Saturday 25 October 2008
Rehoboth High School (RHS)
I have settled in to school well - the learners at the moment are suffering from lack of consistent lessons. To explain: we are coming to the end of the academic year here - with it being southern hemisphere the summer is in December/January - and the Grade 10's and Grade12's (our Y11 & 13) are doing their external exams. This means that teachers have to supervise the exams and in addition some teachers are called away to Windhoek to mark the papers, thus leaving some classes without teachers. Whilst their behaviour is amazingly good, they do end up getting more and more boisterous as the day goes on and they have more and more lessons with little or no supervision. 
The computers are now in good shape - the virus protection is at last updating each day and currently I think we are virus free. In my computer room I have 20 student computers connected to a main server..JPG)
The learners had a nasty shock this week as they weren't aware that I could see all of their screens on my screen - it makes it easy to spot who is playing games and take appropriate action! I'm Mr Bad Guy at the moment as I have also removed their access to the Internet - they are now only allowed on if it is appropriate for them to do so! There was an announcement this morning that 20 staff (out of 30) needed to be trained to Level 1 of the International Computer Driving License (ICDL) by April next year - I think I know what I might be asked to do next!
The one area that I struggle with most is the timing of the school day - you have to go by the bell not by your watch and this makes any attempt at doing a plenary a hit and mostly miss affair. Assembly day (Weds) is the worst as we sometimes have two lessons rather than three before the first break, then sometimes we squeeze in the remaining lessons or we miss out one of the lessons - the question is which one?
Everyone is much more physical here, and I'm going to have a shock when I come back to the hands off culture in the UK. This week I had two girls touch my arms - they are fascinated by the difference between their smooth skin and my hairy skin! When I asked them whether they would be uncomfortable if I was to pat their heads they both said not at all, and they were quite shocked when I said that it had made me feel uncomfortable. They are physical with each other too - often arriving to the lesson with cuts and bruises from fights. How should I put it? The sanctions are physical too, I have told all of my classes that I will not being using corporal punishment (- I just use my tongue instead!) and in return for my respect I expect them to show me respect! I discovered recently that when you send a learner out of your class you risk not seeing them again as they disappear off to the toilets so that they won't get punished by other teachers - it makes sending them out to speak to them quietly a bit difficult - they are not used to the idea that they might be let back in to the class after they have been spoken to. I guess in time they will get used to my way of doing things.
At the end of the school day the learners "pray"/chant "Now that school is over, Father hear our prayers, Take us safely homewards, In thy loving care, Amen" Normally at this point they would then stampede for the door, however they are now beginning to get used to my routine of me dismissing them a row at a time. I noticed the other day that another teacher who had seen my routines do the same thing - what have I done?!
The computers are now in good shape - the virus protection is at last updating each day and currently I think we are virus free. In my computer room I have 20 student computers connected to a main server.
The learners had a nasty shock this week as they weren't aware that I could see all of their screens on my screen - it makes it easy to spot who is playing games and take appropriate action! I'm Mr Bad Guy at the moment as I have also removed their access to the Internet - they are now only allowed on if it is appropriate for them to do so! There was an announcement this morning that 20 staff (out of 30) needed to be trained to Level 1 of the International Computer Driving License (ICDL) by April next year - I think I know what I might be asked to do next!The one area that I struggle with most is the timing of the school day - you have to go by the bell not by your watch and this makes any attempt at doing a plenary a hit and mostly miss affair. Assembly day (Weds) is the worst as we sometimes have two lessons rather than three before the first break, then sometimes we squeeze in the remaining lessons or we miss out one of the lessons - the question is which one?
