We send double greetings from Namibia!
We, Emilie and Johanna, cordially invite you to take a short mental journey to Namibia and into our everyday lives at steps for children in Okakarara to make.
Johanna
Emilie
But first, of course, let's introduce ourselves: Me, Emilie, I am 18 years old and have been in the project since the end of March. Unfortunately, my time will come to an end in June.
And I, Johanna, am 20 years old and will be in Okakarara for a total of 6 months from April to September.
Together with Pauline, who is in Namibia for a whole year, we live in the volunteer house, which is only 50 metres away from the project (pictured here on the right, next to the steps guest house). As a flat share, we work together, cook, play board games and do sports. In the evenings we often sit together, tell each other about our experiences in the project and plan the next day.
And we'll take you with us for a day:
Our alarm clocks ring one after the other at around 7am. As winter has now set in, the sun only rises at this time. „Winter“ sounds dramatic, but all it means here is that it's pretty chilly in the mornings and evenings, but still gets up to 30°C during the day.
We set off for the project shortly before 8am. From then on, there are various tasks that we have organised into a rotating system. When we arrive at the farm in the morning, we are immediately surrounded, greeted and hugged from many sides. What was surprising at the beginning of our time is now part of everyday life and the children's affectionate greetings have become indispensable.
One of us then helps Pauline with sports. Depending on the day of the week, it's the turn of a different one of the five groups from the project. The sports theme changes every week, so there's everything from obstacle courses and skipping rope to somersaults.
Meanwhile, the other visits one of the five „morning circle“. There they read, sing, dance or paint.
Breakfast is served for the children between 9 and 10 am.
We often spend part of this time in the project's „art shed“. There we prepare everything to make art with one group a day from 10am. We paint, dab, cut and glue, but also laugh, learn to name the colours in English and concentrate. The best thing for us at the end of a project is to see the children beaming with pride at their work.
At the same time, the „Mousebook“ programme runs in the pre-school groups. Pauline or one of us supports the teachers there in teaching colours, numbers, logical thinking, the beginnings of writing and the like. Quite similar to the pre-school tasks we remember from our own kindergarten days.
Until the lunch break, we either play with the children in the yard or take care of organisational tasks that have arisen. This also includes tasks relating to the sewing room or the guest house here in the project, for example.
In the afternoon, we spend our time with the older children who are supported by steps and come to the project after school for after-school care. In contrast to the kindergarten children, who mainly speak Otjiherero, we can already converse properly in English with the school children.
I, Johanna, currently work mainly with the 3rd and 4th graders, while I, Emilie, work with the 6th and 7th graders at the same time. However, the principle is the same in all grades. We help with homework, exam preparation and explain anything that wasn't understood in class. The children particularly enjoy playing together at the end of the day, which can be longer or shorter depending on the amount of homework. In some cases, we combine play with learning content, but in other cases it's just a matter of playing: Whether it's football, board games or puzzles, we have just as much fun as the children!
Between 4 and 5 p.m., the children make their way home and for us, a day in our new everyday life comes to an end.
Even though our experiences here in Okakarara are predominantly positive, we also come into contact with poverty, grievances and situations that are unfamiliar to us and initially very depressing.
Of course, we realise that we can't help everyone - no single person can do that. So it's all the nicer to go to work every morning on a project that starts at a point that is really crucial: education.
We hope you enjoyed our little journey through everyday project life. We can definitely say that we have already gained a lot of new experiences and are looking forward to our time here in Okakarara!
Dear Emilie, dear Johanna, thank you very much for your commitment to steps in Okakarara! You are an energetic team that, together with educators and other volunteers, empowers children for the future through education.
Thank you for your commitment!
Would you like to find out more about how you can get involved with steps in Namibia? We have put together a few options for you here:
