Everyone Wants Acceptance 2010

So I am not sure how we pulled it off. There were many hoops to jump but somehow we did it. With the help of the community, volunteers and people at home we made it happen. EWA (ehh-waaa) was a two day conference where we brought learners from Kavango and Caprivi to learn about gender equality, HIV/AIDS and leadership. It was jammed packed with sessions. Let me try to give a recap.

Pre- Conference:
We had some issues since last year. The conference was supposed to happen and the PCV’s had put together it they had prepared everything for EWA 2009 and they lost the funding. So we had to tell the learners who were invited and the facilitators who were trained that it was not happening It was really sad to see all the hard work that had been put in and then for it not to happen. When the PCV’s who had organized finished their service I said I would step up and make it happen this year. The beginning of the year we had our first meeting and we had it all planned out, we had support and potential funding. Then I spent the next few months focusing on Camp GLOW and my primary job. Once GLOW was over I dedicated all my time to making EWA happen. Our first big blow came when our funders told us that they could not provide funding. I was so tired and I just wanted to give up, but another volunteer, Lee, would not let me. He kept asking “whats up with EWA?” and we worked on getting as much as we could for free. The first thing was getting a place to hold the conference. One of the local secondary schools let us use their hostel facilities free of charge!!! From there things just fell into place. It’s funny how things always seem to work out somehow here, no matter how bad it gets it works out. We had worked out everything planning the conference and before we knew it August 25th had come and it was time for the camp!!

Day 1 : Arrival Day: This was not as bad as we thought it was going to be. This is basically a transport day. We rely on the Ministries to help us with transport. We got everything ready and all the kids arrived (except one town because of communication problems). That night we just welcomed and divided the kids. They played the animal game- the kids get the name of animals on a piece of paper and they have to act out the animals until the find other animals who are acting the same some examples are dog, elephant, monkey, etc. This was pretty funny I think the volunteers got more into it than the kids. Then we put the kids to bed. The hostel was really nice and clean and the hostel staff was beyond helpful.

Day 2: Gender Day
The first day the kids were up and knocking at 5 am!! They were ready for the day to start. We started with a good discussion on the difference of sex and gender and then we talked about their views about gender. The day had some really great discussions. We had 7 facilitators, they were trained last year and volunteered to come back and work at the conference, who led the sessions. The facilitators did fantastic they really helped us get the conference to happen. The day continued we played games and did more sessions and the night ended with a HIV/AIDS intro where the kids asked some really good questions. We ended the night teaching the kids about the female and male reproductive systems, how to use a condom and other questions they had about anything.

Day 3: Leadership Day
This was the day where the kids work on communication and how to be a good leader. The idea is that they will go back to their community and start a club. We also invited 6 career panelists to come and talk about how they got to where they were and just to inspire the kids. We had a pharmacist, doctor, lodge owner, accountant, procurement officer and principal. The day went well and the kids really enjoyed the people who came to talk to us.

Day 4: Departure Day
While I enjoyed the camp I was ready to get the next part of my holiday going. We all worked together and cleaned the hostel, washed down the bathrooms and packed everything to go. The transport came on time (this does not happen EVER!) and we were home by lunch time!!

It was a great camp and I am really grateful to all the people who helped. I am glad I got to be part of it and meet some new kids from different villages and regions that I would have never gotten to meet. THANK YOU TO EVERYONE (PCV’s, Facilitators, RPCV’s, family and friends in America and the people in the Rundu Community who donated time, supplies, energy) who helped make EWA 2010 happen!!

Side note: We did not have time to write the thank you cards with the kids so I will be spending this week writing thank you cards to everyone. I apologize for the delay in y are thank you cards if you are getting one.