Wednesday, 27 February 2008

Yes, I’m Still Here….

Hello again old friends Happy 2008! Circumstances beyond my control made it difficult to update my journal until now, but now (hopefully) entries will be timelier.

Time seems to be a cruel joke where days pass so quickly that only the receipts of meat pies and cool drinks offer any record of their existence. It is hard now to distinguish what is “journal worthy” as many things like gecko attacks are now just another Mondaha (Monday). I will try to present the last seven months in the most reader friendly manner and as always I truly appreciate all of the e-mails, letters and packages as they remind me of everything I love back in America.

Wish Granters

In the fall of 2007, the U.S. company Priority Dispatch donated boxes and boxes of art supplies, clothes, sports equipment, school materials, games, books and crafts as well as money to purchase needed items for the office/programs. It was one of the most generous gifts ever received by the center and it literally changed the program from a day-to-day scramble to get materials, to a functional children’s community center. Through the funds we were also able to build a swing set and jungle gym and we now have funds to start our garden. We also purchased drums for our cultural activities, fans for the offices, a radio/CD player, tables for the kids to eat on (before they ate on the ground), a hair buzzer for stylish “Red Cross Cuts” and food for the feeding program as it is between funding. We were also able to set up a small activities corner and have professional rackets for our Saturday tennis program. During that period, Rundu experienced a large number of home fires and many of our children and their families lost everything they owned. The clothing donations we were able to distribute were “better than Christmas” said one of the kids.

The money was raised through a barbeque fundraiser and raffle in Salt Lake City, Utah and without the help of countless employees and their families, the orphan and vulnerable project in Rundu would not be as successful as it is today. The posters/advertisements that were made for the event are now proudly displayed in the Peace Corps Namibia office and at the headquarters of the Namibian Red Cross.

With the U.S. to Namibian dollar 7 to 1, any donation has a profound impact and empowers our program to think beyond a feeding regimen. It is clear that these kinds of donations will help promote the humanitarian values of Peace Corps and the Red Cross and on behalf of the center we would like to thank all those who donated materials as there would literally be no way to properly support our orphans and vulnerable children.

Boehly’s In Africa

My parents came to visit in December and it was fantastic! I met them in the capital city, Windhoek, and from there we drove 800k to Rundu where they saw Red Cross children do traditional dances, ate traditional food at the open market and experienced Kavango sunsets on a boat. I then flew with them to Cape Town where I was in a state of luxury and comfort (I had a bathrobe and slippers!) unknown to my feet and palate since Peace Corps. In Cape Town, I ate an egg roll, saw the ocean and got to taste the wines of Africa. Absolutely Lovely!!! We then went to Kruger national Park and had a safari and saw the “Big Five” (elephant, rhino, buffalo, lion and leopard). It was a thrilling adventure (and had the option of a bubble bath and champagne every night) and it was great to experience it with my parents (after a year of Peace Corps sometimes you just need a hug from your mom and dad). It was hard to say goodbye but more adventures awaited.

I then met two volunteers in Lesotho where we went on a 4-day pony trek through the mountains. I thought “pony trek” meant riding a small horse through a wild flower field……..little did I know it meant scaling mountains and vertical descents on the back of a disgruntled horse. Overall it was a great experience sleeping in villages only assessable on horse, drinking local brews with the locals, stories by night and the magical scenery of the Lesotho mountains. At the end of the trek we rewarded ourselves with a drink (my new favorite is Amarula-cream liqueur) and a toast.

From there we traveled through South Africa back to Cape Town for New Years and experienced all the craziness this city had to offer including going to movie, a Che Bar, Table Mountain, Mexican food, Robin Island, midnight beach parties and pure relaxation. We rented a car and went to the tip of Africa and put our feet in the water in what seemed like the end of the world. We drove through the wine lands, tried to ride an ostrich (place was too far), and laughed at our uncertainties about being in a big city again.

After traveling on a plane, bus horse, intensely crowded combie, rented car and foot, I was glad to get back to my little home. Awaiting me was a pile of cigarette butts and a disheveled man sleeping on my extra mattress. My roommate’s boyfriend had moved in without telling anyone as she was still on holiday. It was at that point I know I had to move (again)………………..

