What are you thankful for?

For my last official class period with my darling Grade 7’s, I decided to give them a math break and do a little Thanksgiving celebration. It seemed the right platform to segway into my goodbye cards since I won’t see them much from here on out. I started with having all of the kids put the desks in a circle so that we could all see each other. After giving a mini (abridged) lesson on Thanksgiving, I explained that I wanted us each to write down two things we were thankful for. Afterward, I would collect them and re-pass them out so each learner ends up with someone else’s thankful thoughts. The first thing I noticed about this activity was that they were SO excited. I think just moving the desks into a circle formation was super exciting. I am really going to miss that enthusiasm when I go home…

After writing their thoughts and exchanging papers, I said that each person would stand up and read the two things on their paper. Then I showed that I had a card for each person along with a brand new pencil to write their math exam with. This last statement literally got applause. Applause. For a pencil. It’s the little things J

I turned on some quiet music through all of this and we really treated it as a final shout-out to each learner and a goodbye to me. We clapped for each kid (even whistles and the traditional Owambo “shrieking” as I would call it) and made our way around our circle of thanks.

I would like to share some of their thoughts with you because some were extremely insightful, some were extremely practical, and others were just funny. Here are some examples of the things they wrote (the first two are mine):

· I’m thankful for my feet for bringing me all the way to beautiful Namibia.

· I’m thankful for all of my Grade 7 learners because they are some of the most special people I have ever met.

· I am thankful for my family because they take care of me.

· I want to thank Miss Hannah for being here with our class this whole year.

· I thanks for all my parent are alive.

· I thank for God give me leg to go to school.

· I am thankfull for my family didn’t past away.

· I am thankfull for my shoes that cover me on bloken (broken) bottle.

· I am thankful for my dog.

· I thankful for my school shoes.

· I thank for school because they teach me something I can’t know.

· I thank for my family because they always help me when I was young.

· I thank God for give my gift he give me legs, eyes, and arm so that I can see, I can walk, and I can hear.

· I am thankful for my brain.

· I thank God for give me memory so that I can think and pass my grade.

· My mother who pay for me a school fees.

· I thank my father who pay for me a school shirt.

· I thank for given life.

· I want to thank America for Miss Hannah.

· I am thankful for movies.

· I am thank Miss Hannah because he teach me math.

· I thank my family because they are the one who take care for me.

· I thank my teacher because they are the one who teach me to read and write and respect parent.

· I thankful for my mother who born me.

I obviously have a lot to be thankful for this year. Thank you for caring about me enough to read this. I am so thankful for this experience as well as thankful for being home in exactly 3 weeks.

I wish you all a wonderful Thanksgiving and holiday season. Remember what the holidays are about this year and be with the ones you love.

Love,

h

What are you thankful for?

For my last official class period with my darling Grade 7’s, I decided to give them a math break and do a little Thanksgiving celebration. It seemed the right platform to segway into my goodbye cards since I won’t see them much from here on out. I started with having all of the kids put the desks in a circle so that we could all see each other. After giving a mini (abridged) lesson on Thanksgiving, I explained that I wanted us each to write down two things we were thankful for. Afterward, I would collect them and re-pass them out so each learner ends up with someone else’s thankful thoughts. The first thing I noticed about this activity was that they were SO excited. I think just moving the desks into a circle formation was super exciting. I am really going to miss that enthusiasm when I go home…

After writing their thoughts and exchanging papers, I said that each person would stand up and read the two things on their paper. Then I showed that I had a card for each person along with a brand new pencil to write their math exam with. This last statement literally got applause. Applause. For a pencil. It’s the little things J

I turned on some quiet music through all of this and we really treated it as a final shout-out to each learner and a goodbye to me. We clapped for each kid (even whistles and the traditional Owambo “shrieking” as I would call it) and made our way around our circle of thanks.

I would like to share some of their thoughts with you because some were extremely insightful, some were extremely practical, and others were just funny. Here are some examples of the things they wrote (the first two are mine):

· I’m thankful for my feet for bringing me all the way to beautiful Namibia.

· I’m thankful for all of my Grade 7 learners because they are some of the most special people I have ever met.

· I am thankful for my family because they take care of me.

· I want to thank Miss Hannah for being here with our class this whole year.

· I thanks for all my parent are alive.

· I thank for God give me leg to go to school.

· I am thankfull for my family didn’t past away.

· I am thankfull for my shoes that cover me on bloken (broken) bottle.

· I am thankful for my dog.

· I thankful for my school shoes.

· I thank for school because they teach me something I can’t know.

· I thank for my family because they always help me when I was young.

