Athletics???... sure, I can do that!

Hi everyone!

We are over two months into the new year and what an eventful time it already has been.

At the beginning of the year, we had to settle on our schedules and ensure that no clashes and overlaps existed as any of those would immediately set off another wave of corrections for everyone else as well. At the end, it took over a week to settle things down, which delayed the start of our sports lessons.

Once in full swing though, the first focus was on athletics, which was neither mine nor my fellow volunteer’s cup of tea, but the basic understanding of the various disciplines hhelpedus formulate sensible lessons around long jump, shotput and relays. It has been a great experience to put more focus on a different sport, since so much of my life was about swimming. We also wanted to try to introduce high jump, but remained with the initial three disciplines for now. We have an inter-house sports day coming up, which I am quite excited about. I remember this event from my own school days and really enjoyed it. The togetherness, the camaraderie and yet also the competition amongst us all keeps coming back as a memory. Of course, any medal ceremony was a highlight, but at the end, it was much more about something achieved in common than individual recognition.

Knowing that not all of you are familiar with the typical Nambian school routines, I thought I would quickly outline what a typical school week looks like for me.

We work Monday through Friday with most weekends being off. Our school day starts at 07h10 with a teachers’ meeting in the staff room. At that time the principle and the heads of departments share important information and indicate any special days or occasions that might be coming up during that week.

After that and only on Mondays, we have assembly. This means that the entire school gathers in the auditorium to hear of upcoming events, pledge their allegiance to the school, sing a song, and listen in on a devotion delivered by the principle. This is also the time where children get recognised for their achievements, which can vary from academic praise over social engagement to extra-curricular activities. If children have special achievements outside of school, those are also mentioned and recognised.

After the assembly, the sports lessons begin. On every other day of the week, the first period begins at 07h45. The students will start arriving at the changing rooms at that time and switch into their sports uniform, which is an absolute must. Then we either head up to our sports field, long jump pit, running track or the indoor hall. Unlike many school, we are fortunate to have all of these at our disposal. This routine is the same with all classes that have sports lessons on that specific day. I have added a picture of our timetable below as it is easier to understand it that way. Our afternoons are dedicated to the hostel children with whom we do homework after lunch. We have grades 1-3 under our care and go swimming with them every Monday, Wednesday and Thursday.

The work days are long and tiresome but at the end of the day, I really enjoy what I do.

Warm hugs from Namibia,

Zoë