namibia...for now

BLYP launch and more greatness..

2009-05-13T11:16:00.005+02:00

the launch
took place without a hick up, if you exclude some speaker drama.. but no really it was everything i was hoping for.

(the students and trustees/secretariat of LSI)

we tried to make the launch as interesting as possible but i will admit it was mostly just speeches. the highlight was definitely the mini ceremony, when the trustees and secretariat gave over the suit jacket to the student who's business suit they sponsored.

(the chairman, mr. tom alweendo, giving edmund his suit jacket)

the students looked and felt like a million bucks. i mean just look at these guys, lookin oh so grown. the whole evening was all about them.

more greatness
the students had their first workshop at the namibia stock exchange where they'll be playing the stock market game

right now i'm off to the second workshop with the students at the bank of namibia [namibia's reserve bank] on etiquette and networking

and drum roll.......

we are taking all 12 students on a retreat this weekend to a game lodge that one of the trustees of the foundation, marina lamprecht, is graciously hosting for free. we are talking game drive, dinners, fire side chats, treasure hunt and so on!

in the words of one of my favoritest sisters ever,
peace & chicken grease

i'm focused mann

2009-05-04T20:56:00.010+02:00

just had the best weekend ever, in case you haven't heard. i mean don't get me wrong, i've had plenty weekends that were labeled 'best weekend ever', but never by me. yall know i'm always the one that sits off calmly in the background and doesn't actively partake in all activities. i'm that nonchalant person. but this weekend was different. i feel like i couldn't have fit in any more even if i wanted to. i feel like i hit the jackpot. is reality distorted? am i not thinking straight or is this real?

some highlights for yah:

-blyp launch is in TWO days

-the 12 kids are fiyah, just look at the pic of some of them:

-this is gonna be big

-i'm focused mannnnn

1 love

so busy that...

2009-04-21T19:34:00.004+02:00

do you know how everyone writes a bunch of ish on their cover letter when they apply for jobs but don't necessarily mean it?

well mine has always been that i hope to be so busy at my prospective job that i can come home late and tired and not even notice how the day flew by.

well guess what? apparently i was serious. most of you know how busy i've been lately but i secretly LOVE it.

overdue

2009-04-15T20:10:00.002+02:00

okay okay so i'm way past my deadline. this every-other-day-posting-thing is becoming unrealistic. you know as your project or job or whatever winds down, you would think your work would too. but not here homie. it just gets worse everyday, but i am greatful to be so busy.... really.... just keep reminding me that i am. so i think i will change my commitment to post ONCE A WEEK, i'll aim for more often than that though.

there's really nothing new:

- i can't wait to get this paper grading out of my life. whoever out there wants to be a teacher... think about it twice i mean really. i think teaching is a scary career choice for someone that is idealistic like i am. you will spend your entire life on trying to reah every kid and of course there will always be some that will fall through the cracks and you won't be able to let it go, you won't be coming home to eat dinner... you won't be sleeping... etc. not to say, that that's whats happening with me of course.... everyone knows i know not to bring work home right?

-serious poll for whoever reads this: who thinks i'm a workaholic? who thinks i have a stress problem?

- i realized today that i am officially stressed. i never knew this though. who knows for how long i've been stressed. i feel like i feel fine but the stress is showing physically. i look like circa fall '05 (for those of you who know what i looked like during those trials and tribulations.....). at least now that i've noticed the physical signs i'll be able to recognize when i've seriously stressed from now on.

- i've been complaining to some that i can't seem to find a job, that is when i find the time to actually speak to anyone. secretly though, deep deep down inside... i think i'm hoping no job will want me. i just don't see me being happy anywhere...

