What a week!

I promised I’d report on the community meeting and self-defence classes. I didn’t plan on being all that excited to do it.

We held a community meeting on Saturday morning at Omatara (Oshiwambo word meaning open market). Community meetings in Tsumeb are notorious for poor turnouts, but this one was well attended. It helped that Omatara is naturally a busy place but we thought getting their attention and cooperation was going to be a heavy task. We requested ahead of time that all shops close during our meeting. They didn’t seem all that willing to do so but when Councillor Tobias went around with a megaphone they complied. Then about 250 of them pulled up benches and listened attentively throughout the meeting. We had a speaker from the Ministry of Health, and a demonstration by TCE (Total Control of the Epidemic) but the highlight was definitely Tate Luanda Ndemweda’s speech. He is an HIV positive man living in Oshivelo, about an hour north of Tsumeb. We invited him to speak at our meeting because we are having a difficult time finding anyone in Tsumeb willing to speak out publicly about their HIV status. Word got out that we would have an HIV positive speaker. That may have also helped with the turnout. When Tate Ndemweda finished he was given a large round of applause and words of encouragement. A couple shop owners even gave him bags of tomatoes and onions.

We also held self-defence classes at Meameno Centre over the weekend. My friend, and fellow Peace Corps Volunteer Paddy, taught the classes along with his partner Brooke. The two of them are trained in Karate and Tae Kwon Do. The classes were only for girls. We had 12 who completed the all three classes and received certificates. I was really impressed with the teachers and the girls. Paddy and Brooke spent a lot of one-on-one time making sure the girls learned all the techniques. I was amazed at what they were able to do after just three days. It was fun to see some of the really shy ones perform with so much energy. It seems so many young girls in Namibia have a hard time standing up for themselves and defending their rights. I think these classes gave them a real boost. I want to send special thanks to Paddy and Brooke who brought these classes to girls all over Namibia.

I know I complain a lot about being ineffective and not getting things done. Most of the time that’s how I feel. So believe me when I say this: I played a big part in making these events a success, and I’m proud of it.

Time to go to work

I suppose I’m due for a work update. I’ve been avoiding this a little due to the lack of production on my end. At least I have excuses. In May, June and July I was gone from Tsumeb for about 10-15 days per month. So I didn’t get a lot done. I shouldn’t have many reasons to leave site in the next few months, and I hope they are much more productive.

I just finished my first ‘My Future is My Choice’ course with students at Tsumeb Secondary School. 13 kids graduated. Next month they’ll be presented their certificates in front of the whole school. I think the kids enjoyed it, and I know I did. I feel like I could be a pretty good teacher. I think the best part of the class had to be the question box. Some of the students were pretty shy, understandable for their age, but they made good use of the question box. I had to refer to my smarter Peace Corps colleagues quite a few times. Many of them actually studied medicine or health. So not only did they learn a lot, so did I. The plan is for me to conduct one course each school term. I’m already looking forward to starting my next class in September.

You may recall I started a compost pile back in March for the new garden to be planted in the spring. We were able to get two good size compost piles going thanks to the help of a local grocery store who provided us their rotting fruits and veggies. It took a while for the decomposition to get moving, but both piles look pretty healthy now. In fact, the rotten squash liked their new home so well they decided to sprout like wildfire. I spent last Saturday transplanting the new squash plants to our garden… our garden that didn’t exist. So I had to prepare the soil. Anybody ever heard of the double digging method? It’s supposed to loosen the soil down to 24 inches. It was pretty painful, but I promise you that soil is loose! I transplanted about 20 squash plants. Unfortunately they may all be dead. Did I mention I’ve never gardened before? I couldn’t keep the root balls together. The compost soil was so loose, the dirt just fell off the roots. I had Jesse come and look at it. He thinks since the compost piles were covered the squash plants got used to a warmer temperature and suffered major shock in the garden. Why didn’t I recruit him to help me? I’ve still got some more squash plants to transplant. I’m going to keep that compost pile uncovered for about a week before I move them. If anybody has suggestions please send me comments. Oh, I forgot about the mango seeds we planted. None of them sprouted. We’re going to try papaya now. Jacob assures me these will work.

I’m helping organize a community meeting and a self-defence class this month. I’ll let you know how it goes. Ta Ta.