Where's GranEllen?

After 37 hours of travel, I made it safe and sound to my first-born son’s home in Jasper, GA. I am still exhausted and filled with a mix of emotions. My Namily in-country are checking on me and reminding me how much I will miss them. It’s the simple things I will miss.

My goal for the little ones in my life in Namibia was to instill a love of reading. I read almost every day to boy Blessing (my housemate’s almost 2yr old son) and to girl Blessing and Mira (matrone’s 7yr old and 2yr old daughters). I gave them homemade or store-bought books for special occasions or ‘just because’. I also found websites with free pdf stories. Girl Blessing was failing her English reading and writing class, so I also spent time helping with her homework assignments. One of the best moments in my service was her proudly showing me her ‘C’ grade. FYI, grades are different here and a ‘C’ is very respectable.

My housemate sent a video of boy Blessing looking at a book, saying “The reading culture you left behind.” Before I left, she also told me that when I am not around, he goes to the door of my room with a book in hand, and knocks, knocks on my door, hopeful that I will come out to read to him. These simple things are what made my life so complete in Namibia. (Note: can’t get video to load)

Last week, I forgot to mention a serendipitous moment. In earlier posts, I have talked about Cea, the principal’s wife. She was my first friend among the school staff and took me under her wing from the beginning. Before the staff meeting last Monday (the day I found out I was leaving), she asked me to come to her room for my goodbye present. She said she started making this gift a couple weeks ago to make sure it was complete before I left in September or October. She knew she had plenty of time and there was no rush. For some reason, she found herself working on it in a rush. She would tell herself there was no rush, but she was compelled to work on it every spare moment. She had completed it just the day before! Talk about God working in mysterious ways. It’s a beautiful linen set with crochet trim.

All for now with all my love,     

Ellen                         

And just like that, my Peace Corps service is ending. I woke up yesterday to the news that the Peace Corps Director had suspended operations for all volunteers and all volunteers would be evacuated from their sites, globally. This is due to COVID-19, announcement here

Things are moving fast. I packed up my site by the end of the day. A year and a half packed into 2 checked bags, 1 carryon, and a personal bag that fits under the seat. Physically, it was easier packing to leave than coming. Mentally, my brain is still struggling to realize what is happening.

I gave away all my food, filled 2bags with shoes and clothes for donation. I visited matrone, said goodbyes to girl Blessing and dear Mira. I played with boy Blessing and his Mom, my housemate, drove me to my consolidation site to join other volunteers from my region. Earlier in the day, I attended our non-compulsory (since the break officially started today) school staff meeting. My principal announced my leaving and I was able to say goodbye to my counterparts and many other teachers. I’m especially sad that I couldn’t say goodbye to my learners because they all left over the weekend.

I will write more later but know that I am safe and healthy and will be heading home soon. I’m still in a bit of shock and taking things one step at a time.

All for now with all my love,
Ellen

I teach Art to all the 8th graders. There are four classes with an average of 40 learners per class.The project

for this term has been to choreograph and perform a traditional song. In the first period each class

self-divided into 4 groups, chose a group name that had to include the name of a food and an animal

(ie, Corndogs, AppleCheetahs, KaasMuis (CheeseMouse ), and had to pick a song. The next period was to

choreograph and practice their song and to ‘translate’ their song. They don’t have to translate word for

word, just describe the language and the meaning of the song. The third and fourth periods were the

performances. Each art class meets once a cycle, which is about every 10 days with our 7-day cycle, so this

has been a long process. The learners have had fun with this project and so have I!

Another highlight of the week was meeting our new Peace Corps Country Director, Dennis McMahon. He

was in town for a Peace Corps HIV/AIDS workshop and wanted to visit the volunteers who live here while

he was in town. We met for coffee and I dragged PCV Alex along, since she was staying with me this

weekend. The meeting was very casual and fun, but I was nervous about the next part.

When we were arranging the time and place to meet, I mentioned that I was proctoring the Write-On

competition that morning. This is an international, Peace Corps sponsored, writing competition for learners

in 6th grade thru university. My responsibility was to advertise a time and place and be there to proctor the

event. I advertised at my school and at the last minute, at the primary school. I did not require any one to

sign up, I just told them to come and be prepared to write for an hour. However, now that I had an

audience, I was worried that no one would show up! Fortunately, three learners participated, all from my

school. I was hoping for more, but extremely grateful there were three.

I was provided 2 prompts (statements) for each grade and the learner must choose 1 to write about. As an

example, one 11th grade prompt was, “When I snap my fingers, I am in a different place”. They write for

no more than an hour. I submit the entries and they are graded within Namibia and the winners’ entries are

combined and graded with other country winners for the grand winners. Eventually, entries are posted on a

website and compiled into a book.

The contest was in my classroom, so Dennis got to see my school, my classroom and a few learners. He

suggested we have the learners read their entries aloud to us. They agreed and were so proud to share their

stories. We were very impressed with their level of creativity and writing skills. There is a reason my

school is so highly ranked, we have some amazing learners.

