Tristan is back on the air

For those NTN and TNT readers who have been waiting for Tristan to blog, you have reading material. Go to his blog and see his favorite photos from our recent trip to Kunene.

This was only a test

Late one night, we were sitting around the house, and Kelly mentioned that we had not tested the Namibian medical system to any real extent, yet. We drew straws and Tristan volunteered to be the guinea pig.

The next day at school, as planned, he tripped and injured his arm. Talk about taking one for the team... The school nurse called, and we made a quick trip to the Windhoek MediClinic (hospital). We got directions from all of Tristan's classmates, who apparently also have significant experience with the Namibian medical system--as you would expect for any 10- or 11-year-old, right?!

It turns out that the hospital in Windhoek is a very nice place. We're part of the Namibian Medical Aid system through Polytechnic--we pay US$50/month into the system. Almost all costs were covered. In the end, we paid the equivalent of US$8 for an emergency room visit, x-ray, and prescription pain killer.

Dr. Coetzee (in photo with Tristan) spent quite a bit of time with us, which is common in Namibia. Most doctor's visits include a 30-minute chat with the doctor--none of this 3-minute in-and-out stuff in the States. In this case, Dr. Coetzee was the one who wrapped Tristan's arm and applied the half-cast.

Tristan's wrist is in a sling for 2 weeks, but it looks like nothing is broken. His baseball coach, and fellow Fulbrighter, Steve Gray, has placed him on the 2-wk disabled list; he should return to action in fine form.

So, a fairly benign test of the Namibian medical system.

A little time to think, please

Over the Easter holiday break, our family had the good fortune to travel to northwest Namibia with a student from Polytechnic. His name is Uapii (pronounced, "Wahpee"), and he's a third-year student in agriculture. He invited us to get to know his homeland a bit better.

Larkin will be doing oral surveys on the communal conservancies in the region, which are areas set aside for native people to live and work. Most of them farm with livestock. So, the goal of the 5-day trip was to learn a bit more about the people and see how the surveys might work, logistically.

It turned out to be a weekend that changed the way our family thinks about the world. In fact, we're finding it a little hard to process and quickly blog about the experience. Readers of NTN should expect to see smaller blogs about parts of the trip over the next week or so.

For the time being, we will let our photos and captions (archived here) tell the basic story of the trip. Small children warning: there are photos in the set that include Namibians in native clothing. Come back to see our reflections and hear more stories.

As Kelly said, as we arrived home, exhausted and full of new adventures, "I think we can say we just met the goal of the Fulbright experience with this trip."

Just give us a little time to think.

Time and relativity

The distance between the Midwest (US) and Windhoek, Namibia just got two hours shorter over the past month. To attempt to derive a physics-based explanation for this unusual phenomenon, please click here. However, for a logical explanation, read on...

When we arrived in Windhoek in January, the time difference between Nebraska and Namibia was 8 hours. Nebraska is GMT-6 (6 hours behind Greenwich Mean Time), and Windhoek is GMT + 2. Both Nebraska and Windhoek were on 'standard' time in January.

However, the States' Daylight Savings Time meant Nebraska jumped one hour ahead in March ("spring forward"). As of today, April 5, Namibia moved back an hour ("fall back") to observe "Winter Time". So, for the next few months, the time difference between Central Time in the States and Namibia is now 6 hours.

Doesn't that make you feel like we're that much physically closer? That's what Einstein was thinking when he postulated, "The physical distance between two locations on a spinning planetary body can be measured by the difference in the time at which individuals in the two locations eat breakfast." Or, something like that. My apologies, Albert.

Thanks to http://www.learner.org/ for the time zone map.

A day of jubilee

I suppose the men and women watching the newly established government in the United States in the late 1700's had mixed emotions. Kind of like watching a baby bird take its first flight--full of wonder and quite a bit of apprehension. I continually get that feeling as I watch Namibia's system.

Saturday, I was invited to participate in the graduation ceremony for Polytechnic of Namibia. Invited as in "you will come." Come and sit for 5 hours, and please wear this one-size-fits-all-very-small-people academic gown. This graduation was for students who had passed exams last December--a lag period of 4 months between final exams and graduation. So, I didn't know any of the graduates. As I left early in the morning, I was a bit frustrated at spending a beautiful Saturday in a hotel ballroom. But, the day turned out differently than I expected.

I should clarify early-on that I do like the spirit of graduation ceremonies. As a faculty member at University of Dubuque, we had to attend each ceremony. But, there were only 100 graduates, and it went fairly quickly. At UNL, there are not enough seats for all faculty, so our College usually has a representative that attends the ceremony. Faculty are encouraged to attend a pre-graduation gathering where we can talk with grads and families. And, I really enjoy meeting Mom's and Dad's and seeing the pride they have in their son/daughter. It is just that these ceremonies are so long...

So, I arrived early at the Safari Lodge Conference Center, where we were searched as we entered the building. The 'buzz' was that this meant Namibia's President was in attendance. Sure enough.

