Six Month Update

My Dear Family and Friends!

Hello again from Windhoek! As usual, it has been SIX
MONTHS since I last updated this Blog, so time for the
latest and greatest news!

The beginning of February marked my ONE YEAR
anniversary in Namibia! Where has the time gone? It
has been a fantastic year, filled with much joy and
great rewards from working with the children. I am
also renewed and encouraged by all of you!! Your
OVERWHELMING generosity and constant support make
every day like CHRISTMAS for me, the daily emails and
constant flow of packages arriving filled with
children's books, school supplies, educational games
and soccer uniforms! To thank you all personally
would take forever (which is why my DARLING Dad has
generously offered to assist me in that department),
but I ASSURE you that you have made a HUGE difference
in the lives of HUNDREDS of children! If you have any
doubts, PLEASE hop on a plane and come over. The
smiles and the hugs you receive from these kids will
more than reassure you!!

So, let me step back a bit. I was in the USA for the
months of September and October. It was wonderful to
see my family and friends, and to meet new folks in
the many churches, rotary clubs and schools where I
was invited to speak about Namibia. Children and
adults enthusiastically collected picture books to
donate to the kids here, and soccer clubs began to
collect their used cleats and uniforms. Word spread,
and before I knew it my parent's basement was FILLED
with donations from California to New York and
everywhere in between! I am slowly trying to get
everything shipped over here to Windhoek, and asking
everyone who comes to visit if they will haul a BIG
duffle bag, too! Slowly but surely it will all get
here, I am learning to be more and more patient as
time goes on!

When I returned to Windhoek in November, it was
summer, with long, warm days! It was also the end of
the school year, and many of the places where I was
teaching were closing for the Christmas holidays. As
a matter of fact, the entire country of Namibia
practically goes on vacation for most of December
through mid January. It is like a ghost town in
Windhoek. So, as even the poorest families somehow
managed to travel out to the farms, that left behind
all the kids who NOBODY cared enough to take. Those
were the children with whom I spent the Christmas
holidays. All the adults were spending what little
money they had on alcohol and getting drunk, while the
kids ran to the center to escape it all. We played
all sorts of games and did HUGE (1,500 piece) jigsaw
puzzles together. We played soccer and made little
Christmas trees out of toilet paper tubes. We made
bracelets with their names on them, and sang Christmas
songs until we were hoarse. And best of all, we went
to the municipal swimming pool three times. There
were about 75 children who went, and you would have
thought that I had taken them to Disney Land the way
they jumped in and out of the pool all day long with
sheer delight. We gave them a healthy lunch, and at
the end sent them home with a little care package of
fruit, candy and toiletries. For most, it was the
only christmas gift they got. I was greatly assisted
during this time by other international volunteers,
Steve and Ann from the USA, and Sophie and Sandra from
Germany. They also brought along their friends, so we
had plenty of eyes watching to make sure the kids
didn't drown! Most do not know how to swim, but the
pool, which is walking distance from the center in
Katutura, has an enormous kiddie pool, as well as a
shallow part of an olympic sized pool. Plenty of room
for fun!

On December 24th, Maryknoll Father Wayne Weinlader
asked me if I would assist him in giving away 1,000
Christmas packages in the shanty town of Okahandja
Park. He filled his pick up truck, and I packed the
rest into a van that was loaned to me for the
holidays. We just drove into the community, parked
the vehicles, and started handing out the bags of
goodies to the children. It was AMAZING how little
kids came running from all directions when word spread
that there were free parcels being given away! We
just kept saying, "Merry Christmas!" and handing them
out. When everyone had received one, we drove back to
Windhoek. I decided to give my friends (who had
volunteered to help distribute the goods) a tour of
Katutura. As we were driving, we saw children walking
alongside the road. We decided to spontaneously toss
them each a package, yelling, "Merry Christmas". It
was so much fun, tossing packages of fruit, sweets and
toiletries out the windows to surprised children!
They laughed and giggled and ran to their homes
clutching their gifts. We called it "Drive By
Parceling" and all agreed it was a Christmas we would
never forget!

On a much larger scale, the Windhoek Auas Rotary Club,
of which I am a member, teamed up with the Red Cross
to pack and deliver 850 christmas baskets to the
neediest families on the outskirts of Windhoek. We
received food from businesses all over Namibia, and
even got generous financial donations from the Sunrise
Roatry in Santa Rosa, California and from the Rotary
in Chappaqua, New York. Forty five children from the
after school program where I work volunteered to help
pack the parcels, which took hours to assemble. In
the end, there were extra parcels and they made sure
that all the kids in the program received food for
their families.

