Omusati

I think its fair to say that I have been through a lot, emotion-wise, in the last twoish years. Sad as it is to say, the emotional rollercoaster ride that is losing ones parents I am used to, if that is at all possible. That being said, the ups and downs of these past four months have opened up a whole new world of coasters.

The past four months - working with 11 people from different cultural, social and economic backgrounds – is the real world equivalent of, well, The Real World (flashback to ‘90’s MTV). Except with the added frustration of working in the inefficient world of nonprofits. Without the really cool house.

Tears of anger and frustration at those around me and the mind-numbing inefficiencies that face me at every turn ….. Defeat. Depression. Apathy ….. Flying high with achievement and purpose.

And that is just one day.

I look forward to looking back - maybe once I leave the mountain and begin my adventure in Namibia, maybe not until much later – and realizing how much this rollercoaster has taught me, how much I have grown. But today I am just acknowledging the ride that I am on, holding on tight, facing forward, and celebrating the temporary high that I am on.

Because Brian and I have finally received our placement – and we have good news! Yesterday I was planning on writing a post about how our plans in Namibia had changed. Since deciding to come to IICD, Brian and I had been planning on working with one specific program, TCE, in Africa. In fact, we chose IICD because of the program – I believe that it stands the greatest chance of fighting the spread of HIV & AIDS. Check out http://humana.org/TCE/Article.asp?TxtID=229&SubMenuItemID=206&MenuItemID=51 if you are interested.

Anyway, after being told that we would be working somewhere in Namibia, the two of us began preparing as best we could for our work with TCE by learning about AIDS, prevention, harm reduction, etc. Then a week or two ago we were told that it might not be possible for Brian and I to both live together and work with TCE. It was suggested that in order for us to live together one of us could work with TCE while the other work with Child Aid, a good program but not as structured, not as well funded, and not what we had been preparing for. It was not a good day.

Well, we have been getting used to the idea and Brian had accepted that he would have to start training for Child Aid. But yesterday I received some very good news. Not only can both Brian and I work with TCE, the project we are both passionate about, we have official placements! This means we can start really preparing for our trip and our work.

As of now all I know is that our project leader’s name is Joseph and that we will be living in Omusati. I haven’t been able to find a lot about the region but I do know that it is very rural, it borders a desert, has rainy seasons (I think?), and the region used to be part of Owamboland, which was heavily affected by both colonialism and the struggle for independence led by SWAPO.

I’m going to Namibia!

[ Cross your fingers that these plans don’t change ;-) ]