African Adventure Diary Week 3


Tuesday 17th April
We were back at Onamutai today. I worked on the stakeholder's presentation and made posters to motivate the students. We were given the corner of a room to make into a first aid area which Amy made posters for. Then Joyce was called away to invigilate. We worked really hard today on trying to improve things for Onamutai and trying to get involved. The staff were friendlier today and seemed to include us more readily. We then observed an English grammar lesson taught to part time learners who had failed last year. It was a website based on South African English (not ideal when you're trying to teach English English as there are differences between the two)! It was based on lots of questions with multiple choice answers. You could really hear the Namibian voice in the incorrect one as this is how lots of Namibians phrase things. It's no wonder the students kept making mistakes. In some cases even the 'correct' one wasn't how we would say things in England.

We came back to our accommodation after school and had a power cut so went to look for the Spur restaurant we'd seen advertised. It said it was opposite Bennie's but all that was there was a construction site. It turns out that is the restaurant but it hasn't been built yet! They really are on African time! 


Wednesday 18th April
Today we went straight to Eluwa School. We feel so much more at home there and the staff and students are always so excited to see us. Joyce gave a presentation about Milestone school and we tried to learn their Namibia sign to communicate with the deaf children about the photographs of Milestone's students. The children were all so excited they kept signing 'again, again'!

We took lots of resources with us and presented the school with a special framed board with pictures of Milestone children saying 'hello' to the special needs children at Eluwa school. They were so excited to see students like themselves...and particularly excited to see the black children at Milestone as they could identify with them and were surprised to learn that England has people from all over the world. In Namibia they think that all British people are white and rich! The children were all so excited by something so simple and were all climbing to have a closer look. We took lots of arts and crafts materials with us today and the students at Eluwa drew some special pictures about themselves and us working with them for Milestone students to see. It really was a lovely exercise and the results were beautiful.

The students went on their tea break after this and Julia took us to their dining hall. All the students live in the hostels and they get breakfast in the morning, followed by tea at 11am, followed by lunch at 2pm and dinner at 5pm. It makes such a difference to see the children well fed and happy. Their performance is enhanced as a result. At Onamutai, the children are often staying with non-family members and don't have any food. As a result they often beg us for food. Onamutai is a failing school and the lack of food for the students is definitely one reason for that. The dining room at Eluwa is huge. All the children come in past two dinner ladies handing out jam sandwiches to every child. They then queue up at the serving hatch and get a cup full of tea served from a huge vat. The children were all so keen to sign hello to us and hold our hands. On the way back to class we had about 3 children on each arm, one clinging on in front and one behind! It was so sweet if not a little hard to walk!

After break the children came back to class. I'd brought some balloons with me from  England which cost about £2 for around 30 balloons. You have never seen joy and happiness like it. The children thought all their birthdays and Christmases had come at once! They played with each other and with us for ages developing their spacial awareness skills and sharing. There was one child who couldn't walk properly and sadly found it really difficult to join in when other children were running around. We think he was autistic too as he didn't acknowledge the other children and couldn't share or join in the game aspect. He was much happier sitting down playing just with me in a corner and got very upset when other children came near him or tried to get involved or take his balloon.

Unfortunately, even at special schools in Namibia there is no real diagnosis or support for children with additional needs. Eluwa is specifically for children who are blind or deaf. We saw lots of children with physical and mental difficulties and major communication needs though and unfortunately the school is not resourced well enough to best support these students. They just make allowances for them 'being slow' or having 'mental difficulties' in what they expect from them. A huge majority of the children and most likely the staff have HIV and yet despite this and a lack of resources the children all seem so happy. One child has some physical abnormalities in his hands, dribbles permanently so has to wear a bib and has HIV but he was constantly laughing and being cheeky. He clearly has developmental difficulties as his work is at a much lower level than the other students but he really was loving his life. The other children kept signing that he was 'naughty'! He is such a boisterous child-he is always running, jumping and climbing and trying to play with everyone else's balloon (while stashing one for himself in his pocket)! After the balloons had all popped we took some special pictures of us with Julia and of us with the whole class that we got printed for them. It was home time before we knew it and the children all went back to their hostels.


Thursday 19th April
We were glad to be back at Eluwa again today. We brought the beads with us that we bought in Swakopmund. We went to buy more resources before work and chose some big bouncy balls and more balloons and frames for the pictures we'd had printed. The children were even more excited to see us today and kept asking if we'd be back tomorrow! Sadly, today was our last day at the special school. We did some lovely drawing and then got to work beading bracelets which really helped their hand-eye coordination and fine motor skills. Some of the more advanced children worked on patterns and numbers with the beads too. Some children finished quickly and started a second bracelet but the cheeky chap I mentioned yesterday really struggled due to the deformity in his hands. He tried his best though and really enjoyed it. When it was nearly time to finish the activity, another more able student helped him by finishing the bracelet off so he didn't miss out. It was really sweet to watch. The children went for their tea break reluctantly because they all wanted to stay and learn from us and join in our activities! Everywhere we went the children from all the other classes kept signing for bracelets, balls and balloons.

Unfortunately in such a large school it just wasn't possible to give something to every child so we focused in Julia's class. We took balls for a couple of other classes too and Joyce went to set up another class on bracelet making. After their tea break, the children were banging on the door to be let back into class as they were so eager to continue working with us. We then did some sports activities with the children using the ball, followed by some more exercise and sharing skills with the balloons. It's nearly the end of term here and from about a week before the school closes the school puts out messages on the radio for parents to come and collect their children. Today, one girl got called out of class as her dad was at the school to take her home. She just slipped out and we wondered why she'd gone so early and with no one drawing attention to her or saying goodbye. Julia told us that they have to give parents a long window of opportunity to come and collect their children or many don't come. The girl slipped out without a fuss because many children won't be picked up by their families so they don't like to upset these children.

