New Pics

I will post a new update in the next week or so, but for now enjoy some new pictures.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=80440&id=511256995&l=dd1cf

One Love.

Types of Books

I appreciate everyone's support for the first ever Mangetti School Library. You can send books anywhere from early childhood books to early chapter books. The learners are not very advanced in their English, but chapter books would be good for my Grade 8-10 learners. Books like Harry Potter would be awesome and anything below that reading level. Really any type of literature is better than no literature. THANK YOU ALL!!! I LOVE YOU!!!!!!

Mangetti...HELP WANTED

THE MANGETTI SKY
I get lost in it every day...

I wrote in my last entry that I would keep you posted on ways in which you can help the learners of Mangetti Combined School. Well, the time has come for the first request for help. :)

I am pleased to announce that today, I began construction and the setting up of the very first school library at Mangetti CS. My amazing principal and I dug out some OLD wooden cupboards and fairly shoddy wood from one of the old restrooms in the school today. Let me just say that it's a good thing we had to get a tetanus shot. I wish I would have taken a picture of this old bathroom (even though it wouldn't have quite captured the amazing aroma). There were broken window panes, old rusty tin roof portions and buried in the were the gems that were going to serve as the starting block to our library. Once we dug out all the random pieces of wood and falling apart shelves, I had my Grade 10 learners help me clean them and move them into one of the new classrooms which I requested to be used as the school library. Today was just day 1, so there is a lot of work to be done yet, but we made some good progress today. This is going to be the greatest recycled, earthy library in the world! We were measuring, sawing, and nailing with a rock (yeah, we didn't have a hammer). Over the next couple days, we are going to do some work with some tree trunks and thick branches that are gathered by our school to make more shelving. It's going to be awesome!

Elias and Uyepa building a bookshelf. I told you we used a rock as a hammer.

We have some books. SOME. Let's just say that we don't have enough for each of our 363 learners. That is where YOU come into play. :)

There are two ways you can help:

1) You can send books and/or magazines, or find an organization that would be willing to send them. PLEASE SEND ME AN EMAIL (keepaustinweird@yahoo.com) WHEN YOU SEND BOOKS SO I CAN HAVE MY PRINCIPAL CHECK HIS PO BOX FOR THE PACKAGE. My newly updated address is:

James Butler
c/o Kalihonda Markus Sipapo
PO Box 2413
Rundu NAMIBIA

**FYI**If you do decide to send some books, it is wise to write "Jesus References" on the box. I'm serious. The post office sees that a package is from the USA and they get curious and have a look and if they like what they see, they sometimes help themselves. We were told that when there are Bible verses, Holy Crosses, Praise Jesus references, etc. they don't mess with it. I'm being completely serious here, but don't let it discourage you from sending books. I'm just passing along a helpful hint.

2) You can make a monetary donation on my website, which I will then order books and other supplies for the school. Here is the list of supplies that I am raising money for:

Books and/or Magazines, Exercise Books (what they write their notes in...not all of the learners have these and this is basically how they learn), Pens, Pencils, Calculators, Textbooks, Dictionaries, Files, Rulers, Erasers and Posters

I have set a goal of raising $2,000 for Mangetti Combined School. If you send a box of books, I will count that towards the goal. The learners are amazing and definitely deserve the library and supplies to get them through this year and beyond. Please pass this website along to anyone who might want to help.

You are all in my thoughts and in my spirit here in Mangetti. Just like the motto of Mangetti Combined School says, "Together We Can Make a Change."

I was only able to upload a few new pictures. Enjoy!
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=75619&l=48322&id=511256995

MANGETTI!! NAMIBIA!!

