Kamanjab

This week I spent a few days in Kamanjab, a small village/town in our district. Our outreach team did school visits to the primary school in the location and the combined school in town. One a few different occasions I was wondering through the bush on a little dirt path from the clinic to the different schools. I was walking with an ice chest of vaccines strapped to my back, needles in one hand, syringes in the other hand, wearing a long skirt, Chacos, glasses (cause I can’t wear contacts in the bush), with my hair in a braid enjoying the wilderness under the bright, bright sun and I started laughing - I was a perfect picture of the stereotypical American aid worker in Africa.
In Kamanjab I actually got to do something useful. I gave general hygiene talks (hand washing) and dental care instructions and demonstrations to grades 1-3. At the primary school in the location the Principal had everyone prepared so the students had brought their toothbrushes (those that have them) so we got to all brush our teeth together, it was really cute. So, yeah, I brushed my teeth at least four times each morning before lunch had come around. For the older kids we had a sexual/reproductive health talk with the girls, there is definitely room for improvement in this area for our outreach team, but hey it was the first time. We also gave all the 10 year olds, DP and polio boosters and the 15 year old girls got a tetanus shot….it was actually a really productive time in Kamanjab. Now I just have hit up every other school in the district, at least I’m doing something now.
So I’m home for the weekend (so glad to have my toilet again) and on Monday I will head out again but this time for outreach to the farms around Kamanjab. I have no idea what we will be doing and more importantly what I will be doing. It’s hard to give health education at the farms cause well my Damara/Nama is not up to par yet and I don’t speak any other language that is of use. Seriously I need to be more committed to my language development.
This week in Kamanjab I got to do a lot of exploration with my coworkers. It was really great. I was determined to find an elephant and my coworkers just wanted me not to kill myself in my efforts. Kamanjab is a gorgeous place, boring but so beautiful. It was so great to do some rock climbing (Gideon and I had a challenge on each rock, he won almost every time but to my credit I was wearing a skirt that got in the way), hiking and just to hangout with Namibians my own age. It was seriously a great week, but gosh I’m so glad to be back in Outjo.