It was one child's birthday in class today so we bought a cake and sweets for the class. The children were so happy! We were all singing and signing happy birthday in Namibia Sign and dishing out the cake. The children got sweets too but without exception all saved them for later as they don't get many treats. The child we were signing for didn't even know it was his birthday. Students don't live with family and their understanding is sometimes impaired, so he didn't know it was his birthday until Julia told him. First of all he was shaking his head when Julia said it was his birthday but when he saw the cake he soon caught on! The day flew by in the blink of an eye. We were really sad to say goodbye. We went and saw the headteacher and gave her the board about Milestone school and the resources we'd bought for them. She was delighted and so grateful to us for their help. It really goes to show, it's not all about money here, they are delighted by a little time, attention and support from outside.


Friday 20th April
Today was our last day at Onamutai. I finalised the stakeholder's presentation and showed Mr Tangeni who was thrilled. He just kept saying 'wow, wow, wow! I very much love it!' I was pleased with the response as putting 20 years worth of pictures, results and challenges together and writing solutions for everyone to take responsibility was a lot of work. Hopefully it will make a difference and the teachers, students and parents will all start working together for the good of the school instead of against each other.

One of the major issues in the school is that learners are late to school and to class, show no respect, don't study for their exams and have no aspiration yet nothing is done about it. The students carry on like this because the staff let them. No one is taking any action to fix the situation. I produced several documents to help them improve these issues. Firstly I produced the GROW Model which is a goal setting exercise. It can be used to improve lateness, behaviour and channel aspirations etc. It works with the student to address the problems and find solutions. I also produced some aspiration raising worksheets that students can all do to look at their dreams and ambitions, realistic goals and how make things happen. Once I'd done this I tackled the issue of reports. Currently they have no way of monitoring poor attendance because registers are hardly taken and there is no method of tracking or monitoring punctuality or poor behaviour. I produced two reports, one to tackle punctuality and attendance and one to tackle behaviour. This will hopefully motivate the students to be more responsible and encourage the teachers to monitor this issue. They can then record and praise improvement and deal with recurring issues. The behaviour report works similarly in that the particular student carries it with them and each lesson the teacher comments on which of their 3 targets have been met that lesson. It can also help to identify particular subjects where issues are common. The head teacher was delighted with this support and was very keen to receive any help we could offer. While I was busy with this, Joyce and Amy were busy developing a first aid and health area. We bought a sick bucket and a blanket and some resources on the body. Joyce went to the clinic to get the latest health advice for the students and to when they should visit the clinic. Joyce and Amy then made some posters with all the signs and symptoms of common illnesses such as HIV and TB so that students would be encouraged to visit the clinic before it was too late.

We finished all this work just in time for the cultural display the students had prepared for us. There was a big programme of events from readings and poems to giving us handmade thank you cards, to singing and dancing. It was a really special event and we felt really honoured to be receiving such thanks. Anna, one of the student council members led the event with such grace and authority. The readings and cards were so precious and the singing was beautiful. We were eagerly awaiting the cultural dancers and they were worth the wait. They dressed in bright pink traditional outfits and dyed their hands and feet pink too! They had bare feet with bells round their ankles. One student drummed the beat and all the dancers sang a tune while pairs of dancers in turn did their dance in the centre of the circle. It was a real treat! We have some great videos to show you when we get back!

Then we all had to get up and give speeches to the whole school. Joyce presented them with the first aid area and posters and talked them through the health advice. When we said we don't have a major problem with HIV and AIDS in the UK they were shocked-even the teachers couldn't believe it! I think this made them take notice of what Joyce was saying! Then Amy spoke and presented them with tea towels and presented the board of our learners. I gave them the educational CD roms, the stakeholder's presentation and the resources to help them improve in school. I pleaded with them to listen to their teachers and make use of the resources to improve their educational opportunities. I then presented them with laptops and webcams. When I said we could skype and the students in Milestone and the students at Onamutai would be able to see each other, we got a huge cheer! The students were so excited. It was really lovely to have such a great send off.


Saturday 21st April
We got up early to go to Ruacana waterfall with Romeo and Thomas in the back of his pick up truck. There's a mattress in the back but no seats or seat belts so we were bouncing around all over the place! It took about 2 hours to arrive at the waterfall as it's a long way North West from here. When we arrived we took lots of beautiful photos and videos. Luckily we came just after the rainy season so there was plenty of water flowing. If you go in the dry season, there's no water at all. The waterfall is fed by the Kunene river that flows from Angloa to Namibia. There was one shorter gushing fall on the right, next to many streams of falling water in the main section. Then further to the left there was a smaller more delicate fall. All the water landed in big pools at the bottom which then moved like rapids through the rocks. We were told you could swim at the falls but after climbing down nearly 500 steps and over loads of rocks to the base, we realised that the water was too fast and dangerous to swim in. We just paddled our feet in the smaller rock pools. We kept getting grabbed for pictures by a big group of family and friends from Namibia. They wanted their pictures taken with us white people to show off to their friends. Every time we tried to get up we got stopped by another group wanted pictures with us. One teenage boy even sat on my lap for pictures and another was cuddling Amy so tight she could hardly breathe! Apparently, because Namibians all assume white people are rich it's akin to having your photo taken with a celebrity! We had a lovely time once we'd escaped the masses. Joyce and Amy decided they were ready to climb up. Then due to rushing to catch up I fell down about 4 rocks and got my foot stuck. Luckily Thomas helped me climb out. It was so hard! Amy could hardly breathe when she got to the top but she made it first, followed by Joyce and finally by me! My legs haven't been the same since. My calf muscles are so sore!

Once we'd recovered, we went to the other side of the falls. They are used for hydroelectric power so when the siren sounds you have to leave the water because the dam is being opened and the water level will rise really quickly. We heard the siren sound once we were at the top so drove down to the bottom on the other side of the falls to see the water gushing. Romeo's friends were there already having a braii (a BBQ). The meat wasn't refrigerated and was cut with dirty hands and put in a dirty cardboard box then boiled on the BBQ. I was really glad we made our excuses to leave rather than join them. I don't think our stomachs could have taken it! We made the journey back laying down on the mattresses. We took Romeo and Thomas to dinner at Oshakati Country Hotel to say thank you.


