G.I. Jane

I know everyone's already seen it on Facebook, but I wanted to document it in my blog as well.  Before

After

Now, the question on everyone's mind seems to be "Why?" well... here ya go: *I've always said I would do it one day. Today was that day.  *I needed a change *It's HOT *I'm in Namibia... Why not?! *It's been great experiencing this in the Namibian culture with the children I work with. I get the sense that they don't value themselves or feel they are beautiful because their hair is not like mine. I loved showing them how little my hair meant to me *I'm through hiding behind the hair. This is me. I like me. It doesn't get more real than that.

Projects and such

Here’s what I've been doing for the past month or two :)

In a previous post I mentioned how my counterpart and I have been working with our kids on fundraising. Our kids have hosted a soccer tournament and a movie night, sold candy and collected money door-to-door. Also, on Monday’s the kids bring in N$1.00 each to add to the fund. Overall we have collected over N$800 so far (roughly 80.00 USD) We plan on purchasing  matching KAYEC t-shirts for the kids with some of the money, and the rest we will continue to save and use when we need things for events/activities.

My counterpart and I have also been working on putting together a weekly movie night on Fridays for the community kids. We noticed that many of the kids go to shebeens (bars) on Friday nights and drink alcohol because they have nothing else to do. This behavior can lead to unprotected sex, teenage pregnancy, and the contraction of HIV, all of which are huge issues Namibia is facing. Our movie night idea will by no means solve this problem, but it’s one less night SOME of the kids are at the shebeens. This project is still in the planning stages. We’re currently waiting on approval to use the community hall on Friday evenings. Once we get the approval we can start the next Friday. We plan to charge N$2.00 to watch the movie and we will provide a health/life skills discussion before the movie starts. The money gained from the entry fee will be used to buy snacks and refreshments.  Hopefully, we can get this started soon! 

This week and last week I have mainly been working on a pen pal program with a teacher in the states (who is amazing and shall remain nameless for her own protection :)). The program will involve 21 of my kids who will write letters back and forth to a fourth grade class in America in order to increase cultural awareness and bring about a cultural exchange.  I work with upwards of 50 kids a week and therefore chose my 21 kids based on their attendance records for the past three months. I have been taking pictures of each of the 21 chosen kids so that the kid in America will know who they are writing to. I’m so excited to see this program get started, as are my kids!

In more personal news… I’m going to Malawi at the end of this month!! Myself and two other volunteers will be going to a musical festival and will be gone for 13 days. I am so excited! Stay tuned for the full update on the trip!

Here are some other random things I've done this month!

I went hiking with my kids 

I attended a Namibian Birthday party

and a Namibian wedding!

Well... That's all folks!