My Summer
My time in Namibia was filled with new culture, people, food, challenges, triumphs, and adventures. Although I cannot come close to summing up ten weeks in an amazing country on this webpage, I hope to offer a little insight into my experiences while teaching computers in Namibia.
My Internship
I participated in my internship through the Kellogg Summer Internship Program with the Kellogg Institute for International Studies at the University of Notre Dame. Kellogg Summer Internships allow undergraduate students to work and conduct research in developing countries with organizations dealing with a wide variety of social issues, from women's empowerment to health education. I prepared for the summer through a number of orientations that discussed safety issues, cultural differences, and living and learning in a developing country. Although I knew I could never be fully prepared for what I would experience in Namibia, I was ready to begin teaching and living in Namibia by the end of my spring semester.
Arriving in Namibia
After over 18 hours of flying from Wisconsin to New York, New York to South Africa, and South Africa to the capitol of Namibia, Windhoek, I finally arrived. I, and 11 other volunteers, stayed in a hostel in Windhoek for a week-long orientation before departing to our sites. The weather was chilly, with temperatures around 50 degrees (it was winter) and a short, hot period in the middle of the day. During the course of the week we took a tour of Windhoek, which was very similar to a small American city. We witnessed the stark contrast between the wealthier neighborhood, Kline Windhoek, as well as the poor areas surrounding the city, Katatura. Overall, I was nervous about teaching as I had never taught before but also excited to engage with the learners and partake in the culture of Namibia.
I participated in my internship through the Kellogg Summer Internship Program with the Kellogg Institute for International Studies at the University of Notre Dame. Kellogg Summer Internships allow undergraduate students to work and conduct research in developing countries with organizations dealing with a wide variety of social issues, from women's empowerment to health education. I prepared for the summer through a number of orientations that discussed safety issues, cultural differences, and living and learning in a developing country. Although I knew I could never be fully prepared for what I would experience in Namibia, I was ready to begin teaching and living in Namibia by the end of my spring semester.
Arriving in Namibia
After over 18 hours of flying from Wisconsin to New York, New York to South Africa, and South Africa to the capitol of Namibia, Windhoek, I finally arrived. I, and 11 other volunteers, stayed in a hostel in Windhoek for a week-long orientation before departing to our sites. The weather was chilly, with temperatures around 50 degrees (it was winter) and a short, hot period in the middle of the day. During the course of the week we took a tour of Windhoek, which was very similar to a small American city. We witnessed the stark contrast between the wealthier neighborhood, Kline Windhoek, as well as the poor areas surrounding the city, Katatura. Overall, I was nervous about teaching as I had never taught before but also excited to engage with the learners and partake in the culture of Namibia.
My Site: Ongha Senior Secondary School
I began my second week in Namibia at my site, Ongha S.S.S., in the northern region of the country located about 30 km from the border of Angola. Ongha S.S.S. was a hostel school, meaning the learners (term used for students in K-12) attended classes, lived, and ate meals within the school grounds. The school was comprised of grade 8-12, with about 750 learners total. Classes were conducted on a seven day cycle with my class, computers, held twice during the cycle for each class. Ongha was considered among the top secondary schools in the northern region, Ohangwena, both for academics and sports. Soccer, volleyball, basketball, and netball were among the most popular sports. Extracurricular activities were also offered including Student Christian Movement (SMC), Omakondo (boy's choir group), school magazine, and the cultural group. Each day students awoke around 6:00am, ate breakfast, and went to their classrooms. Every other day a morning assembly would take place where all the learners gathered to sing, dance, and receive announcements from the teachers. Learners attended 40 minute class periods from 8am until 1:15pm, with a short "tea break" from 10am-10:30am. After the school day ended, lunch was served and learners relaxed until the first study hour from 3pm-4pm. Afterwards, learners participated in sports or extracurriculars until dinner. From 6pm-8pm learners attended another study session. Bedtime in the hostels was around 10:30pm each night.
I began my second week in Namibia at my site, Ongha S.S.S., in the northern region of the country located about 30 km from the border of Angola. Ongha S.S.S. was a hostel school, meaning the learners (term used for students in K-12) attended classes, lived, and ate meals within the school grounds. The school was comprised of grade 8-12, with about 750 learners total. Classes were conducted on a seven day cycle with my class, computers, held twice during the cycle for each class. Ongha was considered among the top secondary schools in the northern region, Ohangwena, both for academics and sports. Soccer, volleyball, basketball, and netball were among the most popular sports. Extracurricular activities were also offered including Student Christian Movement (SMC), Omakondo (boy's choir group), school magazine, and the cultural group. Each day students awoke around 6:00am, ate breakfast, and went to their classrooms. Every other day a morning assembly would take place where all the learners gathered to sing, dance, and receive announcements from the teachers. Learners attended 40 minute class periods from 8am until 1:15pm, with a short "tea break" from 10am-10:30am. After the school day ended, lunch was served and learners relaxed until the first study hour from 3pm-4pm. Afterwards, learners participated in sports or extracurriculars until dinner. From 6pm-8pm learners attended another study session. Bedtime in the hostels was around 10:30pm each night.
