Thanks for the phone calls last night. I didn't not get organized intime to put on my best version of NamThanksgiving, but I was thinking of you all and spent some quiet time reflecting on the many blessings I have in my life.
I have been workin'! A lot of what I do is on the computer (typing grant applications, sending emails, planning lessons for my life skills club) but lately, I've been "out in the field." A few weeks ago I was in Luderitz, a coastal town that was the first German settlment in Namibia. It still has it's funky old German style with bright colored buildings and big churches. I was asked to come by another PCV to do the same employment/entrepeneurship workshop I did for my youth in Mariental. The workshop went very smoothly (the first day we invited and entrepeneur to come and teach them about how to start a small business and the second day we taught the youth how to make resume, look for jobs and ace their interviews). The youth walked away seeming much more motivated to go make something of themselves. It's hard not to get discourage when unemployment is a staggering 60%. After the workshop was over, we got to hang out with the PCV's and explore the town a bit. I even talked Beata into going out on her first sailboat where we sailed around the harbor and saw dolphins, penguins, seals and orcha whales. It was a great trip and worth all 7 hours it took to get out there.
I am still working away on our garden project. I can't remember if I mentioned it in a previous blog, but Beata and I are trying to start a community demonstration garden at our centre. We will train youth volunteers to be leaders in the community and help initiate home gardens around our community. We will have a demonstration plot on the grounds of the centre to hold trainings. It all part of an initiative to increase food security in the community. Proper nutrition is especially important for people living with HIV because it can prolong their life and without it, their medicine can make them very sick (which in turn discourages them from taking their meds altogether). We have hooved it all over town talking to local business, regional council and all the regional branches of government in our town. Only recently did we secure a donation of seeds and fruit trees. We've written a few grants but are waiting to hear from the ones we haven't yet been rejected by. As things slow down towards the holidays and the end of the year, our patience really comes into play. In reality, we might not see anything popping up out of that ground until early next year.
The other thing I've kind of fallen into is this life skills/kids club. I originally formed the club to serve out of school/unemployed youth between the ages of 15-30, but turns out they don't think I'm as cool as the 11 and 12 year olds. I struggled to get much attendance at my first life skills club meetings, but one day this group of kids just started showing up. Most of them had met me because I came to teach them about HIV in their drama club. At the meeting, I mentioned that I worked at the Youth Centre and that my door is always open if they have any questions (like I always do) and these kids actually took me up on it. For the past few weeks they come every Monday and Wednesday and we play games and talk about how to communicate, make good decisions and how to avoid risky behavior. They have their exams this week and will be going on holiday soon so I may not see them again until next year.
Otherwise, all is well. It's summer and very, very hot. It's probably been around 95 outside and 115 inside my house. Now, I just come home, wet a rag and pull a chair outside in the shade of our front porch. There's really no reason to go inside that oven! I taped up some pictures of snowmen and christmas trees that I got from a previous volunteer, but the Christmas spirit is somehow elusive in the heat of summer.
