Certificates

1. Mbambo Emilly, my neighbor. She lives in a house with Mr. Hamusira and his family only few steps away from mine. She's the kid who spends the most time around me because she comes to fetch water from my house several times a day. She also has the highest overall grade (62%) out of 68 kids in grade 9.
2. Haingura Thadeus was the first kid from grade 8B (by far my wildest class) to participate and answer questions correctly in that class. Throughout the year, in fact, even though he sits in and is a key component of the worst behaved group, he's stepped up and set the class straight by explaining the correct answers to my questions.
3. Kambaraha Sabine, who got the highest mark (72% for the year) out of 83 grade 8 kids. She would do this thing when I asked a question where she'd stall and see if anyone raised their hand. If not, she'd raise hers and give, with oozing confidence, the correct answer.
4. Matthew Paulus was one of my favorites from the start. He was one of a handful who talked to me right off the bat and, on a questionnaire I had them complete the first week of class, he was the only one to choose basketball as his favorite sport. Both of these things - him talking to me and liking basketball - are because he's from Rundu, a "town kid". Town kids are known for excellent English because they're forced to actually speak it at school and have access to more sports and activities. The trump card was this: he had come to Sitopogo, 120km from Rundu, to live with and help support his grandmother.
5. Katewa Kalina has always been the most photogenic, or at least the most smiley during pictures. These kids, they love to smile but get a camera in front of them and it looks like they've just witnessed a massacre. She received the participation award for being adorable and helpful all the time. She's the cousin of a few teachers so she's especially good, for example, when kids are rambunctious. She shushes them.


Today I handed out certificates to four kids in each class. It was just a small gesture of appreciation, basically, to those who participated and excelled the most during the year. As is always the case with recognition, it was impossible to recognize everyone I wanted, but at least I could target a few. I began in each class by thanking them for making my time in Namibia so enjoyable. Grade 8A and 8B clapped and cheered, as they're wont to do; grade 9 sat stoically and said thank you in unison ('your welcome' doesn't exist here...only a thank you for a thank you).

The first two certificates (one boy and one girl) recognized learners with the highest overall grade in mathematics. For the second set, I thought of a way to give my two favorite learners in each class an award, so I called it the "Certificate for Excellent Participation". By in large those who received these certificates did indeed participate more than most. It reads:

Certifying that ______ demonstrated an eager desire to learn mathematics. She/he did this by answering and asking questions consistently throughout 2010. Her/his effort made the classroom more lively and engaging for all learners


With the certificates - yellow for highest mark, pink for participation - I included a ruler, a pen and some candy. Small items in high demand at school.

In this country, because there is only one university (the University of Namibia - UNAM) and one set of colleges (NamCol), instead of degrees people accrue certificates to commemorate achievements or training they've completed . For example, when I said I played saxophone throughout high school, they asked me what certificate for music I obtained. My goal is to let some of these kids start their certificate collections.