By Harrish Thirukumaran<\/strong><\/p>\n Moses Garub \u2013 \u2018The Kids-Soup Kitchen\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n On the last Namibian Sunday, my group and I had volunteered at a local soup kitchen in Katutura called Moses Garube that was organized by man named Samuel Kapepo. It has been built to help feed poor Namibian street children from succumbing to hunger.<\/p>\n The 2013 Brock University Namibia Group-pic by Dan<\/p><\/div>\n It was also a way to raise awareness of the continuous plight of today\u2019s youth by assisting them directly or indirectly in the community. It is routinely opened and ran on Wednesdays and Sundays. Yet, Wednesday operations had been recently shutdown due to the lack of volunteers. Once the boiling of rice had gone underway, Kapepo had arranged a large group building type of exercise, where all volunteers including us Canadian volunteers had formed a circle going around and introducing ourselves. Basically, you were to \u2018loudly\u2019 say your name, country of origin and current studies. The activity brought upon a friendly and positive atmosphere among the centre. It was nice to hear about the other volunteer\u2019s origins and purposes in Namibia as well, like there was a couple of German volunteers who had been in the country for awhile. There were many local volunteers who I considered to be prosperous in their native home such that they are able to attend high education in colleges in universities. There were some people who were studying accounting and tourism as majors.<\/p>\n The icebreaker had even presented the soup kitchen organizer Kapepo\u2019s enthusiastic and easygoing personality, which was joyous to see from him. Ideally, he is seen as an exceptional role model for the children as he is lively but does value proper behavior of all people in addition to the children. His speech had also exemplified the belief that a collective group is heavily required to boost prosperity through providing small assistance to communities.<\/p>\n During that day, the amount of contributors had crucially helped to contain hunger in the Katutura community by serving its youth. The idea also went along the lines of guaranteeing social capital formation that is important to handle various differential community interests. I thought it felt family-oriented which also stemmed from Kappepo fondly labeled us as \u2018brothers and sisters,\u201d. I thought it was motivating to be involved with a larger diverse group of volunteers and all aiming to make a difference.<\/p>\n The Meaning of African Volunteerism<\/strong><\/p>\n Later on, we were offered to voice our opinions on the common issue of AIDS that has been prevalent in Namibia and the continent. The main interpretation of the disease is that it is a repetitive cycle flown from numerous social and economic concerns that negatively affects the nation. Overall, most notions had developed that AIDS must be suppressed by gaining insight through many socioeconomic perspectives and topics to realistically deal with the epidemic.<\/p>\n That being tied to this phenomenon that it is created from a lack of improvement in certain economic or educational fields. For instance, millions of young men and women can unknowingly contract the disease if they lack the knowledge on preventing it. This being due to inadequate education systems that isn\u2019t as prioritized by governments. In addition, economic costs of sufficient education can be exceedingly high based on certain household income statuses. In which, many are deprived of intelligence surrounding prevention of AIDS.<\/p>\n Economically, stagnating job creation and inflation can take a heavy toll on low-income households and unemployed which can stall proper insurance benefits to help sustain a moderate living. Socially, it can place a heavy burden on men and women when applying for beneficial social programs. The worst – case scenario being that of women especially could resort to prostitution to earn income, which increases their chances of getting the disease along with decrease in numbers of women in the population.<\/p>\n From AIDS to alcoholism, the basic concept theorized in the discussion is the idea that most political issues must be gradually dealt with based on varying perspectives related to the problem. That to successfully eliminate these problematic affairs you must provide an outlook on contributing to the issues that connects to the main dilemma such as AIDS. The analysis was undoubtedly impactful to hear as it had taught that the African people are just as determined to solve their issues by clearly working together to raise a loud voice towards all individual governments.<\/p>\n Food is ready<\/strong><\/p>\n Afterwards, the food was ready to be served soon and all the children had gathered inside the enclosed area where they all sat patiently as everything was being prepared. At this point, Kapepo had firmly expressed his own life teachings to the kids such as knowing when to show respect to others. He also spoke along general ability in safely crossing the busy streets after being allowed to go home.<\/p>\n It was curious seeing how he enlisted me and one other Brockmember Annie, in where he had acted out what would happen when you don\u2019t look both ways and when you do to cross a street. Though it seems somewhat mature for their ages it was a fundamental aspect to learn about daily living. In its own way since most of the youth were stereotypically street kids the basic teaching would also help them safely navigate around their antagonistic surroundings. Next, the children had all kindly organized into two single file lines to wash their hands and obtain the servings.