Sunday 22nd April
We went hunting for books as we'd all read everything we'd brought. Game is closed on Sundays so we had a quick look in the fashion stores before going to the supermarket where I picked up a magazine as there were no books. Then we came back to the accommodation and had some lunch before going to Bennie's to meet Romeo. He arrived around 1pm but spent most of his time in the bar watching the football. After lots of swimming, we went for dinner at Hotel Destiny. The food there is excellent in comparison to Bennie's! We all thoroughly enjoyed our meal then came back and spoke to our families.


Monday 23rd April
Romeo told us there was a bookshop in Oshakati so we went looking again. Sadly we still didn't find one. When I asked in the supermarket they said they didn't know of a bookshop anywhere in Oshakati - it seems Namibians don't like to read for pleasure! I bought another magazine and we headed for Bennie's. We had a drink at Bennie's and when Joyce ordered a coffee they told her it would take 20 minutes! It often takes that long here. Service is so slow-everyone is on African time! We went back out in the sun and enjoyed the rest of the day. Then we came home and made some dinner.

At 6pm we met with Doris to have an African drumming lesson. Doris is such an amazing woman. She lives off really meagre money but does such amazing work with street children, teaching them drumming, dancing and singing to improve their communication skills, cultural understanding and confidence. She's quite famous out here and there are press clippings about her and her work all around her home. Doris is so resourceful, her small garden in so full of character yet she hasn't paid a penny for it. She found some wild sunflowers and replanted them in her garden, animal horns found at the side of the road decorate her satellite dish and a dog's skull rests in front of the dog's kennel! There's a toy car that she found in someone's garbage and planted flowers in and lots of rocks and broken pots filled with cacti! The garden is like an insight into Doris' nature: Quirky, resourceful and a little bit mad! Her house is decorated similarly with shells as ornaments and hessian sheets to hold her many colourful earrings! We all loved her home, she kept saying how small it is but it is so bursting with character that it feels like it belongs to Doris the moment you walk in the door!
She spent about 2 hours with us teaching us to drum several songs and making loud tribal noises to call spirit! At times we really struggled to copy the complicated drumming moves as Doris does it so quickly and we couldn't help laughing at ourselves.

It was an amazing evening and we all left feeling humbled and inspired by this breathtaking woman! She runs a youth group for the street children and tomorrow we are going to help her with that. We'll also be donating some of the things we've bought here and some food to help her project. It's a very deserving cause.

African Adventure Diary week 2


8th April
As it's the weekend, Romeo came to Bahay Susan and took us to Bennie's. It's a lovely park with a  swimming pool and palm trees with loungers. We had a lovely relaxing Sunday. There's a restaurant on site where we had lunch. We watched a film and relaxed. It was a lovely day. We are looking forward to seeing Romeo tomorrow.

9th April
Romeo came to our accommodation at around 7am and told us he was leaving for a course in Windhoek for the whole week! We were hoping he would sort out our accommodation and take us to school. So we're all feeling a bit scared and lost now. Our accommodation has no running water or mattresses or fridge at the moment and we don't know where it is or how to get in! We don't know where the school is or how to get there and yet we are expected to go tomorrow. We're all very apprehensive now.

We tried to walk to Oshakati open market but went completely the wrong way! We walked for ages and couldn't find it so walked all the way back in scorching heat! We finally got back to our accommodation and it turned out that we'd walked in completely the opposite direction to the market. We planned our route by car and yet still went the wrong way! We drove all the way towards Bennie's and only saw Ongwediva market. We had a quick look but it was only selling dried fish and meat which didn't look very appetising as it was covered in flies! We were only there 5 minutes and got back in the car to find the main market. We drove back past our accommodation and continued the other way. It was very frustrating. We eventually found Omatala market and wandered around. People were saying 'Walelepo' to us which means 'hello, how are you?' The market was mainly selling dried fish and mopane worms plus some traditional dresses and baby carriers. The baby carriers were the nicest things there but since we don't have any babies with us or at home, we decided to save our money.

After the market, we went to Bennie's to meet Freda (Onamutai's deputy head) who was supposed to be helping us and showing us the accommodation and helping us get to school etc. She said she'd be at Bennie's at 4pm but by 6pm she still hadn't shown up. Definitely on African time! She was in the salon getting her hair done. She spent 2 minutes with us to say hello but we still have no accommodation sorted. She just told us to meet her by the roadside at 6.45am to go to the school. We were all really hoping that meeting her would put us at ease and make us feel better after an apprehensive day.

10th April
We were up at 4.50am getting packed and ready for our first day at the school. We were all so nervous. We had to negotiate a better price with Susan Bahay as it was expensive to stay there. We were all showered and ready for breakfast by 5.50am and eating breakfast by 6am. We checked out and drove to meet Freda. She called us because we were not there when she got there and when we arrived we couldn't see her. When she found us, her colleague Dina got in the car and directed us. The tarred road part of the journey was fine but the gravel road we had to turn down was very rough. We were being thrown around a lot and were worried about the car-it was like driving over rocks! When we arrived at the school, the headteacher came to greet us. His name is Mr Felix Tangeni. He is very friendly and helpful. We went straight into his office to introduce ourselves. He struggled with our names, especially 'Amy'! We went into the staff briefing and were introduced to the staff. There are only around 20 teachers here, teaching English, traditional languages, social sciences, science, maths and business studies. They all told us their names but it will be a struggle to remember and pronounce them all as they are very different to names in England. They find our names difficult too. When the Principal introduced us he got very stuck on Amy again and she had to introduce herself! Joyce gave a little speech. Then they did a clapping, slapping books and raining hands ritual to welcome us.

Then we went outside to the assembly. They have no assembly hall so students must stand in line and wait in the hot sun. One student collapsed in front of us. We think she'd had no food or water and fainted in the heat. None of the staff or students batted an eyelid like this was really common. Mr Tangeni introduced us to the students and they were all happy to see us. He then pulled out a boy who was laughing and made him stand in front of the whole school and share the joke then wait to be disciplined. He talked a lot about what a privilege it is to have us here and that if the students are very well behaved then some of them will get to meet with us but only if they are very good. He made it clear that if they are nice and respectful to us then we will be the same back to them.

