Future Professor Debutante Ball

Kelly has been helping at a local preschool called Future Professor Pre-Primary. She is the "English" teacher, and helps with their ABC's and special topics each week.

To raise funds, the School held the annual Debutante Ball. We were invited to come join the festivities.

We drove into the parking lot of a local hall to the chorus of "Teacher Kelly, Teacher Kelly, Teacher Kelly." The evening was 'formal' and the students were dressed in wonderful satin gowns and little tuxedos or suits. It was really amazing, as the students come from families that span the spectrum of economic status. The School has a sliding scale for payment, so some students don't pay anything to come. There are children of gardeners and housekeepers, and there are children of more middle-class families.

"Image" is very important for Future Professor, as they compete with other Pre-Primary schools for students. We were asked to join a lady from Germany to help hand out prizes during the evening, as the School wanted to show the parents that they had connections with American and German teachers. Likewise, the school has recently seen a large increase in students, mostly (the teachers report) because of a gift from last year's Fulbright family, the Conroy's. They shipped many books and educational materials to the school. Those books and materials are now displayed prominently so that prospective parents can see them when they visit.

Back to the Ball, however! The students had practiced dances for the program, and a Master of Ceremonies had been hired (we think it was a local radio personality). A band consisting of a drummer, saxophone player, guitarist, bassist, and a keyboarder provided music which, oddly, had a Cajun sound to it.

It was a great evening. There are more photos on the Picasa photo site, but here are a couple of the students.




It is easy to be blinded by daily examples of inequities of social status in Namibia. But, a common bond that ignores these inequities is the desire of parents to provide the best they can for their children. Here, for one night, satin covered everyone, and the students could live a dream.

A Debutante Ball. Who would have guessed?