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...

Our first camping trip...we return alive

Tristan is in the midst of a 2.5-week holiday from School. We took advantage and planned a trip back to the south, where Larkin had visited before with a Polytechnic colleague. You can click on the archived photo link to view photos of the trip. There are only about 80 of them, so pace yourself. There are captions galore, so we won't repeat the details here.

We left on Tuesday, traveled straight south past Hardap Dam and then angled to the southwest to Helmeringhausen, where we spent the night in a hotel. We were traveling with another Fulbright family, the Bates'. You can follow the link here to their blog for their nice description of the trip.

Wednesday found us driving slightly north of Helmeringhausen to the Jorn Miller farm Aubures, where we set up our first campsite with rooftop tents on our rented 4x4. Poly, our lil' Toyota stayed home on this trip. We received a great tour of the farm, and Tristan got his first good taste of rock hounding. A wonderful secluded campsite.

Thursday was a drive through blowing sands of the Namib desert, straight west to Luderitz on the coast. Windy weather kept us from camping, but we had a great night in a guest house high on a rocky hill.

Friday found us searching for agates on the beach and driving northeast of Luderitz to Farm Namtib, another wonderful guest farm where we camped. Camping in these sites is great--running water, showers with hot water (sometimes you have to heat it with firewood), and real toilets out in the middle of nowhere. We met some wonderful ladies from Switzerland who camped near us that night.

Saturday, we drove north to Sesriem, passing through more dry scenery with the Namib on our left and mountains on our right. Check out photos of some friends that Kelly made on the way. We camped at the Sesriem campground, part of the Namibian National Park system. After playing 'road tag' with the ladies from Switzerland, we ended up offering to share our campsite to them this night--when the campground lost their reservation.

Sunday started with an early morning trip to Sossusvlei through the red dunes of the Namib. We climbed a dune. Well, Larkin climbed 1/2-way. Kelly and Tristan got a great view. Larkin got great photos. Then, we headed for Windhoek.

The trip ended with a breakdown of the Bates' Land Rover. We were rescued by (in order) men on horse and donkey carts, a US AID couple who we know, and a wonderfully nice mechanic from Windhoek. All happened to pass by on the lonely road near Klein Aub--two hours from Windhoek. Amazingly (late on Sunday afternoon), a part was found, the vehicle was repaired, and all made it home that night.

It was a great trip. Perhaps a bit aggressive long on the planning for 4 kids to travel each day--and in an area where we could have stayed 2-3 days at each place we stopped. But, we saw great country and met wonderful people. In fact, we didn't meet anyone we didn't like on the entire trip. The hotel owners, farm families, folks on the street, donkey cart drivers, and mechanics all smiled, waved, and went out of their way to make our days great. It's a great country to travel in, for sure.

Feeling Scarlet

Just a quick news note. Powell family and blog featured in the Scarlet--the weekly Newspaper for faculty at UNL. You can read the article by clicking here.

Ingenuity meets need

The diversity of various types of vehicles in Namibia is astonishing. There are traditional-type semi-trucks (lorries), and pick-ups (bakkies). But, every time you turn around, you see someone has taken a chassis and done something creative with it. Similar to trucks used by vets (with storage for equipment and medicine) or ranchers (flat bed trucks) in the States. But, many more adaptations. People movers (such as the photo at right) used to carry tourist-campers around Namibia are one example.

So, it was no surprise when I discovered that Polytechnic had its own people-mover vehicle. The need: field trips to take students out to study natural resource management where it happens. The problem: you need a 4x4 truck to get there, in most cases. Second problem: class size is usually 20-25 and your standard 4x4 truck can squeeze in 8 people, if you stick people in the back. The solution: the lorry to the right. The faculty bought a Mercedes chassis, used, and designed the 'box' that carries everyone around. It can carry 25 students easily, and has room for field equipment. And, it's 4WD. It can fit down the narrowest roads fairly easily.

Students take week-long excursions to various parks around the country, and the lorry gets a lot of use. During game counts, there is a hatch that students can open to get on the roof--for great perspective for the game counts. Later this semester, we plan to compare detectability of wildlife during a survey between students on the roof with those inside the lorry.

Kelly has a book that we brought over here called "Desert Peoples". Neither one of us has read it yet, but it talks about the contribution of people who lived in 'tough' environments to human history. The basic idea is that when you're literally stuck between a rock and a hard place, ingenuity happens. And, the results can be interesting. For an obvious example, think of Egyptian culture and contributions to irrigation technology.