We had a tour of the school with Freda along with a Nigerian volunteer teacher which was interesting. There are 433 children in the school from grade 8 (around 13 years old) to grade 12 at around 17-18 years old). We learnt that classes here have around 30-40 learners and although many have additional needs, the children with severe special needs do go to the only special school in the north of Namibia which is near where we are staying. We hope to visit there this week. Students here have to pay $150 per year to come to school up to grade 10 then to do grade 12 they have to pay $500 per year! They also have to take compulsory exams which cost $300 too. Some of the students don't live with their families, they rent accommodation on their own but then their family can't afford to pay the rent and for food so they go hungry. Many children don't bring food to school but the tuck shop lady bakes some cake in a small fire on the floor (a kind of porridge) and if they can afford it they pay 50c for that to keep them going all day. It's a very long day for the children. It starts at 7.30am and finishes at 3pm.

As we went around, some of the students were very excited to see us and asked us questions about England. Most children were very shy and nervous about asking questions in English but I pointed out that they speak our language much better than we speak theirs! They were very surprised to learn that England is very small and yet we have so many people. All the people in London is about 4 times how many people in the whole of Namibia! England as a whole is around 50,800 square miles and Namibia is 318,259 square miles so the population here is very sparse compared to England. It makes England seem very over populated!

Freda has asked if I can teach the staff IT skills. Lots of staff don't even know the basics so I said I'd be glad to help if they tell me what they need to know I can show them how to do it. It's nice to feel useful.
We have been working in the library today. It's an open plan room with 3 tables and some bookshelves around the edge. They don't have many books for a whole school. They don't have internet here either but have made a good link with millennium challenge and they have built the toilets and will be installing internet soon. The classrooms have very basic old desks and chairs which are often broken. The flooring is just cement or sand. They do not have data projectors or TVs in each class; only 1 projector the library for the whole school.

By lunchtime the librarian needed our help. She got us cutting up scrap book-covers, making them into library card holders for the reference books. When we came back to the library I worked on a presentation about the differences between the 2 schools and Joyce and Amy sorted out more library books.
After an hour or so we were kicked out the library and had to go to the staffroom for a meeting. Mr Tangeni told us the school is failing as the learners don't get high enough grades. This means we have to hold a stakeholder's conference. This involves the parents, students, teachers, directors, inspectors and ambassadors etc all going to the church and sharing ideas and learning about the school. Perception is that results are getting worse but in actual fact they are going up and down every year. Varying between around 23.1% pass rate to around 75%.

Mr Tangeni needs the staff to organise the stakeholder conference and so wrote a to do list with 15 items that people needed to volunteer for. One of the staff members quite vocally thought this was a bad idea and believed the head should take the lead and tell the staff what to do as letting people choose would take too long since staff would not be willing to help. It seemed very rude to be honest but as time went by we could see that Mr Tangeni was not being respected and staff were not willing to help. In the end I volunteered to help with posters, writing slides for the overhead projector and charts of results. When staff were not keen to volunteer, he went round the room asking each staff member what they would do. Whole groups of people were keen to join the smallest tasks but not the bigger ones. Joyce and Amy ended up getting signed up to purchasing the food and Amy also seemed to get put doing the room plan. When he read out the task list it seemed my name was by most of them! I was down to do the school profile involving taking pictures of students and turning all the information about the whole school over the last 20 years into a presentation. I was also down to operate the OHP (or HOP as they'd called it)! Then when he read out organising the church venue and decorations that was me too! He asked for group leaders for everything and when no one volunteered he said I was leading on all of these things! All the staff were looking and nervously laughing like 'she's new how can she do it all' but it seemed the decision had been made and I was in charge! I didn't quite know whether to laugh or cry-it's a huge task! Still it's better to be busy and useful.

After the meeting the Mr Tangeni came and said the accommodation was still not ready and we would be stuck until tomorrow. We called Susan Bahay and luckily she still had room. Then once we'd booked Susan's they said they would take us to see the house how it is now so we can see what is needed. We drove back to the Shell garage with Dina and met Freda at the garage. When she arrived she climbed in the back and we went to the Director of Education's office. We spoke to a guy who took us to the flat, Although it was old and needed a good clean it does now have beds and a fridge. It has no hot water but at least the water runs! The alarm was faulty and there are no pots, pans or plates etc but it will be OK. We just need hooks for our mosquito nets and to get crockery etc, bedding, pillows and make it liveable. We move in tomorrow.

11th April
We got up at 4.45am again and got ready, packed again and had breakfast. We got to the meeting point and Freda was not there so we called her and she said her car battery was flat so she'd be very late. Dina still come to meet us but was also on African time! We drove to school down the rough roads and arrived in time for briefing. Mr Tangeni was equally as unsure of himself when addressing the staff today.

Within 10 minutes of arriving we were given the job of assembling exam papers between the three of us and Ukeme, the Nigerian volunteer teacher. Then 5 minutes later we were told we were invigilating an the exam! We were all split up and had 1 class each. I went into a rowdy class of students and quietened them down, got them to put their books at the front and gave them a five minute warning to use the loo etc. I then had to check the exam papers all had the right number of pages and then gave them out papers down. I told them they had 1.5 hours and had to concentrate and not talk. They began and were all passing the few rulers and calculators they had between them. It started at 8.30am then the majority were finished within 20 minutes to half an hour and were all looking around distracted and bored. I then had another hour watching them so they didn't cheat! An hour staring at a new white stranger is a long time fopr a class of students when when they have nothing to do! After 1 hour I told them to check their papers as they still had 30 minutes left. They all groaned as they'd finished and been hanging around for ages. They were getting restless and trying to communicate with each other. With 15 minutes to go, I told them they had 15 minutes left and they all laughed. They couldn't believe they weren't allowed to go yet. After the test a girl wanted to speak to me. She waited until her class had gone then asked me for $5 for food as she was so hungry. I said we weren't allowed. Then she asked for my phone number! I said this wasn't allowed either!