· I thank God for give my gift he give me legs, eyes, and arm so that I can see, I can walk, and I can hear.

· I am thankful for my brain.

· I thank God for give me memory so that I can think and pass my grade.

· My mother who pay for me a school fees.

· I thank my father who pay for me a school shirt.

· I thank for given life.

· I want to thank America for Miss Hannah.

· I am thankful for movies.

· I am thank Miss Hannah because he teach me math.

· I thank my family because they are the one who take care for me.

· I thank my teacher because they are the one who teach me to read and write and respect parent.

· I thankful for my mother who born me.

I obviously have a lot to be thankful for this year. Thank you for caring about me enough to read this. I am so thankful for this experience as well as thankful for being home in exactly 3 weeks.

I wish you all a wonderful Thanksgiving and holiday season. Remember what the holidays are about this year and be with the ones you love.

Love,

h

What are you thankful for?

Bull in a china shop

Hey guys,

As my time in Namibia comes to an end, I realized that I never really touched on a subject that spreads from the cities to the villages: China. I may have mentioned this before, but all throughout Namibia, mostly in the north, there are places called China Shops. These are not places where wedding china for fine dining is sold. They are shops run by actual Chinese people. Most of them carry similar, if not exactly the same items including electronics (radios, cell phones, etc), clothing, lingerie, luggage, giant bins of shoes, knives, crappy plastic toys, etc. They are typically reasonably priced and easily accessible. I think it is important to mention here, though the Namibians shop at these stores, they don’t think too highly of China or Chinese people in general. “Chinese” is also a pretty generalized term for anyone of Asian decent (kind of like in the states too…)

This dislike is not arbitrary – there are definitely reasons though not every Namibian you encounter can express them. For those of you who keep up with the news, you know that China has been and is a strong presence in many parts of Africa (as with the rest of the world). In Zambia, the recent elections were extremely influenced by this strong presence, almost to the point of not truly representing the Zambian citizens. It’s obvious why China is interested in places like Zambia and Namibia; the natural resources are abundant and there is exponential room for growth in almost every governmental sector. Obviously, international interest in Namibia is a good thing, but most citizens will agree that the government has given too many rights (including business ownership and citizenship) to too many Chinese people. Understandably, they do not want to see their country being run by outsiders again – it’s only been 21 years since Namibia gained independence.

I bring all of this up because it is a topic I encounter probably every week. For example, at a staff meeting the other day we were talking about purchasing locks for some of our classroom doors. A colleague of mine took the floor (which is a rare occasion in itself) and explained that by no means should we buy locks from China. They will only break after a few uses and possibly even poison us. Instead, we should try to buy products from South Africa or America if possible. I kind of coughed out loud at this since a truly “Made in America” product is pretty hard to find. Also, Namibia is one of a small pool of African countries that still admires American people and products.

Another example – I showed the Karate Kid as a reward for some of my classes and when Mr. Miyagi came on the screen, the entire class started laughing. I paused the movie here to ask why they were laughing. It was not because he was old, not because he was trying to catch a fly with chopsticks, but because he was “Chinese” (which any true KK fan knows he is actually from Okinawa.) When pressed further, they told me Chinese people look funny and don’t know what they are talking about. These learners couldn’t express the exact source of their opinions, but they sure had them. On the other hand, they LOVED the American characters and all wanted to look like them and act like them.

Now, I know there are racial stereotypes everywhere, and some of them are incredibly reinforced with proof, but I felt I needed to do something to show the kids that America and Americans have been just as influenced by the Chinese and do not make perfectly working products in perfect stores with perfect workers. After school the other day, I was hanging out with some of my kids in the library. I decided to do a little “Made In” activity with them. I sent them on a little scavenger hunt to find as many items in the room (including clothing) with “Made In _____” labels and write down the places they found. Of course, everything I had with me from home was either made in China, Taiwan, Cambodia, or some other foreign place. We proceeded to look at these places on a map and see how far away they are from America. I explained that just because you buy a product from America, it doesn’t mean it was made there. I think that concept is hard for some of these kids to swallow since every item they consume is typically made right on their homestead.

I guess with this whole activity and post, I was trying to see how these village kids create ideas about the world and attempting to give them some knowledge to back up their opinions in the future. I am proud of my country, but also don’t want them to idolize it as this heavenly utopia. I guess I’d also like it if they wouldn’t feel the urge to laugh every time they see an Asian person…someday the novelty will go away (since I don’t think the Chinese presence is leaving anytime soon…)

I don’t blame Namibia for being wary of the Chinese presence. I do think the government is relying on them too much for things they could better control themselves. Being such a young country has left them vulnerable to outsiders looking to make a buck. With so much potential and limitless room for growth, Namibia and Namibians need to take charge of their future – and never buy a Chinese lock.

