Half way through August the wind still blows and the morning chill is as strong as it has been this winter, yet the days have become hotter. There has not been rain in months and the oshanas are drying, both from the sun and the cattle’s thirst. The sun continues to shine, regardless of the intensity of its rays and the schedule of night and day. Naturally, however, the earth’s rotation is changing and winter is becoming summer, passing over a brief spring. Soon September will bring back the heat that is only bearable for those who watch the sun from inside the house. Even inside, though, we are experiencing changes; we are not the only ones trying to avoid the coming weather. The mosquitoes have snuck back into the house and the ants are attempting new ways to enter. They prepare as the people do. At night, the mosquitoes sing a not so melodic lullaby and, just about every morning, there is a queue of ants making their way through the sugar to the watering hole that is a sink.
Space, though, is not an issue for those who inhabit northern Namibia. People do own land, but ownership holds its own unique meaning. Those who own land can do as much as say it is theirs. They have the ability, by law, to control who comes and goes, but that is not a part of their culture. Space belongs to god, and god shares his space with everybody. Therefore, I can not deny the right of the mosquito or the ant to enter, when they are coming in the house for the same reason as I am.
Let me tell you more about space and why I write about it. It is currently the August examination period and the learners are at work studying or “reading their books.” Each learner is in a class and each class has its designated room with desks and chairs. Ideally, this is the perfect study space for the learners, kind of like how we had study space in the college library. Unlike the library where silence was enforced, and very much like college, where group study led to procrastination, forty learners studying in one room can have its disadvantages.
Luckily, though, we are located on a huge piece of land with many nooks and crannies to find the appropriate level of peace needed to reach each individual’s need. When the exam period begins, the learners spread out and stake claim to their study space. Because space can be used by anybody, even my space is up for grabs. I look out my window and there are learners sitting right outside. I go out my back door, and the yard is filled. This has its pros and cons. When I am bored, I go outside and always have somebody to talk to. When I need something from the tuk shop, I can just send a learner. If my laundry is dry, I can always find someone to help me fold. Unfortunately, though, it is almost impossible to take a nap or even escape from the loud staff room for temporary silence because of the chit chat and study conversations just outside my house. The worst is when I have to use the toilet and there are a group of young girls sitting directly outside my window. Sometimes I have to hold it until they leave for a meal or for the night, so that I can go without shame.
These nuisances are only minimal. This is my second time dealing with it, and I have learned that there is nothing I can really do about it. In reality, it is their space just as much as mine. I don’t even own my house; it is property of the Ministry of Education. They are using it in order to better their education. Sharing is the culture and I am not here to change their ways of doing things. I am here to learn how they do things. Even when I walk through the campus and pass by other teachers’ houses, they are swamped with learners and their doors are even open. The learners can pass through for a drink of water or even to use the toilet. It is funny, when I see one of my learners on the street with somebody, he/she always introduces the other person as his/her brother or sister. It is true; everybody is your brother or sister. We were all created by the same being to live and work together. As a result, if you walk by my house in the afternoon, you will see an oshilumbu sitting in his backyard with a bunch of Namibian learners, talking, eating, studying or just being, as He meant for us to be.
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One of my most recent struggles has been finding a way to respond to my twelfth grade learners. This term is very important for them because this report card is the one they use to apply to university. The requirements for entering university are few, but English is the one that causes the trouble. As most of you already know, most learners in senior secondary school fail English. Last term, I had 200/200 learners fail their English exam. Failing marks include E, F, G, U. The English requirement for acceptance into The University of Namibia (UNAM) is a D and for The Polytechnic is an E. These requirements are good for a country that has chosen English as its official language and that is coming closer and closer to becoming a developed country in this globalized world. The problem is how this is executed within the education system. The answer is not easy to identify, but the fact that all of these brilliant learners are being denied higher education because of English is a problem. The biggest problem that I see is their foundation at the primary level. For many, it is atrocious. There are positive steps being made to better the system, including hard work by the Minister to better primary education and programs such as NAMCOL which is a series of classes offered to prepare people to retake a failed exam beyond grade twelve. Still many learners are discouraged after constant failure and just give up.
The other night, a few learners came to my house and begged me to give them Ds so that they can apply. Unfortunately I am not able to just give any grade I think a person deserves. While their pleas were going through my mind, I remembered a part of my senior thesis that spoke about Ngugi wa’Thiongo, who argued that African literature should be written in the native language rather than English. I wrote, “[He] believes that colonialism was an attempt to control African culture by controlling the mind. Being forced to speak in a foreign language, Africans are not able to fully articulate themselves and are, therefore, subject to the colonizer.” In many ways this applies to my learners. The smartest learners can not apply to University because of English. English is preventing many of those who come from the northern regions of Namibia from entering higher education. Every day in class, I try to get my learners to think for themselves. We read a story, magazine article or newspaper clipping and I want them to tell me what they think, how they feel, how it relates to them. On the exam, they answer reading comprehension questions with direct quotes. When I ask them to write an essay about what a story means to them, they just copy parts of the plot. In reality, it is not that they can’t think, it is that they can’t articulate themselves in English. Without English, many Namibians can not articulate themselves in their own country or even to their own country because of their situation and struggle to get through English. Once again, Namibia’s steps towards development are commendable, but the process of developing in today’s world is unfortunate.
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