Rundu Housing Market

In my last entry I mentioned I was looking for a new place to live. Tomorrow I move again and I hope will be the last time I have to unpack my socks!

Housing History……………

	House Description	Dates of Residence	Pros	Cons
1.	Cute little annex to the garage of the main house with a thatched roof.	January-July 2007	-cute dog -guava tree -neighborhood by river -private -hammock -hot water -T.V. access -futon -closet	-cats jump through ceiling -roof leaked -neighborhood children found a way to climb on my roof -chain-linked door (very cold and bugs always found their way in)
2.	Moved in temporarily with Peace Corps education volunteer in Rundu (Maggie N.)	August-September 2007	-big house -hot water -nice kitchen -laptop movie nights - girl chats -internet access	-always looking for new house -could not unpack properly -neighbors did not know me
3.	Converted garage complete with large metal door you pull up to open (only entrance/exit) with water, kitchen and toilet access in main house	October- November 2007	-private room -close to the river -nice roommates in the main house -got to paint it blue!	-part of roof almost blew off in storm -metal door often too hot to open barehanded -rivets never fixed on door and almost crushed me when it closes -huge door opened to main street
4.	Moved into bedroom in main house after 2 roommates moved out	December 2007-January 2008	-big room -safe -closets -bathtub -huge yard	-roof fell in during rain storm -roommate took all furniture and kitchen supplies landlord said belong to house -mold growing where roof leaked
5.	Temporarily staying with Peace Corps Volunteers	February 1-19^th 2008	-live with friends -yummy dinners -new movies	-belongings in storage
6	FANTASTIC little private room off of house overlooking the river	February 2008-Close of Service?	-private bathroom -hot water -sink -desk included -little garden -chicken coop	-German Nurse who occupied the room before had to go home early from her program -giant mean guard dog

During my periods as a transient, I looked for new accommodations and found a world of humor and unexpected variety. I put up an advertisement looking for a room and received the following options/responses:

Man wanting me to sleep on the floor while I slept in his bed in one room house
Bedroom attached to hair salon but the adjoining wall did not completely reach the top and hair/bad techno music would periodically drop in the room
Old storage container (not cleaned out) was shown to me as a possible option after the owner sold all of the old construction parts
Trailer attached to bar in the middle of town with no windows
Nice little room but shared shower used by six teenage boys
Contemplated building by own house until floods caused many traditional houses to collapse for the first time in years
Live in a preacher’s house if I agreed to give myself completely to his Church
Young political party official offered his house while he was away in exchange for running his personal meat selling, cash loan and taxi businesses

I bought tent just in case…………………..

TAXI!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

For N$6.50 you can take a taxi anywhere in Rundu…sometimes you get more than you pad for:

Try, Try, a hen?-It is not uncommon to flag down numerous taxis during payday only to find the only one going your way is full of chickens…..luckily I know now how to hold a chicken by its legs on a bumpy road.

Familiar sounds in a different land- Rundu mechanics and electricians have found a way to make Celine Dion’s voice 3 octaves higher and about 34 decibels greater than Sony ever thought possible. Often I get the comment that I am very quiet on the auditory abrasive journey just to explain in broken Rukwangali that although I can try to call P. Diddy again, I don’t think he needs another driver.

How do I get in/out?-Although Rundu does have some paved roads, many are not and the cars of Rundu act like angry customer wanting to redeem an expired coupon. As a result, many of the door handles, windows, seatbelts, etc do not work or are not even present. Entering/leaving often becomes a comedy of errors as you run around the car trying to get a door that works or wait until the driver does the secret handshake with parts of the car that you did not even know could be used to open a door. In Rundu, things seem to work out in unexpected ways………I am waiting for the day I have to exit through the trunk.

Plush Design: No less than 37% of the taxi drivers have stiffed animals on the dashboard of their cars. It is an interesting juxtaposition to hear Tupac blasting with a gold-toothed driver as he gently arranges his blue zebra collection. I guess gangsters need to cuddle too!

Project Updates!