In mid January the children headed back to school.
Your donations helped to get them school shoes,
uniforms and supplies. I continued at the BNC
(Bernhard Nordkamp Center) every afternoon from 1:00
to 5:00 pm, and was also invited back to the "Pink
House", a kindergarten run by some great, young
Namibian women. Rick gave me a little guitar for
Christmas, so I can now strum away as we sing dozens
of kiddie songs for hours! I also gave them the duplo
blocks and wooden puzzles that were donated, so that
their little ones have SOMETHING to play with! The
large floor puzzles also went to them, as they are
doing all they can to make the kindergarten a
stimulating learning environment for everyone.

One big disappointment is that I am no longer working
with the Child Hope Initiative Project in the
mornings. The director, Patricia, told me that she is
"no longer in need of my services." At first I was
shocked, and deeply saddened that I would not be
working with Elifas, Abraham, Maria, Rosa and so many
of the children whom I taught last year and who I
really love. When I met with Patricia to ask her why
I was being dismissed, she cited several instances,
including the december 24th parceling, when I had made
spontaneous donations or done charitable works without
asking her permission first. It all came down to
power, and I obviously threaten her, so I was
dismissed. It is frustrating to see that personality
clashes and internal conflict between adults always
cause the children to lose out in the end. I continue
to be disappointed by many of the adults here, for
their behavior is so selfish and childish. Instead of
putting the welfare of the children first, they put
their own interests first.

Nevertheless, I am keeping busy in the mornings.
Twice a week I am helping in Hakahana, teaching the
children on Tuesdays and meeting with the volunteer
teachers on Thursdays to help them plan their weekly
lessons. I am also working with their youth
coordinators to help them run a sports program on
Saturdays. I am very optimistic about their program,
as they have a great group of young, enthusiastic
volunteers.

Of course I delight in the afternoons at the BNC. In
one year the children have gone from throwing stones
and constant fighting to playing games and doing
puzzles for hours. They have beautiful manners and
are learning to resolve their conflicts peacefully. I
am so proud of them and i have come to love them
dearly. For them I stay in Namibia, no matter how
frustrated I get with the grown-ups! They make
everything worthwhile.

On Saturdays and Sundays it is all about SOCCER!
There are about 100 children who come to the fields to
play, even though we are just in the beginning stages
of a program. We have the little boys play at 9 am,
the girls at 11:00, and the big boys at 1:00 pm. We
have three games going simultaneously, on the dirt and
rock "fields" we have permission to use. On Sunday
mornings I play pick-up soccer with a bunch of lovely
men at UNAM, then I go rushing off to referee more
games for the kids. I use soccer as a way to teach
ethics and morals, teamwork and responsibility. It is
delightful to see kids engrossed in the game, free
from all the worries and trauma that they are exposed
to in their homes, and just focused on scoring and
trying to win. Of course, I work hard at teaching
them to be gracious winners and losers!

I was also blessed in January by the help of Lauren
Shimel who came to volunteer for one month, and in
February by my sister, Suzie! She could only stay for
10 days,and the time went by so fast! But she was here
long enough to fall in love with the kids, and
promised them she would try to return on 2007!

And still with me is Jim (Scooter) McKenney who has
graciously offered to stay until April 8th to help
with the kids. He is a HUGE asset to all the
programs, and the kids just LOVE him. He has created
a blog specifically to record his time here in
Namibia, and as my mom stated, "I learned more from
reading Scooter's blog in one week than I did from
reading your blog all year!" His is:

http://jmcken82.blogspot.com

there is where you get the REAL scoop on what is going
on here!

So, that brings you up to date! Actually, I have so
many stories to tell about the kids, so many great
moments when I was so proud of them, and when they
have delighted me with their honesty and
thoughtfulness. I should tell you about taking 350 of
them to the swimming pool in February, and about going
up north to Tsumeb where I have a dear new friend
Debs, a volunteer from the UK, who is helping to
establish a kindergarten and after school program for
children. Every day there is something to rejoice in,
moments of laughter and happiness shared with the
children. They are such characters, and even the ones
who cause the most problems are still totally lovable.

I will conclude this letter with a great soccer story:

Yesterday I organized a friendly soccer match for the
young girls. As the game was about to begin, one team
formed a little huddle. I overheard them praying to
God to help them win. I walked over to them and said,
"If you pray to God to help YOU win, and the other
team prays to God to help THEM win, then who will God
help to win?"
The littlest one smiled up at me and said, "The one
who scores the most goals, of course!"

I almost died laughing.

May your days be filled with much happiness and
laughter, too!

Thank you for all your love and support, and on behalf
of the children, I thank you for all your VERY
generous donations and all the time and effort you
have put into collecting things for them. I invite
all of you to come to Namibia to meet them! We will
receive you with open arms and open hearts!

With so much love and deepest gratitude,
xoxoxoxoxoxoxo
MB :)