Hey folks,
We're still hanging out in Amsterdam. We managed to book flights, and we are praying they don't get cancelled. Mary is booked for Tuesday afternoon and Linda, Annie, and I are booked for Wednesday afternoon. We're hoping sooner flights open up, but we also know that things could stay this bad and our flights could be cancelled again. We've mostly come to accept that we'll be here for a few more days. It's hard to be stuck here when we were excited to be returning home to all of you. We wish we were still in Africa at least, where we had more work we could do. Amsterdam is beautiful, it's just better to be here when it is a planned trip. We've all picked up some clothes and such, so we feel much better. We did a little walking around the city today, and managed to not get lost. It's nice to be able to walk around at night again, we were stuck inside once night fell in Africa. We're hoping to visit a few museums tomorrow and maybe the zoo. Trying to make the best of our time and enjoy ourselves. There are lots of stranded people who are in much worse situations than we are. Everywhere we go, we run into other people who find themselves treated to an unexpected stay in Amsterdam as well. We're taking it day by day and hoping things will change. Much love from Amsterdam.
~Annie, Linda, Mary, and Genny
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Friday, April 16, 2010
Extended Vacation
Hello folks,
Just a quick update! We're currently stuck at the airport in Amsterdam due to the huge cloud of volcanic dust hanging around Europe. We've had quite an adventure getting here. First, we missed our flight in Windhoek, because we were late, and we had the wrong flight time. Our itinerary said the flight was at 7:05pm, while it was really at 6:05pm. The itinerary didn't account for the time change a few weeks ago. We managed to get on the only other flight that night - into Frankfurt. We got into Frankfurt only to find out about the restricted travel. We've been so out of the loop, that we didn't even know that a volcano erupted! We decided to try and get to Amsterdam, on the rare chance that our flight was still scheduled. Also, we knew we'd be heading out of Amsterdam eventually, and we had a lot of time on our hands. So we took 3 trains and finally got to the Amsterdam airport, on time too! Unfortunately, our flight had been cancelled. Currently, we're sitting at the airport, waiting to get an update on the ash issue and hoping to at least get our return flight home scheduled. We're guessing that we'll be here about 2 days, though we're hoping to get back sooner. There are worse places to be stuck than Amsterdam, but we're all extremely tired and don't relish the idea of wearing the same clothes for another 3 days. We're praying for the wind to change so we can leave soon, but we probably won't make it home for a few more days. Hope you all have a wonderful weekend! Hopefully we'll see you soon. ;-)
~Annie, Linda, Mary, and Genny
Just a quick update! We're currently stuck at the airport in Amsterdam due to the huge cloud of volcanic dust hanging around Europe. We've had quite an adventure getting here. First, we missed our flight in Windhoek, because we were late, and we had the wrong flight time. Our itinerary said the flight was at 7:05pm, while it was really at 6:05pm. The itinerary didn't account for the time change a few weeks ago. We managed to get on the only other flight that night - into Frankfurt. We got into Frankfurt only to find out about the restricted travel. We've been so out of the loop, that we didn't even know that a volcano erupted! We decided to try and get to Amsterdam, on the rare chance that our flight was still scheduled. Also, we knew we'd be heading out of Amsterdam eventually, and we had a lot of time on our hands. So we took 3 trains and finally got to the Amsterdam airport, on time too! Unfortunately, our flight had been cancelled. Currently, we're sitting at the airport, waiting to get an update on the ash issue and hoping to at least get our return flight home scheduled. We're guessing that we'll be here about 2 days, though we're hoping to get back sooner. There are worse places to be stuck than Amsterdam, but we're all extremely tired and don't relish the idea of wearing the same clothes for another 3 days. We're praying for the wind to change so we can leave soon, but we probably won't make it home for a few more days. Hope you all have a wonderful weekend! Hopefully we'll see you soon. ;-)
~Annie, Linda, Mary, and Genny
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Modern Day Robin Hood
13/04/10
We got back into Windhoek Sunday night around 7:00pm. We had played Robin Hood during our entire visit to the lodge, stealing food at every meal. It was buffet-style, so they didn’t notice when we walked away with an extra roll or apple hidden in our pockets. At one meal, Annie actually stole half of a French baguette. On the ride home, we handed the food out to hungry kids at every rest stop. We guessed that those kids will never get a chance to stay in one of the fancy lodges, so we brought some of the lodge to them. Stealing from the rich and giving to the poor has never felt so good.
