We’re famous (sort of)

Excerpt from The Namibian, Tuesday January 17, 2006

“The Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Education Vitalis Ankama invited United States Peace Corps volunteers to feel at home in Namibia during their swearing-in ceremony in Windhoek last Friday.
These 58 volunteers will be the 25th group of Americans to offer their services in Namibia since Independence 15 years ago. They will work in the country for two years.
He warned, however, that working in mostly the remote areas of Namibia would not be a bed of roses because of the many shortcomings faced by the schools there.
Said Ankama: “Apart from the long distances you have to travel, you will also find that most of the people will be very friendly but, like it is in any society, you will find some characters who are not too friendly.
“You will also find it very difficult to communicate because the majority of the folks in the rural areas are not too articulate in the English language. These are just some of the challenges you will face.”
He pointed out that they would also notice that the majority of the schools they work at, would have just a few or no educational materials at all.
“It is thus up to you to apply your skills and become innovative in order to bridge some of these hiccups. You will have to improvise and use your skills to help those kids overcome some of these shortcomings.
“One of your biggest challenges in our country will be to work together with under-qualified and unqualified teaching personnel. I urge you to first do what is expected from you on this mission and not just become advisers or counselors to these people,” he added.
He alerted the volunteers that most of the learners in the rural areas live in poverty but still have the courage and determination to go to school hungry everyday because of their commitment to have an education.
Ankama noted that it was also expected from the volunteers to help maintain discipline at the institutions that they were allocated and to inform the learners about the dangers of HIV-AIDS, alcohol and drugs.