The American Community School Namibian group comprises of 21 students and staff. They are following on a tradition set in 1998 when the first Namibia group was formed and who then toured Namibia in 1999. The youngsters volunteer to join the group for a variety of reasons. Typically they go because they want adventure, do a worthwhile community project and visit a developing country to see it at first hand.
The teenagers take full control of their expedition. They decide where they are going to go, which community project to pursue and which physically challenging trek they are going to undertake.
The community service project is the one thing the Namibia 2003 group has been focusing on. To date they have raised in excess of eight thousand pounds for this project - the most successful fundraiser being their auctioning of promises. They have also had a steady earner with their Waffle Wednesdays where they sell waffles and American candy to the unsuspecting students. The most exciting money-making project which the group are undertaking is what is being billed the ‘Battle of the Bands’. The group want to give budding musicians a stage on which to perform and make money for the community service project in the process. ‘Heywoodstock’ will be held after the external examinations have been written on May 24th. The money raised in all their ventures will go towards shipping materials out to Namibia for the various schools they are supporting. They will also need to buy materials in Namibia for the maintenance of some the school buildings once they are out there.
The Namibian students are also busy planning their itinerary and are looking to flying into Lusaka, travelling down to Victoria Falls and then into Namibia, taking in the Etosha Game Park, visiting Shituwa our sister school in Namibia and then onto Epundi and Peumba primary schools where they will interact with the learners by teaching and playing games and carrying out basic maintenance to the class rooms. Their work will be cut out for them and then they will see the fantastic sand dunes and onto Fish River for their trek.
The young people will have real hands-on experience of Namibia, come away with a better understanding of a developing country and have been exposed to real life decision-making. They will spend most of the time under canvass and get to know themselves and each other really well. This will be an experience that will put the youth more closely in touch with their environment, with other people and most importantly of all with themselves. We have a group of youngsters who are energetic, hard working and who have already grown from this experience.
Contact Ryn Brandse rbrandse@acs-england.co.uk