My New Community

Well, my life as a Peace Corps Volunteer has begun. I started work last Monday, after being afforded a restful 4-day weekend following swear in. My first week was certainly uneventful. I spent it at the centre where I’ll be based (Meameno HIV/AIDS Support Centre). Not a lot happens there right now. My primary job is to change that. The centre just opened in May and most people either don’t know it exists, or what we do there. Once in a while somebody will stop by… A community member wanting to get involved, a police officer sheepishly looking for the free condoms, or young children taking guavas from the trees. With little else to do, I’ve at least gotten to know my counterparts, Zenecia and Mattheu a little better. They are local volunteers. The three of us run the centre, and work under Councillor Tobias and RACOC (Regional Aids Committee).

While I did spend most of the first week staring at my watch, I also had one pretty productive day. On Tuesday, we did some work in the field. In the morning we went out with TCE (Total Control of the Epidemic) members to identify homes with a need for home-based care. RACOC has a budget to facilitate home-based care training so we’re beginning that process. In the afternoon, we delivered condoms to employees of one of the grocery stores. The response was great. They were very happy to see us and suggested we come more often. This second act was so easy, yet really gratifying. I’ve spent much of my time in Namibia doubting my ability to be an effective volunteer… that’s nothing new, I’m a pessimist and tend to doubt myself more often than not. The Peace Corps reminds us to recognize small victories. I think this day qualified, and boosted my self esteem.

If anybody is interested there are Peace Corps Namibia 2008 calendars available for purchase. A former Namibia PCV, Shayna Dooling, started this project a couple years ago. I’m sorry to say I don’t remember exactly which cause this supports but proceeds do go to Namibia. To order:

E-mail duffyd@optonline.net
Mail check – U.S. $11 each – payable to Shayna Dooling – 18 Donack Lane, Bellport, NY 11713 (they are mailed from the U.S. so shipping should be fast)

Also, check out the blog link listed on the left. It comes from a fellow volunteer here in Namibia. He has several other current Namibia Volunteer blogs attached to his site.

1 more week

The end is finally near. On Wednesday, 10-Jan we'll be sworn in as real volunteers. And let me tell you it's about time. We're all burned out on training. Today and tomorrow the health volunteers are giving sessions to the education volunteers to help them discuss community health and HIV with their students. I don't think they're in the mood to retain much of it but we'll give it our best shot. We have our final LPIs (language proficiency interview) on Sunday and Monday, I scored at Novice-Medium on the first test... definitely room for improvement. Tuesday we travel to Windhoek for shopping to prepare for the next 2 years. Wednesday we swear in, and I hear the Namibian Broadcasting Company (NBC) covers it with a news story. We have to give thank you speeches in local languages, and that usually gets on air.

Referring to my last post... Our workshops were indeed successful, at least according to the feedback we got from Tsumeb youth. We kept the sessions interactive and taught on many subjects (Science behind HIV, Alcoholism, Stigma & Discrimination, STDs, People living with HIV/AIDS-PLWHA, Condoms). In the end the youth would show up for just about anything as long as we served food, and we did that. Who doesn't like free food though? I know I've found meetings/conferences in the states where the food was definitely the highlight of the experience.

One sad note... we lost our first NAM27 volunteer. His name is Seth, and he was a fun guy to have around. We respect his decision to leave but he will be missed.

Picture Time: 1. The Tsumeb youth at our workshop 2. My host sisters Winnie and Susana desparately trying to teach me to dance on Christmas Eve 3. Meme Egumbo, Grandmother to my host sisters and wonderful host mom 4. Me before braids 5. Me with braids, done by host sister Susana (hope you can see them)