- so far all these points have been negative so i'm sitting here trying hard to think of something positive... OH! I'M PROUD TO REPORT THAT I HAVE THE MOLD SITUATION UNDER CONTROL!! thanks for all your concern, shout out to mommy! i just might be ready for motherhood and all that jazz.

the lowest of the low

2009-04-11T14:12:00.002+02:00

i'm back, i'm alive don't worry. after a couple of days off the grid i'm back. lets just say i wasn't feeling too well but its all good now. once again, mannnnnn there goes my record of not regurgitating :(.

in recent news however, i believe i have reached the lowest of the low. now everyone knows i have some issues with maintaining cleanliness at times (lets not even take it back to my freshman days at stony - whew at least the people that have first hand knowledge aren't reading this). i decided today that i've reached a new low though. my mama knows i love her, and lord knows she tried to teach me how to be a good little girl but i always liked playing with the boys and getting dirty better. i'm not even saying that boys live like i have for the past month though. no human should live like this. but without further adieu, i confess my sins:

- i have not washed all my dishes for so long that mold is all over every single dish, even the sink

- today, when i finally went to throw out the garbage, which is near all the moldy dishes, there were so many fruit flies you woulda thought it was a dead body

- i have ate pretty much nothing but that instant oatmeal where you just add water, and once all those bowls and such were dirty... i just stopped eating

- i secretly think all this is what really made me sick, i mean hey we all know mold does bad things... not to mention not eating well (lets not even talk about exercise)

- i finally bought a mop like 2 months ago, i have never used it

- i've only swept once in the 7 months i've been here, with this old broom that was mad dirty and left over from whoever lived here before me (i was too cheap to buy a broom)

*side not on the broom issue, i think it was a combination of being cheap and realistic because i knew i wouldn't use it. i mean i did by the mop and have never used it so far, that equals a waste of money... at least i know myself well right?

as you can see this is whats been good with me.... the honest true story. so if i haven't answered emails or responded to IMs, its cause i've been busy battling myself. i'm trying to give myself a new start today. and yes, i know i know.... i'll never find a husband! lmao

...back to those moldy dishes i go (i haven't actually started washing them yet)

adios

on second thought...

2009-04-07T18:56:00.003+02:00

-maybe i only think things are so great here cause i know that its only for a limited time. i mean i know i'm goin home in a few months. would i still be this happy if this was for the next couple of years or indefinite? probably not, i think if that was the case all my old issues would come rushing back.

-i knew i never wanted to be a teacher! i have been grading papers cause long story short as part of a IFESH project, we are working on improving the exam grades of 10th graders at this one rural school. so we are focusing on exam prep and gave them last year exam so we can analyze their answers and see where the problem areas are. but i have been grading this one exam forever. i think it took me a whole hour to grade like 4 papers. smh. never. never wanna be a teacher. i dunno how yall do it.

-so our first round of interviews for the business leadership (BLYP) program was yesterday. five kids. they were great. i mean i don't know what i expected but i could imagine working with all of them. funniest stuff is we rated their applications when we were tryin to choose who to interview and the ones we rated the lowest were the ones we liked the best. this one boy, we decided to include him in the interviews last minute because he had a low rating but he was our top choice after the interviews. guess interviewing is key.

*drum roll for the best interview questions (the catch was that they all had to give unique answers and couldn't repeat was the others said):

-if you could ask us one question about the program, what would it be?

-what would you do if you missed one of the workshops for the program or couldn't complete one of the assignments?

i have this thing of not doing recreational activities by myself

2009-04-05T09:49:00.003+02:00

to me, it just doesn't make sense. i promise this is not cause i'm self conscious and i'm worried about what other people think. it just doesn't make sense tho. take dinner, why would you go out and insist on having dinner at the restaurant by yourself when you can just take it home with you. why would you take a trip all by yourself. its all about jokes and memories and there's no way you can be cracking up on your own about that funny thing that happened. its the people that make the experience. humans are social beings.

maybe the real reason i'm talking about this is cause i realize that if it wasn't for other people i probably would never even get out of bed. i think if i was left to my own devices, i would never go out... never travel... never do anything with real effort. feel me? i would just do the bare minimum. i'd do the eat peanut butter/cup of noodles/instant oatmeal/just stay at home/watch tv thing. because if its just me, it doesn't make sense to do any more than that. i only go beyond that when i'm pushed by others and even still i find i have to fight myself to walk out the door most times.

is that a laziness issue or just a personality trait?

could it be? two in a row!