Yesterday we spent getting things ready for our last two and a half days. Linda and Genny went shopping for school supplies to donate to FHS. We bought most of the pencils, erasers, chalk, notebooks, scissors, glue sticks, markers, and colored pencils that the store had. US money goes so far here, due to the exchange rate. We spent about US$200 on school supplies, and it would have cost closer to $500 or so in the US. We brought it all to the school today, and the teachers were ecstatic! They have to keep a close eye on supplies, as they tend to disappear if not watched. Most of the kids will always return the supplies, even if they are left lying out, but there are a few that are so desperate that they would steal supplies to sell on the street. The teachers put the supplies to use right away, using the scissors, markers, and glue sticks in one of the craft activities. We are always amazed how they use everything they can here. We watched the kids make little cardboard houses out of the boxes we had brought the candy in during the Easter party (see pictures!). They had saved the empty boxes for a week and a half, just to use them in this activity.
Nicole and Genny decided to sponsor kids from FHS. FHS’s sponsorship program is truly fantastic. They pick the kids who live in the hardest conditions, and whose families are struggling the most to pay their school fees, and search for sponsors for them. To sponsor a child for one year is $1,700 Namibian dollars (US$240). This money will pay for a uniform, school fees, and hygiene kits for the student. The Namibian government prides itself on its “free” education for all children. However, all schools charge a school fee and all students must have a uniform to attend. Clothing here is cheap - about US$5 for a child’s t-shirt. However, uniforms are very expensive, closer to US$35 for pants and a shirt, and US$20 for a pair of school shoes. So buying everything for the uniform, and paying school fees, is more money than most families can manage. Also, most families have more than one child to put through school. Working at the school has caused us to form an attachment to these kids. Today, I met the child I would be sponsoring. Matheus is 13 years old, but he’s about the height and weight of an 8 year old. He lives with his aunt, two other adult relatives, and 12 other children, in one house. He just started school this year, and was placed in Grade 2. His birthday wish is to have a new pair of pants (he only has one), shoes for school, and a cake (since he’s never had one).
In some ways this is a plea for help - FHS has 150 more children needing sponsors. But beyond that, it is an eye-opener to the vastly different way that children grow up in Namibia. Living in overcrowded, tin shacks in the ghettos of Havana with way too many relatives and not enough food or clothing to go around makes for a very sad childhood. We want to pack these children in our suitcases and bring them home to a better life, but there are children everywhere we look and we couldn’t possibly help them all. So we take the little moments of joy and tuck them away to help us sew up our hearts as they break every time we look at how these kids spend their childhood. We help as many as we can, and pray for those we can’t reach. We also know that Namibians care for their children. Orphans are usually taken in by relatives, rather than thrown on the street. School fees are the first thing most families pay, before food and rent, because they know that their children must get an education to have a better life. Many schools, like FHS, take time to check on the family lives of the children and do their best to help kids who are struggling. Families donate food to soup kitchens that feed orphaned children, even when they do not have enough food for themselves. There is so much hope and so much faith here, that it is impossible to believe that Namibia will not someday strive. We will continue to do everything we can to make that happen, and we thank you for your support as we do this work. Hope is a contagious thing, and it is everywhere we look in Namibia.
~Annie, Linda, Mary, Genny
(If you are interested in sponsoring a child, or learning more about FHS, please e-mail me at gennyclute@gmail.com)
We got back into Windhoek Sunday night around 7:00pm. We had played Robin Hood during our entire visit to the lodge, stealing food at every meal. It was buffet-style, so they didn’t notice when we walked away with an extra roll or apple hidden in our pockets. At one meal, Annie actually stole half of a French baguette. On the ride home, we handed the food out to hungry kids at every rest stop. We guessed that those kids will never get a chance to stay in one of the fancy lodges, so we brought some of the lodge to them. Stealing from the rich and giving to the poor has never felt so good.