Bull in a china shop

Hey guys,

As my time in Namibia comes to an end, I realized that I never really touched on a subject that spreads from the cities to the villages: China. I may have mentioned this before, but all throughout Namibia, mostly in the north, there are places called China Shops. These are not places where wedding china for fine dining is sold. They are shops run by actual Chinese people. Most of them carry similar, if not exactly the same items including electronics (radios, cell phones, etc), clothing, lingerie, luggage, giant bins of shoes, knives, crappy plastic toys, etc. They are typically reasonably priced and easily accessible. I think it is important to mention here, though the Namibians shop at these stores, they don’t think too highly of China or Chinese people in general. “Chinese” is also a pretty generalized term for anyone of Asian decent (kind of like in the states too…)

This dislike is not arbitrary – there are definitely reasons though not every Namibian you encounter can express them. For those of you who keep up with the news, you know that China has been and is a strong presence in many parts of Africa (as with the rest of the world). In Zambia, the recent elections were extremely influenced by this strong presence, almost to the point of not truly representing the Zambian citizens. It’s obvious why China is interested in places like Zambia and Namibia; the natural resources are abundant and there is exponential room for growth in almost every governmental sector. Obviously, international interest in Namibia is a good thing, but most citizens will agree that the government has given too many rights (including business ownership and citizenship) to too many Chinese people. Understandably, they do not want to see their country being run by outsiders again – it’s only been 21 years since Namibia gained independence.

I bring all of this up because it is a topic I encounter probably every week. For example, at a staff meeting the other day we were talking about purchasing locks for some of our classroom doors. A colleague of mine took the floor (which is a rare occasion in itself) and explained that by no means should we buy locks from China. They will only break after a few uses and possibly even poison us. Instead, we should try to buy products from South Africa or America if possible. I kind of coughed out loud at this since a truly “Made in America” product is pretty hard to find. Also, Namibia is one of a small pool of African countries that still admires American people and products.

Another example – I showed the Karate Kid as a reward for some of my classes and when Mr. Miyagi came on the screen, the entire class started laughing. I paused the movie here to ask why they were laughing. It was not because he was old, not because he was trying to catch a fly with chopsticks, but because he was “Chinese” (which any true KK fan knows he is actually from Okinawa.) When pressed further, they told me Chinese people look funny and don’t know what they are talking about. These learners couldn’t express the exact source of their opinions, but they sure had them. On the other hand, they LOVED the American characters and all wanted to look like them and act like them.

Now, I know there are racial stereotypes everywhere, and some of them are incredibly reinforced with proof, but I felt I needed to do something to show the kids that America and Americans have been just as influenced by the Chinese and do not make perfectly working products in perfect stores with perfect workers. After school the other day, I was hanging out with some of my kids in the library. I decided to do a little “Made In” activity with them. I sent them on a little scavenger hunt to find as many items in the room (including clothing) with “Made In _____” labels and write down the places they found. Of course, everything I had with me from home was either made in China, Taiwan, Cambodia, or some other foreign place. We proceeded to look at these places on a map and see how far away they are from America. I explained that just because you buy a product from America, it doesn’t mean it was made there. I think that concept is hard for some of these kids to swallow since every item they consume is typically made right on their homestead.

I guess with this whole activity and post, I was trying to see how these village kids create ideas about the world and attempting to give them some knowledge to back up their opinions in the future. I am proud of my country, but also don’t want them to idolize it as this heavenly utopia. I guess I’d also like it if they wouldn’t feel the urge to laugh every time they see an Asian person…someday the novelty will go away (since I don’t think the Chinese presence is leaving anytime soon…)

I don’t blame Namibia for being wary of the Chinese presence. I do think the government is relying on them too much for things they could better control themselves. Being such a young country has left them vulnerable to outsiders looking to make a buck. With so much potential and limitless room for growth, Namibia and Namibians need to take charge of their future – and never buy a Chinese lock.

