General Updates

Alex got a part-time job at the market as a stock boy! Congratulations
Alex!!!

This is my last full week of teaching. Exams start next Thursday, so next
week is likely going to be a wash. I was anxious to be done for the last
several weeks. Now I'm starting to get sad. I'm already envisioning
walking out to the road for the last time and turning left.

Went down to Ngepi Camp again this weekend, this time with Rachel. It was
heavenly - I felt like I was on vacation. The water was much warmer than
last time, so we spent a fair amount of time swimming in the hippo/crocodile
cage. Yay.

Someone else donated some money to me via WorldTeach recently that worked
out to about USD$77 (Sorry, they didn't tell me who it was and I don't have
access to the records...whoever it was, THANK YOU!) I thought long and hard
about what to do with the money. We're set calculator-wise, so I decided to
try to help out the science effort around here. With the generous help of
my assistant field director, Kelly Jo, we were able to order a proper
electricity teaching kit. It should be here in 4-6 weeks. Unfortunately it
was around USD$113, but I just paid the difference. Hopefully next year the
kids will get much more tangible lessons on electricity.

Not feeling super expressive today...must be the heat (reason for
everything!)

Constrassen

I have decided that I'm not leaving this school without teaching my classes
the ACTUAL words to the Namibian national anthem. The song is really pretty
simple, but it wasn't until I looked it up that I actually figured out what
many of the words were.

Here's the song:

Namibia land of the brave
Freedom fight we have won
Glory to their bravery
Whose blood waters our freedom

We give our love and loyalty
Together in unity
Contrasting beautiful Namibia
Namibia our country

Beloved land of savannahs
Hold high the banner of liberty
Namibia our country
Namibia motherland we love thee!

---

Here's pieces of what I would here:

..."Whose blood <muffle> our freedom"...

..."Constrassen beautiful"... (i.e. contrasting)

"Be love land sav<muffle>
<muffle muffle> of liberty"...

Friday was another wash of a day teaching actual lessons wise, so I decided
to start the Anthem Quest. I started with "Contrasting Beautiful". I wrote
it on the board, pronounced it, got them pronouncing it correctly, and
explained what it meant. Man, ALL EYES were fully engaged. They were SO
THANKFUL that someone was finally telling them the actual words!

By the time I get done with them, grades 8 and 9 will be leading the school,
including the teachers, who also don't have a clue what most of the words
are.

Interestingly, both classes I did this with asked about the American
national anthem. I said that it was much longer, with quite a few more
words. I sang the first verse for them; they humoured me and seemed
impressed :-)

Next week we will tackle the "savannahs" and the "blood waters"...

Letter of Recommendation for my favorite learner

I'm printing out a copy for him and leaving one copy in his file at the
school. This kid's the real deal, and I hope he goes far.

He wasn't the smartest learner that I had, but undoubtedly the best.

Figured the letter to be blog-worthy....

November 2, 2009

RE: Letter of Recommendation for Afonso Ngoma Alexander

Dear Sir or Madam:

My name is Ms. Jennifer Jackson and I am from the United States of America.
From June to December of 2009 I was a volunteer math and science teacher at
Divundu Combined School through the organization WorldTeach. Afonso Ngoma
Alexander (Alex) was in my Grade 10B class, where I was both the Register
and Mathematics teacher. I wish this letter to serve as an official
recommendation for Mr. Afonso in whatever pursuit he is seeking, whether it
is professional, academic or personal.

Alex is an extremely hard-working and motivated young man. He is diligent
and takes his responsibilities seriously and without complaint. He
regularly came to me seeking extra tutoring and was always an active
participant in class. Alex is a natural leader, demonstrating clear
leadership abilities both in and out of the classroom. His peers look up to
him, listen to him and respect him greatly. I witnessed this time and time
again in my class, in the hostel and on the soccer field where he was a team
captain and goal keeper.

I also watched Alex given extra tasks by other teachers (including myself),
and again, I never saw so much of a flicker of complaint on his face. He
would graciously accept the duty, and complete it to the best of his
ability.