Yesterday we spent getting things ready for our last two and a half days. Linda and Genny went shopping for school supplies to donate to FHS. We bought most of the pencils, erasers, chalk, notebooks, scissors, glue sticks, markers, and colored pencils that the store had. US money goes so far here, due to the exchange rate. We spent about US$200 on school supplies, and it would have cost closer to $500 or so in the US. We brought it all to the school today, and the teachers were ecstatic! They have to keep a close eye on supplies, as they tend to disappear if not watched. Most of the kids will always return the supplies, even if they are left lying out, but there are a few that are so desperate that they would steal supplies to sell on the street. The teachers put the supplies to use right away, using the scissors, markers, and glue sticks in one of the craft activities. We are always amazed how they use everything they can here. We watched the kids make little cardboard houses out of the boxes we had brought the candy in during the Easter party (see pictures!). They had saved the empty boxes for a week and a half, just to use them in this activity.
Nicole and Genny decided to sponsor kids from FHS. FHS’s sponsorship program is truly fantastic. They pick the kids who live in the hardest conditions, and whose families are struggling the most to pay their school fees, and search for sponsors for them. To sponsor a child for one year is $1,700 Namibian dollars (US$240). This money will pay for a uniform, school fees, and hygiene kits for the student. The Namibian government prides itself on its “free” education for all children. However, all schools charge a school fee and all students must have a uniform to attend. Clothing here is cheap - about US$5 for a child’s t-shirt. However, uniforms are very expensive, closer to US$35 for pants and a shirt, and US$20 for a pair of school shoes. So buying everything for the uniform, and paying school fees, is more money than most families can manage. Also, most families have more than one child to put through school. Working at the school has caused us to form an attachment to these kids. Today, I met the child I would be sponsoring. Matheus is 13 years old, but he’s about the height and weight of an 8 year old. He lives with his aunt, two other adult relatives, and 12 other children, in one house. He just started school this year, and was placed in Grade 2. His birthday wish is to have a new pair of pants (he only has one), shoes for school, and a cake (since he’s never had one).
In some ways this is a plea for help - FHS has 150 more children needing sponsors. But beyond that, it is an eye-opener to the vastly different way that children grow up in Namibia. Living in overcrowded, tin shacks in the ghettos of Havana with way too many relatives and not enough food or clothing to go around makes for a very sad childhood. We want to pack these children in our suitcases and bring them home to a better life, but there are children everywhere we look and we couldn’t possibly help them all. So we take the little moments of joy and tuck them away to help us sew up our hearts as they break every time we look at how these kids spend their childhood. We help as many as we can, and pray for those we can’t reach. We also know that Namibians care for their children. Orphans are usually taken in by relatives, rather than thrown on the street. School fees are the first thing most families pay, before food and rent, because they know that their children must get an education to have a better life. Many schools, like FHS, take time to check on the family lives of the children and do their best to help kids who are struggling. Families donate food to soup kitchens that feed orphaned children, even when they do not have enough food for themselves. There is so much hope and so much faith here, that it is impossible to believe that Namibia will not someday strive. We will continue to do everything we can to make that happen, and we thank you for your support as we do this work. Hope is a contagious thing, and it is everywhere we look in Namibia.
~Annie, Linda, Mary, Genny
(If you are interested in sponsoring a child, or learning more about FHS, please e-mail me at gennyclute@gmail.com)
Just a few pics
Hello folks! Here's a few pictures to end your day with (assuming that all of you are, of course, checking the blog hourly)
Two girls from the school get their uniforms through the sponsorship program
These boys help clean up after every meal at FHS!
Making little houses out of cardboard and glue
Two girls from the school get their uniforms through the sponsorship program
These boys help clean up after every meal at FHS!
Making little houses out of cardboard and glue
More pictures soon! We're not doing a very good job of making sure we're in the pictures. :-) But we'll get some ones with us in them up soon. Less than two days until we fly home. We are making the best of our time that we have left. Love from Africa!
Sunday, April 11, 2010
More Easter party pics!
The stampede of kids!
Collecting eggs!
Annie and Linda surrounded by kids
Genny and Solomon hanging out with a tuckered out kidlet
Queen passing out the hot chocolate - it's in high demand
Collecting eggs!
Annie and Linda surrounded by kids
Genny and Solomon hanging out with a tuckered out kidlet
Queen passing out the hot chocolate - it's in high demand
More Pictures Finally!
