mikechart, 3 Mar 2010 09:37 hours
Otjiwarongo, Namibia Work!! 3rd March 2010
Hi,
OK, here we are in 2010, Happy New Year to everyone.
The start to the year has been quite busy both in terms of travelling and work.
On the work front, we are now trying to implement the Annual Work Plan that I helped to put together at the end of last year.
The beginning of March will be the first reporting month, so we shall see how that goes.
I have managed to speak with two of the three school inspectors (the Region is split into 3 Circuits, each with an Inspector), about implementing my proposed Inclusive Education Project. The main thrust of the Project will be to select one or two schools in each Circuit, where the Principal and Staff have been identified as being a bit more progressive, and to work with them, through training, mentoring and support, to introduce and develop Inclusive Schools.
These schools will then be used as examples where other staff can visit, the staff from the project schools can run workshop sessions etc, so that the Inclusive practises start to spread through the region.
In addition I have some management work to do at a school in Tsumkwe (some of you will remember the description of that first trip there). That will probably entail a trip of about 5 days, and will have to wait a while until the rains start to ease for travelling on the gravel roads. (I was drafted in as a relief driver last week and went almost to Tsumkwe on one day, and returned, and then last Friday I went another 100km past Tsumkwe to Gam, the furthest village where we have a school, nearly 600km away from the office) So much for not travelling the gravel roads in the rain!!
I survived the trip to Gam, although it was a long day, especially when my passengers decided they needed to pick up things and do shopping in Grootfontein on the way north – a procedure that took nearly two and a half hours – not what you need on a round trip of over 100km.
I also have some work in Osire, which is a refugee settlement for, primarily, Angolan refugees. In the 20 years of its existence it has grown to be a small town of 30,000 people, with its own school, hospital, police station, community centre. Even so, there are a few problems within the community and I shall be working with UNHCR on some educational programmes.
Three weeks ago I had a meeting with the Head of Inclusive Education at the Ministry of Education in Windhoek. That was very timely as they are still in the draft stage of the policy-writing, so hopefully some of what was discussed will go into the draft document which will be sent out to the Regions for consultation and comment.
Five weeks ago I managed a trip down to the South-West, to the diamond & oyster port of Luderitz. That was a long trip of 1100 km each way. The route is all on tarmac, but the roads here tend to go in straight lines, so from here to Keetmanshoop, almost 800km south, then turn west and cover the other 300km, in a straight line through the desert!!
I saw the wild horses at Aus on the way down to Luderitz, the first water to run down the Fish River this season (actually got a photo of the tongue of water creeping over the sand!! – what timing) and also went to the old diamond-mining town of Kolmanskop – very atmospheric, with buildings being gradually consumed by the creeping sand-dunes, and just had to sample the excellent Luderitz oysters while I was there!!
I have also recently been introduced to Geocaching, a worldwide, internet-based ‘hide-and-seek’, using GPS Coordinates.
The idea is to ‘hide’ a cache (usually a container with notebook & pencil) and then post the coordinates on the Geocaching website so that others can find it and log their find.
So far I have ‘found’ one at Kolmanskop, and one in Otjiwarongo, and hidden one in Luderitz area, one near Okahandja and two in this region, so early days yet, but I have some thoughts on hiding more caches as I have to travel for work, making it an ideal opportunity to combine both activities – hopefully adding even more interest to visitors to this amazing country.
By default I have been ‘elected’ as Regional Volunteer Rep. This mainly entails keeping local volunteers informed, asking for comments etc, and then attending National Meetings 3 times a year to discuss the items with all the Reps and VSO Namibia.
My first meeting was 3 weekends ago in Tsumeb, about 2 hours drive North from here, and I managed to combine that trip with another meeting with the Education Inspector based in nearby, Grootfontein. This is something I am learning to do here, since the distances are so huge – arrange meetings in the same, or nearby places to coincide with other activities, saving on time travelling and also on diesel costs and wear & tear on the car.
Following that I went to the Namib Desert area, to help with the medical team marshalling the Namib Desert Challenge, a 200+ km foot race through the Desert. 28 international mountain/ultra-marathoners took part over the 5-day race. That was an interesting week with temperatures in the 50s some days!!.
The VSO Regional Reps meeting went fine too, so was back in the office for a week dealing with mundane things like getting a bulb replaced on the outside of the house, getting someone to sort out a blocked drain and seeking the rest of the furniture we were promised.
The car decided it did not want to start, so a tow to the garage one morning was planned, I cannot afford to have the car not starting in the desert next week! A new battery needed – jus when I am about to sell it too!!
I have it sold and shall be handing it over in about 2 weeks, so essential it keeps working.
My own car should be on its way to Walvis Bay by now, arriving here, hopefully, in the middle of March. I am looking forward to that as my sister & brother-in-law have filled it with some essentials things that we are unable to get (or they are VERY expensive here), like mustard powder, a decent chef’s knife, some new sandals and sheets. We shall see what finally makes it through Customs!!
Best Wishes
Mike
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