Perhaps my favourite story that speaks to Alex' character was the day that
we entered the classroom to find it in disarray from an assembly the
previous day. While other learners lazily shuffled about talking, Alex,
without prompting, quietly went to work arranging the desks and chairs. He
might not have even seen me yet, and certainly did not know that I was
watching. I saw him give all of the best chairs to every other learner, and
he took the worst one for himself.

I believe Alex has the ability and drive to achieve any goal that he sets
for himself. I whole-heartedly recommend him for any position to which he
is applying. In Mr. Afonso Ngoma Alexander, you not only have a candidate
with strong skills, but also with tremendous character.

Sincerely,

Ms. Jennifer A. Jackson

Science Class Jeopardy Update

Round 1 was as complete of a success as one can hope in a classroom with
extremely poor English skills and recall.

We played for about a week. The first day I let them use their notes, but
the remaining days it was all from memory. Some of the teams really worked
together, but a few had outlying members who couldn't have cared less.

It took them a while to figure out that if you don't know the answer to the
$50 question, you really shouldn't 'buzz in'. So the game quickly became
"who has the least negative score". The final tallies ranged from -195 or
so to -34. I think in one class one team had a positive score.

I decided to go for Round 2. I think this is really helping them review,
and they of course like it way more than endlessly writing notes. The
questions are coming straight from old exams, so maybe a few of the answers
will stick in their heads.

This round though, the dollar amounts will be $1,2,3,4,5. Hopefully the
scores will be a little more manageable for the kids.

End of Service Conference

This weekend was the WorldTeach End of Service Conference in Otjiwarango.
Both the Semester and Year-Long volunteers came, so I got to meet all of the
year-longs in different regions of the country.

As usual, it was fabulous to get to speak at full-speed, and as you can
imagine there was a fair amount of venting that went on.

I was amazed at what some of the volunteers have been able to accomplish
since last December. It was most helpful though to hear that *everyone* has
had a very challenging time here, testing the limits of their patience and
character. Plus, most of us can't really say "it's been an amazing
experience...as in fun." We all say, "Yes, it's been an amazing experience,
but it's been fricken hard!" Honestly I would've thought I was doing
something wrong if the majority of the volunteers had said otherwise.

Awards were doled out at our celebratory dinner. I got something like
"Divundu's MacGuyver". As I aspire to be MacGuyver, I was thrilled.

I came home on Sunday to find that we were without water, electricity and
cell service, until about 8:30 that night. Then I discovered another burner
has been ruined on the hotplate. We're down to 2. It wasn't the best of
homecomings, particularly after 8 hours on the road with no AC. TIA.

And then they were gone

Yesterday was the Grade 10's last examination, and one by one, as they
finished the test, they walked out and that was that. Some of them looked
at me and smiled and said goodbye. Others didn't even glance my way. A few
lingered to have a little bit longer of an exchange, but all in all, it was
just the end.

When I was in school I felt a connection with most of my teachers, and
always made sure to say goodbye at the end of the year. But I suppose there
were a whole bunch of students who just left. I feel bad for all teachers
everywhere that have to feel this way every year.

I'm requesting that their results be mailed to me in December. My guess is
that around 15 out of 57 will get promoted to Grade 11. Man I hope it's at
least that.

Resolution

Thanks to all who gently chimed in on my dilemma over here. It was very
good to hear that I'm not a total jerk for wanting to leave to travel. And,
I remembered some old advice I used to give myself (and others). When I
look back on this in a few years, which am I going to regret more: not
staying or not going? And the answer is, not going. Fact of the matter is
I'm not likely to be back in this area ever again. (I mean sure, I *might*
be back, but probably not and certainly not in this general phase of my
life.) If I don't take some time for myself, I'm going to feel a little
cheated and possibly a bit of resentment.

Though I'd like to think my presence is critical around here, that simply
isn't true. Being here for the exam and marking it might make a very
marginal difference, but I think I (and they) can live without it.

All this being said, I'm still holding out a shred of hope that the
scheduling was a mistake, as Rachel's principal seems to think. I doubt it,
but one can dream.