Hello everybody, I've got about two weeks before I depart and I wanted to touch base and make sure this was up and running before I left.
As many of you probably know I am headed to Namibia to participate with an internship with the Academy for Edcuational Development. AED is a nonprofit based out of Washington DC and works to improve social welfare through education, health, civil society and economic development.
During my time in Namibia I will be working with two different projects, both through AED. The first, , Basic Education Support phase 3 (BES3) which is an USAID funded 5 year project meant to provide support to the Ministry of Education. Specifically the objectives of the project are to improve the teaching and learning of mathematics, science and English language that primary school teachers in the target regions deliver to their learners. With four years of the project cycle now completed, the Academy for Educational Development, AED is in the final stages of transferring a number of activities to Ministry of Education structures and staff. Towards this end a number of project initiated activities have now been taken over and scaled up to become national activities by the Ministry. I will be responsible for supporting the AED Program Managers and Circuit support teams in the target regions with analyzing, reporting and making use of these data for planning and hosting of site based cluster level workshops in the three subjects for teachers.
Additionally, I will also be supporting the Namibia EQUIP2 PEPFAR Project (NEPP) that AED also implements, I will be supporting college-based student teachers with the setting up and or strengthening of peer education groups to help increase and improve self-efficacy and self-worth amongst female student teachers. Throughout this internship I will be based at the Rundu AED Office in the Kavango region, which is located about 650KM away from Windhoek, the Capital city of Namibia
While most of the activities I will directly participate in will not be absolutely clear to be until I meet with the Chief-of-Party in Windhoek, I greatly look forward to the experience and for my nerves to ease.
However, there are a few other stops along the trip. I have a three day layover in Johannesburg, South Africa. At this time I will be staying with a friends relatives, the Amoils. During this
period I plan to visit the Aparthied museum, Constitution Hill, possibly the Soweto township as well as other local
venues. Upon arrival in Namibia I will stay in the capital city for a few days for briefings on AED and their programs
within the country. Once I reach Rundu I will be there for about 9 weeks working for AED, and hopefully volunteering
occassionally with a Maryknoll program if time allows on the weekends. I also have hopes of traveling to Zambia one
weekend to view Victoria Falls and the Livingstone area. Once my internship is completed I will return to the Namibian
capital to volunteer with Father Richard Albertine, a Maryknoll priest and relative of family friends, at a children's center
in Windhoek.
If you would like to contact me I would suggest doing it through this blog, remmebering to sign your name at the end
of each comment, or by e-mailing me.
Wish me luck.
Rebekah Henrich
