Elaine Harrison, Namibia
27 May 2010
Read Elaine Harrison's story who is currently a primary school
teacher volunteering in Namibia; Katima Mulilo under the AVI-VSO
partnership program
Elaine Harrison - Primary School Teacher - Namibia
My name is Elaine Harrison and I am a primary school teacher
currently volunteering in Namibia; Katima Mulilo under the AVI-VSO
partnership program. In Namibia I work with two Advisory Teachers
working Lower Primary (grades 1-4) and The English Advisory Teacher
who is responsible for English grades 5-12. I was 48 when I
arrived in Namibia in March 2008, and my contract expires in March
2010.
Being a woman does have its problems, in an African country, as
women's rights are not fully recognised. However my age is a
benefit, as I do get respect, from younger people, and my
colleagues in the same age group. This enables me to be effective
in my work with the local people, as they respect my years of
experience in a professional capacity.
Adapting to Life in Country
When I first arrived in the Capital of Namibia (Windhoek) I was
very disappointed, as I thought of it as just another European
city. I had previously been to Uganda and thought of that country,
as the real Africa. I was soon to discover after a 15 hour bus
ride, that I was finally in a place which looked more like what I
had expected. Katima Mulilo is 1000 kms from the capital crossing
the Caprivi strip (500km drive) only a narrow piece of land 30 kms
wide. The town of Katima Mulilo is a border town to, Zambia,
Botswana and Zimbabwe. In the Caprivi Region there are 5 areas
known as; Bukalo, Chinchimane, Sibbinda, Ngoma and Katima. My
colleagues all come from one of these areas, which have many other
villages within them and different language groups.
On arriving in Katima Mulilo I was met by other VSO volunteers
(mainly from the UK) who were very helpful with my settling
in. I was a bit concerned about meeting my colleagues as they are
Namibian people, who have been under the apartied regime. I
kind of expected some form of racism or animosity from them. On
meeting the advisory team I was so surprised they were very
welcoming, warm and friendly. They were curious about me coming
from Australia and wanting to know about my personal affairs, ie
was I married, kids etc. In the first few weeks I did a lot of
sitting around listening and chatting, which didn't feel like work,
and in my mind I thought, when is it going to start. Little did I
know how important this time was, building rapport with the
advisory team members and getting to know them as individuals.
Visiting Schools
In the whole Caprivi Region there are 96 schools, some are very
isolated with no power or electricity and the teachers live in
traditional huts within the village. In the rainy season some of
these schools are totally isolated and cut off, schools literally
move to higher ground. The advisory team target schools by seasons
which are accessible, still some schools in the dry season need a
four wheel drive, due to the thick sand we need to plough through.
On one of our drives (approx 3 hours away) to visit three remote
schools, we saw Zebras and elephants; that was a highlight for me.
When my colleagues and I visit these remote schools we go as a
team, as transport is difficult to secure and we camp for a week
ensuring we go to as many schools as possible, usually three.
Katima Mulilo Workshops
The other activities I do in my role as an Advisory Teacher is
run workshops with my Namibian colleagues in Katima Mulilo. The
teachers are invited to attend for a period of time from a
particular grade ie Lower Primary 1-4 or by subject ie English
5-7. The themes of these workshops, I've been involved in,
are how to teach in a multi-grade class; Teaching Handwriting
Reading and Spelling Skills (THRASS), in the Namibian context and
materials development for lower primary.
National Workshops/ Conferences, for Professional
Development
In the first few months of my placement I was attending
workshops for Advisory Teachers in the lower primary grades 1-4,
which were always out of Katima Mulilo. This involved drives of up
to 12 hours in duration. I got to see a lot of Namibia in the north
of the country, and many diverse cultural groups. Advisory Teachers
from all over the country shared their regional problems and
challenges they faced in bringing the schools up to a national
standard.
I contributed to designing a test for the grade 4 learners, to
be administered by Advisory Teachers in 20 schools in each region.
This was broken down into 3 subject areas; English, Mathematics and
the Environment. The trial was in its last year and has been
conducted over a 3 year period.
The idea behind most of the workshops, were to either put a
program into the Namibian context ie THRASS program from the UK or
learn how to teach the teachers with specific topics ie how to
teach in a multi-grade class. Being from Australia and having
experience with multi-grade classes, I was asked to contribute to
the workshop. I felt pleased I was able to demonstrate how
Australian teachers in remote areas need the skills to teach many
grades in one class.
by Elaine Harrison