Settling in at Delta

Hello everyone!

Here I am with news from Namibia!

I am not sure how much time I will get to write starting next week as our school re-opens after a short one-week recess.  For now, I have some time, so let me update you on these past weeks and things to come.

We started our first day bright and early at the school shadowing previous volunteers to get the hang of how a school day would work. We were not quite ready to jump into the deep end.  We got a good idea on that day how lessons would go, what works and does no work well, what could stay the same, what could be changed and what a full day`s work would feel like at the end.

On our second day the deep water was much more felt as the previous volunteers turned the tables on us and shadowed us only occasionally coming in with feedback and advice.  Half way through the day, my fellow volunteer Leon and I were left on our own as the previous volunteers needed to start packing for their journey home.  Here we were, a few days in the country, one day of orientation and now in the front of dozens of children with eyes wide open and expectations high about what these new kids on the block would do, had to offer, would be like – scary stuff, but also immediately exciting and gratifying.  I immediately enjoyed that moment and knew that things would turn out to be good – more than that – great.

In our first week, we played games like dodgeball, burning ball and who`s  afraid of the lion with the younger children to get a feel for the class and get to know them more individually.  At the end of the say, I was literally flat out finished and thought to myself ‘okay, let`s go for the other 361 days`. I need to get used to standing under the African sun again all day and being surrounded by the pure energy only a bunch of primary school youngsters can generate – even being as cheeky and funny in estimating my age to be 39!!! And if I thought that our day would end with the final bell of the day – think again new volunteer – as after a small break we continued with swimming lessons as well as canoe paddling for the boarder children as their programme extends into the evening hours.

They all absolutely loved the water and it was amazing to share my passion for swimming with them and I think Leon also loves sharing his passion for paddling with them as well. Our day did eventually end and I am not sure I even remember my head hitting the pillow.  I just remember waking up again the next morning feeling like I had just completed my usual two-week swim training camp.  I rose with great motivation to see what the new day would bring – thankful for waking up to the early morning sounds only Africa can bring to you.

After our first week in school, we already had a week-long recess, which has been useful as it gave time for reflection, learning, lesson planning for the weeks to come and a bit more time to arrive and get used to my new home. Getting used to living in shared housing with another three fellow volunteers has been a great experience and mad a very positive impact on me thus far. We also had very nice meeting with the principal of our school to learn of which ideas of ours are likely to be feasible, have resources and availability of capacities around the school. I left the meeting very hopeful for the upcoming year and sense a great spirit of collaboration and interest by the school.

I looked forward to seeing all the children again bright and early this morning and I am sure that by the time the sports lessons started right after general assembly, I was judged to be now only 38 years of age by the children – this job will make me younger by the day!

Greetings out into the world and thanks for stopping by!

Warm hugs from Namibia,

Zoë