge of all 1,400 learners until they were finished. We were told the meeting would be over in about 5 minutes. The five minutes stretched to half an hour. Half an hour stretched to nearly an hour before the teachers returned to their classrooms, well most of the teachers at least. During this crazy hour, Jan and Paula were trying to observe us teaching. They came into our room at the beginning of period 7, which was religion for us, and told me that there was no teacher next door. I went next door and taught a math lesson on rounding. The grade 7 learners that I had in that class were fantastic. I went back and taught periods 8 and 9 in Ms. Mabuku’s class and ended the day with a smile on my face. That evening I planned my science and art lessons for the following day; little did I know I would not be able to teach them again.

Wednesday started off like any other day; we had our devotion and staff meeting and I headed off to the classroom. Once Ms. Mabuku arrived, we went into the classroom and I began getting ready to teach for period one. One of the Heads of Department (HOD) came in and started speaking to Ms. Mabuku in Afrikaans. The next thing I knew, Ms. Mabuku said to her in English, “You can’t have her.” Then the HOD said, “Yes I can and I am!” The next thing I knew I was being asked to teach in a grade 5 classroom because Ms. Nafuka was absent. I smiled and asked them to point me in the direction of my new classroom.

I got to the classroom after period 1 had started and the 5E learners were bouncing off the walls. They were yelling and throwing punches and just all over the place. I finally got them to sit down and asked them what they were learning. The general consensus was that they were learning place value. I wrote a number on the board and asked them to tell me what number was in the units place, tens place, and so on and so forth. I think I got up to maybe the hundreds place before the entire class was out of control again. At this point I stopped teaching and asked the kids to help me come up with some classroom rules. They seemed to think they were a pretty good idea and that they could follow them, that is follow them for the next 5 minutes. I had these students for 5 periods that day and I broke up more fights while I was teaching than I have the entire rest of the time I have been here in Namibia. Throughout the day I tried every management technique I could possibly think of and NONE of them seemed to work. After my second period I went into the staff bathroom, closed the stall door, and began to cry. I was at a complete loss and I still had 7 more periods to get through. Kristin and I made the mistake of telling the Afrikaans teacher that the students had been being disrespectful. She asked us to come back into the classroom while she screamed at them for 15 minutes, made every one of them apologize to me one at a time, and then broke a ruler over one of their heads. This was a traumatizing experience for me, yet it is the norm for the children, which absolutely breaks my heart. This was truly the day from hell, but I got through it with the help of Kristin, Jenn, and Alicia.

By the time I got home I was ready to collapse, as a matter of fact I walked into Katie, Melanie, and Kayla’s room and fell to the floor when they asked me how my day had been. I proceeded to sit in a chair and cry while I explained all of the awful things I had seen. They reminded me that it was just one day and that things would get better.

Not long after I got home, we had our last group meeting while Jan and Paula were here and then they took us out to dinner at Andy’s. The 18 of us devoured 9 delicious pizzas, which was exactly what I needed. Once we returned home from our relaxing evening, I couldn’t help but think about how dreadful it would be to go to school the next day. I quickly did some planning, yet again for lessons I wouldn’t get to teach and went to bed.

This morning when I got to school I was again asked to take over the same class. As much as I wanted to run away, I walked over to the classroom and I got my 5E learners to sit down quietly and take a quiz on place value so that I could assess exactly where they were. The rest of the day however, was not so good. I didn’t cry, which with these kids is a great success in my eyes. Allison, and Jenn were lifesavers again today. It is really nice to know that my PLU family always has my back. Who knows what tomorrow will bring, I guess I will just have to cross my fingers that I have a few more small successes with these learners.

Hello All! I'm sorry I haven't posted for a couple of weeks, but things have been a little bit crazy around here. Between traveling north and starting our first week of school. I won't keep you waiting any longer so read-on :-)

The first day of school at A.I. Steenkamp was interesting to say the least. When we arrived the staff meeting was just beginning. There was lots of singing, praying, and Amens. There really wasn’t much school business talked about which was a little bit surprising to me as we were all about to embark on a new school year with lots of new students. As we exited the staff lounge and made our way outside, the children were beginning to line up. 1,400 students packed into about a 100 square foot area in the straightest quietest lines I have ever seen. Once they were all lined up they began to sing. Listening to the 1,400 beautiful voices gave me goosebumps. I had never heard anything like it before. After the children finished singing, the principal Mrs. Kamehene invited one of the local pastors to come up to do a scripture reading and pray for the school.