Everyone is much more physical here, and I'm going to have a shock when I come back to the hands off culture in the UK. This week I had two girls touch my arms - they are fascinated by the difference between their smooth skin and my hairy skin! When I asked them whether they would be uncomfortable if I was to pat their heads they both said not at all, and they were quite shocked when I said that it had made me feel uncomfortable. They are physical with each other too - often arriving to the lesson with cuts and bruises from fights. How should I put it? The sanctions are physical too, I have told all of my classes that I will not being using corporal punishment (- I just use my tongue instead!) and in return for my respect I expect them to show me respect! I discovered recently that when you send a learner out of your class you risk not seeing them again as they disappear off to the toilets so that they won't get punished by other teachers - it makes sending them out to speak to them quietly a bit difficult - they are not used to the idea that they might be let back in to the class after they have been spoken to. I guess in time they will get used to my way of doing things.
At the end of the school day the learners "pray"/chant "Now that school is over, Father hear our prayers, Take us safely homewards, In thy loving care, Amen" Normally at this point they would then stampede for the door, however they are now beginning to get used to my routine of me dismissing them a row at a time. I noticed the other day that another teacher who had seen my routines do the same thing - what have I done?!
Oanob Dam
Last Saturday we decided to make the most of the weekend together and went up to a reservoir just 7km away from Rehoboth. The area has been turned in to a resort and as well as swimming in the lake and a pool, we also saw some giraffe and zebra just after we arrived. It was a lovely day and the girls loved the swimming pool and slide. 
And then there were three...
It seems ages since I last updated the blog and a lot has happened. The big news is that on Tuesday this week, Ruth went back to the UK to visit Katie and to look after her for a while. So there are just the three Rowells in Rehoboth currently. Thankfully the team here is being very supportive, yesterday both Jaydon & Courtney went straight from school to Kristen & Mackenzie's 
home and right now Courtney is there again whilst Jaydon has gone to her teacher's home. Jaydon's teacher's daughter was 21 this week and so Jaydon is helping to celebrate! The teacher's daughter also has special needs and goes in to Jaydon's class most days, and has now got to know Jaydon well.
My school have also been very supportive and I just go straight there after dropping the kids off at their school. We have now got a lady, Katrina, who comes in twice a week to do our washing, ironing and cleaning - the only problem is that she doesn't speak any English!
We don't know how long Ruth will stay in England for, so we are just living a day at the time and trying to leave the future in our heavenly father's hands.
home and right now Courtney is there again whilst Jaydon has gone to her teacher's home. Jaydon's teacher's daughter was 21 this week and so Jaydon is helping to celebrate! The teacher's daughter also has special needs and goes in to Jaydon's class most days, and has now got to know Jaydon well.My school have also been very supportive and I just go straight there after dropping the kids off at their school. We have now got a lady, Katrina, who comes in twice a week to do our washing, ironing and cleaning - the only problem is that she doesn't speak any English!
We don't know how long Ruth will stay in England for, so we are just living a day at the time and trying to leave the future in our heavenly father's hands.
Sunday 5 October 2008
Farm school fun day...
On Saturday we went to the farm school where Catherine, another AIMer from the UK, is teaching. It was a 45 minute drive and most of that was on sand/gravel roads. It was just like you sometimes you see on TV - the car speeding down this dirt track leaving a huge cloud of dust behind! The rural part of Namibia is much more like the Africa you imagine with small ramshackle buildings often made out of corrugated iron. The school has about 70 children and is literally in the middle of nowhere serving a number of local children and about 20 that live in a hostel next to the school. The views from the classrooms were spectacular. The school was holding a fun day to try to raise money complete with bouncy castle and horse rides: and of course the mandatory braai!
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We climbed up to see it and to get inspiring views of the countryside. 
Ruth said it reminded her of the verse about the shadow of a great rock in a weary land as we looked down on the dry river bed which will apparently run with water once the rains come. 
We went from there to another rock where the local children had a natural slide - made from a very smooth and steep rock. The school secretary, who was quite a character, gave us a demonstration by sitting on a piece of plastic and sliding down - much to our consternation! From there we called in on a girl who had given birth just a few days earlier. During the week she had been taken, whilst in labour, to Rehoboth with Catherine and the other teachers, at the end of the school day!