While I was nervous that I did not have enough participants or that I may not be involved enough in camps

or other Peace Corps initiatives, Dennis made me feel good about my service. He asked lots of questions

while learning how I spend my time. He complimented me on my one-on-one, low key approach to service

and gave me some ideas for future activities or ideas to share with my assumed replacement. I look forward

to future discussions with Dennis, without the nervous butterflies preceding the meeting.

All for now with all my love,

Ellen

PS Happy birthday, Sherry! Thinking of you on your special day

Art class dancing

My WriteOn competitors

Oh my, I just realized that I haven’t updated my blog this week. I guess I was thrown off because a favorite PCV stayed with me Sunday and then had to stay another night when she could not get a ride back to her village on Monday. Anyway…

Last Thursday was the prize-giving ceremony at our school. They do it a little different in that the 12th graders, the graduates, are recognized at the end of the school year, back in November or December. The previous year’s 8th – 11th graders are recognized at the beginning of the new year. It makes sense because school is out once the year-end marks are finalized. I was honored to hand out awards to the ordinary level 11th graders who are this year’s 12th graders. We were entertained by the school choir.

On Saturday, I volunteered to be an official at the regional athletic tournament. I recorded the distances measured for the discus event. During the event, I met Hella Kuppe who will turn 80 this year. She is a strikingly fit woman who has traveled the world representing Namibia in World Veteran (senior) Championships. She’s been Namibia’s sportswoman of the year three times and she only started participating in athletics (i.e., track and field) in her 40s. Prior to athletics, she was an avid hockey and softball player.

I didn’t know any of this when I arrived at the discus venue. She was already there. I introduced myself and she said she was waiting to throw. I thought she was a volunteer like me and laughed. Little did I know that she was serious. Her current events are discus and javelin since she can’t run and jump like she used to. I thoroughly enjoyed learning her story and talking with this amazingly humble woman. In another day and time, I am convinced she could have been an Olympic athlete.

I learned that veteran (senior citizens, not military) and disabled athletes can participate at sanctioned events to qualify for more specific tournaments and events in their categories. The discus event I officiated also included 5 adult disabled adults. One female dwarf (the term she used), one female and two males with other physical disabilities and one with Down’s Syndrome. I was encouraged and surprised to see how inclusive this athletic event was and to know it provides an opportunity for a select few to eventually participate in the Special Olympics. Amazing.

All for now with all my love,
Ellen

I went to Klein Hamakari with Pastor Gerson and his multiple youth groups. He told me this was a bigger camp than the last camp I attended, but I was not expecting about 150 learners, ranging from 5th – 12th grades. Fortunately, there were also about 6 teachers to chaperone the learners and 6 young adults that cooked and managed the site.

I did not have a specific job and felt like an honored guest most of the time. I first got in line like everyone else and someone came to me, “No miss, sit, we bring your food”. When I protested, they said “No, you must sit”. When I tried to wash my dishes, someone would always stop me and say, “No miss, let me do for you.” It did not feel right to be waited on, but it seemed very upsetting to them when I did things for myself so I acquiesced.

We stayed on the grounds where the workers and their families live. It is beautiful land, especially with all the rain we’ve had since December. There is a dam, now filled with water, but not suitable for swimming. The property also has cows, horses, goats, wild springbok, and all kinds of birds.

Friday night we watched a Disney movie, Queen of Katwe. The movie is based on a true story of a young girl, Phiona Mutesi, from the slums of Uganda, who becomes a world class chess champion. It is a story about rising above your circumstances, faith in God, redemption, and how one person can have such life-changing impact on others. I highly recommend the film.

The sessions throughout the weekend combined scripture with the themes of the movie, making the lessons easy to follow and understand for the learners. The lessons were also translated into Otjiherero since that is the mother tongue for most of the learners that attended.

Other than getting to know staff and learners, my one tangible contribution was helping a young learner get through an asthma attack. I had just fallen asleep on Friday night when a learner came to my tent. She asked me to help her friend. First off, I was humbled that she asked me because there were other more familiar adults at the camp. I walked over to the girls’ area – a huge tent with wall-to-wall mattresses and bedding on the ground. There were probably 50-60 mattresses in this tent. The tent was like a large wedding/event tent or a small circus tent.

The sick girl was being carried by a group of 4-6 girls outside the tent, breathing very rapidly, with many other girls surrounding her. I felt uncomfortable and claustrophobic just trying to get to her. I told everyone not carrying her to go back to bed. I had them lay her down on the ground with her head in my lap. She was lucid and responsive and already looked more comfortable without a crowd around her. I told her to breathe with me, slow, deep breaths and asked if she used an inhaler. She does, but she does not have one with her. I showed her mine and asked if it looked familiar. She took 2 puffs and she settled immediately. I offered for her to sleep elsewhere, but she wanted to go back to her mattress with her friends. I stayed with her until she fell asleep which was not long at all.

After the fact, I questioned the wisdom of letting her use my inhaler. It was one of those split-second decisions, more on instinct than logic, it certainly helped. A hospital would have been an hour away and we did not have a vehicle available. The girl was about 12 or 13 and it was obvious she had used an inhaler before. I am glad it was as simple as that and there were no more problems over the weekend.