The kids all lined up for opening ceremonies.

It is very interesting how God and prayer are truly at the center of everything at Steenkamp. This is one major difference between schools here and schools back in the United States where we have, by law, separation of Church and State. During the pastor’s talk, he was speaking Damara, which is also something that I would never hear in the United States. It was very interesting to listen to his speech. The teachers were nice enough to translate for us. This is the first time I have ever been in a situation where I haven’t had a clue what was going on because I don’t speak the language.

After the pastor left, for the most part the staff spoke English to the students. At times I wished I hadn’t known what they were saying though. Our principal Mrs. Kamahene brought students up on stage who she didn’t think looked nice enough for school. She made comments in front of all the students and staff about how messy their hair looked and said that they didn’t look clean. The children didn’t seem to show any emotion at all, but my heart was breaking for them. I couldn’t help but think how inappropriate this was. After she was done giving non-examples of dress code and then comparing them to students who looked nice and clean, she sent all the learners off to class.

After the learners headed off to class we were asked to go wait in the staff lounge until we received our placements. We sat, and sat, and sat some more as we watched students moving desks and chairs back and forth across the courtyard. Finally at about 10:00 we got our placements. I was somewhat apprehensive at first because I was concerned that I would only be placed in a science classroom, but that did not turn out to be the case. Right away Mrs. Kandara welcomed me into here grade 7E class. As soon as I walked in the door she introduced me to the learners and then asked me to take over. I ended up teaching the rest of the day and it was absolutely wonderful. I was by myself with the kids for most of the day. At first it was a little bit nerve wracking, but it wasn’t long until the kids and I got to know one another. This situation, me being left in the classroom on day one by myself, is definitely unlikely to happen in the United States. I have dealt with teachers who have a hard time trusting practicum students with their classroom, but Mrs. Kandara trusted me right away. Well I guess maybe trust didn’t have anything to do with it, but it was more the fact that she is in charge of all the grade 7 teachers and she had a lot to get done that day. She was so thankful for everything I did with the kids and said that if I hadn’t been there to teach them, they would have just sat in the classroom unsupervised.

Although there is a lot of hussel and bussel on the first day of school in the U.S. also, it is nothing compared to what goes on at Steenkamp. Teachers don’t come in before school starts to get their classrooms set up. The whole first day was dedicated to moving desks and chairs back and forth between classrooms. Even after all the craziness, we still don’t have enough desks or chairs for all of our kids in our classes. Often, I have two girls sharing one chair and one desk and still have students without desks. At the end of my first day, my teacher handed me a Time Table (my class schedule) and it wasn’t until I got home that I was able to look at it.

Class schedules at Steenkamp are different than anything I have ever experienced in my life. We have nine periods per day, each being thirty-five minutes long. Not only are these extremely short periods to begin with, but they also are not allotted a passing period at all, so by the time I get my students I usually have between twenty and twenty-five minutes of teaching time. We have nine periods a day with about forty students in each class. Which means I have approximately 320 students in and out of my classroom each day. Another thing that has been difficult for me to get used to is having a different schedule everyday. I never have the same group of kids first period or any other period of the day for that matter. School starts at 7:20 (Namibian time), so we usually start about ten minutes late each day depending on how long the staff meeting/devotion lasts. Again, the students just wait in the classrooms unsupervised until the teachers get there. The schools I have been placed at in the United States always start at the same time everyday and if students are not there on time, they are recorded as being tardy. I also have the same group of kids, approximately 24, all day long back home instead of having 320 different kids throughout the day.

Throughout this first week, I have thought a lot about why schools start here the way they do and I have come to the conclusion that there are many factors. One of the biggest factors is money. Although all students here are supposed to receive free public education, they are required to pay school fees in order to attend school. This prevents some students from being able to start school on time. The lack of money also inhibits the ability of some of our students to have school supplies, and unlike the teachers I have been placed with in the U.S., a lot of these teachers don’t have any supplies to even let the students borrow. I had one girl who quit coming to class the first week and I haven’t seen her since. Mrs. Kandara asked the other learners if they knew where she was and they told her that she wasn’t coming to school because she couldn’t afford to buy her books. This is something that would never happen back home. Whether or not students have supplies, they still come to school. In my experiences back home, if there is a student who cannot afford supplies, the classroom teacher or the school figures out some way to get the students things to use. Another reason I feel things are so chaotic around the beginning of school here is because teachers don’t go into their rooms before the start of school to get things organized, unlike back home. Teachers are also not at school early and many of them are out the door as soon as they can be when school is over. For these reasons the first few days of school here are spent getting classrooms set up and getting books passed out.

