Newsletter article

Below is an article I wrote for our group newsletter and was also sent to the Local Newspaper in Revelstoke:

Greetings from Namibia!

Now that we have finally settled ourselves in Swakopmund, Namibia I thought it was time to send an update as to how the Canada World Youth Program is going and as well to extend a huge Thank You to all the numerous community members in Revelstoke who volunteered their time and energy to make the program a huge success. We had the most incredible host families, who always went the extra mile to ensure their participants had an amazing experience. While at the same time, we had some very interesting work placements where the participants gained meaningful work experience and learned a lot of new skills and knowledge. Finally, the community as a whole was extremely warm and welcoming, making the participants all feel at home during our three month stay in Revelstoke.

Since we left Revelstoke in late November we have traveled a great distance to our new home in Swakopmund, Namibia where the single biggest difference for us all has been the climate. It is very hot and dry which has meant for Africans or Canadians alike we have all been hit with a sunburn at least once, if not twice when we spend our lazy weekends hanging out at the beach for a game of volleyball or like today for an afternoon “Braai”- Afrikaans for BBQ. The hot climate is due to the fact that Swakopmund is situated on the Atlantic ocean completely surrounded by the Namib Desert. In a lot of ways it appears as though Swakopmund is an unnatural bubble of development situated in the middle of nowhere, since really if the the town were not here there would be nothing on the map but sand. The town itself is extremely well developed and has a lot of the luxuries we are used to having at home, such as Italian ice cream, fast food pizza & French fries, cappuccino, and internet, as Swakopmund is one of Namibia’s main tourist attractions.

Just as in Revelsoke all the participants have been placed with local host families, and in mid December they all began to volunteer at their new work placements. The participants’ volunteer work placements here in Namibia all vary and are quite different from those which they held in Revelstoke. Some participants are working with different government ministries such as the Ministry of the Environment and Tourism and the Ministry of Fisheries; while others are working for the local Municipality and the Regional Council. And finally, some participants are working for local small businesses such as at the Snake Park and Karakulia- a local handwoven carpet making business.

The host families where the participants and I am now living are all diverse and are located in three different suburbs, each of which tends to represent a different socio-economic class of Namibian society. In the township of Mondesa four participants are living in quite basic housing conditions, while in Tamariskia another two pair of participants are living in more modest housing conditions with middle class families. Finally, the rest of us are living in the most developed suburb of Swakopmund known as Vineta with middle to and upper class type families where their homes resemble houses such as ours in Canada. Despite the difference in areas or housing conditions, all the families are great, providing excellent hospitality such as we experienced in Revelstoke