I’m not really sure where winter went. I remember winter
last year being so dark, cold, gloomy, miserable in general, even with Donata,
the wonderful German roommate who blessed me with open ears, shared meals, and
good times. I was dreading the winter
this year. Somehow, it’s gone, the nights
are still chilly, but last night I slept with my window open and enjoyed the
sounds of night, the crisp early morning fresh air coming in, and the birds
singing at sunrise. The days are
becoming what my inner Northeastern PA girl would call hot, but by Namibian
standards…. It’s spring!
The East Coast is recovering from Hurricane Irene and an
earthquake felt by most of my friends and family, and now parts of PA and NY and MD
are enduring September floods. I always
seem to miss the good stuff at home (although I experienced my fair share of
strong tremors living in Chile). We
might not have earthquakes or hurricanes on the edge of the Kalahari, but we
sure do have…. sandstorms!
They say that August is the month of winds in Namibia. They
weren’t kidding. A couple weeks ago,
just before holiday, it was so windy that the volunteer in a village to the
north of Gobabis thought her roof might blow off and the dirt and dust kicked
up by all the wind gave the sky above Gobabis an eerie, hazy look. There was a fine coat of red earth all over
the house. Sand in my eyes, in my hair.
Sand that blows for hours isn’t much fun.
Even though my days are numbered, things are still going.
Most volunteers are winding down when
the end of their service is so near.
I seem to be winding up, and have requested that Peace Corps let me push up my COS date by 3 weeks.
For those of you who don’t know me, or don’t know me well, I
grew up with gardens. My father has a magical green thumb. Believe it or not,
there was a time when vegetables were NOT my preferred food, but for most of my
childhood, they were abundantly available.
I have fond memories of walking behind my dad’s tiller picking worms out
of the rich, dark earth; of eating heads of fresh broccoli straight from the
ground. Somehow, I inherited some of
Mr. Andrews’ green thumb. I’m trying to
pass it on to others.
Gardens are such a simple yet profound way of improving the
quality of life for people here. The
provide food security. They provide
nutritious food necessary for HIV/AIDS drugs to be effective (ARVs make those
who are not properly nourished very sick, which leads to discontinuation of
use). They provide nutritious food for
everyone else, too! For people who live
in impoverished areas, gardens add beauty to otherwise bleak landscapes. Growing a beautiful garden instills pride in
the gardeners, boosting morale and helping improve quality of life. Garden surpluses can be sold at prices lower
than the markets, providing income and helping the garden pay for itself.
Best of all, teaching people to garden is sustainable.
Gardens aren’t just good for host country nationals. They’re good for volunteers, too. After swearing in, when volunteers move to
permanent site, we live with host families.
Having the ability to construct a simple garden can’t be hugely
beneficial during this time. Volunteers
living with host families tend to overdose on meat and porridge, the staples of
most Namibian families. In some places
fresh vegetables are either unavailable or prohibitively expensive. Most volunteers have a substantial time to
kill, and gardens are a good way to kill time and relieve stress. They also help volunteers integrate into the
community – at least in Namibia, if you’re outside your house doing something
remotely out of the ordinary, you draw a crowd.
Teachable moments!
Group 33 had an afternoon with Peter, the man who
facilitated the permagardening workshop in March, during their PST. They said it was one of the best, most useful
sessions they had during the whole of their PST. I was really excited to help out at Group
34’s PST and do a session on home-based gardens, along with a health volunteer
who’s had huge success building a garden at her community clinic.
Unfortunately, Peace Corps decided to disregard volunteer
feedback that gardening sessions should be added to PreService Training, and
moved the sessions to Reconnect – the InService Training that takes place 6
weeks after PST. I emailed the country director,
who diplomatically explained why they did it, and while I understand his
reasoning, it’s still quite frustrating.
My holiday didn’t go quite as I’d planned. I’d been planning to join Caitlin and her
family at Spitzkoppe and Sossuvlei, an area of the desert in the east of the
country. But, sometimes things just
don’t work out. I ended up hanging out
in Windhoek at my friend Kamy’s house, and it was excellently relaxing. I had a day at the office, got a lot accomplished,
and while I didn’t get to see the (questionably) tallest sand dune in the
world, I had a great time.
Friday last week was one of the best days I’ve had in
Namibia. The sun was shining, I walked
all over Windhoek running errands, I made a turn at the office and had a talk
about pushing back my Close of Service date to November so I can help other
PCVs set up gardening workshops at their sites.
Later in the day my good friend Debbie and some other PCVs and a friend
of Debbie’s came to Windhoek and we had a night of good, old fashioned
debauchery. I even got in a quick skype call with my dad! You
know those days that make you happy to be alive? It was one of those.
And, Chico the Africat is now Chico the City Africat. He’s
gone to live with Kamy in Windhoek. It’s a relief, because I know she will love
him and take great care of him and appreciate him in all his wonderfulness.
Returning to Gobabis after the holiday ended to a Chico-less house was weird. I
keep thinking I hear the little bell on his collar jingling…. my house is just not the same without him.
The beginning of Term 3 has been without incident. I've started computer classes after school for the teachers, and am still trying to figure out how to squeeze in a gardening workshop before I COS.
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