Although school has been a bit chaotic for me, I have really been enjoying myself. I have been amazed at the simplicity of the school and also at the joy of the children. This is just the beginning of my adventure here in the schools and I cannot wait to see what the next five weeks will hold.

Our First Big Adventure

I know it has been a few days since I last blogged, sorry about that, but it seems like time is just flying by with everything we are doing. It didn't help that the internet was out for 14 hours yesterday due to a large thunder and lightning storm we had. Where to begin, a lot has happened sense I spent my first day at Steenkamp. I will do my best to recall all of the major events.

On Friday, we headed up north a ways to Otjiwarongo to go to the Cheetah Conservation Fund. Along the way we stopped in Okahandja at the market to do some bartering for Namibian made goods. I became quite the barterer and made all sorts of deals with the locals trading bracelets, t-shirts and jerseys that I brought from home. I will not disclose what all I got, because some of the stuff are presents for people who are reading this very blog. After we finished shopping, we piled back into our bus/van thing (pictures to come) and made our way about 2 hours north to Otjiwarongo where we stayed at Out of Africa--kind of an ironic name for a hotel if you ask me. While we were there we met up with Betsy Fox for dinner.

Betsy works for a NGO in Namibia that is working to teach people about Elephants and help them realize that it is possible for Elephants and humans to live in harmony. There are major controversies around Elephants, especially in the more rural areas of Namibia, where a whole village shares one water source. The Elephants come into the village to get water when there is no water anywhere else and often times pull out water pipes, which makes it nearly impossible for the local people to get water. I had never really thought about these issues, mostly because I didn't know they were there. Often times humans are afraid to be around Elephants for fear they will be stomped to death. Out of fear people will bring it upon themselves to take care of what they deem to be a problem and shoot and kill the elephants. The NGO that Betsy works for puts on workshops for people and works with other NGO's to help protect both humans and Elephants. I would love to come back to Namibia and volunteer with Betsy. After the wonderful dinner and conversation, we headed back to our rooms at Out of Africa before trekking on to the Cheetah Conservation Fund which is located about 40 minutes outside of Otjiwarongo.

Spending the night at Out of Africa was nice. We had an opportunity to stay with different people than we are living with at Casa Blanca. Jan and Paula encouraged us to "mix things up" and stay with people we don't normally spend a lot of time with. Alicia, Kristin, and I decided we would room together, which worked out just great. It was fun to get to switch things up a bit.

After a good night's rest we headed onward to the Cheetah Conservation Fund. This experience was my favorite experience thus far. We started out by going out into a cheetah camp with our guide Charles to meet five different cheetahs. They are the most beautiful creatures I have ever seen.

Up close and personal with a cheetah.

Following our adventure in the camp, we got to see a cub walk. CCF rescued 4 orphaned cheetah cubs that are now 17 months old. They brought the cubs out on leashes and let us all take pictures with them. One of them even sat on my foot. It would only be illegal if I touched them--I can't control it if they touch me.


Following the cub walk we got to see a feeding. They only feed the cheetahs who they know they will not be able to return to the wild. The cheetahs who are expected to make it back to the wild are housed in a much bigger camp approximately 25km away from the CCF headquarters.

When they feed the animals, they put about 2kg of horse or donkey meat into a bowl for each cheetah. Watching them eat was very interesting. It was amazing how clean they left the bones; there was no meat left on them. The cubs were my favorite to watch feed. They were jumping on top of one another prior to being let into the feeding pin. Once the gate was opened to the feeding pin, the cheetahs flew to their bowls immediately. It was absolutely fascinating to watch.

After the feeding, Charles took us on a tour of the entire facility. It was really wonderful to hear their philosophy and their attempts to build the cheetah population. Much like Betsy and the Elephants, CCF's main goal is to teach people (farmers in particular) that it is absolutely possible and necessary for humans and cheetahs to live in harmony. Again, I would love to come back and volunteer to work at CCF for a few weeks one summer.

Just to let everyone know, I will not be posting for the next 5 days or so as we are headed up north to visit the tent schools and Etosha National Park. I will post as soon as I get back!

First Day Jitters

Thursday was our first day at school. It was a teacher work day and was the first day back since they had taken their winter holiday. Unlike in the United States, the school year starts here in January and let me tell you there are many more differences than just that. I hope this post gives you a little bit of an idea of what my first experience in the school was like.