After the exam, we wandered over to the local clinic and Joyce has arranged to visit on Friday. A child was diagnosed with TB while we were in there. It's so sad. We came back to school and had some food. Mr Tangeni came in and gave me all the information to make the presentation for the stakeholder's conference. When we came over to the library to work on it, another teacher asked for our help to produce the logo for the stakeholder's conference. We took a picture of 3 hands linking to represent the student, parent and teacher. I then uploaded it to the computer and designed the logo to have the words 'education is everyone's responsibility' in English and Oshiwambo. It actually looks really good considering we don't have great facilities. They were really pleased with it. I emailed it to a member of staff so it can be used on all the marketing for the conference.

After school we met with the director to discuss accommodation. They were supposed to fix the alarm, the mosquito nets and the hot water. None of this had been done. We took the keys and went to get bedding, cookware and crockery etc. When we arrived at the house it was full of spiders. Amy has been busy naming them all!

12th April
We went to Eluwa special school today as it's more similar to Milestone. It's a very good school for children who are blind or deaf. We waited for an hour for the principal. She was very friendly and clearly in charge of the school. She watched our powerpoint about Milestone with great interest. We then went to Romeo's sister's (Julia's) class to meet the learners there. Her class are all hearing impaired students and some have developmental difficulties too. They were all excited to see us and signing hello (a flick from the head and a thumbs up). They use Namibia sign here which is very different from signalong. In the picture below they are signing our names!

They have 342 students and all are either blind or deaf. Most of the deaf children cannot speak a word either so rely completely on Namibia sign. Some children have autism too. They study a national curriculum and also learn computing and hairdressing. Students are aged 4-adults. Some students cannot write their own name so there is debate over whether a national curriculum is appropriate when what they really need are life skills. Many of the children are orphans and all but 1 child lives at the school in the on-site hostel. Some parents do not pick up their children for weekends or holidays and so they may have to look after themselves. When parents come to collect the other children, the teachers see those who remain, crying. There are no physically disabled students at Eluwa special school but they can go to Otapi special school or may be sent to special school in Windhoek. Often, children who are physically disabled are kept at home because the parents cannot afford wheelchairs.

We talked to Julia about PECS and it seemed like a system that would really benefit students here. However, although the classrooms are lovingly decorated with hand drawn posters about numbers, letters, weights, quantity, food, the body, families and much more; this is the extent of their resources. They do not have any communication aids, other than a function for the computers in the computer room to talk to the blind students. Other than that, the deaf students rely on sign language and the blind children rely on Braille.
We went on a tour of the school-it's very large with massive grounds. The students are well cared for here. They have a free on-site clinic and dining room so the student's health and nutrition is catered for more so than at Onamutai. We saw classes of deaf learners all keen to say hello in Namibia sign. We got very good at this sign after doing it every few seconds for the whole day! Classes were all very excited to see us! We went to one deaf class and they were watching a film. It wasn't signed though so they were just trying to follow the pictures. We told them about Mr Tumble and promised to send them some links to videos that will support their learning.

We saw the blind section of the school and talked to the blind staff who Braille the work for the students.  The staff are all keen to come to England to learn. One is keen to get into Cambridge university!

13th April
We arrived at school early and saw there were hardly any learners in assembly. They were all skipping school. Slowly as assembly started, more learners turned up but Mr Tangeni made them wait outside. We then had a staff meeting and Mr Tangeni said all the VIPs that were expected to come to the stakeholder's conference are unavailable due to catching planes to England and France and also in meetings. Mr Tangeni asked if we should go ahead and all the staff said to cancel it! Then he tried to tackle the issue of the latecomers and asked for suggestions of punishment. I said in the UK latecomers would be given detention which could be as long as the time they were late by. I also suggested report cards that teachers sign each lesson to say the student has arrived on time. In the end they decided they would do some work in the grounds. Mr Tangeni wanted students to be punished as soon as they came in but the staff were dead against it. Many were shouting and saying the exams should be written first as it was illegal to delay the exam and the inspector would be angry but Mr Tangeni persisted that punishment must come before the exam so learners could not escape early. Dina was shouting that this was a bad idea and that they would just let the students who were on time go and everyone else stay behind to clean. Then Ukeme gave a speech saying that in the name of God staff should respect and obey the principal as it's his decision, he is the leader and he is trying to put things right. Staff reluctantly agreed and got their rakes etc and got their learners to clean up. I think even the learners who were on time must be being punished now too because the exam will start so late. It seems mad that there's so little authority or respect in the school between the learners and teachers or the teachers and headteacher.

I spent the morning working on the stakeholder's presentation. Then we were making exam papers for the learners. The copies they gave us to put together were all upside down and back to front but they didn't have the money (or inclination) to fix it so that will be a hard exam for the students to sit as question 17 is upside down next to question 1 etc. It's clear that the students are disaffected due to the staff feeling this way too. There seems to be little motivation to improve. Everyone sadly seems resigned to the fact that it's failing. It's heartbreaking to see a hardworking man like Mr Tangeni being so disrespected by the staff and students. Apparently this is because he is from a different tribe to the staff and students so people don't think he should be in this school. Staff seem to almost want the school to continue failing so that Mr Tangeni will be removed. It's a very disheartening situation.

14th April
Thank goodness it's the weekend. We got up at 6am to drive to Etosha. It was about 4 hour's drive to the Von Lindquest gate in the East of the park. We came in and they said we'd get in free as we are volunteers. We drove inside and within 2 minutes we saw 2 giraffes! We were so excited.

The people in the car behind us were out of their car taking pictures of the giraffe-it's so dangerous. They are wild animals with no cages. 20 metres further up the road there were 2 lions! It definitely wasn't safe to get out! A bit further in we saw 2 more giraffes up closer which we watched for ages. Then as we drove further into the park we saw some zebras in the distance and some wildebeast. We decided to drive north out of the park so we'd be heading in the right direction. You must leave the park 1.5 hours before sunset because it's very dangerous to be driving in the dark with wild animals roaming. Further into the park we saw a zebra crossing...literally! Followed by a few others crossing the road behind-up really close to the car. We also saw some warthogs and a herd of springbok jumping around. As we moved further into the park we saw more giraffes and more zebras- almost 10 of each in total. We also saw 2 tortoises and an oryx strutting along by stinkwater on the Etosha pan (like a huge lake).

