A Call to Action: PART I- the story…

Hostel Project

This morning we laid the second to last brick of our foundation. The
foundation- the strongest layer of a building; the strongest layer of
ourselves. Our roots, our life source, our pool from which we pull
energy during difficult times. The foundation- unbreakable,
reinforced with empowerment of the individual and unifying the
community. A pivotal brick in our Hostel Project foundation is the
learners. For bureaucratic purposes- 'the beneficiaries.' But if we
address a situation with labels other than names- Franz, Ana, Ndeshi,
Lucas- then we are raping the foundation of its identity. We take away
the human factor. "we need to make this place better so people
walking by will know that ah, people live there."

We need to make this place better so people walking by will know that
PEOPLE live there- PEOPLE, HUMANS, CHILDREN- this comment from Lucas
this morning speaks volumes. People now pass by and see
accommodations unfit for dogs.

Is that where you live? Do you wake up in a bed, with a roof over
your head, with clean walls and clean floors, with a kitchen down the
hall full of food that you will eat to satisfy your morning hunger?
Do you wake up in that environment and feel like a PERSON? Do you
feel like an empowered, valued, important contributing member of
society? Or do you wake up in filth? Do you wake up in a wire twin bed
frame with sheets as a mattress NEXT TO your sister because there are
not enough beds? Do you wake up wondering if there will be porridge
waiting for you so you don't have to go hungry to school? Do you wake
up with mosquitoes and water born diseases from a leaking roof? COULD
YOU WAKE UP IN THAT AND FEEL LIKE A PERSON?

For the past seven months I have been working on a project with my
community. A problem was identified and we have been taking baby
steps, laying the foundation, for its solution. Pastor Karueyva and
Tate Ndadi, two prominent community leaders approached me in April of
this year about the hostel conditions for learners at Nkurenkuru
Combined School. Like many schools in Namibia, learners live nine
months out of the year in Hostels assigned to their individual school.
Learners are able to go home for school holidays and 'out weekends'
allowing them to see their families, work on the farm and/or take care
of any other household responsibilities. During the school year
however, learners pack a bag and head for their respective hostel
schools to live, to eat, to sleep, to study, to play; to grow up. In
Nkurenkuru Town, a newly proclaimed town in Namibia, Africa, the
hostels housing 150 learners are utterly inhumane. Eroding walls and
ceilings, standing water in the bathroom and showers which only
perpetuates the Malaria epidemic (Nkurenkuru is situated in a Malaria
hot-zone), an outdoor 'kitchen' with two large pots, and piles of
trash acting as landfills adjacent to the hostel bedrooms, wire framed
beds with no or extremely thin foam mattresses and few mosquito nets
covering the learners while they sleep- the picture I am painting is
hardly doing the situation justice.

If learners are expected to be alert, productive, and healthy students
in their classrooms they certainly deserve a suitable place to lay
their heads at night. Basic human rights are being violated and we are
trying to do something about it. If this project is not implemented
learners will go on living in these terrible conditions. The hope we
will have instilled in them by starting the project, but not seeing it
through, will be ripped away and will add to a mentality of
hopelessness. Therefore, in the eyes of Nkurenkuru, incompletion of
the project is not an option.

After several small meetings with the pastor and Tate Ndadi I was able
to come home and talk a bit about this project at our church The
Journey. This step was another piece of the puzzle- spreading the
word, getting the momentum going, planting the seed so when ready, we
could mobilize not only the local but international community to
address this issue. From the discussion at The Journey I came back
and held a meeting at the school with the teachers to talk about
partnering with a school (or multiple schools) in the states for
service learning projects. "Letter writing is part of our syllabus
and we just have the learners write to something fake. If we can
write to someone it will make it real, it will make it important. We
can share our stories and share our culture and learn about their
culture too." - Ms. Muronga, English teacher. Christine Muronga sees
the need for hands on learning- coupling teaching with action- now we
are going to help her implement that idea by partnering with Kathy
Buck and the learners at Clinton Young Elementary School in Indianapolis to start
building relationships and eventually addressing needs listed above.

After the meeting with the teachers, we scheduled a community meeting
but it was postponed because of three funerals on the same day at the
church….That didn't stop our momentum, however, and this morning we
met with the learners at the hostel. "I am in the business of
solutions, not the business of problems. We all see with our own eyes
what the problems are…let's talk this morning about solutions." I
led a discussion on how, before we look abroad, we have to look at
hom; we have to look inside and with every problem identified we must
think "what can I do?" "what is MY part?" We talked about
empowerment, creating change in ourselves to affect change on the
outside, leadership and responsibility. We ended with a raucous chant
"I AM" "THE SOLUTION" "I AM" "THE SOLUTION" TOGETHER!! " WE ARE" THE
SOLUTION!!

After our rescheduled community meeting, the final step on laying our
foundation, we will be entering the next phase of our solution. Our
vision to see these learners in a better environment, in a suitable
environment for PEOPLE.

Soon we will be asking the international community for help. For your
energy. For your time. For your money. These things will not be
asked for in a premature fashion. This 'ask' is coming after 7 months
of mobilizing a community that wants to help itself. A community that
doesn't want to "open our mouths and shut our eyes to gifts from those
abroad" – Pastor Karuyeva. This is a community who is putting in
effort on the ground- we will be making our own bricks, doing the
construction of the building, holding educational classes on
cleanliness and hygiene, community clean-ups, pen pal programs, local
fundraisers, and taking the steps to guarantee sustainability by
knowing how to take care of our new environment when the project is
completed. This is a community that is willing to put in effort to
create their own reality but also humble enough to recognize they are
not an island. They do indeed need a hand from those on the outside.

Not a hand that will keep them crippled, dependent on foreign aid or
reliant on others playing a super hero- but a hand that acknowledges
and affirms a global community. A hand that reflects a global cry for
human rights and value placed on EVERY human life.

A conscious hand that will take in consideration all of the layers
that have created this current living situation: colonialism,
apartheid, corruption, situational and generational poverty, apathy
rooted in the constant devaluing of human life.

We have three goals of our project: mattresses for every learner,
mosquito nets for every learner, and a new hostel building for the
girls. It took five years for a hostel to be built for the boys- they
now have their new building but have yet to move in….

A new home, new beds, new nets- this will happen with a collective
effort. It takes a village….as Americans we beat this phrase to
death- but that is the message here in Nkurenkuru and that is our
message to you at home. Join our village and help raise these
children.

Soon there will be a projected budget and a tax-deductible link where
you can donate money for the new hostel building. If you are a
teacher and want to partner with a classroom here for a pen-pal
program or to do a service learning project to help raise money for
mattresses you can contact me any time. (buffiesh@gmail.com) It's
US$18 for one mattress and there are 150 learners. If you want to
write letters to thank the women of Indianapolis Women's Prison for
their hard-work and dedication to this project by assembling 150
mosquito nets for us, please contact Ron Branson
Ronald.branson@yahoo.com and share your thoughts. Ron was such a big
first step in helping this project start to take form!!

There are many ways to play a part in this project, in this community,
in the lives of these children who are the next generation of
teachers, community leaders, doctors, nurses, journalists, councilmen
and women, mothers, fathers…. At the very least, we ask you, I ask
you, to join us in our reflection and our mantra as we move forward in
creating our own reality: WHAT IS MY PART?

just playin with my favorite monkey. shiku, not chaz:)