First Day of School and Weekend up North in Opuwo and Etosha National Park

WARNING: Another poorly written blog post, but I wanted to get it in before we left on another adventure. Enjoy! 

       I really have no words to describe the first day of school! It was only slightly traumatizing, but we made it through. Last Wednesday we walked in just before 7 am and were all “herded” out to the court for the opening ceremony. One of the religion teachers gave a devotional to the whole school. All the students were lined up and parents were hovering around the edges. The principal talked briefly and then he passed the megaphone to Amy to introduce the 4 of us, which she was not prepared for. Then, the learners were directed to their classes without teachers. When I walked into my class my teacher instructed the students to set up the desks, as they were still all stacked in the back of the room. Then, she and I went to divide students in other classes. When the learners first go to class, they go to the classes they were in the previous year and then are distributed from there into their new classes. It is a very disorganized system, but it is what they know. Finally, we got back to class and I looked at my teacher to ask how long I would have these students, since they rotate in the upper grades like we do in middle school. She didn’t really understand my question and finally told me they would be there all day…YIKES! Dani and I had planned for 40 minute periods, not all day. Break was a huge relief and we were able to commiserate with Kelsey and Amy (also at our school) in the staff room before going back. I have never been more happy in my life to hear my teacher say school is out at one hour earlier on the first day (12:05).  The second most thrilling part of the day was when we saw Kenton driving up to take us home!

         When we got home, we had about 1 hour to get ready to leave on our trip up north. It was only a 2-3 hour drive that afternoon to Otjiwarongo (o-chee-wa-rongo) where we were staying that night. We drove straight to the hotel that night where we of course visited the bar and then had dinner. At dinner we met Betsie, an American who is now living in Namibia working at an elephant conservation location. She told us all about her work with elephants and how she came to Namibia. Then, we went to bed. I was absolutely exhausted that night and unfortunately the AC didn’t work in our room. But, the hotel was fancy and it was a fun night!

         The next morning we woke up and had a long drive ahead of us to Opuwo. Opuwo is where the Himba tribe is most densely populated. The Himbas are a very traditional tribe. Some dress in western dress and others are very traditional (pictures to follow). Many of the women are topless and they cover their bodies with a red rock mixed with butterfats. They also have very traditional hairstyles and more customs than I could name. I wish I could remember every detail about the Himba people.

         On Friday we woke up and had a meeting with the principal of the Ondao Mobile Schools. This was a project that Paula and Steve (our profs) worked on many years ago to make schools more accessible for the Himba people. Opuwo is a big farming community. In fact, Namibia is in general. Many families use their children to help on the farms. Every so often, the cattle and goat farms must move because there is nothing left for the animals to graze on. This takes learners from schools. So, Paula and Steve worked to train teachers at mobile tent schools. There are over 40 in this “district” that move as the students move. We had the privilege of hearing about it from the principal and visiting two of the schools. Paula and Steve had actually trained a few of the teachers at each school. The first one was about 45 minutes off the main road and I am pretty convinced it wasn’t even a road. Uanee (our guide) knew a woman at the principal’s office who actually drove with us so we could find the school. We were driving through trees, river beds and doing a little bit of off-roading. It actually got to the point where we had to get out of the van and walk the rest of the way. That was actually a really incredible experience (and very hot), but it wasn’t far! When we got there, everyone kind of looked at us. They had already stopped school for the day because of the heat and were all waiting for their lunch (maize, sugar and oil). We got to meet the 2 teachers there and interact with a few of the learners. We saw a mix of traditional and western dress. Their English was just okay, but their singing was INCREDIBLE! When we got there we all sang a song that they participated in (a spin off Father Abraham) and then Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes. By the end they had caught on and were doing it with us. Luckily, we got to go first. After we sang, they sang for us. They sang in the Himba language, with motions and harmonies that were beyond belief, especially for children. I couldn’t hold back my tears. When they finished, we asked the teachers what the songs meant, and they told us they were singing about spreading the news of the Savior. The commitment to Christianity in this country is amazing. I have never seen a community of people praise God for all they have in such a humble way. Not to mention, what they have is not much by our standards. Because their English was not good, it was hard to communicate. We asked to learn their names by saying “Ena” which is a Himba word. Even though communication was little, we were able to get a few of them to play some hand and clapping games with us. It was really incredible to see these children and they way they went to school. I really cannot even describe it to you. Finally, we had to leave in order to get to the next school. On our way out a few of the girls modeled their traditional dress for us as Uanee, our guide, showed explained. He is Himba and from Opuwo, so he was very knowledgeable and able to explain without putting them on the spot too much. We had brought them Sugar, Maize and Oil as well but could not get it there because the van didn’t make it. They had a car at the school and a few boys came with us to “guard” the supplies while they pumped up the tire of the car to go pick it all up. We were only about a 10 minute walk, but who knows how long those boys waited there.