2009-04-03T18:03:00.002+02:00

so for those that don't know, i'm starting this program. its a business leadership type development program for grade 11 students here in namibia that need it. i say they need it cause i'm working off the assumption that this program will be the difference between these kids making it, i.e. graduating, or not.

anywho, back to the point. today we (my friend/coworker [charmaine] and i) were preparing for the first round of interviews which are on monday. we are interviewing these kids in groups of five. so usually i'm great at coming up with all these gut wrenching questions that will get to the heart of the matter and give us what we're looking for. but i was blank this time. blank. i was even asking some people for some hard questions they used when choosing people to put on line. clearly everyone's answer was the two are completely different and i need to get it together. but charmaine and i kept debating whether these kids will open up. she says they will end up either sitting there looking blank, just saying "i don't know" or being too uptight to actually answer the question. she works with the same type of kids for this other program she is doing and she said it took months for them to open up. so how do we get them to do so during the time of one interview? i mean, we came up with doing an ice breaker before we begin the interview. the same ole thing though, what is your name and what does it mean? tell us about your shoes (shout out to PBS for the shoe one! lmao). i don't think that will do it though.

the challenge is to get questions that are as simple as possible, english is a problem... but to be able to measure their motivation, their struggles and their commitment to doing the large amount of work they will be getting during the program and expectations afterwards.

any ideas?

2nd nachala (that means beginning for yall non-russian speakers)

2009-04-02T20:35:00.003+02:00

so to keep up with my word. i'm gonna make this happen. every other day. i'm focused. hopefully yall will help me out. the reason i actually got to making this post is thanks to some very good friends anyway ;) - shout out to yah!

to take the pressure of this whole blogging thing, i'm going straight to the raw randomness:

- i'm thinking.... did i really make the right decision by deciding to leave and not stay another year? things are getting so good here. as in, i haven't had things going this good in uhmmm, well.... forever?

- i'm officially a workaholic. i'm also being overworked. do you know what that means? that means that by overworking me they are enabling my problem...

-life is really about who you know... i am the last person that wants to admit it but whatever way you look at it, life is about who you know. to get things done, if you know who can do it, it just takes a snap of the fingers. if you know the right people that make you happy, that makes your life. so whether you look at it in a good way or a bad way, life is about who you know.

-ok back to grading these papers. what? grading papers? yup, you heard it here first. anna is doing some teacher ish...

-for all those who don't know, i hate school and i'm not sure if i believe in it. yeah... yeah, i'm one of those that thinks schools stunts creativity.

my first love

2009-02-04T13:28:00.000+02:00

when i left you i stopped making mistakes but i also stopped living. i've survived off the mistakes we made together in the past, connecting with them. remembering them made me feel real. how long can i live off of memories? i haven't lived since i've left you.

sometimes i trip over how different our story coulda turned out. not that our stories are over, but at the end of the day i always feel like i'm just that random girl from brooklyn. just another story, just another person tied to you. i might have been born elsewhere, i might know two different types of struggles; the one out there and the one we share. i'm that girl from brooklyn. i might have made some choices, i might have went to school. but at the end of the day, i'm just that girl from brooklyn. no matter what i do or where i go, i will always be here. i'm trapped. is that bad?

in a way, i think our story is what keeps me here and i know i'm never leaving. but thats too deep... i just trip over how it coulda went down, that isn't necessarily the better option. just couldn't keep myself from sharing this with you.

but then i think about where i woulda been if i never met you... would i even be here?

