North By North by North

History Lesson!

For those of you who don't know, I'm in the very far north of Namibia. Like...15 km from Angola. The area is known as Owamboland- home of the Owambo people who inhabit northern Namibia and southern Angola and the most populous ethnic group in the country. From the 1960's-1980's Owamboland was the main area of the then rebel movement known as SWAPO (South West African People's Organization) and their military wing PLAN (People's Liberation Army of Namibia) formed in the mid 1960's in response to South Africa's continued (and according to the UN, illegal) possession of South West Africa (Namibia).

The South African Defense Force operated from a number of bases on the Angolan border to try and curb the influence of SWAPO and PLAN and the apartheid government cracked down on any sort of political activism from the Owambo people. It's interesting to live in an area with so much recent history.

A few weeks ago I met an Angolan in a bar. He asked me something in Portuguese and I told him in English that I didn't speak Portuguese. He then informed me that he didn't speak English. I asked if he by chance spoke Spanish, and he replied that he did. I spent the rest of the night talking with him, he was from Luanda and on vacation in Namibia.

One of my favorite parts about being here is the people that you randomly meet. I'm sure being white plays a big role but everyone is so eager to meet and talk with you. When I was in Windhoek I had the privilege to meet the first Namibian ambassador to both the UN and US. He is currently serving as the chief of mission to Tanzania. We talked about education in southern Africa for close to an hour. And I just met him one night because he asked for a light.

I think it's the same no matter where you travel, you're bound to meet some pretty cool people

"Why did you want to be a teacher?"

I have heard this question probably a hundred times. It usually follows after I tell someone that I majored in international affairs and not education. If you had asked me before I left, I probably would have said that education is an integral part of development which I want to be a part of. Or maybe I said I needed a job that I could do that would get me working on the ground in Africa.

Now...I'm not so sure. Teaching is by far the most difficult thing I've ever had to do in my entire life. Running calls on an ambulance? No problem. Getting 40 teenagers to listen to you while you drone on about grammar rules? Forget about it.

This job has so many different aspects to it that it would take me a few hours to write about. You're a counselor, mediator, representative, manager, and so many more things, all at the same time. Sometimes it seems like it's too much.

I'm not sure if I've talked about the learners I have the privilege to teach. They're amazing! Granted, I am at one of the best schools in Namibia, they are so motivated to learn. Well, most of them are. In grade 11, you almost always will pass to grade 12 unless you really screw up on examinations. But that's not going to happen, because they're brilliant. Well not really, but they put so much effort in that I can't even compare it to home. Over the year I'm sure I'll write more specifically about some of them.

Rewarding doesn't even begin to describe my feelings of this new job. Hell, it's more like a lifestyle. But the point is...I really like it. I think coming here, specifically to Namibia, to work specifically as a teacher, is one of the best decisions I have ever made (let's hope this feeling lasts).

Now you'll have to excuse me, the herd of pigs owned by my school has invaded my yard for the third time today and I have to go route them with a stick.

Jason