While I was eating breakfast before our departure, I could feel my stomach churning with nerves. I had no idea what to expect. I had heard everything from “the teachers are amazing,” to, “Don’t expect people to necessarily approach you.” I got into the van and it was not until we stepped off the van and into the school that the churning stopped.

As soon as we walked into the school, we were welcomed by one of the teachers, Ms. Marenga, who showed us to the principal, Mrs. Kamahene’s, office. Mrs. Kamahene knew exactly who we were as soon as we entered her office, which made me feel calmer. She asked for a “team leader” and I volunteered. She asked me to write down all of our names and what our specialty areas were. Later on during the staff meeting she introduced us. After meeting the principal we joined the rest of the teachers in the staff lounge.

A. I. Steenkamp is a joyous place to be. Watching the teachers greet one another after having their break was a wonderful experience. They were laughing and hugging and telling stories to one another in Afrikans. They all seemed to be so happy. The teachers and principal were all extremely welcoming. The teachers spent about an hour talking with one another (truly running on Namibian time), while we introduced ourselves to a number of the teachers. After the group was brought together, they began singing songs in Afrikans. The music was beautiful. After they sang a few songs in Afrikans, they sang a song in English and a few of us were able to join in.

Once we got into the meat of the meeting, it became clear to me that the staff truly cared about each individual learner. They went through how students did in each subject at each grade level from the previous year and talked about how if they had students that were failing, it didn’t fall on the learners, but it was instead the responsibility of the teacher.

Aside from the staff, the school looked like it was in good shape and was extremely clean. The principal informed us that they had been blessed to be able to paint all the classrooms and staff room the year before. She also told us that the governor had come to visit last year and said that Steenkamp was the cleanest school he had visited. Today we were only able to see the principal’s office and the staff room, but I am extremely excited to see the rest of the school and meet the students.

Everyone seemed extremely grateful to have us there and I felt extremely blessed and grateful to be there. After the meeting, we loaded into the van and headed home. Along the way, I couldn’t help but feel excited in anticipation of our return on Tuesday.

Scavenger Hunts, Hiking, and Game Drives...Oh My!

The day after we went on our tour, Jan and Paula split us into our school groups and let us loose in Windhoek. Our goal was to answer all the questions that they provided us on a piece of paper about different shops, buildings, and parks around town. They wanted us to get our bearings in town and be able to navigate the area ourselves without needing a tour guide.

One of the places we were supposed to go was to the Parliament building--I posted pictures in a previous post. The day before Uuanee had taken us up to there, but I had really wanted to get more pictures. I pulled out my camera and went to turn it on, and of course the battery was dead. My group mates took lots of pictures though so hopefully I will be able to get some from them.

Another one of our jobs while we were in town was to find someplace to eat lunch. We ended up going to Spur's Steak House. The name totally reminded me of being in the U.S.. We sat down and our server came over to our table. He was a native Namibian and his name was Joslyn "the boy not the girl." The food was great! I had chicken Kabobs with Peri-Peri sauce on them. Peri-Peri sauce is a spicy kind of marinade/sauce that they use A LOT in cooking here--I love it!

On Tuesday we had a free day. Melanie, Katie, Kayla, and Rayna planned a hike and invite everyone to go. There were 13 of us who decided to embark on this adventure and I'm so glad I decided to be part of it. I have always felt so comfortable and free when I am in nature and it was amazing to have that experience here. We had read and been told that there was a possibility of seeing baboons and Kudu (a type of antelope), but we saw neither. However we did see TONS of birds, which was one of my favorite parts of the experience.

Looking down toward the water from the top of the hill on our hike.


Roommate picture: Anna (left), Me, Allison (right).

Grasshopper.

Wednesday was our first Game Drive. For those of you who are not familiar with the term "Game Drive" it is a place where you go, like Okapuka (the game farm we went to), to see game. They buy the game and then let it live on the land. This particular game farm has 20,000 acres where their animals get to roam. We saw lots of different animals, but my favorite were the rhinos. I even got to touch one. We also saw crocodiles, giraffes, Springbok, Blessbok, Oriks, Wildebeests, Sables, Warthogs (with babies :-) ), and lots of different birds. This was an amazing experience.

Just hanging out with the giraffes :-)

Wildebeest baby that had just been born and mommy left it. The jackals were about to eat the baby. Hopefully they got back to it before they got it.
Just touching a white rhino...no big deal!

A big male croc. We were seriously only 5 feet away.