*ode to brooklyn

ps- brooklyn is just a special nyc state of mind

my letter to obama

2009-01-02T18:45:00.000+02:00

i guess i'm on an obama roll... but this one is more relevant to him than the last:

this is not in favor of capitalism or communism, but i think by now we can all agree that a prosperous country thrives financially on capitalistic principles yet is measured by how it treats its most marginalized citizens. that lands us somewhere in between the two. now health care is important and i do understand that we have reached a turning point by your historic rise to presidency but why not attack the real issues that contribute to our marginalized society?

desegregate our neighborhoods, desegregate our schools. i know we are 200 years beyond retribution but i'm sure i don't have to tell you to look around to see the core problems that lead to inequality. america has one of the most respected and well functioning government structures in the world. to me, the key to our strength is decentralization. we really are the UNITED states of america, with each state governing itself as a mini country. each state with cities, towns and districts breaking down the population. you have tapped into these local, powerful sources during your campaign and you continue to do so (health care house meetings). the problems also stem from these divisions however. towns/districts/cities with richer members live better than the poorer communities. its fair that the people with more money live better in a sense and nothing should be a handout. however, how will the poorer communities ever build themselves up?

community services come from taxes; amenities, programs, public schools, even health care. go to a school in a particular area of brooklyn or south side of chicago, and many more, they are still segregated! the quality of education those poorer communities receive reflects it. it is a passing joke amongst people in these communities, an all too common fact but it should not be so, it should not be the accepted status quo. now, i mostly mean segregation in the sense of rich and poor and opportunities, unfortunately that still reflects on ethnicity in our country. in a capitalistic society, you cannot force anyone to do anything against their will, well actually you can in the form of taxes, but you can also provide incentives. why not bus kids into better schools to level the playing field? why not pair affluent and disadvantaged schools in near by areas so that their funding will be dependent on each other? why not provide public assistance to low income families in a holistic way with rewards and resources for performance instead of just pushing people off welfare? give incentives to companies and professional for hiring welfare recipients, providing opportunities and guidance to them so that the poverty cycle will become a straight forward path to prosperity instead of a never ending circle.

no matter how benevolent a society, there will still be someone on the bottom. this time, at least the dynamics in america will be changed, an institutionalized path to opportunity and hope will be offered. these towns/cities/states are boss, as they should be, but AMERICA can give the UNITED STATES a little nudge. after all, is that not what the central government is for? to lead us in a mutually beneficial forward moving synchronized direction?

we are all mixed but why is barack obama black?

2008-11-13T12:22:00.001+02:00

disclaimer: this is not political, this is not philosophical. this is just my pure, raw, untrained thought.

at first, i meant for this post to break it down, explain why we are all mixed. after running over the obvious in my mind, that whether by science or by religion, human kind is agreeing that we all came from ONE. i realized that i didn't have anything new to say. most people know these facts or theories (you choose what they are to you) but yet they are over looked everyday. everyday someone is classified into a 'race', everyday someone dies because of a family or classification they were born into. no, this is not just america. no, this is not just africa. this is humanity as we know it. (think family, tribe, ethnic, religious association)

so if everyone is mixed, why is barack obama black? why has the world media thoughtfully announced him the first black president in america? why not the first mixed president in america or a myriad of other options available to them that would more objectively reflect the 'facts'? this was the question posed by my other half in africa as we reflected on the history that was made november 4th, 2008. the key in her question is the reflection on factual evidence. why would it be considered 'factual' that he is as much black as he is white? all these answers depend on authority, the authority that writes the rules for something to be considered a fact. who or what has the authority to say that to consider yourself black or to consider yourself white you go back only one generation? how do we know that further along the chain of ancestors there were no other races mixed into the president's heritage?

what race barack obama is depends on who's answering the question. the whole conversation and this post are just a reflection of how much people have been psychologically screwed in terms of these classifications, myself included.

because i meant to finish this post a long time ago and i've been very drained by recent race dynamics, let me get to the point. i am starting to think that race was possibly one of the worst human made inventions in history. not only has it single handedly torn people apart and created countless psycho-social problems, it gave birth to EXCUSES for treating people a certain way. now i am torn. as much as i would want for everyone to just forget this whole 'race' invention and just call themselves MIXED, i often stop myself because i recognize that the psychological effects on societies all over the world cannot be overturned so easily. my truth is that what we all truly are mixed. no matter if you look at science or history or frickin logic, our deep deep ancestors were brothers and sisters, we all came from the same place and mixed from there. so i am holding on to this fact first and foremost, calling myself MIXED from now on, and everyone can just go kick rocks!