On a daily basis, we see people in Namibia that have an idea, and are trying to make a living with it. Entrepreneurship is rampant. Example 1: a older lady sits outside the grocery we use, and she sells muffins (perhaps she knows the store doesn't sell muffins). One day, I bought some muffins from her. She smiled, and opened another container next to her. "Would you like some fish?" she asked. "Not today," I replied. "I used to be a nurse," she told me--perhaps to convince me the fish was OK to eat?! She had some nice fried fish, but that wasn't what I was expecting to see in that container. Example 2: guys wandering parking lots selling knives, padlocks, candy, and just about anything. Again, how they make the choice of what to sell is interesting.

It reminds me a bit of when we lived in Georgia and saw people selling socks and pillows on the side of the road. Interesting decision, and first reaction might be to chuckle. Who really went out thinking they needed socks and might find someone selling them on the way to church? But, it's creative. It's a way to get the bills paid.

Maybe some of the ingenuity will rub off on us. Because, for a year, we are desert people.

Toilet key update

This blog is for all NTN readers who have been waiting to hear if I have been able to access the men's toilet at work, since my unfortunate incident back in February. Your concern is heart-warming.

The good news is that I am the proud owner of two keys to the men's toilet on the 4th floor of the Polytechnic staff office complex. The interesting news is that I did not get them from Polytechnic. In fact, the requisition for a new key for me has still not resulted in a key--over three weeks later. First, they had to price it, which I believe entailed someone going to the store, finding out the keys cost US$0.70, and then coming back to report this information. Then, I had to request petty cash. Then, they decided to wait until all other key needs could be gathered from faculty, so their 'key person' could make one trip to the store downtown. That all makes sense, but it was causing me some uncomfortable days--if I couldn't find a key to borrow.

When I heard the keys were at the store downtown, I decided the best option was to go buy one myself. A guy can only keep his legs crossed for so long. Each key has a number engraved on it, indicating the type of key--luckily for me, it's engraved on the part that I did not break. So, I went to the store and bought two--just for insurance purposes. I realize my limitations.

I'm also thinking I might go into business of selling keys to the men's toilet on 4th floor. And, I'm also considering asking my colleagues for the number of their floor's keys--so I can own a key to every men's toilet in the building.

It's all about access...is my American side showing?!

Trip south...to dry out

I spent the latter part of this week taking a quick tour (1500 km) of the southwest portion of Namibia. You can see archived photos from the trip, and a map of our voyage here, or click the photo link to on the top left of the blog. It has been raining constantly (each day) for the past 3 weeks in Windhoek, so it was a nice break to head to a drier part of the country. Even there, however, the rains are producing more grass than farmers have seen in years, and many of them have reached their average annual rainfall, and it's only March.

By the way, that average is 70mm, or about 2.5 inches. Average rainfall in Lincoln, NE is about 700mm, or about 25 inches. Even in far western Nebraska, the average is about 250 mm, or about 9-10 inches. So, this is dry country--on the edge of the Namib desert.

The purpose of the trip was to visit two Polytechnic students doing a 6-month internship at two farms. Their 'mentor' for the in-service training course is Dr. Jankowitz ("Doc": a nickname that makes sense given the low number of PhD's in universities in Namibia), the Head of Department in Nature Conservation--my department. He has been extremely helpful and kind since we arrived. Tristan was in school, so I will have to take Kelly and Tristan back sometime very soon.

It was interesting (two faculty took two full days just to visit two students) to think about implementing the same practice at UNL--we don't visit our internship students. Polytechnic uses the visits to keep students focused on their objectives, and to make contact with 'the industry'--the people in parks and on guest farms and at NGO's that they are producing students for. I think that would be good for UNL, but golly, we could never do that with our current teaching and research load.

Probably the best part of the trip was driving past the farm on which Doc grew up. It was valuable to hear stories of droughts, struggles with the land, family history, and connections of his family to people still scratching out a living on this dry area of Namibia. The stabilized dunes we saw during the trip were reminiscent of the Nebraska Sandhills, although the sand here is red.

The trip had everything a good road trip should have: good company, good conversation, good food, good scenery, and a near-death experience. The story is best-told in photos. View on.