Living the traditonal life....

I have had the amazing opportunity to experience traditional Owambo life. I have been invited to many traditional homesteads and loved my time there. Part of me wishes I lived on a homestead here rather than teacher housing! Here is a taste of Ovambo life....

This is the kitchen
The huts are made from sticks, grass and mud. Homesteads have anywhere from 2 to 10 huts that are used for cooking, sleeping, storing grains, working or relaxing.

Martha cooking Oshithima (traditional porridge made from mahangu)

Omalovu (traditional beer made from sorghum and mahangu)

Rauha and her Kuku (grandmother) presenting me with a bracelet as a welcoming gift.

Meme Martha sifting mahangu after she finished pounding

Me, in traditional Ovambo dress, attempting to pound mahangu (very difficult!)

They are much stronger than me! Three girls at a time!

Taking a quick break on our 10 km walk to school.

Sporting my new traditional Ovambo dress

Hanging out with cute kids at a braai (barbecue)

Reading pen pal letters from the states

Ingenuity at its best

Thanks to my mom, I have an entire class set of individual white boards and dry erase markers to use in my math class. Everything I bring into the classroom becomes a novelty and I am often met with excited gasps and wide eyes. The introduction of the white boards was no exception. I felt like a magician as they oohed and aahed at my ability to erase the marker from the paper. During the first week of using them a small problem quickly arose – how do they erase them without tissue or erasers? Some learners tried to use old newspaper while others were just rubbing it with their hands – neither one successful. One day while practicing long multiplication on the boards, one of my learners found an amazing solution to our problem. I was walking around helping them when I saw Tangeni, one of my boys in grade 6, get this bright eyed look on his face, a light bulb had gone off. He then proceeded to lift his white board above his head and rub it back and forth against his hair. I then had 25 learners picking up their boards and rubbing them furiously on their heads. Problem solved – who needs an eraser when you have a fro?

The Ogongo Press: Baboon Sighting Lowers Test Scores

Yesterday a wild baboon made its way into the small village of Ogongo. While often spotted in other parts of the country, baboons are apparently a rarity here. I discovered this quickly when I was leaving the office to attend my math period and a herd of teacher quickly ran past me. When I asked where they were going so fast, I got a couple brief but excited responses, “Baboon, hurry!” “It is at the clinic!” “Rachel, let's go!” I contemplated joining the wild baboon chase, but turned them down to go teach my math class. Half of the teachers jumped in the back of a turquoise pick up and raced off towards the clinic. I walked into grade 6 to find all of the learners with their heads out the windows, standing on chairs and desks fighting to get a glimpse of the rumored intruder. Shortly entire classrooms of learners, in the absence of a teacher, are running outside yelling “Baboon!” I attempted to start my math lesson, but was interrupted every few minutes by learners jumping out of their seats claiming they saw the baboon out the window. I taught for about 15 minutes and decided it was a lost cause; the baboon sighting was obviously more important than conquering fractions. I ended the period by yelling “Baboon!” and pointing out the window. All 25 learners jumped out of their seats with excitement to find only a few goats grazing outside their classroom. I can safely conclude that very little learning occurred during that eventful day in Ogongo. The next time I hear complaints about learners' low test scores I am blaming it on the baboon.

Ethano = picture

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Me gusta mi madre

Apologies for the lack of posts this past month. I am going to make an honest attempt at writing small anecdotes daily rather than these lengthy monthly ramblings. Here is the brief update of my life in Namibia. My mom flew into Windhoek on the 18th of May. We spent a few days vacationing in Swakopmund then a few days in Windhoek for my mid service volunteer meetings. She has been living in Ogongo with me now for the past two weeks. She will be here until the end of July! I am so excited for her to experience my Namibian life and for all the incredible things we can accomplish together. She has been nothing short of spectacular thus far – reading to the primary learners, sewing computer covers, organizing the library, decorating my house and keeping me sane!

Check out the blog for the Ogongo Library Project for updates on our fundraising and plans for the library.

Word of the day: book = eembo

The greatest gift....

My learners enjoy bringing me small gifts that I have come to look forward to receiving. I am just amazed at the generosity of these children who have nothing of their own. The gifts are a surprise every time – random fruit or nuts, guava, half eaten fat cake, used erasers, hand drawn maps of the school, elaborate greeting cards that read “I love you more than fat cakes” or “This love explain how you feel to words.” The day before a math test I got a card that said “Please pray to God tonight that I pass your test tomorrow!”

Today I received a gift that tops all of them......a cat. Serious. Sabina, a grade 6 learner, walked into class today with a large cardboard box and handed it to me and said “okambishi” and sure enough, under the newspaper and plastic, there was a black and white kitten! Cats are not well-liked here, so the learners were shocked at how ecstatic I was and they thought I was joking when I said the cat would sleep in my bed with me...ha. I spent the night trying to get her to eat and not run under my bed out of reach. I am still thinking about a name.....

Word of the Day: Okambishi = cat