As of Thursday I will officially swear-in as a Peace Corps
Volunteer. We’ll return to Kukuri Center where we first started our two-month
training for a three-hour swearing in ceremony that will feature speeches in
target languages, cultural dances, and speeches from our Country Director and
the US Ambassador. We’ve spent the past two months in bubble – now they’re
popping it. As we take our oath, swearing allegiance to both the United States
and the people of Namibia, we solidify our commitment as Volunteers. For me, in
some ways, this is a dream realized. The privilege of serving my country in this
way has become increasingly clear to me over the past two months. I am proud to
be representing America and proud that America has chosen me as one of it’s
representatives.
Photos from Swearing-In
From left to right: Dan, Me, Oskar, Zach, Bryan
From left to right: Kaitlin, Me, Oskar, Janet, Zach, Bryan
From left to right: No shot
Saying goodbye to Okahandja will have its difficulties,
though. The PC trainers here have become some really close friends. They are
extremely hard working people who have sacrificed a lot of their lives to come
teach a group of Americans about their country. Imagine taking a 3-month
position with the objective of teaching a swarm of foreigners the details of
American culture without making sweeping generalizations and avoiding using the
phrase it depends. Sound like a
challenge? Add in the difficulty of being away from your family and friends
because you are living in a homestay that is likely many hours away from your
hometown. Without the hard work and genuine passion of these trainers, we’d be
shipwrecked volunteers floating on a raft of assumptions in a storm of cultural
confusion. Sharing and exchanging has made for some unique friendships with the
training staff. I hope to stay in touch with many of them. But, as many of them
continuously remind me, I’ll likely see many of them as they visit me in Swakopmund.
Parting from my host-family will be tough too. I’ve been
lucky to have the textbook experience. I can honestly say that I am leaving
them with no complaints and gratitude that seems impossible to repay. In the
past few weeks we’ve all let our guards down a bit. I’m able to act like a
fool, discuss my frustrations, make jokes, or just relax. And I see them doing
this more too. We have become less “host-family” or “trainee”, and more human.
I can see their personalities shine through. And it’s refreshing. This last
week especially, my brother Johnson has had me in tears. He just clowns around
with Ouma and the two of them go at it. They can be themselves. They can be
family. The other night, Ouma was giving Johnson a hard time because he was
monopolizing the TV remote, as he tends to do, to watch WWE. After yelling at
him for a bit saying that the news takes priority, she was silent. Fifteen
minutes into the fight, one of the fighters was dramatically knocked to the
ground. Rolling my eyes, (but not removing them from the screen) I hear Ouma
yell, “STAAN OP! STAAN OP!”. She had picked a favorite. And he was leaving. And
I was dying of laughter. What a sight. She noticed me laughing, looked at me,
and began to laugh too. I was in stiches, man. Early on, I felt there could
have been a filter. But the more they call me family and the more they act like
it, the harder it is to deny. This is my new family. I feel it. I really do.
But I don’t think that ends with my departure. I know
they’ll visit me and that I’ll be back to see them. I’ll take with me from
Okahandja a new family, a belly full of PB&J, a killer t-shirt tan, and a
head full of theoretical development, technical, and language lessons. Off to
Swakop, where I’ll start work for the Chamber of Commerce and Industry. My job
will consist of working with the Chamber and my counterpart to connect business
resources in the community. Through trainings, consultations, and creativity,
I’ll look to assess the business climate and the needs of my community. If it
sounds theoretical, that’s because at this point it has to be. If I knew exactly
what I had to do in my community before I got there, I’d be doing it wrong. But
what I do know is that for me to be effective in my community, I need to first
understand it.
The next step of service is what Peace Corps calls Phase 2. This will last until my group has our re-connect in 2 months. At the
beginning of December we will meet up to review our first months at site. So
until then, I’ll be tasked with a technical book report – read, analyze, and
summarize my community by communicating with every relevant subset of people.
I’ll also look to continue practicing my Afrikaans. It’s a language I’ve really
grown to love. It’s creative and exciting.
Some might suggest that true service begins Thursday. As I
hop on my transport to my new community and say goodbye to the Peace Corps as I
know it, I’ll start my new life. I’ll say goodbye to my new friends and hello
to my new friends. Thursday will be the end and the start. It will also be the
start and the end. A clear divide exists. Manufactured or not, there is an
official oath taken, and a new title assigned. I welcome this transition, as it
does not much feel like one. Just another step. Isn’t that how steps work
though? When your hands are full and your sight is blocked and a staircase
approaches, you only need to find the first. Then your body knows. It trusts
that gravity, physics, and geometry are all working in your favor. And unless
the stairs are unevenly built, you find your way down those stairs without a
hiccup. Lets hope my stair builder was a gifted one. I trust the next step is
there, but have no idea where its bringing me.