history moves in circles, the return of colonialism

2008-10-12T11:33:00.002+02:00

history moves in circles, the return of colonialism. its been pretty obvious that there's a new generation of development and it's focus is africa. at every footstep there's a new foreign organization popping up in a developing country. now don't get me wrong, this is a beautiful thing. people are truly starting to think globally. my problem comes in if you take a deeper look at it. lets focus on africa as an example, since this is where i am:

1. i have read a number of articles lately that elude to ulterior US motives through their investment and quest to help africa. take the new US army command for africa (africom) for example (check out the article) or the millennium challenge corporation's (MCC) controversy in namibia (check out the article). these two examples all involve suspicion of US seeking ownership of africa's assets and resources. now i'm not saying that there's any truth to these claims, i'm also not saying that there isn't. but my logical self does think that for these suspicions to exist, there must be some truth to it. judge for yourself, but be informed and don't take things at face value.

2. generally referring to international nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), there are some discrepancies in logic there too. no doubt these are organizations and individuals that want to help and are humanitarian minded. my question is: when all these organizations say their 'field staff' (meaning their staff in the developing countries) are 80% or 90% local, why is that all the top management is foreign? the goal of these organizations is development and by development we are talking about sustainable development. if all of these organizations had to pull out today, would their work be carried on? come on, the answer is no. there are no proper mechanisms in place. i will say there are a very select few which are an exception, very select few. the question i'm always asked (since i've been here) is: if millions of dollars at a time are being pored into africa through these NGOs, where is it? how come we don't see it? lets face it, a good number of the high management of these NGOs are living the good life off the strength of the cause. through the operational and bureaucratic costs, the money that is received never touches the person that very much needs it.

please feel free to let me know if i'm wrong.

ps- kudos to ms. acosta for the inspiration.

africa is not a dark continent

2008-10-11T10:53:00.003+02:00

(windhoek, namibia) africa is not a dark continent. even though this may be obvious to some, i feel the need to set the record straight. africa is not a dark continent. it is hard for me to believe that in this new millennium, the year 2008, there are people that manage to avoid the news and some general common knowledge. these are educated people. since my whole quest started for my journey to africa, there have been people along the way that have said some curious things. no need to go into detail and list the five w's but in a sense they thought that everyone in africa was still walking around barefoot in villages and they didn't have modern conveniences, anywhere in africa. now this is not even just reserved to africa, i can't count the number of times i've heard people say that its just a frozen tundra in russia (as in the whole entire country is like siberia). now the problem with all these statements is that there is truth to them, africa has does have villages where people walk around barefoot and don't have modern conveniences and the extreme northern part of russia is basically a frozen tundra (shoot, so is the US- alaska). the problem is those are only some areas. russia is a big place, the south is warm man, i promise you. its on the same latitude as US cities for goodness sake. the whole continent of africa is not the same everywhere, there are different countries that vary like night and day. compare south africa and the congo or morocco and zimbabwe. take even namibia for instance, the capital (and most white populated areas) have a stark contrast to the north where there are villages or the northwest where people still live like they did thousands of years ago (himba). so to sum it up, some places in africa, in each country probably are like what you picture but for the most part you will find a modern city in every capital of a country, yes that's every african capital.

it's the history that makes a place

2008-10-06T01:09:00.002+02:00

(spitzkoppe, namibia) i don't mean to discredit the motherland but as soon as i saw these amazing rock structures, all i thought was i'm sure there are plenty of places like this is america. what makes it distinct is to know that this is where it started. to be able to touch a rock and say 'this is a rock that my ancestors touched, this is what the oldest of our kind experienced everyday.' it's great that your senses awaken in africa and you appreciate everything for what it is. it's sad however, that your senses don't perk up in your everyday surroundings (mine being america). you take things for granted. every place has history, every place is special.