We passed someone who said there was an elephant by the next waterhole and got really excited. When we got there though it was nowhere to be seen. We were really disappointed. We then drove quite a way through the park just seeing beautiful birds and butterflies. As we were coming out of the park we noticed a detour and decided to take it as we still had some time. I noticed something on the horizon. Joyce thought it was trees but I said 'they are swishing their tails so it must be animals...maybe it's elephants!' When we got further down the detour, sure enough a whole herd of elephants came into view! We watched them for ages. They were snorting and squirting the dust over themselves and flapping their ears to keep cool. There were a few baby elephants too. They were so cute. The longer we stayed the closer they came. At one point we were surrounded and thought they were going to trample the car as we had nowhere to move to. That was a bit scary! We were really lucky in our visit today. To see so much wildlife roaming free in just a few hours was amazing! We were really glad we saw the elephants at the end of the day too as it was a really positive thing to finish on. What an fantastic day!

15th April
We were up early for Romeo to take us to church. We all put on our best clothes and met him to drive to the church by Onamutai school. We all nearly had a heart attack when we found out it was 3 hours! The whole service was in Oshiwambo too so we didn't understand a word! We tried our best to sing along to the hymns. Then everyone had to go up to the front to donate money for the church renovation and for the general fund. After a few more prayers and hymns it was time for confirmation. Joyce is confirmed but Amy and I aren't so were not allowed to join in. Joyce knelt down to receive her bread and wine and said she was praying for her not to fall over when she stood up as her knees were trembling with nerves being in front of a 300 strong congregation!

Following church we went to see Romeo's friend at his cucca shop. (Like a little shop or bar) and had a drink. He is quite the entreprenuer and has had electricity installed so he can run the fridges to keep the drinks cold that he sells. Then we went to Romeo's homestead. We learnt about how the wheat flour is made. The mahangu wheat looks a bit like sweetcorn and it dries in the sun. Then the grains are rubbed off and put into a hole in the earth. Then they are pounded with a stick until they turn into flour. Then the flour is added to water to make a mahangu pap. It was really interesting. We learnt about all the buildings on his land. He has several brick and mud huts with straw roofs. His cousin lives there with his daughter and his nephews. There are several trees growing on the land; paw paw, mangoes and marula trees.

Once we'd seen his home we went to a cucca shop run by his auntie which was overflowing with people having lunch. We didn't try the food but it looked like people were enjoying it; apart from all the flies! It was a long and hot but fascinating day. We are really grateful to Romeo for sharing this slice of traditional life and culture with us.

16th April
Today we had to get up at 4.30am to go to Romeo's school in Oshikango near the Angolan border. It was 3 hours return trip in the car. It's a combined school with children aged 6-16. Lots of the older classes have low percentages of girls because lots of them fall pregnant under-age. Only a few return to school. It's a small school but has 340 pupils. They have no electricity in the school-only an office 3 km away that has a photocopier and 1 computer but that serves all 23 schools in the cluster. It also has no flushing toilets. They have pit latrines which absolutely stink instead. They don't have any support like Onamutai. The learners pay N$30 in the lower school and N$90 for the upper school students which is needed to pay for books and resources. We looked around the school and met the staff. One in particular was very excited to meet us-she shook my hand first then shook Joyce's and Amy's but still hadn't let go of mine! We went to assembly which was conducted in Oshiwambo and English where we were introduced to the learners. They didn't know what to say to us! After assembly Romeo took us to a class where he was telling the students they should be studying before their exam instead of playing outside. They all took their seats and he told them about today's and tomorrow's exams. The students did not want to ask us anything as they we're too shy or embarrassed. Romeo was asking them if they knew it all already. One boy was wearing an arsenal shirt so I said we live near Arsenal football club's ground. He still only understood when Romeo repeated what I said. Even when we speak very slowly they find it hard to understand our English and vice versa.

We helped Romeo prepare exam papers. He started organising them and we had some students looking into the room. We went outside to take a picture and before we knew it we were engulfed with 300 students wanting their pictures taken! I was practising English with them and getting them to say 'hello' and 'how are you?' and hello in signalong on video for our students at Milestone. It was an amazing experience-they were suddenly so excited to see us. It was lovely.
Then we went to the cluster copying office to help Romeo prepare his papers for the next day. The copies came out wrong and with bits missing about 10 times! A 20 minute job took 2 hours. When we'd finished for the day we drove to the Angolan border to see another country and get another stamp in our passports. We were told we'd probably have to bribe them and it was best to take Romeo's Portuguese friend as that's what language they speak; having been colonised by the Portuguese. We queued for ages and were refused entry because we didn't have a visa, unfortunately. It seems a shame since we were right on the border at the most northern point in Namibia right by the next country. We drove round the Oshikango open market instead and saw the dried fish and mopane worms again. Then we drove the nearly 2 hour drive back. We went to the resources shop to get materials to make the posters for the school and the International boards for Onumatai. It cost £43 for what would have cost £15 in Wilkos. It's far more expensive here than at home! Tomorrow we're back at Onamutai and we're going back to the special school on Wednesday and Thursday which we're looking forward to.

African Adventure Diary week 1

30th March
We left school about 2pm and made our way to Heathrow in the traffic. The plane was delayed about 40 minutes so we arrived in South Africa just in time to get the next flight. We got the plane to Windhoek (also half an hour late) and picked up our 4x4. We then drove off and found our house. It was a large flat with and balcony with a stunning view.

Luckily we bought phones and dongles at the airport because all the shops were shut when we made it into town. We passed a club with a BBQ and were tempted to ask if we could join them as the braii smelled so good! Luckily we found a supermarket that was open and bought some pasta and chakalaka (a curled up long spicy sausage) and pasta sauce and we cooked and ate together.

