Otchikondo

We played with sparklers one evening!

Before the end of the holidays we spent a few days in Otchikondo, the project of two of the other PT girls. It was only about a four hour drive from Windhoek, so not too bad a journey (in terms of Namibia at least!)

Otchikondo is a primary school village (meaning that it's a school and nothing else). It was set up by an English lady named Gilly and her German husband. Apparently for her 21st birthday Gilly came to Namibia, and on the bus down to Cape Town she met her future husband. They set up the school, and their son even ended up marrying an old PT volunteer!

The school is quite simply amazing - it is officially the best junior school in the whole of Namibia. Daisy and I couldn't help but feel jealous when we were shown around. Everything just....worked. The buildings were all neatly painted, the girls even have their own art room - which includes taps for the children to wash up! They even have a table tennis room, and a movie room with a massive tv where the kids get to watch movies at the weekends.

Having a reasonably civilised meal!

Gilly seemed like an absolutely amazing woman, ridiculously organised (even from only meeting her briefly I could tell that she was the kind of woman you do NOT want to get on the wrong side of).  Hearing our  stories about our adventures in Tses she was completely shocked by most of it - and laughed when we told her that most of our learners wouldn't turn up to school for a week or two after term started. She firmly told us that that sort of thing simply did not happen there.

Seeing the school was absolutely amazing, and I personally thought it was pretty interesting to see the school which is statistically the best in Namibia (gives us something to compare to Tses!) But even after seeing Otchikondo, I would never change my gap year. Tses is dysfunctional and violent and exasperating, but it's still home. I love this place, and I love the kids here. Even though I spend a large amount of my time feeling frustrated  or angry, I wouldn't change it for the world.