the vote is final

2008-10-03T01:01:00.001+02:00

(windhoek, namibia) i just filled out my overseas write-in ballot. as a side note, i can't imagine why certain states make it so hard to vote overseas. in one state you can just fill out this write-in ballot and fax it but in others you need to send an application for a ballot, if the ballot come to you in time and you need to fill that out and send it again and hope everything reaches in time. back to my main point though, i decided to vote extra early (& make sure that the other volunteers voted extra early too) cause that three early votes for obama. crazy to think that we will have a new president in less than a month (hopefully with no drama equal to or worse than gore & bush). with the economy in mind & all it will be a crazy four years and its really about to happen like tomorrow.

please don't let the hippo sit on me!

2008-10-02T11:20:00.002+02:00

(windhoek, namibia) some random statistics from the namibian newspaper for ya:

about 27% of food in developed countries is wasted each year. It's simply thrown away.
almost 1.2 billion people are underfed - the same number of people who are overweight to the point of obesity.
one in 10 people in the world live on an island.
the chance of being born on a leap day is about 684 out of a million, or 1 in 1461.
there are more than 600 million telephone lines, yet almost half the world's population has never made a phone call on a land line.
more than half the world's population has made a cellphone call. there are more than 2 billion cellphones in use.

random quote from the same newspaper:
"the greatest good you can do to another is not just to share your riches,
but reveal to him his own."
- Benjamin Disraeli (1804 - 1881), was a british conservative statesman and literary figure. he served in government for three decades, twice as prime minister.

PS: i'm going camping about two hours away to the north in the mountains this weekend. hope that i don't get eaten by snakes or lions and that a hippo doesn't sit on me.

collapse

2008-09-27T08:54:00.003+02:00

i knew WaMu was going to fold! i knew it! everyone thought i was exagerating but see what happened? it's a little sick how entertaining these news are to me. but how about this: before i left the states i was afraid that WaMu would crash and burn so i got a chase checking account and now chase bought out WaMu & i have two chase checking accounts! i should get paid for this...

ps: i had some oshiwambo cooked worms last night. it doesn't taste like chicken.

i wasn't prepared

2008-09-26T15:02:00.001+02:00

(windhoek, namibia) i just had a meeting with a network for hiv+ teachers. they broke down crying at the end of the meeting. bawling.

responsibility

2008-09-25T08:52:00.000+02:00

(windhoek, namibia) it just hit me. i'm in namibia. all by myself. i have my own apartment. i got here all by myself (with the help of you all of course). but really, no one made me fill out the application. i did it all by myself. no one made me accept the fellowship. i did it all myself. in effect, this time i flew myself half way across the world. this time it was my direct decision. this time, i take responsibility.

surprising challanges?

2008-09-24T08:39:00.000+02:00

(windhoek, namibia) i went to an SME (small & medium enterprises) expo today. the expo was hosted by a nonprofit called 'SMEs compete', who provides services to SMEs. the LSI foundation is giving a grant to SMEs compete to provide training to SMEs in several rural areas. at this expo there were stands set up for the SMEs to display their businesses and also a round table discussion took place to give aspiring entrepreneurs advice.

one of the SMEs i spoke with, CTC (an IT services company), said their two biggest challenges were
1. they are black.
2. they are young.
imagine that, in a country that is run by a majority black government (the same government that achieved liberation and independence). the same government that is trying hard to address the huge youth unemployment rate. my point is not that the government has done something wrong. my point is two fold: (1) this country so needs the 'rich white people' but it is a fine line to encourage them to conform and care about the 'have-nots' and chasing them away. (2) it is a hard thing to change the mindset of a group of people, any group of people, just because you want development.

