I've been back for more than a week already, and I wanted to use this post to share some of the wonderful people I met during the three-week verification exercise.
As I mentioned in the previous post, I had the privilege of traveling with two education officers to three different regions to "verify" AUPE (Adult Upper Primary Education) classes.
During my time at the "head office," I've often heard about staff being "out in the field" and how they might not be in the office for one, two, or even three weeks at a stretch..
Now, I understand what it takes to go "out in the field," with long distances between sites that can take an entire day to travel from one to the next.
So when this opportunity came up, I was extremely lucky to travel with Zulu, a Senior Education Officer whose office is right next to mine, and Penne, the Chief Education Officer, whose office is at the end of the long government corridor.
Both serve in leadership roles at the Head Office, and I couldn't have asked for better travel colleagues—fun, easy-going, adventurous, smart, patient, respectful, and so much more! Both left their young families for these three weeks to be out "in the field."
As the map shows, we covered over 6,958 km in total, and for those of us in the States, that's a whopping 4,323 miles!
f I remember correctly, this is about the same number of miles Philip, the kids, and I drove to California with our pop-up camper—such fun memories of days gone by!
I digress… and now, back to our work in the field.
AUPE is a program of the Directorate of Adult Education that provides literacy education for adults ranging from zero literacy to grade 11. Most are at the lower levels, just learning to write their names, and through AUPE—a free program—they are provided with basic education to read and write, first in their mother tongue and then in English.
While Zulu, Penne, and I covered the three regions, other education officers traveled to other regions either the year before or over the same three weeks. In all, promoters of AUPE throughout the 14 regions of Namibia have now been "verified"—I'm guessing at well over 100 sites.
Not only did we cover several of the main roads in Namibia, but we also drove deep into "the bush," which was the most amazing experience for me. I will share more about this in Part III.
As a sidenote, the title of "promoter" is used to designate the teacher for adult learners, advancing the notion of encouraging or "promoting" adult literacy.
We met with promoters either in large groups at a central location from their individual villages or drove to meet single promoters in their locations since travel is often difficult, with many having no means of transport.
Our very first verification stop was in Noordoewer, right on the Orange River at the border with South Africa.
Here, the promoter met us at his other full-time job at an agriculture farm, and we checked his qualifications, lesson plans, and learner books from the back of our bakkie (truck). It turns out we would have many more verifications from the back of the bakkie over the course of the three weeks.
Our second site was in Rosh Pinah, which I shared in the last post, as well as Aussenkehr, one of the more intriguing locations on the trip. I posted about this last time, but I recently found a quick video of the bumpy road as we pulled into the settlement.
It was one of those moments when I felt conflicted—seeing the beauty of the landscape, yet seeing the reed huts that lined the hillsides of Aussenkehr.
After our time in the south, with other side diversions to Aroab and Lüderitz (described in Part I), week two brought a whole new week of life-changing experiences as we traveled north of Windhoek to the Otjozondjupa region.
This second week started out of Windhoek, and we eventually found ourselves on a 228 km drive down a white, dusty gravel road to Tsumkwe, a settlement known as the capital of the San people in Namibia and the setting for the 1980 film The Gods Must Be Crazy (a must-watch movie if you haven't seen it already).
I have to say it was probably the most unforgettable three days of my life and deserves a whole separate post. So, I owe you a post on this too... so much to share, so little time... sigh
While in the area, however, I do want to share my time in the settlement of Gam, as it was also life-changing. Here, we met with eight promoters in a Community Center.
Most were dressed in the traditional Herero dress, a floor-length dress adopted by German missionaries in the late 19th century and still worn to this day.
Married and older Herero women wear the dresses, locally known as ohorokova, every day, while younger and unmarried women wear them mainly for special occasions.
In the corner of the Center where we met for the verification process was a pile of bags filled with "devil's claw." It's supposedly an herbal remedy for arthritis and inflammation that the villagers harvest as an income generation opportunity. It is a protected plant in Namibia and permits are required to harvest and sell it.
While in Gam, I met some wonderful promoters and made a short video of one special new friend, Verimbo (see below). We met when we gave her a lift from Tsumkwe on our first drive of the day to meet promoters in Gam.
While we were driving, Verimbo shared that she was married by arrangement of both parents, and she subsequently sent me this photo of her on her wedding day.
She also sent me a photo of the outdoor location where she teaches adult learners. I really enjoyed meeting all the promoters in Gam, but especially Verimbo.
Here's a short video that I created for a Peace Corps "reel" competition that I likely won't win, but I had fun compiling this short collage nevertheless.
Many of the promoters also encourage "projects" with their learners, which might include jewelry making, knitting, beadwork, and gardening.
Projects during class time not only help with attendance but also help hone skills that they might use to create a small business enterprise.
This particular promoter worked with her students in knitting... here she is putting on a scarf that her students knit, and of which I purchased two.
Well, it didn't stop there, and before I left, I found myself the new owner of an array of wonderful crafts made by the learners.
The promoter also helped her class time and learners plant a community garden. It was an impressive garden in Otjimbingwe.
Another example of special projects were these items at a promoter's house in her village. Here are a few items the adult learners craft for sale.
This cute little purple doll from the table intrigued me, and I thought of Ruth, Philip's mom, who would appreciate where it came from and the circumstances it was made under.
I asked if I could possibly purchase it since I thought these items were to support side business enterprises of the learners, but she kindly declined my offer and said it was not for sale.
I know Ruth was smiling at my effort, and I thanked the promoter anyway, knowing that in the end, these are "things" that we can't take with us when we leave this earth. But for me, the memory of Ruth and how she enjoyed collecting dolls is a wonderful memory that no money can buy.
So, with that, I'll end this post and get started on the next one. I have to admit, writing blog posts takes a tremendous amount of time, but I'm happy to share this adventure with those who are interested.
I also realize my Peace Corps service here in Windhoek has been quite different from that of a typical two-year volunteer—living in the capital city and having opportunities to travel is more than I ever imagined as a PCRV. For this, I feel grateful and truly feel blessed to live in Namibia for a year.
Sending a hug and much love,
Lynn
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