1st April
We were up early and had some tinned jam in a roll for breakfast then got ready and drove into town. We went to the shopping mall and had a nice breakfast and looked around the shops. Then we went to a craft market with traditional Himba women selling gorgeous handmade crafts. We bartered for handmade African masks, statues, paintings and jewellery. There was a lovely park that we walked through then had lunch in a nice restaurant. Joyce had crocodile which we all tried-it was surprisingly nice a bit like a crossed between chicken and fish! It was a lovely location and a really nice meal. Food is very expensive here though. We're leaving early for Swakopmund and we're hoping it's friendlier and safer than the capital city.

2nd April
We drove for a few hours to Swakopmund today. It's right on the coast and a really lovely town. We bought some lovely African carvings etc and had to barter for the goods. The prices would be astronomical if you didn't! We spent some time on the beach after going for lunch. It was lovely and hot on the beach and Joyce was eager to get in the sea! The water was freezing! Joyce was brave and stayed in the sea for ages! Amy came out quickly and I didn't stay in too long as it was like swimming in ice! We went to the supermarket. Food is so expensive. In just a couple of days on some basic groceries we've spent £50! We wandered back to Haus Garnison and chilled out for the evening with crackers, apples for tea.

3rd April
We got up early and went for breakfast. Breakfast was eggs and chakalaka sausage. We had the whole day to ourselves with no driving which was bliss. We had a nice coffee overlooking the sea and chatted away. After coffee we went to the beach and Joyce went swimming again. Amy and I just relaxed on the beach which was lovely. We went for lunch at the Lighthouse restaurant which was great. Joyce had Oryx and Amy and I tried some-it was really nice; like a salty steak. The bar apparently has a webcam that you can view from in the UK but the staff seemed to know nothing about it! After a delicious lunch we went round the market and shops for a bit then on to the supermarket. We got some  tinned spaghetti and bread to toast for dinner. When it was time to cook we couldn't find a toaster. Spaghetti sandwiches wouldn't really work! Eventually we found the toaster hidden underneath the sink so we managed to have the food we'd intended. The longest drive so far awaits us tomorrow from Swakopmund to Khorixas.

4th April
We were up at 6am ready to drive to Khorixas via Cape Cross. We drove for hours with the land getting more and more barren with every kilometre. On the way we saw lots of crystals being dried by the side of the road. They were beautiful so we all bought some. After about a 2 hour drive we arrived at the seal colony reserve at Cape Cross. It was a long drive over rough roads but it was worth the wait. When we arrived we saw about 10 seals in an enclosure and were taking lots of pictures. We wanted to see them a bit closer but couldn't get in the enclosure. Then as we walked further forward we realised there were not just 10 but around 10,000 seals in front of us!

It was amazing-seals for as far as you could see. They were all enjoying jumping in and out of the sea. They were beautiful to watch but the smell was awful! It really got down your throat. We learnt a lot about the seals and their mating season and when the pups are born.

After about an hour we decided we'd better get moving as the drive ahead was so long. We drove through Henties Bay and were glad we'd stayed in Swakopmund instead as it was so empty in Henties Bay. We rejoined the main road and travelled for hundreds of kilometres through the desert seeing literally nothing. At one point, we passed lots of little roadside shacks selling gems and crystals. We also stopped briefly when we saw a woman dancing at the side of the road in traditional dress. She too had a little shack and was selling some good resources. We bought traditional dress puppets for a Herera woman and a Damara woman. That was the only life we saw on the whole trip. It was a long, hard drive. In total it took around 8 hours. We drove through lots of bush land and saw some warning signs saying elephants nearby. We got so excited but didn't see a single one. We did see 2 ostriches though and got very excited about that. They are huge; as tall as the trees!

We finally arrived in Khorixas to stay in the thatched stone walled lodge around 4pm. There was no air conditioning and the temperature is around 30 degrees today so it was very hot inside. We went to sit by the pool but only dangled our legs as it was freezing cold. Right next to the pool was an enclosed area with an ostrich and springboks. There was also a peacock and guinea foul on the premises. It was so strange to be by the pool and see an ostrich walking past! We went for some food in the thatched roof open restaurant. Joyce had Kudu which tasted very similar to the beefsteak Amy and I had.  When we returned to the room we had to battle with mosquito nets. Getting them hung up when there was nothing to hang them from was a frustrating challenge. After about half an hour we eventually had them hung up and could climb inside. It's like a tent. Just as the lights were turned off and we were all going to sleep, Joyce realised we hadn't locked the door so had to climb back out of the mosquito net tent!

5th April
We got up a little later today and had breakfast in the restaurant. It was eggs and chakalaka sausage but this time the sausage was awful! Amy actually spat hers out! Then we went out to the pool and while Joyce looked for animals, Amy and I went for a swim in the freezing water! It was really cold but not so bad once you got moving. Then we went to the supermarket and it was a strange experience. We were the only white people in the whole town and everyone was staring at us. We got our basic groceries and came straight back to go in the pool as it was over 30 degrees and we were all burning! The pool was lovely and cool and we really enjoyed our swim while the sun was going down. We then went back to the hut and got ready for dinner. We had a much better meal as it was a buffet and we could have what we liked. I had some 'Chicken Gordon Blue' (Cordon bleur)!? and a little kudu along with lots of salads. It was one of the best meals so far. We had an early night after that in preparation for an early drive to Opuwo.

6th April
We were up at 6am ready to drive to Opuwo in the north. It was a long drive again but not as tough as Swakopmund to Khorixas. There was at least a little more to see on the drive. We saw a couple of groups of warthogs on the drive and lots of cows, goats and donkeys that liked to block the road!

We nearly go into trouble with the police for not stopping at a road block. The road wasn't actually blocked though and the policeman was wearing camouflage gear not a police uniform so we didn't realise. We nearly got fined $1000!