Handing out sandwiches at the Easter party
Nicole hiding Easter eggs
Queen and Genny mixing up hot chocolate with Uma
Preparing Easter eggs with our friends Solomon and Danny
Nicole hiding Easter eggs
Queen and Genny mixing up hot chocolate with Uma
Preparing Easter eggs with our friends Solomon and Danny
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Lions, and tigers, and bears, oh my! (Well, really just lions, but you get the idea)
Hello folks!
Just a quick update - we’re currently in northern Namibia, right outside of Etosha National Park. We drove one of the teachers from the school up so she could visit her parents, and we’re all staying at a lodge for a few days. It’s really beautiful here. There are currently 10 or so Springbok sleeping right outside our room. We’ve gone on a few hikes, and Linda and Genny went on a game drive yesterday. There were countless giraffes and zebras, a few lions, and two elephants! As well as a ton of amazing birds and other smaller animals. We watched a lion eat about half of a zebra. We’re all enjoying our little vacation, but also looking forward to getting back into the city to help out at the school next week. Though it’s nice at the lodge, we aren’t really relishing the feeling of being tourists, after seeing the poverty that paints rural Namibia. But it’s only for a few days, and we all needed the break. Our excitement to get back and help at the school again is also overshadowed by the fact that our departure is a week away.
We are planning one last shopping trip before we go, and will help to stock up the school on basic supplies. The pencils the kids use are tiny nubs and lack erasers. They get so excited when they have new markers and new coloring books. We’re also hoping to buy uniforms for some of the kids as well. Many of them have uniforms that are torn or mismatched, or no uniform at all. One of the teachers explained to me that the kids get a sense of pride when they have a uniform, not to mention that it is required for school attendance (though the teachers look the other way if a student shows up without one). She said she has actually been able to track the improvement in a student’s work when they get a uniform. They are so proud to have a uniform that fits and is clean, that they try harder at their schoolwork.
I apologize for the lack of pictures. I managed to get a few up before we ran out of minutes on our internet. Now, we’re up north and have plenty of minutes, but incredibly spotty and unreliable internet service. I can’t manage to hold a connection long enough to upload the pictures. But I promise, I will get them up as soon as I’m able. I’ve tried many times, so it’s not for lack of effort!
Have a great weekend everyone!
~Annie, Linda, Mary, and Genny
Just a quick update - we’re currently in northern Namibia, right outside of Etosha National Park. We drove one of the teachers from the school up so she could visit her parents, and we’re all staying at a lodge for a few days. It’s really beautiful here. There are currently 10 or so Springbok sleeping right outside our room. We’ve gone on a few hikes, and Linda and Genny went on a game drive yesterday. There were countless giraffes and zebras, a few lions, and two elephants! As well as a ton of amazing birds and other smaller animals. We watched a lion eat about half of a zebra. We’re all enjoying our little vacation, but also looking forward to getting back into the city to help out at the school next week. Though it’s nice at the lodge, we aren’t really relishing the feeling of being tourists, after seeing the poverty that paints rural Namibia. But it’s only for a few days, and we all needed the break. Our excitement to get back and help at the school again is also overshadowed by the fact that our departure is a week away.
We are planning one last shopping trip before we go, and will help to stock up the school on basic supplies. The pencils the kids use are tiny nubs and lack erasers. They get so excited when they have new markers and new coloring books. We’re also hoping to buy uniforms for some of the kids as well. Many of them have uniforms that are torn or mismatched, or no uniform at all. One of the teachers explained to me that the kids get a sense of pride when they have a uniform, not to mention that it is required for school attendance (though the teachers look the other way if a student shows up without one). She said she has actually been able to track the improvement in a student’s work when they get a uniform. They are so proud to have a uniform that fits and is clean, that they try harder at their schoolwork.
I apologize for the lack of pictures. I managed to get a few up before we ran out of minutes on our internet. Now, we’re up north and have plenty of minutes, but incredibly spotty and unreliable internet service. I can’t manage to hold a connection long enough to upload the pictures. But I promise, I will get them up as soon as I’m able. I’ve tried many times, so it’s not for lack of effort!
Have a great weekend everyone!
~Annie, Linda, Mary, and Genny
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Pictures finally!
Our huts at Penduka
Posing with the toys that were donated - we brought them to FHS and the kids loved them!