A few minutes after 9am, the faculty processed into the ballroom, through a full house of parents and family and graduates. There were 800 graduates. Other faculty had warned me it would be a long ceremony, and I now saw they were prepared--smuggling small books under their robes for later use.

There were four main speakers, and each spoke for 30-45 minutes. The proper way to begin a speech in Namibia is to acknowledge all of the special people or groups in attendance. In this case, there were many. Each person took 5-10 minutes of their speech to acknowledge who was there: His Excellency President Hifikepunye Pohamba, the Honorable Rector of the Polytechnic, the Mayor of Windhoek, members of the Diplomatic Corps, Ministers from the Namibian Government, Members of Parliament, etc., etc., academic faculty and staff of the Polytechnic, family members, and graduates. Whew.

The President of Namibia sat in the middle of the stage, flanked by the Rector and the Chairman of the Board of Polytechnic. Each speaker took the opportunity to remind the audience, but mostly the President, that Polytechnic had been ranked 16th of all African universities this year. Two speakers mentioned that Polytechnic had only received 50% of their budgeted funds for the current year. They all mentioned that they hoped the President would support the name-change quest Polytechnic is currently undergoing--from Polytechnic of Namibia to Namibia University of Science and Technology. It was a coordinated lobbying effort. Luckily--the speeches were broken by the Polytechnic Choir, a wonderful group and there is a video clip of their rendering of "Lean on Me" below--it doesn't do it justice. It was the best singing I've heard for a long time.

When it came time for the graduates to come across the stage, each School's Dean read the names from the students' cards. A student came to the podium, presented the Dean with his name card. The Dean tried his best to read the name--but they are hard to read, even for Namibians...! Then, the student shook hands with the Rector, the President of Namibia, and the Chairman of the Board. If the student was receiving his Bachelors, the Chairman took a velvet, flat hat and 'dubbed' the student who knelt before him. I had not seen this routine before, and there is a fairly poor mobile phone video of this process below--I'd be interested to learn where this tradition comes from--anyone??! Then, the student stopped at the Registrar, who hooded him/her. Even students receiving a 3-year National Diploma received a special hood. In the US, only MS and PhD students are hooded at most graduations, in comparison.

Now, that is what is happening on stage. But, the most interesting thing was what happened in the 'congregation'. If you are the parents of Josephus Student, your job is to show up dressed in traditional Namibian clothing. You should bring flowers with you, and one woman should come with a traditional item that I can only describe as the predecessor of the Pittsburgh Steeler's "Terrible Towel"--an object which can be whipped in the air to show enthusiasm. The Namibian version is a 1-m tassel of animal hair (horse, donkey, gemsbok oryx?), which is gathered at the base in a leather handle--a lady carrying one is shown to the right. She's in pink, and it's hanging over her shoulder.

So, when Josephus Student's name is read, Mom might pop up and start waving the 'excitement wand'. Dad might pop up and start a chant in their native language. It might sound a bit like "who's the best"--"Josephus"--"who's the best"--"Josephus"--etc, etc. Sister might pop up with the flowers. Either Sister or Mom or Aunt or Grandma is now designated the 'screamer'. I can only describe this as a very loud, aggressive Common Loon on a Minnesota Lake--you can hear the scream on the video below. But, they keep doing this 'yelp' for 2-3 minutes as they move to the aisle where their son or daughter will return from the stage. And, they are presented with flowers and hugs. Some people still were yelping as they returned to their seats.

Now, realize that names were still being called as all this was going on. I figured (I had some time on my hands) with the rate of name calling and with the rates of dispersal from the stage and the length of hugs/flower presentations, there were approximately 7-8 of these family groups actively calling at any one time. That calculation also takes into account that there were some graduates whose families were not in attendance. You really felt sorry for them. So, sometimes faculty would clap if no family members were yelping. Just to make some noise.

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The processing of students across the stage took about 3 hours. The speeches took another 2 hours. The ceremony concluded at a little after 2 pm. Five hours!

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I must say that I am now a hearty fan of the speaking ability (I'm not sure exactly what his political views are) of the President of Namibia. He spoke in a grandfatherly way, after shaking hands with all of the graduates as they crossed the stage. He noted that more women graduated than men, which he found inspiring. He responded in a teasing manner back to the people who had been lobbying him about the name change and budgets. He pointed out all the Members of Parliament in attendance and said that they were the ones who made the decisions--so the congregation should talk to them on the way out!

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Again, as on other occasions, I had the feeling I was watching a country grow. When the speakers were not lobbying the President, their common theme to the graduates was that they were the hope of the nation. "Namibia cannot develop without educated people," the President stated. Each remarked on the lack of educated people in the country, and each speaker's point to the students was that they now carried responsibility to the nation, their families, and their communities. Speakers encouraged students to find innovative ways to build businesses and support Namibia.