Bull in a china shop

Hey guys,

As my time in Namibia comes to an end, I realized that I never really touched on a subject that spreads from the cities to the villages: China. I may have mentioned this before, but all throughout Namibia, mostly in the north, there are places called China Shops. These are not places where wedding china for fine dining is sold. They are shops run by actual Chinese people. Most of them carry similar, if not exactly the same items including electronics (radios, cell phones, etc), clothing, lingerie, luggage, giant bins of shoes, knives, crappy plastic toys, etc. They are typically reasonably priced and easily accessible. I think it is important to mention here, though the Namibians shop at these stores, they don’t think too highly of China or Chinese people in general. “Chinese” is also a pretty generalized term for anyone of Asian decent (kind of like in the states too…)

This dislike is not arbitrary – there are definitely reasons though not every Namibian you encounter can express them. For those of you who keep up with the news, you know that China has been and is a strong presence in many parts of Africa (as with the rest of the world). In Zambia, the recent elections were extremely influenced by this strong presence, almost to the point of not truly representing the Zambian citizens. It’s obvious why China is interested in places like Zambia and Namibia; the natural resources are abundant and there is exponential room for growth in almost every governmental sector. Obviously, international interest in Namibia is a good thing, but most citizens will agree that the government has given too many rights (including business ownership and citizenship) to too many Chinese people. Understandably, they do not want to see their country being run by outsiders again – it’s only been 21 years since Namibia gained independence.

I bring all of this up because it is a topic I encounter probably every week. For example, at a staff meeting the other day we were talking about purchasing locks for some of our classroom doors. A colleague of mine took the floor (which is a rare occasion in itself) and explained that by no means should we buy locks from China. They will only break after a few uses and possibly even poison us. Instead, we should try to buy products from South Africa or America if possible. I kind of coughed out loud at this since a truly “Made in America” product is pretty hard to find. Also, Namibia is one of a small pool of African countries that still admires American people and products.

Another example – I showed the Karate Kid as a reward for some of my classes and when Mr. Miyagi came on the screen, the entire class started laughing. I paused the movie here to ask why they were laughing. It was not because he was old, not because he was trying to catch a fly with chopsticks, but because he was “Chinese” (which any true KK fan knows he is actually from Okinawa.) When pressed further, they told me Chinese people look funny and don’t know what they are talking about. These learners couldn’t express the exact source of their opinions, but they sure had them. On the other hand, they LOVED the American characters and all wanted to look like them and act like them.

Now, I know there are racial stereotypes everywhere, and some of them are incredibly reinforced with proof, but I felt I needed to do something to show the kids that America and Americans have been just as influenced by the Chinese and do not make perfectly working products in perfect stores with perfect workers. After school the other day, I was hanging out with some of my kids in the library. I decided to do a little “Made In” activity with them. I sent them on a little scavenger hunt to find as many items in the room (including clothing) with “Made In _____” labels and write down the places they found. Of course, everything I had with me from home was either made in China, Taiwan, Cambodia, or some other foreign place. We proceeded to look at these places on a map and see how far away they are from America. I explained that just because you buy a product from America, it doesn’t mean it was made there. I think that concept is hard for some of these kids to swallow since every item they consume is typically made right on their homestead.

I guess with this whole activity and post, I was trying to see how these village kids create ideas about the world and attempting to give them some knowledge to back up their opinions in the future. I am proud of my country, but also don’t want them to idolize it as this heavenly utopia. I guess I’d also like it if they wouldn’t feel the urge to laugh every time they see an Asian person…someday the novelty will go away (since I don’t think the Chinese presence is leaving anytime soon…)

I don’t blame Namibia for being wary of the Chinese presence. I do think the government is relying on them too much for things they could better control themselves. Being such a young country has left them vulnerable to outsiders looking to make a buck. With so much potential and limitless room for growth, Namibia and Namibians need to take charge of their future – and never buy a Chinese lock.

Bull in a china shop

Hey guys,

As my time in Namibia comes to an end, I realized that I never really touched on a subject that spreads from the cities to the villages: China. I may have mentioned this before, but all throughout Namibia, mostly in the north, there are places called China Shops. These are not places where wedding china for fine dining is sold. They are shops run by actual Chinese people. Most of them carry similar, if not exactly the same items including electronics (radios, cell phones, etc), clothing, lingerie, luggage, giant bins of shoes, knives, crappy plastic toys, etc. They are typically reasonably priced and easily accessible. I think it is important to mention here, though the Namibians shop at these stores, they don’t think too highly of China or Chinese people in general. “Chinese” is also a pretty generalized term for anyone of Asian decent (kind of like in the states too…)

This dislike is not arbitrary – there are definitely reasons though not every Namibian you encounter can express them. For those of you who keep up with the news, you know that China has been and is a strong presence in many parts of Africa (as with the rest of the world). In Zambia, the recent elections were extremely influenced by this strong presence, almost to the point of not truly representing the Zambian citizens. It’s obvious why China is interested in places like Zambia and Namibia; the natural resources are abundant and there is exponential room for growth in almost every governmental sector. Obviously, international interest in Namibia is a good thing, but most citizens will agree that the government has given too many rights (including business ownership and citizenship) to too many Chinese people. Understandably, they do not want to see their country being run by outsiders again – it’s only been 21 years since Namibia gained independence.