We eventually arrived in Opuwo early afternoon and met a lady who called herself 'Queen Elizabeth' and offered to take us to the Himba village. We sorted out our accommodation and met another traveller, Rick from New Zealand who wanted to go to the Himba village too. He was very knowledgeable and gave us lots of travel advice etc. We drove back to find Queen Elizabeth and drove up to the Himba village. Queen Elizabeth was eating chips and beef then opened a can of hot dogs. She just ate them uncooked from the can and then drank the brine. Then she threw the can out of the window! We had to stop at the supermarket to buy maizemeal, sugar, sweets, vaseline and bread for the tribe so they would let us in. We paid Queen Elizabeth too! We think she spent the whole payment on beer and food. We arrived at the Himba village after driving over rough terrain for about half an hour.

When we arrived we had to present them with the gifts of food so that they would let us in. We took lots of pictures of the women and children in their traditional dress. The women wear cowhides as skirts and only symbolic jewellery on top. They wear cuffs on their ankles that have vertical lines to symbolise how many children they have. The necklaces they wear are coloured to show if they are adults or girls. The girls wear white and the women wear copper. The married women wear a soft skinned head piece on top of their braided ochre covered hair. They rarely go to school because they prefer to feed from the land and live like their ancestors rather than get an education and leave the tribe. Some Himba people are slowly leaving the main tribes and living in the main town of Opuwo and are now even allowed to marry outside of the tribe. Our guide, Queen Elizabeth is a good example of this. She has 11 children and moved out of the tribe for a better life in the town. She now helps the tribe by taking tourists on guided tours to bring food and money to the community.

The Himba people have cattle so they can eat the meat and drink the milk and rely on tourists bringing maizemeal and sugar to supplement their diet. Cattle are the symbol of status and wealth. The elders of the tribe believe they lose their children if they go to school and it's expensive to go to school so most Himba children don't get an education. We saw a group of Himba women and they all got out their jewellery crafts to sell. It was easy to get sucked in. I bought one bracelet and moved out of the circle. Joyce and Amy ended up having about 10 bracelets each tied up their arms and couldn't escape! The women were all really keen to sell to us and if we weren't looking at their bracelets, they would throw them at us to get our attention!

We then went inside one of the houses made of Mopane tree saplings and cow dung. It didn't smell but was full of flies! It was empty inside except for a cow hide on the floor to sleep on. We also saw that the Himba women have their bottom four front teeth removed. This is a right of passage and is done to symbolise their love of the cow as cows don't have bottom teeth. One of the Himba girls then came in and showed us how they don't wash with water but they cover themselves in an orange 'paint'. It's made of ochre, ash and a butter product and they put it over their whole body and their hair and over their jewellery. This keeps them clean, their skin soft and protects them from the sun. The girl beckoned Joyce forward to try some and we thought she was going to get a little bit on her hand but the Himba girl covered both of Joyce's arms in bright orange mixture! It was so funny. She wanted Joyce to take her top off so she could do it all over! Then she wanted Amy and I to have a go...we both said no after seeing how covered Joyce was! It was all staining her clothes too so Amy and I played it safe. After the paint, the Himba girl lit some herbs in a bowl and used the smoke it produced as a perfume or deodorant and used it under her arms and between her legs! It looked very different to a UK beauty routine but considering they don't ever wash and it was over 30 degrees, none of them were smelly, so it must work!

When we got back to the guest house we got ready for dinner. We went up to the country hotel. It was lovely food. We had some pork, kudu and springbok. It was so delicious. Rick joined us and was telling us all about his worldly travels and how to stay safe. I wish we'd met him before we went out in Windhoek!

7th April
We were up early again today ready for the drive to Oshakati. It was another long drive but worth it to finally arrive. We settled in after a struggle to find Bahay Susan guest house. We spoke to Romeo on the way and he came to meet us at our accommodation. It was good to see a familiar face here! We went and had a drink and a chat. We walked for some food and stopped at a pizza place. We had a nice meal then came back to the room. Romeo is planning to take us to Benny's tomorrow which we are all looking forward to.

Our route around Namibia

Below is our route around Namibia lasting the whole of April:

An Introduction to the Namibia Journey

Next Friday, our Namibia Team will be starting their journey to Africa. Joyce Chick, our school nurse, Amy Smith, one of our TAs and Laura Whitehead our Training Manager will be going to Namibia in Southern Africa. Laura will be writing this blog while the team are in Namibia so that our staff and students can track their progress and see what exciting things they are experiencing and can share with our students.

The trip has come about as part of our International Schools work. Margaret made links with our partner school when she visited for 3 months and their English teacher Mr Hafeni came to visit us last year. Our Namibia team will fly into Windhoek, the capital city and will travel North up to Oshakati to work at our partner school 'Onamutai'.

When they have finished their exploration of Namibia, they will return with Mr Hafeni and another teacher from 'Onamutai' and they will work at our school during the whole of May.

This trip is a fantastic opportunity for our students to learn about other countries and cultures. As a result we will be able to deliver a multi-sensory exploration of Africa for our students when we return.

This will all form part of Africa Week and will be something really exciting for our students to look forward to.

Joyce and Laura have already delivered assemblies to Key Stage 1, 3 and 4 students and Key Stage 2 students will see the assembly next week. During the assembly students learnt about the animals and insects in Namibia and got a real multi-sensory flavour of the trip. Students got to smell the suncream we'll be taking, see through the binoculars we'll be using to spot the animals, listen to the noises some of the animals make including the buzzing mosquitos! Some students got to experience what it feels like to be inside a mosquito net. Laura then brought in Mealie Pap, one of the staple foods in Namibia. Students got to see how it looks when it starts out, feel the grains of Maizemeal and then taste the finished product of 'Mealie Pap'. A few students liked the taste, but lots didn't. They noticed how bland and boring it is in comparison to food in the UK.

This trip will bring about a whole range of multi-sensory learning that will greatly enhance our students' education. The project has been entirely funded through the Namibia Team's fundraising efforts in and out of school and not from school funds. This means that it really is an addition to the fantastic experience we can offer students at Milestone Academy and not at the expense of anything else. We hope you enjoy reading this blog and are very excited about the prospect of coming back to Milestone Academy with a wealth of new experiences, pictures, videos and resources to share with our students.