Shadows Enlighten

Looking back to May 2016:

Most PCVs will tell you that 'shadowing' was one of the most valuable parts of their pre-service training.  I both enjoyed and learned from my shadowing experience toward the end of PST, and was delighted to have a chance to pay it forward when Group 43 came to Namibia.

Given a generous house, I was able to host three (could have done four) shadows, and given a paucity of current, available volunteers versus trainees, my PC boss, Linda, was happy to send three.  I got an M&A lawyer from Chicago, a DJ and entrepreneur from same, and a realtor and gem expert from Boston, all of them interesting, well-mannered and excited to be serving.  All, also, as is usual, very excited to be nearing the end of their training!

Groceries to feed the shadows came from Dreamland.

Before they arrived, we e-mailed with ideas about scheduling and meals, and I told them how much of their shadowing allowance I would usurp to cover the extra groceries.  I also asked if they'd want to spend their last night in Swakop, and they were all very pleased to have that opportunity.  So I booked a dorm room at Amanpuri; two hundred bucks each and worth it.

Shadows do their initial travel in groups, with a local PC facilitator to help them in working through the mysteries of hiking, and mine SMS'd when they got close.  I walked down to the filling station that also serves as a transport hub, and was able to wave to Tante Martha, Afrikaans teacher and PC stalwart, as her combi full of PC trainees swung into town.  I had bumped into a local entrepreneur at the station, so introduced the shadows to him as soon as they debarked, and we had a brief conversation about his business and the opportunities and challenges of our town.  Good start, right?

I mean, seriously packed.

For day one, we settled into my house and had some cheese sandwiches, and then  packed ourselves into kind Petra's car and headed to the crystals market.  They looked around the operation, talked to members, helped consult on some computer questions and bought some jewellery, good them.  The former realtor was scheduled to work with a local small-scale miners' group, so this visit was especially useful for her.  Then we went to see Johanna in nearby Usakos, who was on the verge of closing her PC service after three years and one venomous snake bite.  I presented her with a certificate (certificates matter here) and some brownies, and the shadows got to see what my fellow community economic development volunteer M. gets up to at the Children's Education Center.  Back at home we had lentil soup and bread for dinner; pretty typical.

On day two we went to the office, met everyone there, used the library wifi.  The shadows got lunch at the local market, which consists of variously-stewed meats and vegetables.  You pick up the lids of the many pots and request a scoop of spinach or macaroni or carrots, and that piece of chicken, etc., and pay $5 a scoop for veg and starch, and $15 and up for chicken or meat.  In the evening we went for a sunset desert walk and then had pap and chakalaka for dinner - quick, easy, very Namibian.  The DJ hadn't cooked much, ever, and was pleased to have a pap-whisking lesson.  (Pap is a white-corn polenta or corn-meal mush, essentially; blander and probably less nutritious than the yellow-corn kind of Italy.)

Filling and oh so traditional luncheon at the market.

Shadows in the sunset.



On Friday we went to Dreamland Garden, discussed and toured their operation, and pitched in with weeding, litter pick-up and spinach harvesting.  Great hands-on experience, I hope, after their six or seven weeks sitting in classrooms.  We also met with another local entrepreneur at my office, and the three shadows grilled him enthusiastically.  One shadow had a host brother attending the local vocational school here, so we invited him for dinner and sat outside eating homemade pizza, with wine contributed by the kind shadows.

I had booked a ride for Saturday morning with a taxi driver I know -- four of us is a full load, and the shadows were happy to take the easy option rather than fool around with hike points and waiting.  They, of course, loved Swakopmund, which that weekend offered the unusual excitement of containing several dozen other PCVs.  The group before mine was having its close-of-service conference there, and the young-leaders camp committee was meeting, and the five existing Swakop PCVs were hosting a total of four Group 43s, so you could not get two blocks without bumping into a PCV.  We grouped and ungrouped throughout the day and sometime toward the end of it found many of ourselves in a new dance club, where we meeted and greeted and foxtrotted (not really) the night away.

Shadow with shadows of his own.

Next day we had a *fun* time getting a hike back to Okahandja, the training town!  I took the back seat and recommended they confirm pricing before we left; the driver initially said he'd charge $260 for each of us, when the going rate is $130.  So that was an invaluable experience, I think.  Plus it was a pretty uncomfortable vehicle, and I lost my phone.

I have had great experiences on both sides of PST shadowing.  I am really grateful to my shadow host, and to my three shadows, for their generosity, flexibility and wisdom.  And I am hopeful of getting to do it one more time, in May 2017, when Group 45 is here.