Of Firing and Hiring, Soccer Madness, and Erupting Volcanoes

It’s been a quiet week at the office to say the least. Last Tuesday at our weekly DCCC meeting we found out that our Global Fund funding has still not been renewed and so at the end of the month all three TCE2 programs in the country will be closing down. We went on to discuss our ‘exist strategy’ in order to ‘professionally close down the areas’ but the reality was that while for Brian and I the most impact this news will have on our lives will be some uncertainty with regards to where we will work come July, our new friends sitting across the table from us had just lost their jobs. One about to get married in August, one with a baby a little over a year, and one with two kids in boarding school in Oshakati. On Friday, at our bi-monthly Troop Meeting we relayed the news to the 58 Field Officers working in the Omusati Region. I went over their ‘exit strategy’ responsibilities to shut down their fields and kept saying the phrase ‘if and when our funding gets reinstated’ – because the fact is our funding can come in two months, six months, or never. Although they knew this was a possibility I think many of them were surprised. Suffice to say that in our office (as I am sure in the Field Officers Fields) little work got done last week or this. Brian and I have spent the time alternatively bored and helping our new friends as much as we can to start the job hunting process. We are helping them get their CV’s up to scratch and giving them crash courses in computers – Word, Powerpoint, Excel – so that they can include these programs in their credentials.

Aside from this rather sobering news life goes on. World Cup fever has hit southern Africa like a storm. The primary school next door to our office held what might pass for a pep rally last week. Decked out in jerseys and horns, the students went soccer mad. Three children, each wearing a different jersey representing a different country, paraded up on stage in front of the school. The students alternatively cheered or booed for the different nations, South Africa inevitably winning the contest. Solemnly, the three representatives then left the stage, shaking hands with the principal and teachers as if they were indeed six figure athletes. The students then broke out into the now familiar World Cup anthem -

“Ohhhh ohhhh ohhhh ohhhh….”.

They knew the words by heart. It was priceless.

For our part, in true World Cup spirit we went to watch the USA match last Friday at the house of one of the American Peace Corp volunteers. The soccer was fine but the food and sangria were delicious! During the week Brian has been watching the matches in the yellow shebeen across the road. Onambelela, the village across the road does not have electricity, but the yellow shebeen has both a generator turned on at night and a flat screen TV. Brian says the place is packed AND that no one buys a thing all night. Can you imagine?!

We officially opened our afterschool youth club on Monday and surprise, surprise were inundated with 58 students registering for the club. I am both optimistic about the opportunities this club can offer for both Brian and I and the students and dreading the chaos which I know, from experience, embody the afterschool program. For now Mondays will be for homework and lessons and Wednesday will be Fun Days and I am hoping that Caroline, one of the Peace Corp volunteers will help out. In about a month’s time we will hopefully start to do a little teaching tempered by fun activities; Brian and I went into Oshakati today, did a little research online, and bought some supplies which included glitter, markers, Jenga, a plastic cricket bat and lots of baking soda and vinegar. Can anyone say volcanoes?!

In puppy news the eight puppies still cannot open their eyes but are moving more and more, sometimes bumping into the wall of their cozy little straw cave in search of their mother. I can go see them now when I want, and the mother lets me sit and watch while they feed, most likely because I am in turn feeding her. Still not sure if I can have one, especially because all of the people who said they would take care of my dog when I leave now no longer work here…..