My official title at the Red Cross is Orphan and Vulnerable Children (OVC) Project Assistant. We act as social workers for the center conducting home and school visits, accompanying the children to the hospital/clinics when they are ill and offering educational, recreational and social programs at the center. We provide one meal to the children M-F and have morning activities in the community on Saturday. It is exhausting, rewarding challenging and all of the other buzz words of Peace Corps. Below are some of the activities of the center:

“Do I have to smell it again?”-A journey in Gardening: What started as an innocent proposal to grow cabbage for the center’s feeding program last August has turned into an epic search for Ministry of Agriculture approved manure. Through tips from coworkers and friends we searched all over the town for the right quality, quantity and consistency, as I had to bribe drivers to take us into deep Rundu. When the rain finally stopped, we looked at many abandoned and occupied cow dwellings and I spent many days under the mentorship of the Ministry bargaining and engaging in “CSI: Dung” interrogations with the drunk men with no teeth: “How many cows were here?” “What did they eat?” “How often were they let out?” “Were they happy?” “What were their dreams?”(-ok this one is a joke although with my broken Rukwangali I could have very well asked it). I now have a new appreciation for intoxicated negotiations and the chemistry of droppings. Our small plot now has fertilizer thanks to three small orphans and a drunken man willing to shovel for N$15.00 and a Coke. We received seed donations from the Red Cross and will plant this week! Our volunteers have really worked hard to put up a fence and make seedbeds. In addition, the Ministry of Forestry donated 70 fruit trees and we plan to plant some at the center and then give each household of our OVCs with a tree/fertilizer. I was in 4-H in elementary school and never knew my 2^nd place spider-plant entry in the county fair was such a foreshadowing event to my Peace Corps experience!

In Stitches and Patches: After a donation of three sewing machines, Red Cross received 50,000 mosquito nets to distribute throughout the region and all of our floor space is now occupied with hundreds of bundles of nets with little resources to distribute them. Our proposed space for sewing is now a fortress against bugs and needlework. As a result, we formed a partnership with the local skills development center and were able to get five scholarships for four teenage mothers who dropped school and one Red Cross volunteer to take a five-month class. The hope is that that the girls will be able to start small business or work in the local co-ops and the Red Cross Volunteer can train the other children at the center.

The biggest challenge is the girls often do not have anyone to watch their babies and parents/guardians often refuse to assist the girls during the classes. In addition, if the child falls ill the girls have no choice but to stay home. We are working to address this issue, but there is little support to aid these young mothers.

Red Cross/Red Carpet: Thanks to the Priority Dispatch (U.S. Company) donation, we were able to purchase a DVD machine for the center. We now show movies every Friday after school and the kids really seem to enjoy it. I quickly learned that Nigeria has a large and thriving film industry and these “African Movies” as they are referred are quite popular in Namibia. One in particular favorite is “Mr. Ibu in London,” a farce in which a Nigerian man goes to London and hilarity ensues. In addition, Jackie Chan is extremely popular although post-movie impressions of high kicks might make me stick to Nigerian exports.

Rundu School Drop Outs: Between the inability to pay school fees, lack of a school uniform, no school supplies, child-headed households, sickness, limited school space, HIV/AIDS, etc. there are many children in Rundu who are not in school. The Red Cross provides school fee waivers, school uniforms and a limited amount of supplies once a year to our beneficiaries (about 170 kids). The estimated orphan and vulnerable child number in Kavango is 22,000 and our center is supposed to benefit the region. The task is overwhelming as we are in between funding sources and we don not have a driver even though there is a designed car and petrol money (Peace Corps Volunteers are not allowed to drive).

As a result, partnerships with local NGOs and Ministries are crucial. In response to the dropout rate, we formed a partnership with the Namibian Literary Program to start weekly classes for children not in school in Rundu. They supplied us with texts/materials and a local Irish volunteer agreed to offer technical support. Now two Red Cross Volunteers teach math and social science to 10-15 kids every Friday. The hope is that through this training they can either reenroll in formal school next term (April) or take the literacy placement test and at least be qualified in grade 8. Our initial goal was to get the street children (children out of school who beg outside shops) back into school but many the lure of making money on the streets, the camaraderie of their friends on the street, embarrassment at their educational aptitude, lack of permanent homes, teenage rebelliousness and the lack of parental or guardian support make it a challenging proposal.