It is interesting to compare to our hopes for our students in the US. I think we have the same hopes, but perhaps we do not clearly enunciate them. Many of these students in Namibia are the first in their family to attend tertiary education. Perhaps education is now old-hat in the US? That is really too bad, if it is the case. Do students feel their degree is of value? I think we can perhaps (in the US) do a better job of making sure the value of education is underscored. In Namibia, students with a 1-year certificate or 3-year diploma as regarded as the potential of the Nation. Surely, that must give them some confidence as they leave and start looking for jobs.

After the ceremony, the faculty processed out to an anthem sung in Latin on the loud speakers. One of my Namibian colleagues turned to me. "What did you think of our African ceremony?" he asked.

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"It was incredibly interesting," I responded. "There were many happy people here today."

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"Yes," my colleague responded. "It was a day of Jubilee."

Student excursion to Waterberg Plateau

I thought I'd write a little bit about the structure of the academic programs at Polytechnic, as I know everyone is dying to know. Perhaps it will provide a respite from news about the US economy...

There were no classes for third-year students this past couple of weeks. No classes in Windhoek that is. It was Excursion Time. All 25 third-year students loaded up on the lorry (see previous story) and rode up to the Waterberg Plateau--a very interesting geological structure about 3.5 hours northeast of Windhoek. For 1.5 weeks, they had hands-on experiences and camped on the plateau.

Now, you might be asking, how in the world can 25 students leave classes at attend such an adventure in the middle of the semester. And, it is true that at UNL, such an event would cause many faculty to be upset. Students in the States can select courses to take. We have elective courses. We have 5 options for a communication requirement. If a class doesn't fit in your schedule one semester, you take it later. We spent inordinate amounts of time, as faculty, advising students on how to put their schedules together.

Not at Polytechnic, and most other African schools. The courses are prescribed. All first-year students take the SAME schedule. They go from class to class together. Same for second-year students and third-year students. Same schedule--no dickering over advising. Just sign up for the major, and you know what your schedule is. It might be interesting to note that each day's class schedule begins at 7:30 a.m. UNL students: I'm not going to listen to any whining about 8 a.m. classes next year--especially when you realize these students travel by taxi or walk several kilometers to get to campus by 7:30. And, they are all there on time! Mostly. Latecomers are severely chastised by faculty and fellow students.

So, it was not a big deal for all third-year students to go on Excursion for 1.5 weeks. We just shut down all their classes and the professors went to the field with them! There was no history professor complaining they were missing an exam. No English professor wondering how they would make up for missed discussions.

The Excursion consisted of 5 days of learning to ride horses and care for horses. I didn't go for those days--another faculty member mentored them on this. But, I showed up for the last 5 days of the Excursion, when their focus turned to plant identification and GPS mapping. We also visited the Cheetah Conservation Fund as part of the Natural Resource Conservation course I'm teaching this semester.

Later this semester, the students have an aquatic sciences excursion and a shooting excursion where they learn to handle rifles and shoot. Most students, similar to the States, have not had experience with guns--they come from cities. And, the history in Namibia meant that at one time, blacks could not own guns. So, it is something that is part of the curriculum here. I participate in a similar program in Nebraska--called Conservation Leaders for Tomorrow. It also tries to make up for lack of experience around guns--our wildlife students will interact with many people that hunt, and there is a need to understand hunters and learn about gun safety, at the least.

I really enjoyed the excursion, although it was a long time away from Kelly and Tristan. It was a great chance to get to know the other faculty and to also learn more about students. There were signs of rhino and lots of other great wildlife viewing to be had. Check out the archived photos on our photo site by clicking here.

The prescribed program in higher education in Africa has its benefits (you can go on excursions) and drawbacks. One drawback is that the program lacks flexibility. All students leaving have a 'stamp' of the program--you know what they have learned (a good thing). But, they also can't select an option to get training in a certain field--like conservation biology. Of course, I am partially responsible for our Fisheries and Wildlife program's incredible flexibility at UNL--10 different options that students can choose (wildlife law enforcement, conservation biology, fisheries, habitat management, etc.). It is good to see how another program works.

The last difference in our programs is the amount of time spent off-campus. And, I'm not talking about excursions. All of the first year is on campus, in classrooms. Second year begins with an in-service training--a six-month internship somewhere in Namibia. Students come back to campus for their last semester of second year. Third year starts on campus (what I am teaching now), and then students leave for another 6 months of in-service training. They pass that, and they get their National Diploma. The students who opt to complete their Bachelors degree do it via distance. Most take an additional 2 years, as it they get jobs with the 3-year degree.

Bottomline: when a student graduates with a Bachelor's degree, they have spent only 2 years on campus. A total of one year of in-service training and the Bachelor's (4th year) is via distance. I cannot imagine faculty at UNL going for such a program--but the emphasis here is on real-world skills and in-service training is the way to get them. They don't have to deal with 'transfer students' here, either. Over 30% of the students in our program at UNL bring credits from other institutions, which can really bugger up scheduling!

OK--more than you wanted to know about the education system in Namibia. Hope it made you forget about your retirement savings (or lack thereof) for a minute or so...