GranEllen – week 3 as a Peace Corps Trainee (PCT) in Namibia

Below:

PCT in traditional dress from host family.

Another PCT preparing pap, porridge.

Me, helping with food prep.

This week focused on the cultural differences in Namibia, Safety and Security especially in the context of living among multiple cultures, personal and mental health care, climaxing with a Cultural Cooking Day. I learned that the best way to protect myself is to integrate well into my community. The more the locals know me, the more they will look out for me and will come to my aid if needed. Peace Corps is teaching 8 different languages to my Group 48 but there are many more languages spoken in this extremely diverse country. I am learning Afrikaans but it is very beneficial to know greetings in other languages because many tribal peoples are migrating for work opportunities. Even small amounts of language will go a long way to integrate into the local community. The reason we teach in English is because the government learned early on that it would be impossible to educate their population using a dozen different languages, especially if many are moving and the languages are not localized anymore. Primary grades 0-3 are taught in the learner’s mother-tongue and from then on they are taught in English.
Peace Corps also takes our personal and mental health care very seriously. They have a counseling service, assigned medical staff, and we received our medical kits. We’ve had multiple sessions on what to do if we get sick and the medical kit is well stocked with OTC medications, chapstick, bug spray, sunscreen, saline solution, bandages, and more. In addition, we practiced how to do a pin-prick malaria test (I’m negative), we’ve had 2 out of 3 rabies shots, hepatitis B shot, typhoid booster. We’ve been prescribed a malaria prophylactic to reduce the chance of malaria or its effect. I am very impressed with the attention to detail and the thorough training. The manual is very comprehensive including prevention, symptoms, and care for just about anything that could happen to us here in Africa.
All of our host families were invited for our Cultural Cooking Day. Each of the 8 language groups prepared food with our host families helping us. Two goats were slaughtered and a number of chickens. There was donkey meat, beef, and an assortment of fish. The mohangu was prepared and made into pap. There were fat cakes, sautéed spinach, fire roasted bread, mopani worms and more. We also prepared entertainment for our host families – we sang and/or danced to a traditional song. It was fun but exhausting!