Superman Makes For Super English

Metaha,

This week’s class began with both adults and children raising their voices in song. This is always a refreshing start to a class. It brings out smiles and laughter and also expels energy the children buildup sitting in school all day. Naturally, it was difficult to truly capture the enthusiasm in photos but we will do our best to capture it with words and eventually we will capture it via digital camera. Then you can experience what we are lucky to experience every Friday.

This week and next week we are focused on English understanding and there is no better way to expose second language learners to English than through Hollywood. We are watching “Superman" and engaging the learners in language activities geared to increase conversational English, reading, writing and vocabulary. There are frequent checks for understanding and discussion of the plot. We are fortunate to have the captions on so the children can hear and read what is happening. And the Volunteers are not the only teachers. It was amazing to watch older children assist the younger ones. Future Red Cross Volunteers perhaps? The learners conversed in small groups to help each other put the pieces of the movie together. A vocabulary activity we implemented was asking the children to remember one word they did not understand or know the meaning of. As the terms surfaced, we went through the definitions to assist with understanding. Once we can supply the children with journals, we will be able to add more of a written component for the lessons. In this way, we touch on the four essential pieces necessary for second language learners: reading, writing, listening and speaking.


This Friday we will finish the movie and continue to practice English. We are excited to watch the children discover the classic story of “Superman". We wish you a safe and productive week.

Until next time…Uhara Nawa

Never to old to learn something new...

Moro,

The last three weeks have been as hectic as usual. Namibia celebrated its Independence recently and the kids have been busy with school. The holiday and busy school schedule meant our Friday program had to be adjusted. However, last Friday, sixteen children arrived eager to review their evaluations they filled out weeks before. This activity helped them in many ways by having them hear English from the volunteers and helping understand what mistakes they had made. The volunteers helped increase understanding and asked the children more questions to expand the learning process. The volunteers have begun to brainstorm more accurate ways to assist the children through this process. One in particular was to have the children translate the English answers into their home language and vise versa. It appears young or old, we are all benefiting from this program.

Gabriel Armandu our Otjiherero to Otjiwambo translator.

Our Otjiwambo to English translator

After the impromptu language lesson, we gathered for a game of Adam and Eve. The main purpose of the game was to continue to build relationships between the kids and adults and to simply have some fun.

The children playing Adam and Eve.

As a side note, the evaluations indicated the kids are interested in learning about computers, math, English, bike riding and basic health. The observations from the volunteers have indicated that we must focus on English skills at first to facilitate the instruction of the other needs. As a result, our current focus is English speaking and writing. Finally, we will not meet this Friday due to the long Easter weekend. I wish you all a Happy Easter.

Uhara Nawa

Nineteen kids, three languages, one goal.

Metaha!

Test anxiety, it turns out, is universal. After opening class exchanging simple greetings and commands in English, the kids filled out what the volunteers told them was simply a questionnaire to help decide what should be taught each week. The kids, convinced they were being given a wicked, evil exam, were not thrilled. After curbing their fears, the volunteers worked diligently to translate the form into three different languages for the kids so the information could be accurate and useful. It was a mighty task to assist nineteen kids of varied learning stages in multiple languages, but the volunteers made it happen in brilliant fashion.

Uhara Nawa

Sakaria and Meme Taimi helping Angula, and Uerijameka start the evaluation.

Blaundina and Meme Hilya translating.

Reginaard explains instructions to Mbatenga and Toini.

New Clothes. Old Dances.

In the last two sessions we have supplied many children with pants, shirts, and socks for the year. We are grateful for the donation from NRCS and both volunteers and the kids expressed their gratitude through dance. In addition, these celebrations, which are on the video, are an opportunity to pass on cultural dances from adult to child.

Rainy Days

Hello and Good Day,

It is the rainy season in Namibia and water is such a blessing, but it can also make things difficult. Since most of the guardians rely on foot travel to come to the meeting, the rains kept them from making the three or four kilometer walk to the office this past Friday. But true to their word 24 of the children showed up in great spirits, despite the downpour. The volunteers sprung into action, entertaining the children with songs and dances. In the final half hour of the session the children sat quietly and watched a video, Aladdin, to finish out the day. We have rescheduled the child/guardian meeting for another week; we will keep our fingers crossed for early rain showers.

Until next time, Uhara Nawa

Filling out some paperwork, teaching kids how to sign their name.

Watching a video, it will be so great to have a TV and DVD player!

Pictures and Administrative items

Hello and Good day!

This week we had 18 of our children arrive half an hour early brimming with anticipation for the weekly class. The Omapitiro Weyuva program is certain to be a success. On this particular Friday we took care of necessary administrative details with the children and then snapped individual and group photos. The kids love showing off for the camera and it was exciting to capture their smiling faces. Below are a couple of pictures of the children entertaining themselves while the Red Cross Volunteers worked on getting the needed information.

Until next time, Uhara Nawa!

Smiling kids with a few volunteers!

Blaundina, taking down needed information.

Here are a couple kids drawing on old phone books, can't wait until they get their journals!!

Thank You, this is just the beginning!

Hello Everyone!

Welcome to the Omapitiro Weyuva blog, which will be used to inform you about the all the wonderful things the children in the after school program will be learning and experiencing. We hope to update the blog each week with pictures, stories, and anything the children would like to publish. We first want to introduce you to those who are making this program possible for the children of Opuwo. Below is a picture of the dedicated group of Namibian volunteers that have a personal interest in helping the children gain extra life skills.

(In Picture; Top to bottom, Left to Right: Titus, Sakalia, Hilya, Rauna, Blaundina, Monica, Mrs. Mutambo-Kunene Regional Manager and little Pejero (Rauna's baby), Reginaanld, Taimi)

The beginning of the school year is traditionally marked with athletics in the afternoons, so our kids are busy right now. In the office, we are finishing up all the needed paperwork and finalizing the schedule of Omapitiro Weyuva. The program will begin in earnest next month (March 2009). We will meet Friday afternoons from 15:00pm-17:00pm. The volunteers will teach specific topics of the week. Some topics may last longer than the two-hour period and will carry over the next week.

We would like to thank you for all your support. You have made Omapitiro Weyuva a reality. It means so much to the community, volunteers, and mostly the children. They are very excited for the future months to show you all their hard work. Okuhepa Tjinene!!