<\/p>\n All the volunteers had pitched in grabbing a few plates and handing them to the grateful children. Their satisfactory meal had composed of rice, chicken and potato stew, and a small bag of chips. Our group and the others were also offered leftover meals as well. Since being accustomed to being a vegetarian I had plain rice and chips, which was fine with me. This project was an absolute success based on my opinion and Kapepo through seeing all the smiling faces during the lunch. The day was accompanied with nice weather and it was enjoyable to feel integrated in the Namibian community by volunteering for the residents. The sheer inspirational environment from the volunteers, the children, and Kapepo had made the project worthwhile to do again if offered another opportunity.<\/p>\n BNC – The Lasting Precious Moments<\/strong><\/p>\n For the last week in Namibia, we had returned to the BNC where our group had prepared to construct a play day on Wednesday as a gift for the outstanding students. In retrospect, they themselves had also arranged a treat for our contributions to the BNC. Before the excitement, we had spent quality time during the first two days back. <\/p>\n While planning the extravaganza, a few of my co-volunteers and I had to pre-occupy some of the kids to prevent them of learning of the surprise. So I had spent some more time with Ben along with Alpertino, Denzel, John, and Mae. It was interesting to note that before officially meeting Mae (not her real name), MaryBeth had explained she was a bit mentally challenged tied in with being an impulsive kleptomaniac to some degree. However, I had noticed she did not purposely exhibit those qualities and was seen as an entirely friendly person who had a particular talent for drawing. I think she is a goal-oriented individual, as it seemed she desires and pursues art as her pleasure. <\/p>\n Inside the classroom, I had played some board games with Ben and John. We played checkers, which I actually didn\u2019t know very well but Ben and John had the courtesy to teach me the rules. They were both engaging games as it had also showed me the impressive amount of skill the two had in making their moves and understanding how to gain an advantage. I had even got good hits on their own checker pieces myself, where I felt proud considering I\u2019ve never really tried the game.<\/p>\n Getting to actually play the game had also taught me how long the game can go which can be exhausting as opponents can repeatedly make the same moves to prevent themselves from losing pieces. In the end, it was crazy that they both beat me but it comes to show that they have viable intelligence to contemplate a sophisticated game like checkers. The instances had also represented that MaryBeth is doing a fine job in boosting their intellectual capacity to get by in life and not just by athletics. Their profound abilities had even transcended to that of chess, which is far more complicated than checkers.<\/p>\n Alongside Denzel and Innocent we had played a bug matching game, which was just as fun as checkers and was more of a leisurely game. Although I haven\u2019t mentioned Denzel around this time I was able to spend time with him. It was somewhat rough for him as he was a 15-year-old physically and mentally disabled youth. However, he is an enriching character who embraces many capabilities to thrive off of. <\/p>\n His motivational attitude has stemmed from fortunately transitioning durability from a wheelchair to basic walkers where he can actually move just like others around him. It was also comforting to always see a wide smile on his face no matter his current surroundings. <\/p>\n During the game, It was amazing to see his capacity to differentiate the cards and clearly identify the same cards to ensure the match. He had won the most games, 2nd to Innocent. Being at 3rd place did not matter to me as it was all about testing the skills the children had possessed. For the remainder before the BNC surprise, I had played a card game called Spot It with Ben, Innocent, and Alpertino, drawings with Ben and Delano, and basketball in the courtyard.<\/p>\n A Memorable Gift<\/strong><\/p>\n Soon after, the event was ready to commence and the students had all gathered various chairs from their classrooms and set them up in the playground centre area all in precise rows and columns for everyone to sit and watch the BNC\u2019s choir performance show. The event felt very much like an auditorium-styled event in an outdoor setting. The mural of the Namibian flag and world map provided a perfect backdrop for the choir\u2019s representative Namibian culture. The choir girls had all dressed up in stylish pink dresses while the guys had dressed with similar pattern pink shirts and black pants. They had played a wide array of songs using an African drum instrumental while they were all singing and dancing. It was a delightful performance to watch with many of the songs sounding recognizable from the regular days at the BNC.