Going out for dinner!
Four wheeling in the Namib Desert - right off the ocean
Posing with the toys that were donated - we brought them to FHS and the kids loved them!
Going out for dinner!
Four wheeling in the Namib Desert - right off the ocean
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Easter Party!
Wa lele po?
This is the beginning to the traditional Oshiwambo greeting, one we’ve all been practicing and are finally feeling comfortable enough to actually use. We sometimes mess up the series of phrases used in the greeting, and the people we are talking to think it’s incredibly funny, but they love that we try.
We spent last night making more peanut butter and jam sandwiches (none of us will be eating a PB&J sandwich again anytime soon) and putting candy in the 30 dozen Easter eggs we brought. Once the eggs were all filled, we still had a ton of candy left. So we filled another 100 plastic bags with candy, and still had a little to spare. We made sure to leave some for the staff members of Penduka to bring home to their families. The Easter party today was a huge success. We got to FHS around 9:00am and began preparing. First we made all of the children who were already there go and wait outside the gate. Two of the teachers from FHS brought them into the community to play games and pass the time until the start time at 10:00am. We got to work mixing up hot chocolate and getting the sandwiches ready to hand out. We hid all of the Easter eggs, a feat that surprisingly only took about 5 minutes. Then we put the extra candy out all around the school. Annie went to go get the kids and tell them we were ready. Everyone else stood at the gates, ready to attempt to control chaos.
We waited and waited, and the kids still hadn’t come back. We were beginning to worry when we heard the sound of singing. We looked up, and coming down the hill were the teachers, Annie, and about 200 children from the local communities. Once Annie had gotten to them, they all decided to walk around the community singing in celebration of the holiday, and to gather more children for the egg hunt. They got to the gate and we made the older kids stand back so the young ones could get through and start the hunt. The main goal was to get the little ones out of the way, so they wouldn’t be trampled. After we got the younger kids through the gate and into the school, we opened up the gate and all the rest of the kids came running through. It was a bit of a stampede, and more than one of us walked into the school carrying a crying child who missed out on getting an egg. But we had plenty of leftover candy, and once they got their hands on some chocolate, the tears stopped and they were all smiles.
We passed out the food and hot chocolate and all the kids sat down around the school to eat. The school is not that large, and we could barely fit all 200 kids into it. It was extremely funny to watch them drink the hot chocolate. They had never had it before, and they would start to drink with wary expressions. After the first taste, they gulped it down and were soon back, asking for more. Luckily, we had just enough food to go around, and everyone got a sandwich and plenty of hot chocolate. After a prayer and more candy handouts, the younger children left the school to walk home. Queen handed out some bags she had gotten from the Census to all the older kids, and we have never seen more faces light up with joy. She got the bags for free, and it’s amazing how simple things mean so much to these kids. They have so little, and even the smallest present is an occasion for celebration. The older kids had a lesson from the teachers about what Easter means, while the rest of us sat down for the first time in what felt like hours. But before long we were back on our feet, playing soccer with the kids and handing out yet more candy. But despite the incredible heat and trying to keep order with only one adult for every 20 kids, the day felt like it was over before it had a chance to begin. We cleaned up the school and sent the last few kids on their way home. We got back to Penduka and took a little time to clean ourselves up, before heading over to dinner at one of the teacher’s houses. We spent a lot of time there, learning more about the school and the new programs they had implemented since Annie and Mary’s last visit. After good food and good conversation, we now find ourselves back at Penduka, very much ready for bed.
Tomorrow is Easter Sunday, and some of us are trying to devise a way to get to church in the morning. Lacking a car and a guide makes it slightly difficult. We are also preparing to say goodbye to Queen and Nicole. It seems like their time here passed much too quickly, and they are already anxiously awaiting a return trip next year. Annie, Mary, Linda, and I are working out our plans for the next two weeks. Having done so much of our work in the first two weeks means that we find ourselves with a lot of free time. We are hoping to take a trip for two or three days and go on a game drive. Since the school is closed for Easter break next week, we will probably take our trip in the next few days, so that we can be back in time to help out again at the school the following week. We will also spend much of that time preparing for next year and making plans based on what went well and what we can do better next time. We are so excited about what we have already accomplished, and are very much looking forward to making this work something that can be continued in the future.
