Namibia's newest geologist

It's school photo time, and this year we'll have to share photos of our handsome young man via the internet. So, here he is. All 11 years of him.

If you're wondering how Tristan is doing, never fear. He continues to be resilient, and with the exception of a couple of moments of hungering for home and friends from Randolph Elementary and our other local haunts, Tristan is fully engaged with what we've thrown at him.

Recently, he has decided that maybe he'll live in Namibia when he grows up. Another reason for us to retire here. The country needs scientists, and Tristan now believes he may be a geologist.

In fact, Namibia is 122nd of 125 nations ranked in order of the 'availability of scientists and engineers'. So, the number of people running around with advanced degrees is pretty small. It manifests itself in odd places. Like, they have rules that they must hire Namibians, if possible. But, if there are no Namibian experts in a certain field, do you hire a Namibian of less experience or a foreign scientist? The new class of faculty at Polytechnic includes about 50% foreigners. Just not enough people in country.

Many people at our Fulbright orientation told us that Namibia is "Africa for beginners" when we heard we were heading this direction. And, it's true that the lights stay on in Namibia. There is decent internet access. The water is clean. You don't have to bleach your vegetables before you eat them. So, the mystery is how a country can keep the lights on, but still rank below almost every other African country in terms of people that know how to design the bulbs. Sometimes, I think that perhaps they expect more out of people with less training that we do in the US. Our Polytech students get thrown into some significant positions with only a 3-year National Diploma (not a bachelor's degree). Maybe it's the continued help from the outside that keeps everything humming. I'm not sure I know the answer yet--it is something to keep thinking about.

The recent change in political administrations in the US is an encouraging step for the use of science in decision-making that affects the nation and the world (see my University of Nebraska colleague's interesting blog on this subject, however). If you want to vision [warning: impending vague editorial comment] what a hypothetical country might look like if it has a gap between science and decision-making, Namibia isn't a bad place to turn. In Namibia's case, it's not that it's ignoring its scientists or twisting their research, it's that it doesn't have many to turn to. There are so many ecological areas and species in Namibia that are poorly studied. So many schools that need teachers with more background. So many HIV programs that need people in place who understand the problem. So many problems that need some creative thinking.

Namibia: Africa for beginners? Hardly. It's just Africa with lights whenever you want them. Still Africa, and struggling to keep up in many cases. If you're a scientist (and I'm not just talking about those wearing white coats and safety goggles), I'd encourage you to think about how you can help countries like Namibia. It may take a village to raise a child. Or something like that.

So, if Tristan wants to be a geologist in Namibia someday, great. They need him worse than we do in the US. I just hope he doesn't mind some company. He is a handsome guy, isn't he?!