I’m going to stop apologizing for not writing more. Those of you who follow this blog regularly know I have a lot going on and the time to write an essay about my experiences seems to get more elusive than ever these days. Still, I need to write more, even if they are shorter posts, and I will. This one will be somewhat lengthy, however, so settle in, get comfy, and read on.

To start with, I am 2 months into my 1 year Peace Corps extension. I decided to extend for various reasons, which I have expressed in earlier posts, but the short version is that there were projects that were close to being finished or at least in a state where they could be finished by a volunteer who may follow me, and I loathe leaving things unfinished. That’s especially true for endeavors that involve others.  In the photo below you’ll see my “Task Board” which should give you an idea of how I keep busy.

My tasks list doesn’t seem to be getting any shorter

I’m very happy to report that two of my major projects have made major gains. I may have talked about Dreamland Garden and the Water Mitigation Project in other posts. Again, the short version is that the garden, which is a project I inherited from the previous volunteer, is once again on a path to profitability because we were able to stabilize an inexpensive source of water. Farming in a desert is counterintuitive, especially without a dependable water source. Dreamland Garden now gets their water for free from a nearby town. The water is recycled and has been tested positive for human consumption. My project stabilized this water source by increasing the amount of water stored at the garden from 10,000 liters to 30,000 liter. We also improved the solar/electric system and irrigation system to make water usage more efficient. We are beginning to harvest our first sellable crops in almost a year and a half and we are very excited.

The garden is prospering!!

The second big project I also inherited. A group of small scale mineral and precious stone miners live is a beautiful, but desolate place because they are close to the stones they mine and the market where they sell their gems and crystals to tourists and collectors. There are about 50 families living in that nearly inhospitable place in sight of Spitzkoppe, a World Heritage site and one of the places were ancient wall paintings can be found.

When I say that their location is beautiful and desolate I mean it in every sense of the words. It is a harsh, dry, windswept place that sees less than an inch of rainfall a year, and that’s when there isn’t a drought gripping the entire country. The stones they mine are beautiful and fetch a decent price when tourist stop by. With the money they earn they must hire someone to transport water to them and find means to cut and polish the rocks they mine to make them more attractive to tourists, who stop there in route to Spitzkoppe and other natural attractions. 

In 2015 a group of philanthropists built a market for them so that they wouldn’t have to sell the stones on the roadside, which was extremely dangerous given the poor road conditions, high speeds and heavy truck traffic the highway experiences. A workshop was also included in the design of the market, but power to the workshop was poorly thought out and executed. As a result the miners haven’t been able to use the workshop in more than 2 years. 

My focus was to somehow get them reliable power so that they could use their workshop and also charge battery packs to light their homes without using candles, which are dangerous as well. I tried the more conventional route and asked the local utility to quote a cost for running power to them, but met with resistance due to the extreme location. 

I finally came up with a plan to expand the inadequate solar/electric system supplying the workshop. I found a contractor willing to come out and quote the project, then proposed the solution to a US Embassy grant program. The upgrade would provide enough power to operate all the tools in the workshop, power a community refrigerator/freezer so that the miners can buy and store fresh food in bulk and save money, power to security lighting, charging stations to recharge battery pack for lights and other electronics in their homes, and power to run a refrigerator in the snack shop which offers cool refreshments to tourist.

I was recently informed that I got the grant and I’m now waiting for my application to be processed and the funds to be released so that work can start. As you might imagine, I am very excited. This will have a major impact on the quality of life for the miners and their families.

Spitzkoppe

I also have other projects brewing: A movie making workshop to hopefully inspire people to tell their stories through video, a lecture series that I have been delivering to high schoolers to expand their view of the world and the possible career paths available, a short documentary to highlight the education options a local Community Skills Development Center (COSDEC) offers, and several others. So, to say that I’ve been busy is a bit of an understatement. Now that I have a hard deadline that’s 10 months away I’ve felt an urgency to focus on projects I know will have the biggest impact given the time I have left.

So, things here are moving right along. When my extension was approved the Peace Corps allows extenders to go home for a month, basic expenses and airfare paid. I took advantage of it and spent all of August visiting friends and family. It was something that I didn’t realize how badly I needed to do until I touchdown in Florida. Seeing the once familiar places, being with friends, hugging my children and grandson was cathartic to the point of nearly being overwhelmed by it all. I know I’ve changed a lot since being in Namibia, but nothing can change the love I feel for my family and close friends. 

I’ll talk more about my visit home in my next post which, I promise, will be coming soon. So…

Stay Tuned

Vern