All for now with all my love,
Ellen

New week, new attitude. After last week’s moody Monday, the rest of the week got better and better. A personal highlight was when one of the 12th grade boys in my Math class told me that if I had always been his Math teacher then he would probably be in higher maths. He said that I make everything much easier to understand than his other teachers. I don’t know if that is true, but it certainly made my day, my week.

The school highlight was the Sotte Concert on Thursday evening. A couple weeks ago, I talked Sotte Day (Fools’ Day) which was a team building day for the new 8th graders. Similarly, the Sotte Concert (Fools’ Concert) is not exactly a concert, it is more of a ‘talent’ show featuring performances from the 8th graders. It was extremely entertaining with Saturday Night Live (maybe a slight exaggeration) type skits. One skit, “Types of Learners” made fun of the teacher’s pet learner, the perpetually late learner, the learner who asks the instructions when the teacher has just given them, and so on. Another skit, “Comedy Class” mocked some of the funny comebacks that teachers use on the learners. Many of the skits included songs and dances. “Dance of the Little Swans” was boys in tutus pirouetting across the stage, “Pen Tappers” was a drum-like performance with pens on desk-tops, and on and on. Since I have all the 8th graders for Art, it was especially fun to see each of them entertaining us in such unique ways and seeing such a different side to many of them.

The week ended with a Friday dinner catching up with PCV Alexis. She teaches up in Owamboland along with many other PCVS in my Group 48. On Saturday, PCVs Spencer and Marissa (also down from Owamboland) spent the night with me and we cooked together. PCV Mercedes, Group 50, lives in my town, also came for dinner. We made a black bean, corn, tomato, rice burrito and just ate it like nachos over chips. We also made guacamole and had watermelon for dessert. It was yummy and fun company. Another dessert was candied pecans.

While in Germany, the Christmas Markets sold these candied cinnamon almonds, German Gebrannte Mandeln, that I fell in love with. Between Christmas packages and my trip home, I have many pecans. I found a recipe and substituted pecans for the almonds. Not the same as what I had in Germany, but they were delicious and hit the spot.

All for now with all my love,
Ellen

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I am feeling a little down today. Down may not be the correct word, maybe melancholy or introspective. I want to finish  strong and hope my learners will perform better than last year. I want to be a good teacher. I want to motivate them to learn and enjoy learning, but I feel like I spend most of my time corralling the learners or settling them down. It can be exhausting.

The reality is that I am mostly managing my classes better and they are getting to task quicker, but every day there seems to be an exception. Today it was the last period where I had to invigilate a 9^th grade Afrikaans class.

Every time a teacher is absent, they assign that teacher’s classes to other teachers with open periods. Sometimes the teacher will leave work for the class and sometimes not. The learners always think it is a “play” period  even if they have an assignment. Often, you do not know the learners and you may never have them for a class again, so it is hard to invest much effort into the period.

The last period of the day is often difficult anyway, but today’s class fell off the rails and I did not try to get it back. I guess that is what frustrates me, that I didn’t even try. I was mentally done for the day too. Usually I would at least play hangman or a simple game to keep them engaged, but not today.

Please pray for me to be a better teacher. “Mama said there’d be days like this” and tomorrow is another day… (song by the Shirelles)

All for now with all my love,

Ellen

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In addition to lesson planning and getting back into the groove of teaching, I have been learning about hydroponics via you-tube and other internet resources . I discovered the Kratky Method which does not require dirt, pumps, or indoor lighting and is intended as an inexpensive but effective method to grow vegetables. Visit YouTube channel “Keep on Growin’ with Mike Van Duzee” for fun, easy instructions. This is garden version 3 for me.

As a refresher, garden version 1 was trying out bottle tower gardens. This is a type of vertical gardening, using recycled soda (“cool drink” in Namlish) bottles stacked on top of each other in order to conserve water. (Google Willem Van Cotthem and Bottle Tower Garden). I had limited success with lettuce, basil, cilantro and not much of anything else. I think the sun was too hot for this method even after I moved it to a spot with a bit of shade. I took down the bottle tower garden. I will not try it again in Namibia, but probably will when I return to the USA.

Garden version 2 was adding some old-fashioned containers and actual digging in the dirt. I had no success with tomatoes, cucumbers, or peppers. I had very limited success with some planting such as harvesting a handful of green beans and 2 scrawny beets. Zucchini was somewhat more successful, but they had to be harvested around 6” because of the squash borers. My best crop was spinach, I had enough to freeze several bags. I also have a steady source of mixed green leaves and nice basil. I’ve made several batches of pesto. I will continue digging in the dirt, but my current focus is the hydroponics.

Now I am ready for garden version 3, hydroponics. I prepared 3 small containers (0.5 lt) with mixed greens rootings, 3 milk jug containers (2 lt) with spinach rootings, one 3lt container with a tomato rooting and one with a bell pepper rooting. I am excited to see the progress and hope this proves to be more successful than garden versions 1 and 2.

Sorry, I can’t access photos today.

All for now with all my love,
Ellen