Teaching at Ongha: Challenges and Triumphs
Over the course of the first few weeks, I worked to establish relationships with the learners and teachers. I also had to assess the learner's previous skills with computers, which proved to be quite challenging. Some were literate in all the basic Word programs, while others had never held a mouse before. Due to a high learner to computer ratio, about 5:1, groups were essential to working with the computers during class time. I taught students the basics of Microsoft word, including font style, size, alignment, inserting images, cut, copy, paste, and a number of other functions. However, retention proved difficult as learners only had computer class twice in a seven period class cycle and class was often cancelled for a variety of reasons.
Then after three weeks on site, the server computer in the lab stopped functioning, causing the rest of the computers connected to the server to stop working as well. Although I have grown up around computers and have a fairly good handle on how to use them, I was not prepared to fix this problem. Despite endless phone calls to the technician and internet company, I was unable to get the computers up and running before I left Ongha S.S.S. at the end of the summer. Thus, I had to improvise quite a bit during this time. I played Jeopardy, Pictionary, and word games with the class in an attempt to keep learners engaged in computer vocabulary. I showed them how to conduct research and check email on the internet with the use of my laptop and a projector. I also typed many curriculum vitae for the grade 12 learners and created emails for grades 11 and 12. Clearly, though, the learners struggled to understand the computers without the ability to work with them directly. This caused me to question my role as their teacher and doubt the success of my presence at Ongha. With the reassurance of the WorldTeach site director, I began to see the value in my presence as a native English speaker, as a young person with the time and interest to interact with the learners, as well as offer an American perspective.
Over the course of the first few weeks, I worked to establish relationships with the learners and teachers. I also had to assess the learner's previous skills with computers, which proved to be quite challenging. Some were literate in all the basic Word programs, while others had never held a mouse before. Due to a high learner to computer ratio, about 5:1, groups were essential to working with the computers during class time. I taught students the basics of Microsoft word, including font style, size, alignment, inserting images, cut, copy, paste, and a number of other functions. However, retention proved difficult as learners only had computer class twice in a seven period class cycle and class was often cancelled for a variety of reasons.
Then after three weeks on site, the server computer in the lab stopped functioning, causing the rest of the computers connected to the server to stop working as well. Although I have grown up around computers and have a fairly good handle on how to use them, I was not prepared to fix this problem. Despite endless phone calls to the technician and internet company, I was unable to get the computers up and running before I left Ongha S.S.S. at the end of the summer. Thus, I had to improvise quite a bit during this time. I played Jeopardy, Pictionary, and word games with the class in an attempt to keep learners engaged in computer vocabulary. I showed them how to conduct research and check email on the internet with the use of my laptop and a projector. I also typed many curriculum vitae for the grade 12 learners and created emails for grades 11 and 12. Clearly, though, the learners struggled to understand the computers without the ability to work with them directly. This caused me to question my role as their teacher and doubt the success of my presence at Ongha. With the reassurance of the WorldTeach site director, I began to see the value in my presence as a native English speaker, as a young person with the time and interest to interact with the learners, as well as offer an American perspective.
My Daily Routine
After several weeks at Ongha, I established a typical schedule during the week:
6:30a: Wake up
7:00a: Walk to school, staff meeting
7:45a: Morning assembly
8:30a: Teach classes
10a: Tea break
10:30a: Teach more classes
1:15p: School day ends, go home for lunch
2:00p: Go back to school to help learners with magazine, socialize, play games, play volleyball
5:00p: Go home, take a nap, read, write in my journal
6:00p: Prepare dinner
8:30p: Watch the news
10:30p: Bedtime!
After several weeks at Ongha, I established a typical schedule during the week:
6:30a: Wake up
7:00a: Walk to school, staff meeting
7:45a: Morning assembly
8:30a: Teach classes
10a: Tea break
10:30a: Teach more classes
1:15p: School day ends, go home for lunch
2:00p: Go back to school to help learners with magazine, socialize, play games, play volleyball
5:00p: Go home, take a nap, read, write in my journal
6:00p: Prepare dinner
8:30p: Watch the news
10:30p: Bedtime!
