First Impressions

It has been nearly a week a since I arrived in Namibia and my first impression is that I am going to like it here. Despite having a pretty busy training schedule thus far, the small slice of Namibia that I have seen has been amazing. From the very start I knew that I had come to a special place. As the plane prepared to land in the capitol city of Windhoek, it appeared out the window that we were making an emergency landing in the savannah. There was no sign of life until right before the plane touched down, which to me seemed unusual for a national capitol. This was an immediate reminder that Namibia is indeed one of the least densely populated countries in the world. I am highly pleased to find that the air is extremely dry and the evenings and mornings and quite chilly, it is winter here after all. I would have never thought it possible to see my breath while in Africa. Besides the dry air, the landscape at the moment is also severely dry. It appears that many of the trees drop their leafs for the winter and the brush and grasses of the bush are dried to a crisp. Another reminder; Namibia is mostly desert. And not to forget the wildlife; already I have been lucky enough to catch glimpses of giraffe, springbok, baboons, warthogs, and couple other ungulates that I am not sure what to call.

With the arrival of the group that I am a part of, the Peace Corps contingent in Namibia is now about 145 strong. There are 45 of us in the new group with about 100 already in country. Of the 45, 9 are here for business advising (like myself) and the rest are a mix of English, science, math, and computer teachers. Our training for the next two months is going to be occurring in Okahandja. This week we will each move in with a local family until October 16^th. The family will take us in as one of their own. The homestay allows us to hone our language skills and learn as much as possible about the people and culture of Namibia.

The coming weeks should be exciting as more details are revealed. I am still waiting to hear which of the 8 languages I will be trained in (I already know which ones I do not want to learn; I can’t click well and I can’t roll my tongue well either), where my permanent site is going to be, and who my host family is going to be. So for now I will just enjoy quiet evening walks in the bush keeping my eyes peeled for snakes (one giant python thus far) and keep dreaming of Africa. Hope everyone is doing well!

Road leading into Okahandja

Calm streets

View of Okahandja from above


Savannah sunset...again

Where to from here?

A new journey begins. As I write this I am sitting in the Denver airport anxiously waiting to catch my next flight which will take me one stop closer to Namibia. So what is in store for me the next couple of months?

From here I am heading to Philadelphia for a full day of training with the rest of the Namibia volunteers. We will be meeting with medical staff to get any vaccinations squared away and get briefed on Namibia and the program. From Philly we are whisked away under the cover of darkness to New York where we will board the 15 and a half hour flight to Johannesburg, South Africa. Then, of course, on to Windhoek, Namibia.

The first two months in the country will be spent training. There is a lot to learn about the country, its people and culture, and my specific assignment in a short amount of time. For the first seven nights I will be staying at the National Institute for Educational Development in Okahandja, about 45 minutes North of Windhoek. After this time I will move in with a host family in the same community until the end of training in the middle of October. During this time I will be very busy with pre-service training which is heavy on community based and homestay activities. I will be put through extensive language training and at this point I am not entirely sure what language this will be. About 4 weeks into training Peace Corps staff will make their decision on where to place me and I will make the first visit to my new home. Come October 15th, training will be done and I will be sworn in as a Peace Corps volunteer. I will move into to my new community and then the fun begins....

This is a pretty exciting and scary endeavor. Over the past few years I have fallen in love with experiencing new places and cultures and luckily have been fortunate enough to be able to get out there and do it. The Peace Corps is a two year commitment, which I imagine will fly by, but I am expecting lots of ups and downs during this time. A lot can happen and a lot can change in two years. In part, that is why this is all simultaneously exciting and scary. I suppose that is what makes adventure what it is. I am certainly looking forward to the next couple of years.

Republic of Namibia

To be completely honest, when I received my assignment to serve in Namibia I had only a vague idea about where it was and certainly didn't know anything about the country. Just about everyone has had to ask me where Namibia is exactly, which is not surprising considering how remote and unpopulated the land is. It has been a thrill to research and learn about this fascinating country on the southwest coast of Africa. I am feeling fortunate to have received the assignment I have in such an amazing place, and can't wait to get there.

