It's the end of June and I am finally starting to feel settled in my flat... Still have tons of unpacking to do but I've been so busy! I'm just taking it one day at a time. These days I wake up, have a big bowl of weet-bix with sugar, milk and banana, a little yogurt with raisins and a cup of coffee (for now, instant will have to do). Do a little reading (right now I'm trying to finish On the Road by Jack Kerouac) and get ready to start my day. I hop on my bike and take a ride to the Location to the church where the Catholic AIDS Action office is. Here's where the routine switches up a bit. Some days I help with the soup kitchen, other days I go on visits to other sites in Omaheke (Gobabis is the regional capital and so our office oversees all of the other CAA offices in Omaheke), other days I sit in in on trainings for our local volunteers. Then there are always other things to keep me busy like studying Afrikaans, helping with community events like National Immunization Days, or my latest mini-secondary project, working with the Epako Junior Secondary School Choir! (*again, apologies if some of these things don't make sense or seem like non sequitors! I am going to fill in between this blog entry and the previous ones)
This week was great. I got to help with the soup kitchen on Tuesday which is always fun and rewarding. We fed over 40 OVCs a good meal that day! OVC stands for Orphans and Vulnerable Children, and we have registered a lot of them. In many cases, our OVCs have lost at least one parent to AIDS. You also find that sometimes a child of 10 years old or younger will be head of household and have younger siblings to watch over, because both parents are gone. Community involvement and support is a big goal of CAA... Many of our volunteers provide help and guidance and even stand in as parents for these OVCs. Working the soup kitchen here in Gobabis definitely makes me grateful for everything I've had in my childhood and youth... I always knew I was lucky because so many people in the world had much, much less, but now I have experienced first hand just how much less some have, and what that difference looks like in real life. It makes me see all of the things I never really needed.
After the soup kitchen on Tuesday I walked next door to the school where the choir was rehearsing. Now this has truly been a joy! I was told last week by Martin that Freida (the choir conductor) was desperately searching for someone who could put a set of given lyrics to music. They had made it to Nationals and this was one of their tasks for the competition. I spoke with her and she asked me to arrange something that was fun and that the kids could dance to. It was the most fun I've had doing homework in a long time! I started teaching it to them this week and it's been such a pleasure. The kids are awesome... They're ages 14 to 18 and they are so funny and so cute! And they have the most lovely voices. Freida is great, too... She is an excellent conductor and actually won the award for Best Conductor at the Regional competition last week (which I attended... It was awesome!). I can't believe she asked me to help them out! It's been an honor and so much fun. They compete next Friday and I can't wait to hear how they do!
Anyhoo, I hope all is well back home!! I hear it's been warming up quite nicely. Happy beginning of summer my American friends and family! I'm smack in the middle of Namibian winter here (and in Gobabis, that means f***ing cold. As in the pipes freeze over night cold).
Love you all and talk to you soon! Xoxoxo
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Location:Gobabis, Namibia