I am now a bounty hunter of sorts for children out of school walking around town and passing out fliers about the program. Girls are often the most difficult as they are not always in town as many are in charge of the homes and the problem of childcare is often the reason I receive for their inability to attend classes. We are also looking at enrolling some of the older children into vocational classes (hospitality, leather making and wood working) and are awaiting feedback on scholarship proposals.

In terms of expanding the range of beneficiaries throughout the region, we are thinking of a “Mobile Community Center” where we accompany the Red Cross field workers into the rural areas and conduct small art/music/educational/health programs. The project is still in the planning phase, but I am excited about the possibilities.

Reading Rainbow: The public library in the capital city, Windhoek , donated 20 boxes of books to the center. We are awaiting their arrival and trying to set up a study corner at the center. We have a very nice public library (complete with a small kids room) where we escort the kids once a week to read, color and play on one of the only slides in Rundu, but it is a bit of a distance away and sometimes there is not enough time to walk there/back before the center closes and space is limited. This will also enable us to conduct extra literacy classes for the younger children as access to books remains a privilege that few can afford.

A Home Affair: Namibian has a crisis of documentation inherited from post-colonial, post-apartheid and post-conflict environments. Many Namibian do not have birth certificates, ID cards, death certificates of their parents or any type of formal government record. This is particularly a problem when dealing with orphans and vulnerable children because in order to receive government maintenance grants, one must have a birth certificate and birth/death certificates of their deceased parents. In addition, one must have a bank account, which requires government documents as well. To compound the problem, Rundu borders Angola and, during the war, many refugees fled Angola and settled on the other side of the river in Rundu. Many have lived and voted in Namibian for twenty or more years and most their children were born here. The issue is that they have no record (voting cards do not count yet) and the Namibian government is very strict about issuing documents. One of our jobs is to help families obtain these papers amidst the challenge of unknown/absent fathers/mothers, fires that destroy records, uncooperative family members and long/cumbersome bureaucratic processes as there are only two social workers for the region to assess households. We have had some success especially for I.D. cards, which grade 10 and grade 12 learners need for their national exams. The newly formed Orphan and Vulnerable Child Forum for Kavango is working to address the problem with the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Ministry of Child Welfare.

Half Notes of Brother Michael: Last October, Brother Michael offered free music classes to Red Cross and street children for free out of his home. I immediately agreed and found his studio to offer four keyboards, two guitars, five recorders, one video recorder, two computers and three microphones for our kids to use twice a week! Until their exams in December, every Tuesday and Thursday were spent learning theory, clapping to rhythms, recording beats and voices in the modest little hideaway of this music patron. A former teacher and very religious, Brother Michael welcomed all children into his home offering a creative haven to those who often do not own shoes. The children were able to practice typing and play games on this computer strategically placed in his kitchen. This was a favorite activity of many of the children and a few of the older boys composed displayed natural talent and actually composed and played their own song before the Christmas holiday. I was very excited about this project and thought about its possibilities of Red Cross CD release parties throughout December. Sadly, when I returned I found Brother Michael had an unpaid electricity bill from the previous tenant and could no longer offer classes. What made matters worse was he seemed to have fallen in a deep depression wanting only to talk about Bible verse and angel wars. We were able to purchase a keyboard for the center and have a temporary teacher but the magic of one man’s passion and selflessness was gone. Luckily the children seem to be more emotionally resilient than I am and a Red Cross remix might still be available soon!

NEXT: Our center is in desperate need of repair. The floor tiles are cracked and many of the children do not have shoes and hurt themselves on the broken pieces. We have bathrooms, showers and sinks for the children to wash themselves and their clothes as most do not have running water at their house. Unfortunately, the taps are broken, the doors are rotting and most of the pipes leak. Red Cross is one of the few places in Rundu where children are not only welcome, but also allowed to act like kids. With all of the challenges (one orphan told me the people who he was staying with burned down his outside room so he would not go to school and stay home and run errands for them) they go through, we want Red Cross to be an environment of respect. A local contractor gave us quotations and we are trying to raise N$11,000.00 Namibian dollars (about $1,600 U.S.) to renovate. It is my goal to complete this project before I leave, so pressure is on! Will update on any progress!