         The next school was a totally different experience. This school is actually permanent and a little less secluded than the first. There were tons of kids that swarmed us as we arrived. We were able to interact a little bit with them before we gathered to sing. There were a few girls that I clicked with immediately, but one girl in particular. She was in grade 5 and was very sweet. She had the cutest outfit on and just wanted to know who we were and. She wrote down our names and talked for a few minutes. The English was better here, but still not as good as our learners in Windhoek. Once again we exchanged songs (they almost went first—thank goodness they didn’t!). Their singing is the most incredible thing I have ever heard and I don’t know if I’ll ever NOT be able to cry! Then, we had some more time to play with them. They were absolutely fascinated by us, especially our hair! It was sad to leave there—they were just so joyful it was contagious. That afternoon we went back to the hotel and enjoyed the pool. We were going to visit Uanee’s village that afternoon, but learned he wasn’t feeling well and actually wouldn’t be able to finish the trip with us. He had a friend (Mr. T) who came to finish off the trip with us. We enjoyed our dinner together and said goodbye.

         Saturday we drove to Etosha National Park! We drove into the eastern gate and drove to our first stop, Dolomite Camp. As soon as we got into the park, there were animals everywhere. I am pretty sick of seeing Springbok (similar to deer) and Oryx (the national animal) since they are just everywhere! But, we saw our first of many Zebras, and a few giraffes. When we got to the hotel we had lunch, swam for a little while in the infinity pool and went out of a game drive with Mr. T. Our biggest mission was to find an elephant, and we did at the first watering hole! We actually saw him in the distance and followed him to the watering hole. They are such incredible animals…so big but so delicate at the same time. On Sunday, we moved to Okakuejo, another resort where our chalets were right next to a watering hole. When we got back from dinner that night we found so many Giraffe at the watering hole along with Rhinos, Jackals, and later elephants (but sadly most of us missed the elephants).

         On Sunday we woke up and were planning to head out of the park and drive home, but at breakfast we learned (thanks to our guide, Mr. T) that the filling station at the lodge had been out of fuel for 3 days! We thought maybe we could make it to our first stop south on the ¼ tank of gas we had without air conditioning since we were also pulling a trailer. Or, we would have to drive further east in the park (you can only drive 60 km/hr) and then come back. So that’s what we did. They had gas at Halali, so we drove the almost 80 km east to Halali without our trailer an without AC, filled up and drove BACK to Okekuejo to pick up our trailer and leave, since the gate is just outside the resort there. It was quite an adventure, but at least we didn’t run out of gas again (thanks, Mr. T!)!!! It was an incredible trip, but it was good to be home and begin lesson planning for our true first day of school and student teaching on Tuesday!

My classroom is on the far right of this hallway 

Cheetahs at the Cheetah Conservation Foundation

Another beautiful cheetah! 

The learners at the first mobile tent school 

The second tent school that is now permanent 

The girl in the pink skirt stole my heart

watching the learners sing to us 

so many sweet learners that we got to talk to 

Elephants in Etosh thanks to Danay, our personal Elephant Whisperer (she spotted all but one of them!)

Warthog! 

Drove up on these this Bachelor Pride of lions

one of the three that stayed in the raod

this watering hole literally had every animal! 

the elephant wouldn't turn around for us! 

SO CUTE! 

This Elephant was right next to our van 

One of 30 lions we saw in one day! 

A photo doesn't do a Namibian Sunset justice...this one was something else! 

Love the sillhouette of the Giraffe eating! 

The was the elephant that showed up at our watering hole before we left Okakuejo on Monday morning (just outside our chalets).