bail out

2008-09-22T08:36:00.001+02:00

(windhoek, namibia) so if the government (U.S.) really intends on giving $700 BILLION to PRIVATE industry, should the 'people' not get a cut? yeah, we received our measly $600. if one does just the math however, each one of us would receive a big fat $2300 check in the mail, if that money was going to us of course. that $2300 doesn't even count the earlier help (i.e. bear stearns and chase). so fine fine, i'm economically minded i know its not the same to give us the money instead of the financial industry. in all seriousness though, should we not be getting ownership in the future prosperity of these companies? yes i am talking stock options. its crazy how they are debating more checks and provisions and not using the tax payers money for ridiculous managing director salaries, that's not even a given? no one would even dream about stock options... how much leeway would they have to save the financial industry if everyone just stopped paying taxes?

my book is only one in a long line of volumes...

2008-09-20T00:29:00.005+02:00

(windhoek, namibia) i woke up today and miraculously was able to vocalize some things that have been hidden. a thought that's been in the back of my head for a while, i just hadn't verbalized it yet. but here it is:

i am lucky that so many 'could have gone wrong' events (call them turning points if you like) have all laid out in my favor. i could have never seen the ocean, being locked up in a desolate ukraine. i could have never seen diversity, not being dropped in the middle of the most diverse place on earth (nyc). shoot, i could have never came to the states, had my father not been jewish. this is a list that could go on & on based on the many bad and good decisions i've made (since i've been old enough to make them) or didn't make.

the point i want to make is that this series of events, and the future ones that will be associated with them, are all along a time continuum. i'm thinking of a timeline beyond my life span. go back to when jews were slaves. go back to when all the continents were connected. sounds crazy but each event built up to who i am today and to who you are today. if you follow my train of thought so far, you can see what i'm leading up to. the future is no place to get to. time doesn't stop once you arrive at the future. if you know me, you know i have been very anxious about the future. this has apparently been in contradiction to the thoughts in the back of my head.

this morning i realized that it's not anxiety i feel about my future. i am simply want to know what's going to happen in the next chapter. it's not even only my own future, it's everyone i meet. when i meet someone i realize i am meeting them on a certain page of their book. you always want to know how the book started and how it will end. i am simply in suspense to turn the pages of the book. of course i do realize a book is only one in a long line of volumes...

first e-mail

2008-09-18T02:43:00.001+02:00

Dear Friends & Loved Ones,

As the story goes, there once was a little girl born in Ukraine who ended up working in Namibia by way of New York. Who would've thunk!

I am now in my second week of service in Namibia. The past week has been the longest week in my life. Of course I will never be able to effectively communicate all of the experiences and emotions but it gave me an interesting lens as compared to when I first came to America. In the borough of Brooklyn, wealth was misleading and inequality tucked away into dark corners that were not so apparent to the ten year old eye. Instead of being fixated with the bright lights and beautiful houses (which are in the white part of town), this time I was able to see a well rounded picture where a majority of the population was living in the poverty of tin structures just on the other side.

As some of you may already know, I will be in Namibia for ten months as a business and community development Fellow. The International Fellows Program (IFP) is one of two main volunteer programs at the International Foundation for Education and Self-Help (IFESH). To date, I will be working with the IFESH Namibia office on expanding its' funding and programs. I will also be working with the newly developed and rapidly growing Lazarus Shinyemba Ipangelwa (LSI) Foundation on sustained expansion. Lastly, I will liaise, network with, and help other NGOs, the Ministry of Education, Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and public schools. Basically, I will make myself available for any help and training I can offer. You will hear more about the specific types of projects I will be working on later.

All in all, I feel very fortunate to have this opportunity no matter how lonely it gets being away from you all. This year will be a big lesson in learning how to take one day at a time. I am conscious of taking every day for granted but hopefully this experience will push me in the right direction.

If you want to receive these e-mails just send me your e-mail.

its not the same

2008-09-18T02:43:00.000+02:00

(windhoek, namibia) i cannot tell you how much a part of me just wants to be kickin back at one of my favorite people's house havin some fried chicken, plantains and ice tea from the chinese food spot right now. they got kfc here, but its not the same.