World Map Project

World Map Project

A few posts ago I said that Lindsey and I were going to start painting a world map on the side of our school. Well, we actually finished a several weeks ago and here is the final product. 

I am sure some of you are wondering - how the heck did they do such a immaculate job painting this thing? Well, our school fortunately has a projector. So, we projected an image of the world up on the wall, traced it with the other teachers, and then painted it with everyone - the teachers and students. Each day we had students from each class come outside to help paint, and since the painting process took about two weeks, every student that wanted to help was able to. Our goal was to try to include everyone so that way there would be more “ownership” of the map, instead of it just being “something Timo and Lindsey did”. 

This is what it looked like before we started - a big improvement right?

Lindsey is inspecting to make sure we didn't "miss" any countries. We probably did......

This was also before I cut the mop off of my head.

Overall, the project was a huge success and we both think that everyone really enjoyed helping to make it. It is also nice to see something physically tangible that we have done since with teaching you can’t simply point a finger and say, “This is what I did in Mayara.” With the map however, it is easy to physically see a lasting impression that will be around for the foreseeable future.

Some of the students wanted to show off their jumping skills

The Mayara School Staff.

It was also great to interact with the students outside of class and get to know them on a  more informal level. Most of them are relatively close to age with us, and it was amazing  how much more willing they were to talk to us outside of class.

Swakopmund Marathon

Lindsey and I had so much fun running this race - probably our favorite race that we have ever run. The course started in Swakopmund and ran along the flat road between Swakopmund and Walvis Bay (that is the next city south of Swakopmund along the coast). On one side of the road was the ocean and the other was a vast expanse of giant, yellow sand dunes. It was quite a refresher from running down the dirt road in our village to say the least. The day of the race was actually quite dreary being that it was cloudy and cold, but it was perfect running weather.

There was a good number of Peace Corps Volunteers that came down to Swakop to either run or show support - there were 5 of us that ran the half and 6 that ran the full, and 7 more that were stationed at a water table along the course to hand out water to passing runners. One of the PCVs even took pictures of us as we passed.

My attempt at growing a beard is also clearly seen in this picture.

Have you ever seen a happier runner?

I remember the last time I mentioned this race I said that we were going to run the full marathon - well, unfortunately that didn’t happen. With our last vacation in August (where we went to Etosha and hiked the Naukluft Mountains), we literally were unable to run a single time over the course of a full month. One month of no running + one month before a marathon = no good. Hence, we both elected to run the half. 

Lindsey finished in 1 hour 44 minutes and I finished in 1 hour 35 minutes. Both times are significant personal bests. I guess the cool ocean air and the low altitude helped out. 

Mid-Service 

After the race in Swakopmund, our whole group had to go to Windhoek to meet with the Peace Corps Staff for our Mid-Service Conference. It was basically a medical check up to make sure that we are all still healthy. We all had dentist appointments and an appointment with the Peace Corps doctor for a regular check up. Summary - Lindsey and I are both healthy. It was also great to see the rest of our group again since we haven’t seen a lot of them since last December when we had our last official Peace Corps Conference. 

Thimbukushu 

Remember how I said I was making a Thimbukushu language manual? During the Mid-Service Conference, I met with several of the Peace Corps staff to talk about the manual and what is going to happen with it. Well, they love it and want it to be the standard language manual that is given to all volunteers when they first arrive for training. It is also going to be translated into all of the other languages in Namibia, so it is not just for Thimbukushu, but for about 7 other languages as well. I also recommended that we include audio .mp3s to go along with the book so people can actually learn how to say the words instead of just reading them, which is also going to happen. So hopefully before the next group of volunteers arrive, the new set of language manuals with audio will be ready to go. And if you are future volunteer that is reading this before you arrive in Namibia - you’re welcome :) 

Mayara

The 10th graders at our school are currently taking their final exams which will essentially determine their future if they pass or fail. We only have three more weeks of teaching until the rest of the school starts their exams. (10th graders take their exams early to give extra time to the graders. The exams have to be sent off to Windhoek to be graded by the Ministry of Education to make sure there is no “grade changing” or anything on behalf of the teachers to try to improve a schools pass rate. The grading process takes a long time since they don’t use scantrons and they have to grade each paper for each student in 10th grade for the entire country by hand.) Other breaking news - it is getting really, really hot again, our cat just had three kittens, Lindsey’s iPhone vanished, and termites caused a big section of our reed fence to fall over. 

Peace,

Tim