Traveling & Tourism
On the weekends I did quite a bit of traveling with my fellow WorldTeach volunteers. We went camping at Epupa Falls, sandboarding at Swakopmund, and on a safari at Etosha National Park among many other activities over the course of the summer. I witnessed the diversity not only of Namibia's geography and beauty, but also of the people and tribes throughout the country. Although traveling was tricky at times, the other volunteers and I always enjoyed the adventure and learning to live on "African time."
On the weekends I did quite a bit of traveling with my fellow WorldTeach volunteers. We went camping at Epupa Falls, sandboarding at Swakopmund, and on a safari at Etosha National Park among many other activities over the course of the summer. I witnessed the diversity not only of Namibia's geography and beauty, but also of the people and tribes throughout the country. Although traveling was tricky at times, the other volunteers and I always enjoyed the adventure and learning to live on "African time."
Cultural Experiences
While I was at Ongha, I got to know a little bit about the culture and tribes of Namibia. The country consists of over ten ethnic groups, with 50% of the population from the Oshivambo tribe. The tribal languages include Oshivambo (7 dialects), Herero, and Damara/Nama among others. Nomadic tribes such as the Himba and San also reside in Namibia as a small percentage of the population. I interacted most with individuals from the Oshivambo tribe, who spoke Oshikwanyama, one of the dialects of Oshivambo. The traditional fabric of the Oshivambo tribe is a striped pink pattern and is often used to make dresses and skirts worn for special occasions. One of my favorite experiences while in Namibia was watching the girl's cultural group at my school sing and dance during performances in their traditional outfits. Below is a video of the Ongha S.S.S. Cultural Group as they perform at a morning assembly for HIV/AIDS Awareness week.
While I was at Ongha, I got to know a little bit about the culture and tribes of Namibia. The country consists of over ten ethnic groups, with 50% of the population from the Oshivambo tribe. The tribal languages include Oshivambo (7 dialects), Herero, and Damara/Nama among others. Nomadic tribes such as the Himba and San also reside in Namibia as a small percentage of the population. I interacted most with individuals from the Oshivambo tribe, who spoke Oshikwanyama, one of the dialects of Oshivambo. The traditional fabric of the Oshivambo tribe is a striped pink pattern and is often used to make dresses and skirts worn for special occasions. One of my favorite experiences while in Namibia was watching the girl's cultural group at my school sing and dance during performances in their traditional outfits. Below is a video of the Ongha S.S.S. Cultural Group as they perform at a morning assembly for HIV/AIDS Awareness week.
Food
The food in Namibia was always an interesting adventure. The primary staple food was a stiff porridge called oshifima made from a ground meal, or mahangu. This porridge, made with just boiled water and the meal, is often served at every meal in the villages and is eaten traditionally with your hands. I ate oshifima occasionally, with a "soup" (sauce) and meat to add flavor to the otherwise very bland porridge. My favorite food while in Namibia was the meat, usually beef, when it was "braai-ed." Braai is similar to barbequing in the U.S., although the meat in Namibia was significantly tastier (coming from someone who was an occasional vegetarian!). The meat was then cut into smaller pieces and placed on a plate with a tomato and onion mixture and braai spice. Everyone had a roll or fat cake (delicious fried dough), and ate the meat, vegetable mixture, and bread with their hands from the communal plate. Whether it was eating meat straight of the braai at a market or from a shared plate with the other WorldTeach volunteers, it was always the most delicious meal. Mopane worms, fried catepillars, and fat cakes were other unusual and tasty foods I enjoyed while in Namibia.
The food in Namibia was always an interesting adventure. The primary staple food was a stiff porridge called oshifima made from a ground meal, or mahangu. This porridge, made with just boiled water and the meal, is often served at every meal in the villages and is eaten traditionally with your hands. I ate oshifima occasionally, with a "soup" (sauce) and meat to add flavor to the otherwise very bland porridge. My favorite food while in Namibia was the meat, usually beef, when it was "braai-ed." Braai is similar to barbequing in the U.S., although the meat in Namibia was significantly tastier (coming from someone who was an occasional vegetarian!). The meat was then cut into smaller pieces and placed on a plate with a tomato and onion mixture and braai spice. Everyone had a roll or fat cake (delicious fried dough), and ate the meat, vegetable mixture, and bread with their hands from the communal plate. Whether it was eating meat straight of the braai at a market or from a shared plate with the other WorldTeach volunteers, it was always the most delicious meal. Mopane worms, fried catepillars, and fat cakes were other unusual and tasty foods I enjoyed while in Namibia.
Browse my personal photo-blog, "the view from Namibia," for a pictorial documentation of some of my summer in Namibia.