"We shape our dwellings, and afterwards our dwellings shape us"
~Winston Churchill~
The day I have been waiting for for months has finally come! A lot of my nerves were settled when a little ding came from my computer letting me know that I had new mail! We had been told that we were to receive our schools on Monday, December 10th so I incessantly was checking my email. Good thing I don't have a smartphone or I wouldn't have gotten anything done. The long awaited email came Wednesday morning before I headed to work! I wish someone had a camera hidden as I was trying to dry my hair, brush my teeth and figure out where in Namibia I would be calling home.
**WARNING: The following post is long and I am throwing a lot of detail at you. I will try to summarize it at the end.**
The school I will be shaping as it shapes me is known as Musaso Primary School. It is a hostel school that offers classes to children in grades 1-7. With it being a hostel school all the children live in dorms on the school grounds. There are about 270 students and 10 teachers on staff. I will be teaching pre-primary English (beginning grades) and 5th-7th Science. You are also looking at the new soccer coach :). Good thing I played for years but I am sure these kids are going to be teaching me a thing or 2 on and off the field. I will be living in teacher housing on school grounds. I am guaranteed a room but will be sharing my bathroom, kitchen, and any other living space with the other teachers. For all of you who have been worrying about my health; there is a health clinic at my school! I am guaranteed water; not worm and electricity; who knows how reliable.
The rural village that I live in is known as Omusaso/Otwani. If I could find pictures of it I would post it below but there isn't much information on the village I will be living in. It is located in Kunene, one of the 13 regions of Namibia. The Kunene region is in the Northwest part of Namibia towards the border of Angola.
I am about 40 miles from Opuwo which is the capital of the Kunene region and has a population of about 5,000 people. It will only cost me about $4 to go from my home to Opuwo. Though small I will be able to find almost all of my essentials there. There is also a few hotels that will be nice to check out and go to for a break every once in a while. The hotels organize excursions that you can take part in which will be awesome to do! The area I am going to is very remote but has so much to offer and is rich in diversity. The Kunene Region represents "one of the last true wildernesses in Africa — and a rare opportunity to conserve a vast desert ecosystem and enhance its people’s quality of life". The weather is very diverse but mainly has 2 seasons; a rainy season and a dry season, much like Costa Rica. The temperatures can range from the 60s to the 110s. Just the way I like it; HOT! Sandstorms and droughts are an occurrence here as well as torrential rains causing floods. Safaris are abundant and popular in this region. The Kunene Region has been deemed a wildlife conservation area as many animals roam freely. Just some of the gorgeous attractions are listed on this Website. The Epupa falls is almost as big as Victoria Falls and is right in my backyard! I am so excited to visit here!
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| Epupa Falls |
The Kunene Region is home to many subsistence farmers from the 2 diverse tribes known as the Ovahimba and Hereo tribes. They both speak Otjiherero. These beautiful people are very diverse in their dress and ways of life. The Himba are nomadic and practice herding and farming. The women of the tribe wear little to no clothes and paint themselves with "a mixture of red ochre, butter and resin from the Omuzumba shrub. This paste is known as ‘otjize’ used as protection against the weather and a skin lotion". They wear braids which signify different meanings and jewelry to let them know how many children each woman has.
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| Family is a very important concept to the Himba tribe. |
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| Women from the Himba Tribe |
The other tribe is the Herero Tribe. They are influenced heavily by the Western culture and this can be seen in how they dress. They are mostly hunter-and-gatherers. There is not much known of their origin.
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| Herero Women |
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| Packed, unpacked, repacked... take things out. VICIOUS CYCLE!! |
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| Folding method and vacuum bags all the way! |
I will update more on the process and last minute things as the time comes. Feel free to ask questions because I am sure I am asking just as many!!
