A chronicle of my year in Namibia. This is a log and reflection of my ideas, thoughts and experiences, in no way representing the views or opinions of WorldTeach.
About a week ago, I received my placement in Sitopogo, Namibia to teach grades 8-10 math – a location much different than I had anticipated. Given that Namibia is riddled with deserts and has few water sources, I never thought I’d be in a village on the banks of the OkavangoRiver, which flows through Angola, Namibia and Botswana.This placement is a very pleasant surprise.The Okavango is home to hippos, crocodiles and other wildlife, providing a propinquity of natural beauty. From nearby the SitopogoCombinedSchool, the site of my teaching and my apartment, one can see the river, which also demarcates part of the Namibia-Angola border.
A key characteristic of Sitopogo is its relative proximity to two larger towns in which I can access most basic items and the internet. A 90 minute drive east from Sitopogo sits Rundu – one of the country’s largest towns though it boasts a modest 20,000 residents. With a population of 2.1 million in an area twice the size of California, Namibia ranks the 2nd least densely populated country in the world after Mongolia. The second nearby town, Nkurenkuru, can be reached in just 20 minutes and offers some basic items, food and a bank. Other than these two humble standouts, development in this northeastern province consists mainly of farmland and periodic villages strung along the OkavangoRiver.
Before I leave for Sitopogo, I will take part in a 3-week orientation conducted by WorldTeach in Windhoek, the capital city, and Tsumeb, a small town in the north. I’ll arrive in Sitopogo around January 18th. Until then, I await my December 28th departure.
Under the auspices of the Namibian Ministry of Education and WorldTeach, I have been hired as a Math Teacher for grades 8-10 in Sitopogo, Namibia - a small village sitting on the banks of the Okavango River and pressed against the Angolan border.
Map of Teaching Location
What is WorldTeach?
As described by volunteersforprosperity.gov: "Based at the Center for International Development at Harvard University, WorldTeach offers the benefits of a well-established volunteer organization, while also providing more comprehensive, personalized support and training as a small NGO. It is a non-profit, non-governmental organization that provides opportunities for individuals to make a meaningful contribution to international education by living and working as volunteer teachers in developing countries. In each of its programs, volunteers are placed in schools and host communities in developing countries that specifically request WorldTeach volunteers and would otherwise be unable to afford or locate qualified teachers."
