Last Wednesday, Elizabeth, Chad and I made our way on the patient bus to Windhoek for All-Volunteer Conference and Reconnect. When we got to Outjo, we were a little nervous to see if we’d be kicked off since there are usually a lot of hospital patients getting on at Outjo and getting off in Windhoek, but luck was on our side that day. So after arriving at the state hospital in Windhoek, we grabbed a taxi and made our way to Safari Hotel for the All-Volunteer Conference.
Now, in the history of Peace Corps Namibia, there hasn’t been very many times that Peace Corps has done an All-Volunteer Conference, so we were pretty lucky to have one. The All-Volunteer Conference is just what is written....all the Peace Corps Namibia volunteers come together for two days to talk about stress management, resiliency and also to celebrate Peace Corps’ 50th Anniversary. Plus it’s just a time to meet up together and meet volunteers that I normally wouldn’t be able to see because of the distance. And it being the 50th Anniversary, we watched different Peace Corps public service announcements (PSAs) from over the years. Pretty cool. And even saw some recent ones that I haven’t seen before! Also with the 50th Anniversary celebration came an invitation by the US Ambassador to Namibia to her house to have a little celebration....and free pizza, beer and wine. Who could pass that up?! Definitely a good night.
The rest of the conference was spent participating in a resiliency workshop. When Americans serve in Peace Corps there tends to be some situations that cause stress during our service. Between living with a host family, eating different kinds of foods, and just being completely submerged into a new culture, it’s definitely going to amount to some stress. One of the stress scales that we were given during training showed that stress of a divorce was about 50 points on the scale whereas a two year Peace Corps service was 350! Ridiculous! So you can see why we needed a resiliency workshop.
After our time at Safari Hotel and with the conference (and a hot shower...wahoo!), we made our way to the city to do some shopping and see the latest Harry Potter movie. I have missed the city so much and just being back in the hustle and bustle of it all was really nice. Yes, believe it or not I miss the traffic noises and the craziness of the city. Although after not being in a real mall for 5 months, I was sooo overwhelmed with all the shops and variety of everything. I mean, having a sports store or a shoe store at my disposal??? Weird! But oh so nice at the same time....and so refreshing.
Then that night we made our way to Greiter’s Conference Center for the next 2.5 weeks. Although Greiter’s was no luxury palace (like Safari Hotel) it does have real mattresses and hot water, so I’m a happy girl. So for these next few weeks I’ll be with other group 33ers at Reconnect, and having workshops on topics such as male engagement and project design. It might not sound like the most interesting of topics, but hopefully I’ll be able to bring some ideas back to Opuwo with me.
So far, we’ve been able to catch up and I’ve been able to hear more about everyone’s sites and what they’ve been up to these last couple of months which has been really nice. I’ve also been able to go hiking up one of the mountains where I was able to see a view of the entire city. Although the hike up there (and the high altitude) made for a very exhausting hike, it definitely made me feel better. So good to just be outside and experience the outdoors....without people questioning why I’m running in gym clothes in the middle of town.
While reading the PC Namibia health program goals during one of our sessions, it really helped me to get a better understanding of what the health program was trying to accomplish but also gave me a breath of fresh air of what I hope to accomplish during my time here.
Then today, we began a three day workshop on male engagement. So far, many of the topics that we covered today have already been covered either during our Peace Corps training back in February or through my social work classes at Champlain....including gender roles, feelings and “I” statements. It made me feel like I was transported back to high school or college. Seemed like such simple topics, but for some of the participants it was the first time that they’ve covered this material. Interesting. I only wish that it was a trainer of trainers workshop so that we’d be able to bring resources back to our sites. Well, we’ll see.
So far, that’s about it! It’s just been so nice catching up with friends and meeting new ones.....and not having to cook! Wahoo!
Now, in the history of Peace Corps Namibia, there hasn’t been very many times that Peace Corps has done an All-Volunteer Conference, so we were pretty lucky to have one. The All-Volunteer Conference is just what is written....all the Peace Corps Namibia volunteers come together for two days to talk about stress management, resiliency and also to celebrate Peace Corps’ 50th Anniversary. Plus it’s just a time to meet up together and meet volunteers that I normally wouldn’t be able to see because of the distance. And it being the 50th Anniversary, we watched different Peace Corps public service announcements (PSAs) from over the years. Pretty cool. And even saw some recent ones that I haven’t seen before! Also with the 50th Anniversary celebration came an invitation by the US Ambassador to Namibia to her house to have a little celebration....and free pizza, beer and wine. Who could pass that up?! Definitely a good night.
The rest of the conference was spent participating in a resiliency workshop. When Americans serve in Peace Corps there tends to be some situations that cause stress during our service. Between living with a host family, eating different kinds of foods, and just being completely submerged into a new culture, it’s definitely going to amount to some stress. One of the stress scales that we were given during training showed that stress of a divorce was about 50 points on the scale whereas a two year Peace Corps service was 350! Ridiculous! So you can see why we needed a resiliency workshop.
After our time at Safari Hotel and with the conference (and a hot shower...wahoo!), we made our way to the city to do some shopping and see the latest Harry Potter movie. I have missed the city so much and just being back in the hustle and bustle of it all was really nice. Yes, believe it or not I miss the traffic noises and the craziness of the city. Although after not being in a real mall for 5 months, I was sooo overwhelmed with all the shops and variety of everything. I mean, having a sports store or a shoe store at my disposal??? Weird! But oh so nice at the same time....and so refreshing.
Then that night we made our way to Greiter’s Conference Center for the next 2.5 weeks. Although Greiter’s was no luxury palace (like Safari Hotel) it does have real mattresses and hot water, so I’m a happy girl. So for these next few weeks I’ll be with other group 33ers at Reconnect, and having workshops on topics such as male engagement and project design. It might not sound like the most interesting of topics, but hopefully I’ll be able to bring some ideas back to Opuwo with me.
So far, we’ve been able to catch up and I’ve been able to hear more about everyone’s sites and what they’ve been up to these last couple of months which has been really nice. I’ve also been able to go hiking up one of the mountains where I was able to see a view of the entire city. Although the hike up there (and the high altitude) made for a very exhausting hike, it definitely made me feel better. So good to just be outside and experience the outdoors....without people questioning why I’m running in gym clothes in the middle of town.
While reading the PC Namibia health program goals during one of our sessions, it really helped me to get a better understanding of what the health program was trying to accomplish but also gave me a breath of fresh air of what I hope to accomplish during my time here.
Then today, we began a three day workshop on male engagement. So far, many of the topics that we covered today have already been covered either during our Peace Corps training back in February or through my social work classes at Champlain....including gender roles, feelings and “I” statements. It made me feel like I was transported back to high school or college. Seemed like such simple topics, but for some of the participants it was the first time that they’ve covered this material. Interesting. I only wish that it was a trainer of trainers workshop so that we’d be able to bring resources back to our sites. Well, we’ll see.
So far, that’s about it! It’s just been so nice catching up with friends and meeting new ones.....and not having to cook! Wahoo!
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