I mentioned previously that my daughter was going to Mozambique in the Peace Corps.
Unfortunately, she had trouble learning Portuguese. Luckly, the Peace Corps still thinks she’ll make a good volunteer, so they’re moving her to somewhere where she can teach in English.
Namibia. It’s at the same lattitute, but on the west coast of Africa instead of the east coast.
It’s going to be interesting. She packed for Mozambique, which is hot and very wet and will be going to a place that’s very dry and can get below freezing in the winter. She has a Mozambique cell phone, which she’ll have to sell and buy another in Namibia. In addition, they’re telling her very little about her schedule once she gets there, since all the orientation material she has is for Mozambique.
She’ll be meeting a group going to Namibia next week in Johannesburg before flying to the Namibian capital (Windhoek).
One thing did make her the envy of all the other volunteers in her Mozambique group: she had to travel into Swaziland to get her visa. The town they’re staying it is right on the Swazi border, but Peace Corps volunteers usually aren’t allowed to cross borders for the first three months.
In any case, we’re rapidly learning all we can about Namibia. We had a month to prepare for Mozambique, but only a week for this change.
We’re discovering that the motto of the Peace Corps should be “It depends,” since that’s they’re answer whenever you ask any questions about assignments.
Congratulations to your daughter, RealityChuck - I know a few former Peace Corps volunteers, and they all spoke highly of the experience. I also think it’s a heck of a noble thing to take a couple years for volunteer work abroad. Good luck to her.
I hope I didn’t freak you out with my comments about Swaziland in the earlier thread. I empathize with the difficulty of Portuguese. I’m just used to hearing Mexican Spanish which is very well enunciated.
Namibia is cool! Take a canoe trip down the Orange river if you get a chance. It is stunning, and very mellow. Sossusvlei is where they shot that shitty movie The Cell, but it is absolutely otherworldly. Your daughter MUST visit the Okavango Delta in Botswana, the next country door. There is nothing else like it on the planet. There are lots of English speakers in Namibia. Not so much in Mozambique.
I have a coworker that washed out of the Corps, he was in Namibia. He said they loved the soccer ball he brought, and he lost 30 pounds or so. Ate rice for lunch, but for breakfast and dinner there was smaller portions of rice. He was a big guy, so the lack of food might not be such a problem for someone else.
My SIL recently worked in Namibia. She loved it and said that it was very nice and safe overall. Compare that to Nigeria where she was before and was neither of those. I would consider it a great assignment.
I think she can go with rice – she does like it – but she’s more a fresh veggie person (she eats meat, but only small amount). She’s going to be in the central area at first: Windhoek and then training in Okahandja.
So, basically, she got a free month in Mozambique. Not too bad.
The biggest problem is things we mailed her. If they don’t reach Maputo before she goes, then she may never get them; I don’t know if the Peace Corps will forward them.
A friend of mine spent several weeks in Namibia last year working for Elephant-Human Relations Aid, a small group that helps villagers build anti-elephant defenses, and educates them to realise that the elephants are an important resource for tourism, so shouldn’t be killed.
She loved the country - she said they were great people, with a really interesting culture. Her pictures were awesome.
Namibia’s fighting performance during the Rugby World Cup endears the country to me, too. I’d love to visit. Best of luck to your daughter! Sounds like a great experience, and something that will probably change her life for better, and forever. My hat is off to her.
I’m glad to hear they could transfer her instead of just dropping her. I’m in the application process for Peace Corps right now, so hearing of some flexibility on their part is comforting. Hope she does well in her new host country!
Evidently, if you show you have the right attitude, they’ll cut you some slack once your in country. They did send someone back for being too immature, but Lisa worked hard at things and did pretty well on the teaching end. She was just too far behind in the Portuguese.
I figure that since they flew her to Africa and invested in training her, it’s less wasteful to send her to another country than fly her back home.
I’m in my second year in Peace Corps in Cameroon. I can say hands down it’s the best thing I’ve ever done. I’ve had my ups and downs. We all do. But every single day I am just so thankful to be here.
Training is tough- it was probably the hardest three months of my life… I struggled mightily with my French. If she seems like she is having a hard time, just remind yourself (and her) that it gets better once you get to post.
As for food, it can be difficult at first when you don’t know what things are and you arn’t used to cooking with the limited selection. But after a few months you’ll learn what yummy street food is hidden in those pots on the side of the road. And you’ll learn how to cook with such local seasonal produce. When I first got here, I at little more than popcorn. Now I’ve mastered things like baking sourdough bread and making my own cheese. And though sometimes there is little more at the market than okra, I’ve got some darn good okra recipes. We don’t get a ton of meat, but there is plenty of beans, a million uses for powdered milk (and the fresh milk we buy from nomadic cowherders when they are in town), usually easy access to eggs, and more peanuts and peanut butter than you could ever use.
She should be able to pay someone a nominal fee to “unlock” her cell phone and make it useful in Namibia. Isn’t it great that we have access to cell phones?
Wow. Happy adventures to your daughter and you. My mom is coming to visit in January and I am just soooo excited.
Oh and don’t worry about clothing. You can get beautiful local clothing made quite easily (most female volunteers I know wear mostly local clothes) and there are plenty of imported knock-off designer clothes and used American clothing. If it’s anything like here, there is plenty of cold weather gear. It’s not unusual for me to see a kid wandering down the street in hundred degree heat wearing a snowsuit. Anyway, I hardly ever wear the clothes I brought with me.
Great to hear from you. I figured the clothes situation will sort itself out and, luckily, they’re going into summer down there so she has time to get the warmer clothes.
She loved being in Mozambique and will probably love Namibia. And she’s gotten to more African countries in a month and half than she expected in her entire trip.
Being able to teach in English will help. She will still have to learn the local languages, but that is easier than having to teach and keep discipline for high schoolers when you aren’t fluent.