I bring all of this up because it is a topic I encounter probably every week. For example, at a staff meeting the other day we were talking about purchasing locks for some of our classroom doors. A colleague of mine took the floor (which is a rare occasion in itself) and explained that by no means should we buy locks from China. They will only break after a few uses and possibly even poison us. Instead, we should try to buy products from South Africa or America if possible. I kind of coughed out loud at this since a truly “Made in America” product is pretty hard to find. Also, Namibia is one of a small pool of African countries that still admires American people and products.

Another example – I showed the Karate Kid as a reward for some of my classes and when Mr. Miyagi came on the screen, the entire class started laughing. I paused the movie here to ask why they were laughing. It was not because he was old, not because he was trying to catch a fly with chopsticks, but because he was “Chinese” (which any true KK fan knows he is actually from Okinawa.) When pressed further, they told me Chinese people look funny and don’t know what they are talking about. These learners couldn’t express the exact source of their opinions, but they sure had them. On the other hand, they LOVED the American characters and all wanted to look like them and act like them.

Now, I know there are racial stereotypes everywhere, and some of them are incredibly reinforced with proof, but I felt I needed to do something to show the kids that America and Americans have been just as influenced by the Chinese and do not make perfectly working products in perfect stores with perfect workers. After school the other day, I was hanging out with some of my kids in the library. I decided to do a little “Made In” activity with them. I sent them on a little scavenger hunt to find as many items in the room (including clothing) with “Made In _____” labels and write down the places they found. Of course, everything I had with me from home was either made in China, Taiwan, Cambodia, or some other foreign place. We proceeded to look at these places on a map and see how far away they are from America. I explained that just because you buy a product from America, it doesn’t mean it was made there. I think that concept is hard for some of these kids to swallow since every item they consume is typically made right on their homestead.

I guess with this whole activity and post, I was trying to see how these village kids create ideas about the world and attempting to give them some knowledge to back up their opinions in the future. I am proud of my country, but also don’t want them to idolize it as this heavenly utopia. I guess I’d also like it if they wouldn’t feel the urge to laugh every time they see an Asian person…someday the novelty will go away (since I don’t think the Chinese presence is leaving anytime soon…)

I don’t blame Namibia for being wary of the Chinese presence. I do think the government is relying on them too much for things they could better control themselves. Being such a young country has left them vulnerable to outsiders looking to make a buck. With so much potential and limitless room for growth, Namibia and Namibians need to take charge of their future – and never buy a Chinese lock.

To develop or not to develop?

Five weeks. I have almost been here a year. This has been my reality for 11 months. How strange. I’ve been thinking of the future more as the days go by. Thinking a lot about the word “development”. People could argue that what I am doing in this country is selfish and is not doing a damn thing. I must admit that I partly agree. A year seems like a long time, but really it’s not. I feel like a year has given me a lifetime of stories but not really done much to contribute to my Namibian community. Sure, there have been some donations and some close learner connections, but it is easy to overlook those and ask what I’m really doing on a bigger scale. Development is typically understood to be a positive thing and can be interchanged with “progress”. I struggle to decide whether I am aiding that development or simply imposing a warped version of my Western ideals on a few kids. There’s no answer to this I don’t think., but the questioning only intrigues me more and pushes me into continuing my “development” or attempted development work in the future. I see the opportunities for progress here. I see my fellow Namibian teachers talking “solidarity” and marching their way to the Regional Office. Namibia has limitless potential – I just often feel unequipped to support this potential in an effective and sustainable way. I’m not trying to say that what we are doing here is wrong. Those donations and lessons and connections are huge. I just feel that this experience has served as a catalyst to push me past education into the world of sustainable development.

In other news…our End of Service conference is complete. We are now officially on the last leg of our journey. Keeping up the motivation has been hard for all learners and teachers and has been keeping me up nights. I’m trying to finish strong and am really hoping to see some improvements in my kids’ scores. Sometimes I feel like being a special education teacher has helped me so much in teaching here. Other times, I feel like the parameters of my special education mind limit my expectations of my kids. Professionally, I have been working on pushing past those barriers and expecting the most of my kids since I know they have it in them. It is just easy to rejoice in all of the little victories and look past the fact that 70% of your class is failing the National exams…

K, I attempted to put some pictures at the end of this, but as usual, it didn't work. There are some on facebook for those of you who are my friend. Missing you all and wishing you a very happy November.

Love,

h