Last week, I traveled to the remote region of Omaheke. While
I was venturing to the least populated region in Namibia, I realized that I was about to
achieve something pretty cool. I have been to
every region in this country! Namibia has 13 regions (well, 14 now since Kavango
got split into Kavango East and Kavango West). This may not sound like a brilliant triumph but I don’t think volunteers get the chance to achieve such a feat
during their two years service. All the regions are very spread out and some
are completely out of the way for some volunteers. Yet, I feel quite
accomplished when I say that I have been to every region within the first year
of my service.
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| I've been there! |
I’ve been very fortunate to have the opportunity to explore
this diverse and one of a kind country. With that said, I wanted to tell you all about my
plans for this August where I will be helping out with the 2014 Diversity Tour
Namibia. This is a Peace Corps project and is a week-long education tour working
to give vulnerable and marginalized children the opportunity to explore the
country. Most of the kids who will be going on this tour haven’t seen much of
the country. A few of haven’t even left their villages before! The aim of the
tour is to give these kids the opportunity to see parts of the Namibia which
they may never get the chance to see again while developing leadership skills
and a passion for learning. Daily educational sessions will take place on the
tour and will focus on leadership skills, entrepreneurship and HIV/AIDS
awareness.
Up to 38 Namibian kids from each region, ages 12-16, will be
going on this tour. We will be traveling to Otjiwarongo, Waterberg Plateau,
Swakopmund and Windhoek. Most of these kids want to see the ocean for the first
time so our stop at Swakopmund should be something special. The tour will be
from August 18th to the 25th. It should be a great
experience for everyone involved and I’ll keep y’all posted on how it goes.
One more thing, back in November, I applied for a grant to
start a Chili Farming project at the Uukolonkadhi Conservancy. On Monday, I got
a call saying that the project will get funding! It’s quite a lot of money too
so hopefully it all works out. Again, I’ll let you what happens next.
Enjoy some photos from the many regions of Namibia!
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| Site of where the Chili Farm will take place (Omusati Region) |
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| Ruacana Falls (I swear it's more impressive during the right season) on the Kunene River |
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| The kid and I (Oshikoto Region) |
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| The dunes near Swakopmund (Erongo Region) |
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| The location outside Windhoek (Khomas Region) |
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| Double Rainbow in the Oshana Region |
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| My home for a week in Katima (Zambezi Region) |
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I swear I've been to all the region even though I don't have photographic evidence of it all. But I have. Trust me.
