The success of the programme relies on community volunteers who act as peer mentors, and assist in running training and support activities. Youth volunteers will play a significant role as positive role models, promoting positive behaviour change, in schools, libraries and with Orphans and Vulnerable Children and raising awareness of the need for more youth volunteers. The volunteers will contribute to activities such as home support, life skills training, community capacity building, and social support.
A quick rundown from the team on their arrival in Namibia and some pictures pictures as they settle in.
5pm. Jetlagged? Yes. Excited?Yes! We finally arrived after a 14hr flight from Heathrow. Hard to believe we all met 24hrs ago and now were like old friends that even uncomfortable silences are a rare phenomenon regardless of the unequal distribution in gender. 6 females three males.
The scorching hot sun was our first greeting from Namibia, Sun kissed even.
We met our lovely team leader, Rachael waiting patiently with two cars to transport us to our destination,
Windhoek, the capital city. Upon arrival nine Namibian volunteers stood outside the guest house with no words but the brightest smiles. All of them were keen to meet and greet us. We mirrored the same looks and expressions, despite our exhaustion and fatigue from the long journey and we were ecstatic to see them. Names were reiterated so quickly that no one left with any, probably because our excitement overshadowed anything and everything at that precise moment. Quick intros, then straight to dinner for our first taste of Namibian food. Verdict? All plates were wiped clean so it was safe to say that this was the beginning of a great friendship… with Namibian food.
10 – 12/01/2012 9-5 (what a way to make a living) Training Days.
Oddly, the Namibian volunteers had the opposite gender distribution (Nine males, Three Females.)
We had training every day at our VSO Guest House specifically targeted towards our placements and Namibian 
culture. Not only were we training but this was also time for us all to get to know one another and learn from each other. Promoting equal and good communication in a large group of 18 volunteers is difficult so our interaction together from the start was slow but towards the end of the week it quickly progressed to a level where we could all call ourselves a good team, which would lay the foundation for a family. On the final day we were given our placements and told the names of our host families. Excitement mixed with trepidation ran high, as we prepared to leave for our placements
13/01/2012 Arrival at our community and meeting host homes
Our 10am plan to depart Windhoek for our host home was delayed and we eventually left at 11:15, (African time).
An hour later we arrived in Rehoboth, a small town in the South of Namibia about 100 Km from Windhoek. In our counterpart pairs (one Namibian, one UK) we were all introduced to our host homes. Excitement and terror are two extremes to show the mix of emotions that we all were feeling but all our nerves were put at ease as our host homes seemed lovely.
During the following week, we also had our in-community training with Rachael and Pedro mostly facilitating sessions. It was very informative as we learned all about Rehoboth and our placements
and some of the challenges that we might face while living and working in the community.
16 – 18/01/2012
The weekend was fun! We all met up but unfortunately no designated areas for us to simply socialise as a team so our meetings were cut short. It was however, lovely seeing everyone and catching up with one another on everything. These three days were mostly spent sorting out our individual placement timetables.
19/01/2012 Welcome to Kalkrand
We arrived three hours early in our other community, Kalkrand (although AJ had already been there a week before because he’s amazing) to prepare, organise, plan and execute a strategy for today’s agenda. The team prepared everything frantically, and as it turned out the event… was a success. We surprisingly got more support from the children than we thought we would, which was fantastic as our placements are targeted toward helping the youth of these two communities.
Highlights of the Day1: Will translating Afrikaans which he got spot on!
2: The children putting on a traditional dance for us and the subsequent dance off between the volunteers and the kids. (They won)
20/01/2012 Welcome to Rehoboth
Again, the event went down well not to mention the delicious food, supplied by Rachael’s host mother and the speeches/support provided by the mayor of Rehoboth. All of the support was highly appreciated from the Mayor and the Ministry of Education right down to Kayec and their kids.