Thanks for following us so far, more to come in the next few days. Happy Easter and Passover to everyone!!! If I knew how to say “goodbye” in Oshiwambo, I would. However, we’re not quite there yet. ;-) Good wishes from Africa.
~Annie, Mary, Linda, Queen, Nicole, and Genny
P.S. - One a side note, it's daylight savings time tonight in Namibia. Since their "winter" is beginning, we will be setting our clocks BACK one hour. Yay for an unexpected extra hour of sleep!
(Easter party pictures will be up soon)
This is the beginning to the traditional Oshiwambo greeting, one we’ve all been practicing and are finally feeling comfortable enough to actually use. We sometimes mess up the series of phrases used in the greeting, and the people we are talking to think it’s incredibly funny, but they love that we try.
We spent last night making more peanut butter and jam sandwiches (none of us will be eating a PB&J sandwich again anytime soon) and putting candy in the 30 dozen Easter eggs we brought. Once the eggs were all filled, we still had a ton of candy left. So we filled another 100 plastic bags with candy, and still had a little to spare. We made sure to leave some for the staff members of Penduka to bring home to their families. The Easter party today was a huge success. We got to FHS around 9:00am and began preparing. First we made all of the children who were already there go and wait outside the gate. Two of the teachers from FHS brought them into the community to play games and pass the time until the start time at 10:00am. We got to work mixing up hot chocolate and getting the sandwiches ready to hand out. We hid all of the Easter eggs, a feat that surprisingly only took about 5 minutes. Then we put the extra candy out all around the school. Annie went to go get the kids and tell them we were ready. Everyone else stood at the gates, ready to attempt to control chaos.
We waited and waited, and the kids still hadn’t come back. We were beginning to worry when we heard the sound of singing. We looked up, and coming down the hill were the teachers, Annie, and about 200 children from the local communities. Once Annie had gotten to them, they all decided to walk around the community singing in celebration of the holiday, and to gather more children for the egg hunt. They got to the gate and we made the older kids stand back so the young ones could get through and start the hunt. The main goal was to get the little ones out of the way, so they wouldn’t be trampled. After we got the younger kids through the gate and into the school, we opened up the gate and all the rest of the kids came running through. It was a bit of a stampede, and more than one of us walked into the school carrying a crying child who missed out on getting an egg. But we had plenty of leftover candy, and once they got their hands on some chocolate, the tears stopped and they were all smiles.
We passed out the food and hot chocolate and all the kids sat down around the school to eat. The school is not that large, and we could barely fit all 200 kids into it. It was extremely funny to watch them drink the hot chocolate. They had never had it before, and they would start to drink with wary expressions. After the first taste, they gulped it down and were soon back, asking for more. Luckily, we had just enough food to go around, and everyone got a sandwich and plenty of hot chocolate. After a prayer and more candy handouts, the younger children left the school to walk home. Queen handed out some bags she had gotten from the Census to all the older kids, and we have never seen more faces light up with joy. She got the bags for free, and it’s amazing how simple things mean so much to these kids. They have so little, and even the smallest present is an occasion for celebration. The older kids had a lesson from the teachers about what Easter means, while the rest of us sat down for the first time in what felt like hours. But before long we were back on our feet, playing soccer with the kids and handing out yet more candy. But despite the incredible heat and trying to keep order with only one adult for every 20 kids, the day felt like it was over before it had a chance to begin. We cleaned up the school and sent the last few kids on their way home. We got back to Penduka and took a little time to clean ourselves up, before heading over to dinner at one of the teacher’s houses. We spent a lot of time there, learning more about the school and the new programs they had implemented since Annie and Mary’s last visit. After good food and good conversation, we now find ourselves back at Penduka, very much ready for bed.
Tomorrow is Easter Sunday, and some of us are trying to devise a way to get to church in the morning. Lacking a car and a guide makes it slightly difficult. We are also preparing to say goodbye to Queen and Nicole. It seems like their time here passed much too quickly, and they are already anxiously awaiting a return trip next year. Annie, Mary, Linda, and I are working out our plans for the next two weeks. Having done so much of our work in the first two weeks means that we find ourselves with a lot of free time. We are hoping to take a trip for two or three days and go on a game drive. Since the school is closed for Easter break next week, we will probably take our trip in the next few days, so that we can be back in time to help out again at the school the following week. We will also spend much of that time preparing for next year and making plans based on what went well and what we can do better next time. We are so excited about what we have already accomplished, and are very much looking forward to making this work something that can be continued in the future.