I will try not to bore you with too many facts and figures about the country, but there are certainly some interesting characteristics. Namibia is about the size of Texas and Louisiana combined and has a population of around 2.1 million. This is a lot of land with not a lot of people, it is the second least densely populated country only behind Mongolia with 6.6 people/sq mi (Montana has a density of 6.5/sq mi). This is due to the fact that most of the country is desert, namely the Namib and Kalahari. Namibia is home to the oldest desert and the tallest sand dunes in the world. Luckily, for those who like the sun (which I myself do), Namibia boasts 300 days of sun a year. Temperatures vary greatly from freezing to 120 degrees. The northern parts of the country receive upwards of 20 inches of rain a year while the coastal deserts see next to none. Despite the mostly arid environment, Namibia has an abundance of the typical wildlife one would expect to find in Africa, from elephants, lions, zebras, giraffes, snakes, big bugs....

On the development side of things, Namibia is certainly considered a less developed country. Namibia has a per capita gross domestic product that is actually high relative to the rest of Africa at around $4,500/person (for comparison the US is at $46,000/person). However, this number is deceiving; 5% of the population actually earns 70% of the income. Even more alarming is that 55% of the population is living on less than $2/day. On top of this, Namibia suffers from a high unemployment rate of around 30%. Bottom line, Namibia is poor. Another disturbing social issue plaguing the country is the prevalence of HIV/AIDS which is among the highest in the world. Around 18% of the adult population live with the disease and it is estimated that by 2021 that 30% of Namibia's children will be orphaned. Because of this, life expectancy in Namibia is low and the disease has a serious impact on the economy. All that aside, I am expecting Namibian people to be very warm, cheerful, and full of priceless knowledge about life.

So that is a bit about the good, the bad, and the ugly of Namibia. I wish I could share everything I have learned thus far about the country, but as time progresses and I get time on the ground, there will be plenty more to share. I still have a lot to learn and I am certainly looking forward to sharing it with you.

Peace Corps

Wow! It has been almost a year now since I last posted here. When I left Africa last time I didn't know when I would be back at it again, but here we go again. I have almost made it an entire year back in the states, just long enough to let my severe case of wanderlust take its grip on me once again. Life is good.

People have had so many questions about what I will be doing in the Peace Corps and about Namibia itself. This week I will try to give a little glimpse into both of these and hopefully answer many of the questions you all have been asking. I guess I will start at the beginning...

Back in March I submitted my application to the Peace Corps. It was a pretty thorough process involving essays and interviews. I expressed interest in serving in Northern Africa/Middle East as a business development volunteer. A month later I was nominated for just that, business development in N. Africa. This is only an informal invitation with nothing set in stone. From here I submitted my final medical and dental forms and the waiting game began. I was told that I would have two to seven months notice before my departure. So after a couple of agonizing months waiting for the word, I was given one month of notice. My nomination region did not hold and they decided that the program in Namibia would be a better fit for me. A pretty fair trade in my opinion.

The program that I will be taking part of is all new in Namibia. The Peace Corps has been active in Namibia since 1990 with over 1,150 volunteers serving in the education and health sectors. I will be part of a small group that will be pioneering the Small Business Development program in the country. My primary duty will be to provide technical assistance and mentorship to teachers implementing entrepreneurship programs in secondary schools. I will be providing support to the teachers in the fields of entrepreneurship and business. A second aspect of my role as a volunteer will be to provide business development support to entrepreneurs, business owners, and out-of-school youth in the community that I will be living in. I am extremely excited to be part of a pilot program and to have similar tasks to those I had in Ghana. I am also thrilled that I will get the opportunity to work in the education sector. Combined with the exotic location that Namibia is, I am anticipating an outstanding experience (and probably a little bit of adventure too).

More to come on Namibia soon.