<\/p>\n It was amazing to see how many of the students often sang when they were socializing with each other. Yet, it felt more appreciative to allow them to formally express that passion through a serious well-choreographed ensemble. Their songs had ranged from tunes like \u201cWelcome to Namibia\u201d to \u201cNamibia\u2019s finest\u201d all of which contained English and Damara. \u201cNamibia\u2019s Finest\u201d would be considered my favorite as there was an excellent tune flowing throughout along with the spontaneous mini duet dances between the boys and girls. I thought this song had really put the performance over the top. The last day at the BNC had definitely concluded on a good note stemmed from the choir extravaganza.<\/p>\n Play Day: An Everlasting Influence on the BNC<\/strong><\/p>\n On Wednesday, we had setup the festivities for the play day for the BNC kids as a gift to ensure an amazing holiday break along with seeing their educational and personal cooperation during their recess. The play day was actually held in a local park in Katutura that my group visited during the Township tour with Patrick. The park had a somewhat rough ground with pieces of glass so we had to ensure that all the children had proper footwear. The group had also made loads of pasta salad and gathered apples for the kids during the lunch break.<\/p>\n Once the park was organized for the play day, the first group of kids had arrived in the van and it was absolutely hysterical and touching seeing their cheery, overwhelmed faces as they stepped out of the vehicle, where they even verbally responded with a little thank you song. The event first started out informally where we had allowed the children to freely play around the park. Most of the kids joyfully went near the lake with curiosity, skipping rocks and having fun in which I had joined as well. It was great seeing their enthusiastic faces while they were playing catch, tag, or the parachute game as well. It had also been nice to know that some of the children were familiar with the park such as Junior, reminiscing how he came to the park when he was much younger accompanied by his family and small pet dog.<\/p>\n When all the children arrived, the real activities had soon got underway as characterized by a few kids\u2019 snooping. The activities held were various different physical team-building stations where the kids were split into individual coloured teams and were competing against each other in the stations based upon ability and sportsmanship. They were guaranteed points on their amount of 1st place winnings in each station tied in with their accumulation of acceptable integrity. Some stations involved a water balloon toss and a spelling contest where members had to spell out NAMIBIA using tennis balls.<\/p>\n My station leader, Dan and I had worked on the \u2018Frog Relay Race\u2019. In our station, it was a basic foot race in which the competitors had to race each other with restrictions like grabbing onto ankles and as a frog. The coloured team that had all players sitting down first determined the winner. Points were awarded to both teams winner and loser if they showed encouragement and integrity for each other such as properly congratulating the winning team or refraining from cheating ploys. The exertion of skill on the relay race was great to see amongst the children. They had truly channeled their own efforts to actually succeed in the games even though they were just for fun. <\/p>\n It was satisfying as well to see that the team members were able to deliver good words of confidence along with showing genuine kindness in the competitive races. The station was honestly a joyous pleasure to be in charge of as it was great to see the athletic ability of the children and seeing them work together as a team. From Dino, Ben, Elias, Lorenzo, Brumelda, Beauty, Johanness, John, and so many others it was terrific to see them laugh and enjoy themselves from the station\u2019s amusement.<\/p>\n I was certain that the kids had as much fun at the numerous other stations especially at the water balloon toss where players were happily surprised when they were splashed by the popped balloons. After a full complete rotation of the posts, the main formal field day event was finished where the exhausted players were offered a well-deserved lunch break. During lunch, we had noticed there were still considerable amounts of water balloons left. So as a premeditated plan devised and approved with MaryBeth, Christina, and Geraldine, we had decided to deplete them through a large water balloon fight. To make it discreet, Marybeth had \u2018arranged\u2019 a Simon Says game with all the kids where we had placed the buckets and ourselves in \u2018strategic\u2019 positions. It was funny, as players had already started to suspect on our little charade.<\/p>\n Soon after, we were given the signal once Mary had playfully said \u201cSimon Says all Canadians throw water balloons!\u201d which proceeded with ensuing chaotic fun where all the kids had dispersed around the park avoiding the balloons. Soon, it was crazy as the kids started to turn the tables on us where they had cleverly filled up water jugs, plastic bags, and bottles to get us soaked, which was absurdly successful judged by our drenched clothes.