Well actually winter is officially here this side. As always, the weather in Luderitz is
different compared to winter of the rest of Namibia, but it is still definitely
a marked change. There is A LOT of fog/mist these days, and noticeably less
wind. The intensity of the fog makes me feel like I’m on the set of a bad
horror movie as I walk to and from school sometimes. It’s not that it’s crazy
cold, it’s just that it never gets warm. I miss heating. The past few nights I
have worn socks, leggings, pants, a shirt, a sweatshirt, and been inside a
sleeping bag under sheets and two comforters in order to stay warm. Then I wake up at 3 am and am extremely hot. I
swear it’s colder inside my house than it is outside, don’t really know why. But
as any true Buchter will tell you about the weather here, Luderitz has 4 seasons
in a day! It will be super cold in the morning, then get surprisingly nice in
the early afternoon, then the fog/mist will roll in with a drop in
temperatures, and then it gets cold again. Despite my best efforts at staying
healthy, these rapid weather changes have finally gotten me sick along with
about half my learners.
Anyway, things have really picked up here in Luderitz. I
think the theme of Term 1 can be called “Survive” and now this term it is
“crazy busy ahh!” I’m so glad I stuck out the challenges of last term,
because while classroom management continues to be challenging, things have
gotten SO much better. The first week of school this term I switched classrooms
to the one right next to the office, and adopted a new classroom management strategy
introduced way back in PST [at the time I thought it was completely insane and
way too strict]. I don’t know if it was one of those changes or I’ve gotten
better at dealing with learners being rude to me, or a combination, but the
change is like night and day compared to last term. It’s AWESOME. Things are
starting to fall into place and I now definitely understand why Peace Corps
asks for two years. So back to what I’m up to after school these days:
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First off, during week 1 of the term the
smartest girl in Grade 7 approached my colleague and I mid-conversation and
asked what we thought about starting a debate club. After meeting with her and
hearing her very articulate vision for the team, now I’m heading up a debate
team, and there are about 35 kids so far who are interested. We had our first
meeting a couple days ago, and it was amazing. I can’t believe what a
difference there is between Grade 7 and Grade 6 learners – not only are they
like a foot taller, but we had a really productive conversation about topics
they want to debate, one that could never have happened in any of my classes.
The group is really enthusiastic about debating controversial issues in Namibia
and I can’t wait to see where this goes. If any friends with debate experience
are reading this I’d love input/advice!
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Second, we officially opened the library last
week! So far I’m really happy with how well the prefects are doing at running it
and checking in/out books for the learners. The one thing we’re doing in the
coming weeks is assigning grades particular days to go get books – the library
space is WAY too small [like the size of a small college dorm room] and there
is A LOT of learner interest. The first
day there was a line of 25 kids waiting to go inside, and we hadn’t even announced
that we were opening it. This week the lines are going to be madness. At a
school with 970 learners, this is going to cause problems in the long run, but
we’re making it work for now.
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Really sad to say that the other two volunteers
in Luderitz are about to leave! One of them goes home to America at the end of
this week, and the other moves up north in the middle of July. So since this is
happening, they have recruited and trained several Namibians to take over and
continue their projects. Yay sustainability! One of the projects is a girls’
group, and I along with two other teachers at Diaz have become facilitators.
Most of the girls in the group are in Grade 6/7 at Diaz, so the group is now
going to be meeting at the school once a week. I’m really looking forward to
this project. After having attended a few meetings already, it brings me back
to the good old days of SR.
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After getting these three things on solid ground
I’m going back to the World Map Project idea, working towards opening up the
computer lab for typing/IT classes, and developing an educational community
recycling project with the science teachers. So in sum, life has gotten very
very busy, but in the BEST way possible. Peace Corps is definitely a roller
coaster, but right now things seem to be going up in the right direction!
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