Where do I begin?? I have so many stories and random tidbits of information to share about my first week that I surely will not be able to share it all now. When I first arrived to Mangetti (which is 60km) from the tar road, we pulled onto the school grounds and stopped right in front of one of the school buildings which had the name of the school and it's motto painted on it. I stepped out of the bus which was blaring my new favorite song, "Kaanave" by Namibian artist Tate Buti and glanced up at the building and felt instantly at home. MANGETTI COMBINED SCHOOL it read in big bold letters. "TOGETHER WE CAN MAKE A CHANGE" was painted amongst the school logo. Instantly. At that moment. I was home. "Are you serious??" I thought. After all, I do kind of have a Gandhi, "Be the change" tattoo on my left wrist. This was amazing. I then met some of the teachers and the principal, who were all very sweet and welcoming. The principal then called on one of the elders in the community to go on a tour of the village with me and show me my living arrangements. When we arrived at my new home, I was greeted by about 10 Afrikaaners who helped me unload my bags from the bus and put my bags into my room. Now when I arrived, I expected to be living in Teacher Housing on school grounds, but the roof is not on the house yet, so my principal arranged for me to stay in the guest house of the NDC Manager. Bottom line, it's REALLY nice. The room that I am staying in, I was informed, is the room that the regional presidents stay in when they come through Mangetti. My friends Katie and Alana had teased me about being treated like a king when I got to my village because it was so far out in the bush and they've never had any type of volunteer, but this was crazy! There are several homes in the village that are concrete and more modern, but the majority of the homes are mud huts. I really thought I was going to live in a mud hut, but I am grateful for the hospitality so I can't complain.

The first week of school flew by! I am teaching Grade 8, 9 and 10 Math and Grade 10 English. The learners are definitely still getting used to having an American teacher and the community is slowly adjusting to having me around, but I am spending a lot of time in "The Location" and speaking as much Rukwangali as I know. "The Location" is the part of the village with all of the mud huts. You can see The Location in some of my pictures in the link below. I definitely have a lot of work to do with my learners. They are probably on 3rd grade level (according to US standards) in Math and English, and that might be a bit high. The principal is amazing and super friendly, but is definitely relying on me a lot to help the colleagues because of my teaching experience. He has referred to me as an "expert" on several occasions which I find flattering and humorous at the same time.

The highlight of the first week has been my afternoon runs with the village children. After afternoon study (which ends at 5pm), I start running through the location and waving kids along to run with me. We run all through the location, up the gravel road (mind you, they are all running barefoot), through some cattle farm roads and the soccer field, into the location again and finish at the school grounds. By the end of the run, I usually have 40-50 children (usually around the ages of 5-10 years old) running with me! It is so amazing. When we finish at the school grounds, I lead some clapping and then "MANGETTI! NAMIBIA!" chants and finish with high fives for everyone. They really loved it when I taught them how to high five. I really can't describe how awesome it is to run through the village with the kids. I wish all of you could experience it with me.

Before I wrap up, here are a few interesting tidbits of info about my village and the first week. The first night, I heard a jackal outside of my door. My principal informed me that there are elephants, lions, tigers, hyenas, jackals, kudu and wild dogs that can be seen from time to time in the village. One of my colleagues taught me a trick on my cell phone to get periodic, sporadic cell service which involves me walking around a certain point on the gravel road in town holding my phone up like a crazy person. It sounds funny, and it is, but many of the teachers do it. And last, but certainly not least: our school has 375 learners, of which about 250 come from farm workers families from as far as 90km away. If they are coming from these farms, they stay in the location, in a mud hut, by themselves. If there is an older brother or sister, the younger ones are taken care of. This means that there are some 5-10 year olds fending for themselves in mud huts for weeks at a time. Yeah, SUPER SAD! I will be helping my principal with proposals for getting a hostel built at my school. It's ridiculous. No child should have to do that. Keep an eye out for what you might be able to do to help this and other situations at the school which are in dire need of assistance.

My flickr account wasn't working very well, but I uploaded pictures on facebook and you can see the pictures on the link below. ENJOY!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=73423&l=b1bfa&id=511256995

Much love from Namibia. "Together We Can Make a Change"