So… three weeks in at site and things are going pretty well: I’m starting to understand the whole family dynamic on the homestead, teaching is fun, and each day I get a better idea of how I might be able to influence development within the community.
Living with a host family is never the easiest thing in the world. Both parties must make sacrifices to the ways they lived in order to accommodate their new family members and the negatives can sometimes outweigh the positives at first. The goal, though, is that as the host and the hosted become acquainted with each other, the benefits will overcome the detriments of the changes that each had to endure in their lifestyles. My host family and I shared many uncomfortable moments during the first week or two (and there are sure to be plenty more in the coming years), but I am starting to understand more about my host family members and seeing how they live their lives really makes it easier to avoid the awkward moments. The good thing is my host mom is a teacher at my school and we see each other many times throughout the day, giving me ample opportunities to learn more about her and gain insight into how things are done at school.
At school, I have spent the majority of my time teaching, marking (grading), and recently fixing computers. For the past two weeks and for the remainder of the third and final term of the school year, I have been teaching 18 periods per week (6 periods of 8th grade math, 6 periods of 9th grade math, and 6 periods of Basic Information Science). The learners are doing pretty well considering some of them are unable to write their name in English (they are taught entirely in Oshikwanyama until 5th grade and sometimes afterward, so English skills are generally lacking). Marking is tedious but it allows me to see what type of problems the kids have difficulty with, so it is beneficial for the teachers too. And recently a large part of each of my days has been devoted to maintaining the functionality of our school computer lab. The lab houses one server running Edubuntu (Linux-based) and about 20 roughly ten-year-old PCs. Needless to say, upkeep is a mess in the lab. The one major success has been the introduction of internet to the lab this week. Apparently, the school has been internet-capable for some time now, but no one understands the Linux terminal and the settings had never been configured properly to allow the computers access to the web. I had no idea how to use Linux either, but some research ended up being rather fruitful eventually yielding both wired and wireless connections. So although I have technically been doing less than half the work of most teachers (the normal teacher workload is 40 periods) I have been pretty busy. Next year, we PCVs are expected to teach 28 periods per week when we really begin our assignment. The rest of the time, we are supposed to work on our secondary projects where we will aim to bring about growth and development in the community.
As a PCV, determining what the community needs most and how to bring about sustainable development are things that need to be pondered frequently and for an extended period of time. Before one can get an understanding about the community needs, he must meet with members of the community. That’s what I’m doing now; I’m trying to get involved in community events and meet people who are passionate about the community and where it is headed. I met with the counselor of our constituency yesterday to get a better idea about what the community needs and where I might be able to help out and it looks like a computer resource center or community library would be good ideas but both concepts require a lot of funding and effort from many outside sources. I certainly understand the community more than I did a week or two ago, but much work remains.
And since people love pictures, here are a few I took after school today…
One of our loud roosters in the homestead that likes to wake everyone up at 3am, 4am, 5am, etc..
My youngest host cuz. I almost know as much Oshikwanyama as her.
Ombwa yetu. We have a puppy too. They eat everything from bones to bugs.
The sun setting beyond the yonder trees.
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Hey Joey! Your dad finally hooked me up with the blog process....ugh, I am so computer dumb-brained. Soooo glad I can follow your "adventure" now and communicate with you regularly. Your stories are so touching and your pictures are awesome. It's wonderful to be able to see some of the members of your host family. Looks like they truly do enjoy posing for the camera! And....I must admit my stomach turned when you talked about the goat eye. Anyway, I am thankful you are well now, and pray every day that you will stay healthy and safe. I am fascinated by how much you have learned and are experiencing. Take care now, will stay in touch. Love you lots, XO. Aunt Carol
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