Thanks for following us so far, more to come in the next few days. Happy Easter and Passover to everyone!!! If I knew how to say “goodbye” in Oshiwambo, I would. However, we’re not quite there yet. ;-) Good wishes from Africa.
~Annie, Mary, Linda, Queen, Nicole, and Genny
P.S. - One a side note, it's daylight savings time tonight in Namibia. Since their "winter" is beginning, we will be setting our clocks BACK one hour. Yay for an unexpected extra hour of sleep!
(Easter party pictures will be up soon)
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Clinics, blood pressure, and peanut butter and jam sandwiches
01/04/2010
Hello from Namibia!
We have been busy! Yesterday, Nicole and Genny spent the morning at FHS again, helping out the overworked teachers. We spent time working one-on-one with kids who were having trouble with counting. There are 3 teachers and between 80-100 kids, depending on the day. They are barely able to keep control of the whole class, let alone have time to work one-on-one with kids who need extra attention. Once the hard work was done, each of the kids made an Easter basket out of a paper plate and pipe cleaner. The teachers brought candy, and each child got two pieces to go in their basket. They were extremely excited to decorate their baskets and write their names on them. School is out next week for the Easter holiday. This might seem like a nice break for the kids, but it means that many of them will go without the two meals they get every day at school. But the teachers will definitely need the week off, after dealing with energetic kids all day. Easter is a huge holiday in Namibia. Everything is closed from Good Friday through Easter Sunday and there are people everywhere preparing for the holiday. We are preparing for our Easter party on Saturday. We’re expecting around 200 children from the local communities. We’ll be doing a huge Easter egg hunt at FHS and serving lunch to all the kids. We’re expecting mass chaos, and looking forward to it! The kids here are wonderful, and we’ve all fallen in love with them. We are excited to do an event that is just for them.
Yesterday afternoon we all went into the community and did a short clinic afternoon. We were there for about 2 hours and checked blood pressure for about 150 people. We handed out sandwiches and played with the kids. It was a good test run for today. Today we went into a different community and did more blood pressure checks. We gave out vitamins and sandwiches. We had prenatal and children’s vitamins, vitamin C and calcium. We had limited supplies, so we gave the calcium and prenatal vitamins just to the women and the vitamin C mostly to the men. We ran out much too fast. It was sad to know that we were only giving one-month supplies of vitamins, and that they would be gone long before we could come back next year with more. We also gave out about 100 shaving razors to the men in the community. We ran out in about 3 minutes and added razors to our long list of things we will definitely bring here in the future. Today we checked around 200 people for high blood pressure and things went much smoother. Between the 200 people checked today, and the 150 checked yesterday, we had around 50 that had high blood pressure. There was one man who tested so high that we had to put him in a taxi and send him to the nearest clinic to get immediate treatment. We were able to provide everyone else with a referral to the clinic. We will be giving the blood pressure medication to one of the doctors from the community hospital, and he will ensure that the medications get to those who were referred, at no cost to them.
We will most likely relax tomorrow, since there is very little going on in the communities. We move from Rivendell into Penduka tomorrow, and have a lot of work to pack everything up and get it organized. We all got a little too comfortable at Rivendell, and have been living like slobs! Tonight many of us hand washed clothes and packed up everything we had lying around to get ready to move tomorrow. Penduka isn’t as nice as Rivendell, or as centrally located, but we all want the experience of living closer to the rural communities of Namibia. It is easy to ignore the poverty that goes on just on the outskirts of the city, when we are surrounded with only the city life. Life in the rural communities is hard. Very often there is little to no running water close by. They live in tin houses, with rocks that hold the roofs in place so they do not blow away. There are communal bathrooms that are essentially latrines with tin walls for privacy. With dirt floors and leaky roofs, it is hard to imagine anyone living every day of their life in this setting. There are fences with barbed wire everywhere in Namibia, except in these communities where the tin houses are side by side, and generally only consist of one or two rooms. At times we feel like the work we are doing is only a single drop in a very large bucket, but we hope the ripple we make will be felt even by those we are not able to directly help. Hopefully our presence shows them that someone does care, even when it feels like their own country and government does not. We tell them all that we hope to come again next year, and every year after that, and that we will not forget them. They shake our hands, and thank us, and walk back to their tin houses, vitamins in hand.
