Coming full circle back to PST

Somewhere, a long time ago (ok, only 19 months ago), we arrived in country still optimistic, still hopeful, still clean, suffering from homesickness together, finding our ways together, forging lifelong friendships.

Returning to Kukuri Center, the location of our Namibian debut, for GTOT (General Training of Trainers), was bittersweet. This week, I've come full circle – I've returned for PST (Pre-Service Training). This time, I'm on the other side of the page.

I know I've mentioned it before, but... The Kukuri Center has a very special place in my heart. 

This week, I realized that Kukuri Center at night has a particularly special place in my heart, particularly at night. It brings back a rush of memories – laying in the grass watching movies, trading media and playing cards under the thatch roofs, sitting on the benches outside the rooms having heart-to-hearts and predicting the next 26 months, the calm of the Okahandja night being broken by the ringing of the public telephone when someone’s family miscalculated the time difference and called in the middle of the night. That first week spent here was full of such raw emotion. 

Since I last updated my blog, a lot of things have happened. 

Things are busy.

I'm torn between the feeling of “the busier the better” and “dear time, please slow down.” The busier I am, the faster time goes. The busier I am, the more rewarded I feel. Awesome. But the more things start to work, the more I want to... just keep doing them. And I'm running out of time. 

Management at my school has changed. My principal took a post at the Ministry of Education, and the HOD of my school is currently acting principal. This change of administration has definitely changed the atmosphere and work dynamic at school. Despite this, things at school are still going positively, on a whole. I've been working on getting things with the school computers straightened out. I've introduced several Namibian colleagues to Linux, an alternative operating system to Windows. The specific type of Linux I've been using, Edubuntu, is an operating geared specifically to teachers and learners, and has a lot of great tools built in for educators. The other huge advantage of Linux is that since Linux does not recognize Windows' viruses, it aids in preventing the spread of viruses. Computer viruses, much like AIDS, are a huge problem in Namibia.

I've been working closely with the grade 5 English teacher this year. It's been hugely rewarding. I hear her English improving. She has started using Microsoft Word by herself. She has started using Microsoft Excel by herself. She's learning to use the scanner. PROGRESS. SUSTAINABLE PROGRESS.

I've also been in and out of Gobabis since my return from America for various meetings, workshops, doctors' appointments, and other random things. While these things have kept me out of school, they've also kept me busy, refreshed and optimistic. 

2 weeks ago I attended a microgardening/permagardening workshop. It was the best workshop I've attended during my entire time here. The first 2 days were facilitated by a Namibian man from the north who works with the Ministry of Youth to build community gardens, youth center gardens, income generation gardens, etc, using microgardening techniques. (Microgardens are also commonly known as table-top gardens. They are most commonly hydroponic gardens - growing the roots in water with special nutrients or some type of substrate.) The 3^rd and 4^th days were facilitated by an American expat and RPCV based in Tanzania. His portion of the workshop was phenomenal. He has taken permaculture ideas, scaled them down, made them manageable on a smaller scale, and created the “permagarden.” A permagarden His permagardening concept has been taught to Peace Corps Volunteers all over Africa; they've then been sustainably passed on to community members who then pass the ideas to other community members – the model of sustainability. (To see the far-reaching sustainability of the project, Google “permagarden”.)

With the ideas of a permagarden in mind, I have already started teaching Yolande (the school secretary) many of the basic ideas. One of the most important parts of it is water control and management by using catch-holes; since she and her mom already have beds planted, we have to wait to do the majority of the digging until the next harvest, but we've started digging catch holes and started a compost pit/pile near her house. Hopefully I'll have some quality before/after photos to put up. I've also, with the agriculture teacher, identified an area at my school to create 2 or 3 permagarden beds and a compost pit/pile. 

Namibian Independence Day was spent in Mariental. A good time was had by all.

Despite the overall positivity of the last 3 or so months, they haven't been without their challenges. 

Homesickness still comes and goes at inopportune moments. My contact with people at home dropped off significantly after my visit to America during the holidays – partly because I've been so busy, and partly for lack of contact initiation by people at home. I'm missing a lot of fun things at home – climbing trips, festivals and parties and celebrations, important life milestones in the lives of family and friends.

Loneliness comes and goes, too. I have formed great friendships in the community – people in whom I can confide, to whom I can speak frankly and to whom I look for support and comfort. Even having formed such great friendships, occasional loneliness coupled with boredom and homesickness can be unpleasant. I'd hoped that having a permanent roommate would aid in easing some of these things, but it's turned out not to be the case.

The anxiety of what happens in 7-9 months is heavy. 

One day at PST I sat with a group of the trainees for lunch, and asked them where in the states they're all from. One of the guys said “Pennsylvania,” I asked where in PA, he said “Williamsport.” Ha. It's a small world! (For those of you who don't know, I grew up 15 or so minutes from Williamsport.) One of the other trainees was living and working in Baltimore before he left for Peace Corps. Pretty crazy.

The married couple from Group 32 was recently moved from their site in NW Namibia to a site just south of Gobabis (actually the site where the married couple from my group had been placed before they ET'ed). I had a chance to meet them this weekend, they came to Gobabis with their dog Patches to do their shopping. Just like listening to Group 33 reminded me what it was like to be in PST, listening to all the Group 32ers talk reminded me what it was like during my first term of teaching. And although they're often experiencing the same things we did, making the same mistakes we did, they're necessary mistake to make.

And this week, it's back to school for a few more weeks before my dad and Rose make their debut on the continent!