Happy Anniversary

looking back to December 2015:

Following on a delightful Thanksgiving, us five PCVs gathered at my house for festivity and fun had to get ourselves to Windhoek, Namibia's capital, for Peace Corps Namibia's biennial (every other year) All-Volunteer Conference, which in 2015 also incorporated PCN's 25th Anniversary Celebration.  Whoo hoo.

December (and part of January) is 'the festive season' in Namibia, and a lot of businesses shut down for several weeks.  (My foundation closed for five.)  This reflects a combination of year end, Christmas and the onset of summer, which is also the rainy season.  Many, many (maybe most) people who might otherwise live in towns are needed back in their family villages for planting and other field work.  So enormous numbers of people are traveling, especially in early December, and even the last day in November.

This was vividly clear when we got to the hike point and found dozens and dozens of others waiting hopefully for rides.  Sadly, travelers on the road were much scarcer, and we stood for about two hours in the blazing sun (occasionally ducking under the crowded canopy available for waiting travelers, but it's too far from the road for anyone actively working to bag a ride) before three of us got a ride, and maybe another ten minutes before M. and I scored a sweet double-cab bakkie with a local tour guide.  On the three-hour drive, out of the desert and east into the savannah, we saw, heard, smelled rain lovely rain at several points.  Whoo hoo.

Swanky!
The rooms weren't nearly so luxe, but who cares?!  Let's go to the pool!!

We got to stay at the plush Hotel Safari for this special event, enjoying swimming pools, workout rooms, and extremely generous buffets (and many thrilled/thrilling conversations about special treats like cheese! and fresh berries! and dessert!).  We had two days of conference activities, including reminders about Peace Corps rules and several 'Open Spaces' discussions.  Open Spaces is a meeting methodology whereby participants engage in multiple small-group conversations at once.  Patrick, our admirable director of programs and training, invited suggestions for topics, and then volunteers to lead or manage the conversation for each topic.  If you're not leading a group, you can wander from place to place and touch on several different subjects, or settle in to a single one that grips you specially.  There were about 130 PCVs at the conference, who came up with subjects like "Macroeconomics of Namibia", "Dealing with Difficult Supervisors/Counterparts", "Classroom Discipline", things like that.  It's a useful format to keep people engaged and share practical ideas.

And this is just part of the cold buffet!  Cheese tray at the back.  Hot foods
just steps away.  Everyone ate about three times more than they do at home.

We also spent a few sessions in our sector-specific groups.  PCN supports programs in three areas that the Namibian government has requested:  education is the largest, then community health, then community economic development.  CED is the youngest program and it's growing fast.  The Health volunteers mainly focus on HIV and AIDS prevention and treatment, but also do a lot of work with tuberculosis, malaria and nutrition, with plenty of other areas, like exercise, coming in for attention, too.

Community Economic Development is not, typically, conducted
under chandeliers here.  But just this once.

We also got free t-shirts.

The third day was the anniversary celebration.  The government of Namibia actually reached out to the US Peace Corps before it was even officially the government, in the aftermath of South Africa's concession of the territory but before the transition to the new, freely-elected leaders in 1990.  They asked for teachers; the independent nation had chosen English for its official language, and most people did not speak it.  So Peace Corps started setting up its administrative infrastructure (pretty lean), and soon after Sam Nujoma was sworn in as the first president, 14 US volunteers arrived and dispersed to various towns and villages to try to teach English.  Since then, over 1,500 volunteers have served here.

A few volunteers organized a photo contest in memory of J.P., an ec dev
volunteer who died in a swimming accident at the end of 2014.  I never got
to meet him, but he was much admired, loved and mourned.

We were honored by the participation of Namibia's Prime Minister, Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila, who gave the keynote address.  We also heard from the Hon. Thomas Daughton, US ambassador to Namibia, Dick Day, the regional director for Peace Corps's Africa operations, Carl Swartz, our country director, and my friend Kaan, an economic development volunteer, who put his speech on his blog.  We also got some lovely singing from the Okahandja Youth Choir, who entertained us when we first arrived in country, and again at our swearing-in.

The OYC performed more in the hall after the official ceremony;
they've recorded a CD and were selling it.

Then they let us loose on the cake.

The anniversary made national TV; I don't know whether the cake did.
But it had four flavors under those flags.

It's actually a bit inspiring to me to think my small efforts are part of this larger continuum.  And it is definitely inspiring to meet the other volunteers and hear what they're doing, and how they're overcoming frustrations (continual and very real), and celebrating successes (large and small and also continual, especially the small).  The Peace Corps staff are also amazing; Patrick, Linda and Efraim (the ones I see most) work with extraordinary diligence, competence and commitment for us volunteers, for Namibia and for the greater idea of service to community.  Sappy?  Maybe, but real, too.  And I got to go swimming, kind of a lot.

The view from the pool, floating on my back.  There was one day
when I swam in a very light rain.  Bliss.