Until next time, say hello to MN for us!
~Annie, Mary, Linda, Queen, Nicole, and Genny
Hello from Namibia!
We have been busy! Yesterday, Nicole and Genny spent the morning at FHS again, helping out the overworked teachers. We spent time working one-on-one with kids who were having trouble with counting. There are 3 teachers and between 80-100 kids, depending on the day. They are barely able to keep control of the whole class, let alone have time to work one-on-one with kids who need extra attention. Once the hard work was done, each of the kids made an Easter basket out of a paper plate and pipe cleaner. The teachers brought candy, and each child got two pieces to go in their basket. They were extremely excited to decorate their baskets and write their names on them. School is out next week for the Easter holiday. This might seem like a nice break for the kids, but it means that many of them will go without the two meals they get every day at school. But the teachers will definitely need the week off, after dealing with energetic kids all day. Easter is a huge holiday in Namibia. Everything is closed from Good Friday through Easter Sunday and there are people everywhere preparing for the holiday. We are preparing for our Easter party on Saturday. We’re expecting around 200 children from the local communities. We’ll be doing a huge Easter egg hunt at FHS and serving lunch to all the kids. We’re expecting mass chaos, and looking forward to it! The kids here are wonderful, and we’ve all fallen in love with them. We are excited to do an event that is just for them.
Yesterday afternoon we all went into the community and did a short clinic afternoon. We were there for about 2 hours and checked blood pressure for about 150 people. We handed out sandwiches and played with the kids. It was a good test run for today. Today we went into a different community and did more blood pressure checks. We gave out vitamins and sandwiches. We had prenatal and children’s vitamins, vitamin C and calcium. We had limited supplies, so we gave the calcium and prenatal vitamins just to the women and the vitamin C mostly to the men. We ran out much too fast. It was sad to know that we were only giving one-month supplies of vitamins, and that they would be gone long before we could come back next year with more. We also gave out about 100 shaving razors to the men in the community. We ran out in about 3 minutes and added razors to our long list of things we will definitely bring here in the future. Today we checked around 200 people for high blood pressure and things went much smoother. Between the 200 people checked today, and the 150 checked yesterday, we had around 50 that had high blood pressure. There was one man who tested so high that we had to put him in a taxi and send him to the nearest clinic to get immediate treatment. We were able to provide everyone else with a referral to the clinic. We will be giving the blood pressure medication to one of the doctors from the community hospital, and he will ensure that the medications get to those who were referred, at no cost to them.
We will most likely relax tomorrow, since there is very little going on in the communities. We move from Rivendell into Penduka tomorrow, and have a lot of work to pack everything up and get it organized. We all got a little too comfortable at Rivendell, and have been living like slobs! Tonight many of us hand washed clothes and packed up everything we had lying around to get ready to move tomorrow. Penduka isn’t as nice as Rivendell, or as centrally located, but we all want the experience of living closer to the rural communities of Namibia. It is easy to ignore the poverty that goes on just on the outskirts of the city, when we are surrounded with only the city life. Life in the rural communities is hard. Very often there is little to no running water close by. They live in tin houses, with rocks that hold the roofs in place so they do not blow away. There are communal bathrooms that are essentially latrines with tin walls for privacy. With dirt floors and leaky roofs, it is hard to imagine anyone living every day of their life in this setting. There are fences with barbed wire everywhere in Namibia, except in these communities where the tin houses are side by side, and generally only consist of one or two rooms. At times we feel like the work we are doing is only a single drop in a very large bucket, but we hope the ripple we make will be felt even by those we are not able to directly help. Hopefully our presence shows them that someone does care, even when it feels like their own country and government does not. We tell them all that we hope to come again next year, and every year after that, and that we will not forget them. They shake our hands, and thank us, and walk back to their tin houses, vitamins in hand.
Until next time, say hello to MN for us!
~Annie, Mary, Linda, Queen, Nicole, and Genny
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