Around 2pm we were taken to see the school emblem a tree that grows out of a rock.
We climbed up to see it and to get inspiring views of the countryside.Ruth said it reminded her of the verse about the shadow of a great rock in a weary land as we looked down on the dry river bed which will apparently run with water once the rains come.We went from there to another rock where the local children had a natural slide - made from a very smooth and steep rock. The school secretary, who was quite a character, gave us a demonstration by sitting on a piece of plastic and sliding down - much to our consternation! From there we called in on a girl who had given birth just a few days earlier. During the week she had been taken, whilst in labour, to Rehoboth with Catherine and the other teachers, at the end of the school day!Soon be summer!
Another week has flown by and amazingly we have had cloudy skys for the last two days. There is talk of the rains arriving early this year - I don't know whether or not that is just wishful thinking. It is amazing to think that we haven't had any rain since we arrived as we hear of the weather back in the UK. We seem to have got acclimatised to the heat as I now regularly wear a coat until after the third lesson in the morning and shiver when it drops to just over 20C in the evening. The heat is very dry so a lot less tiring than when it is humid. Everything dries quickly - [WARNING schoolboy joke follows] including ones nose; as it said in a cartoon in The Namibian (newspaper) last week:
Q: "Why do gorillas have big noses?"
Q: "Why do gorillas have big noses?"
A: "Because they have big fingers!"
This week we had the leavers assembly for the Grade 12's (and to a lesser extent the Grade 10's) - it lasted two hours again, but this time we missed out the last two periods of the day. There was a combination of singing, dance, speeches and presents for the Grade 12 teachers. On Friday the principal's voice came over the tannoy and announced that there was a surprise in the staffroom for all staff at first break (9:05am). When I arrived there was "breakfast" which consisted of rice, lamb curry and grated carrot (they do this a lot here - it is mixed with pineapple, I think, as it is really sweet) it was very tasty just a bit early in the day! The meal had been provided by the head boy and girl and a couple of others in appreciation of their teachers! I've had a few Grade 10 learners this week ask for extra maths lessons - what a difference to the attitude of so many pupils in the UK. Grade 10 is a huge thing here in Namibia - if you fail to get a certain number of passes you aren't able to continue education and are very unlikely to get a job.
Lebenschule
Last Thursday we were invited to a Braai at Lebenschule - we took a salad which surprisingly all went - they say that if you are a vegetarian when you arrive in Rehoboth you won't be for long and for the meat eating locals chicken and fish are regarded as vegetables. 
Lebenschule continues to be quite a challenge for Ruth - since Wednesday last week the number of children coming has risen from seven to 20+. 
Many of them would really benefit from one on one but there is neither space nor staff for that. Most of the children arrive in a combi (minbus) anytime between 8:15 and 9:15 and then the driver goes back for a second load, taking at least one member of staff(!) with him. There isn't really any routine although generally they eat when they first arrive, if the porridge is ready. On a good day the first lot get fed, cleaned up, and settled with an activity before the second lot arrive. 
After second breakfast the rough idea is that those that are wheelchair bound (not that they have wheelchairs they just get carried!) and those who are the most handicapped/disabled go in to the outside shelter and the others stay inside and do some sort of planned activity.
A little physio takes place outside and the more difficult children are contained and encouraged to play in the sand. If Ruth has any energy left after that then they try to do some action songs etc. Language is a real problem, quite a few of the kids can't talk, so just make noises, those that can, only speak their mother tongue, so either Afrikaans or Nama. Kathy has a fair amount of English, the 2 usual volunteers have a few words between them and Steph (a girl from Canada, AIM) and Ruth have about 6 words of Afrikaans each!!! 
They have to rely on tone of voice a lot but they're not sure the kids who are severly autistic or brain damaged even notice. Most days it is not quite as negative as this sounds, but there are huge challenges and inevitably lack of money is one of the big ones. Lebenschule does not receive any official funding and so the staff are all volunteers and resources are meagre.
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