The end of term 3

So, time to catch up with blog posts! At the end of the last term (term 3) Daisy and I had to help invigilate with some of the Grade 7 exams, which basically just meant that we had a nice chance to sit at the back of the exam hall, listening to our iPods and working on our Christmas cards for our families!













Of course even exams here had a true Namibian style to them. There were days when learners would sleep in and miss their exams, or they simply couldn't be bothered to turn up. The were kids seemingly giving up 10 minutes into a 60 minute exam and just going to sleep on their desks, and other kids not thinking to bring anything to write with, meaning that we had to hand out a ridiculous number of pens.

There was one exam when a learner had to be dragged out of the exam hall by the teacher, while she tried to kick him and stab him with her pen. Another exam where every single child was beaten by the teacher for misbehaving - Daisy and I quickly left the exam hall so that we didn't have to watch.

But there were amusing moments as well, like watching as the learners had to carry all of their desks and chairs backwards and forwards to the dining hall every single day in the boiling heat. Not something that you would see in England!







There was an amazing evening when we sat in the hostel yard watching a lightning storm. Tses itself was dry, but in a circle around us we could hear thunder and see lightning. We dragged a couple of arm chairs out into the yard and sat there watching the lightning and chatting, while i recorded videos of the amazing storm (unfortunately i am yet to work out how I can put videos on here, but I will continue trying!)

Once the learners in the senior hostel had finished with their exams, they were put to work cleaning the yard. The boys picked up all the rocks in the yard and threw them over the fence, while the girls swept the entire yard to try to get rid of the smaller pebbles. The bushes were cut and cleared and that evening there was an amazing bonfire just outside the hostel yard as the boys burnt the rubbish.

There was another incredible evening when there was a dust storm, a real storm and sunshine all at the same time. It meant that in one direction the sky was turned this strange pinky colour from the dust, in another direction the sky looked as though it was on fire, whilst a rainbow also appeared. It created one of the most amazing skies I think i've yet seen here in Tses!