<\/p>\n From my perspective, the alteration from formality to informality was considered to be a significant attribute of our communication with the BNC and Namibia itself. After all the water balloon frenzy excitement settled down it was drawing near the end of the play day and it was time for the kids to return back to the BNC. Before the choleric moment, we had all gathered for one final group photo with the children sporting their new Brock sunglasses that were sent by our group. The closing goodbyes were intimately delicate to go through as it was deeply saddening to do.<\/p>\n The emotions surrounding the moments were formed internally and externally. It was even pretty rough for the students struggling to say farewell especially the young ones. Although, we were able to manage it by reminding everyone of the great times created from the BNC and the individuals themselves. That along with how their charisma definitely made the experience unforgettable such as Johanness\u2019 commitment to keep the BNC clean forever. Emotionally, I felt there was this idea that they always had a smile on their faces that generated an impossibility of yourself containing a frown no matter what the day brings about.<\/p>\n Those last few interactions, highlighted the unique character of the youth cultivated by the BNC and sealed our hearty enduring relations. The facility may be known as the Bernard Nordkamp Centre but ultimately the children will demonstrate why it\u2019s called \u201cBest Namibian Children.\u201d<\/p>\n With the BNC students-pic by Dan<\/p><\/div>\n What Has Been Achieved from Africa?<\/strong><\/p>\n Since returning back home to Canada and New Jersey, It has felt like an extremely fluctuating transition to resume daily routines in the \u2018First World\u2019 from the \u2018Third World\u2019. Though I was with a Brock group, my abroad program in Namibia had also granted myself an increased sense of independence by discovering the actual affairs of Africa as compared to North American projected views. I had realized that Africa namely Namibia has a well-structured political format along with a stable economy ensuring a solid social lifestyle. I believe in a way having taken up the opportunity to witness Africa has also shaped my tolerance and views when reading or seeing news related to Africa.<\/p>\n The recurring idea is that you never really understand the cultural complexities of a place until you directly uncover it on your own. <\/p>\n The difficulty attained from the trip as well has also been trying to reiterate the entire trip into a clear cut answer to questions like \u201cHow was it?\u201d In addition, I have wondered what our Brock influence had put upon the various children in Namibia. It had been noted that we had been internationally volunteering there on their holiday break. So the question might be has our Canadian influence positively impacted their persons in the pursuit of an education?<\/p>\n Going to Africa and coming back to our realities has also made me realize that you should not undervalue the importance of an education and to not plague yourself with unwanted ignorance.<\/p>\n At times, it is difficult to be applicable to an education but in Namibia it is an intangible symbolic tool that is regularly preached and crafted by the BNC, which strives to be manually sustained for the benefit of the deprived youth. Their mission should be followed as an example to realize the excellency of our education system along with continuously learning more ways to maintain it just like Namibia.<\/p>\n I have felt considerably thankful for all the Namibians I have met for their stories and their understandings of themselves and life. I gratefully thank the tennis students for actually inspiring myself to reaffirm my interest in tennis since returning that had been lacking for some time. I am also thankful for Ben whom I worked closely with and was able to learn more about his character and ability at the BNC. I thank Delano and Sylvester for generously offering to help clean and organize the supply container. I am thankful for the BNC\u2019s amazing choir gift to us for our devoted service to the BNC. I thank Shaun Awaseb for his kind friendship and hospitality at the Wadadee House.<\/p>\n Overall, I am thankful for being able to volunteer internationally in Africa for the first time while learning more about myself along the way. [Series concluded]<\/em><\/p>\n (Harrish Thirukumaran attends second year at Brock University, Ontario, during 2013-14)<\/em><\/p>\n Part I: A Notebook from Namibia: Window on Windhoek<\/a><\/p>\n Part II: Children Achieving Prosperity by Prioritizing Education<\/a><\/p>\n Part III: Instilling Patience and Social Skills via Sportsmanship<\/a><\/p>\n Part IV: Discovering Social Divide and Desert Transitioning to Oceans and Beaches<\/a><\/p>\n Part V: Rich wildlife prosperity and calming peace<\/a><\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/Namibia1Dan1213-600x337.jpg\")
\n
\nWe had worked alongside other international and regular Namibian volunteers where we interacted with one another to understand each other. First off, all cups, plates, and pots had to be properly washed and rinsed for cooking and eating. Dan and I had gathered buckets of water where I had rinsed out multiple plates, bowls, and cups. The kitchen had been preparing cooked rice, chicken, and potatoes for the youngsters. It was like all of us were moving as a human assembly line to clean the dishware and making the food. It really demonstrated how well multiple volunteers can sustain an excellent preparation process. <\/p>\n![\"With](\"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/Namibia2Dan12131-600x337.jpg\")