"Ms. Tena, you discriminate"

If you saw my blog post Days for Girls , then you already know about the Days for Girls kits that were supplied to every single Orphan and Vulnerable Child (OVC) girl who is known to have started her cycle, and all girls club members have also received a kit.

Well right around that same time, a group known as OYO came to do a performance at my school. LET ME TELL YOU, they were a really cool group. Its a local performance company who has invested their amazing dance skills to teach via dance and music about topics such as teen pregnancies, STI's, drinking, issues pressing too many. Their performance was super cool!! Along with teaching via dance performances they offer a 2 week after school class that learners can sign up for to learn more in depth information about these issues. Basically every single learner in grades 7-9 were involved. Well in these after school classes the learners learned to word "discriminate".

 Well one day after school a couple of the boys came up to me and said "Ms.Tena, you discriminate  against us." Confident in their remark.

The first thought that came to my mind was shoot, theres still so much about the culture I'm learning, I did something to offend someone; but like a duck even will my feet going wild beneath the surface, I kept my game face on and asked what they meant. They explained that it wasn't fair that the girls get special gifts and the boys don't. I tried to explain to them the kits would never be something they would use, they were something the girls really needed but not the boys. Thats when in the typical teenage fashion they argued that boys have stuff they need that the girls don't. So I asked for an example, and nothing. I told them to think about it, and then I would see what I could do.

A couple days later they came to me and explained they need ties so that they can go to job interviews one day. As much as I wanted to argue a clothing item like a tie isn't just a "boy's need", I was more so impressed that they thought of something they may actually need one day and a valid reason for it. Not to mention this was in English, their second/third languages. So I accepted.

Well while I was back in the good old USA for my surgery I told my mom the story and she then took it upon herself to tell the story to some of her co-workers and do a tie drive. With in 48hrs till I left back to complete my service in Namibia, they collected over 30 ties! I was really hoping for 17, enough for each of my boys club members and they passed that with flying colors. It took me a couple weeks to get back into my groove in Kasote but then we finally had a very special boys club meeting where each boy was able to tell me 1 thing he learned during boys club in exchange for a tie. Of coarse they were able to start wearing then whenever they wanted. They were  so excited! I wish you all could have seen them walking into school the next day in their ties like the were the coolest thing to ever walk Kasote School ground. I must admit, they looked rather dapper.


I owe a major major thank you to my dad, my mom and her co-workers for donating the ties. The boys rock their ties most days of the week. Yeah it may be simply a tie, but it has definitely added some confidence into the boys steps.

If you are interested in OYO coming to your school in Namibia, they are awesome and you won't regret it. An easy way to contact them is via their Facebook page OYO's facebook link

What Kind of Impact can a Peace Corps Volunteer Actually Have?

What impact could a Peace Corps Volunteer really hold in the long run?

 

Prior to beginning service I was asked a couple times a very daunting question:  “Do you really think it helps these countries for you to go do stuff for them for two years and then come back?” After an initial moment of defensiveness I would usually respond with a “you should do some research on the Peace Corps and their history.”

 I must admit, no I don’t think Peace Corps would be of any benefit if we did just come to these countries “do stuff for them”, take some pictures and leave. 

            Peace Corps has established three main goals and 10 standards that come along with service. However, even with these in place, there will always be critics and that’s okay. Good actually. I’d be lying if I didn't admit there has been a couple times I’ve laid in bed questioning, am I doing this right? Am I making an impact?

          Well a couple weeks ago another volunteer and I jumped into a taxi in our shopping town. In Namibia taxis work a bit differently. Taxis pile in as many people as they can into the vehicle, and make various stops in route.  So in the typical fashion we more so stuffed ourselves in taxi. A woman asked if we were Peace Corps Volunteers and with a big smile told us about how a few years back, when she was in school they had a Peace Corps Volunteer and he taught them a really funny Christmas song with a penguin. “I still remember that song.” And as we quickly got to her stop she jumped out, excitedly waved and said bye. It was a sweet to say the least.

         The real moment that stopped me in my tracks though was in yet another taxi on my way to town.  Being that we were in the village riding into town the car only had the driver, an older woman and myself.  Greeting is very important in the culture here, so I gave the standard “Morokeni” greeting to the two in the vehicle when the older woman gave a little smirk and asked “Are you a Peace Corps Volunteer?” “Yes I am”. She explained she could tell by accent, which made us both giggle. My accent does need work. Rukwangali is hard! “At my school when I was in grade 7 in 1996 we had a Peace Corps Volunteer as our English teacher from Virginia and she always smiled.” I was impressed, 20 years later and still so many vivid memories. She continued to ask me a couple questions about myself and we shared some small chat. The car got quiet for a couple minutes when she said “I was the first girl leader in my class in grade 8” as she sat a little taller and smiled. “Really? That’s awesome!” I said sharing her excitement. “Yes, she picked me and another boy learner to be the two captains. Some of the other learners were mad and even a teacher told her both captains must be boys but she said a girl and a boy earned this year so she’s running an experiment. And then after that in grade 9, 4 classes had a boy and girl captain.” Namibia is a very young country so to have a country, not even in double digits of age embrace a concept such as gender equality is HUGE! Not only that, but also that one opportunity the volunteer gave this woman is something dear the woman has held onto ever since. She was so proud to tell me the story. Just showing up in a country and “doing stuff for them” doesn’t do something like that.

 Serving as a Peace Corps Volunteer won’t make you empower every person experiencing oppression for any which reason such as gender, sexuality, disability, age, religion etc. You probably won’t solve world hunger. Unfortunately, after you complete service there will probably still be domestic violence and diseases being spread. We can’t solve every issue in the world, but we sure can try to give at least one positive opportunity to even one person, or give any sort of positive impact at that. Whether than impact be helping a community plant gardens to feed its people, building a library, making someone the first female class captain, or teaching a fun Christmas song, our lives our made up of domino sequences. If each volunteer can go through service and impact even one person during that time in such a positive way that that person in return uplifts another as well; well then thank you to the over 226,000 volunteers who have served and are currently serving because that’s lot of people world wide who just may share their story in a taxi with another volunteer some day.