This Week, so far...

This week has been great! We started out the week on Monday by going on a Safari at Mahango Game Reserve located in the Caprizi strip. It was Blair's last chance to go on a safari before he leaves Namibia so Alysee, Laura, Julie and I went along. Rob drove in the 2-wheel drive van that we have been doing the majority of our traveling in, and he did an awesome job driving it all around the sometimes deep sandy roads! We only had to get out and push once! The park was very big and filled with many animals. During the morning drive through the trails we saw a lot of deer-like animals such as: impala, kudo, and sabre. We also saw some brilliantly colored birds, wharthog, zebra, and hippo!

Afterwards, we stopped at a beautiful and relaxing lodge named Nunda for lunch and a short dip in their pool, which felt great because it was 41 Celsius in the shade. After lunch we went to a different nearby reserve named Buffalo Park and drove around a bit more. At this place we saw a large amount of water buffalo, hippo, a monitor lizard, and then a dead elephant. A dead elephant is pretty uncommon to see from what Rob told us and it was probably killed by disease. Just when we thought that the dead elephant was going to be the only elephant we saw we went around a corner and came up on a large herd of elephants at a watering hole. I have to say, it was the best part of the trip by far. Seeing elephant in the wild is well, WILD!

Also this week we started our language training orientation. We are learning some skills from a technic called LAMP which is basically learning a language by hearing it and speaking it and not writing it or reading it. This technique forces us to get out in the community and learn the language from the people we are building relationships with.

Wednesday, was the first day at the Rundu State Hospital for all of us. Yes, even me! I had a meeting with Dr. Yuri who is the supervisor/director of the hospital to discuss the plan for computerizing the hospital. Julie started in Casualty, which is like the ER but with a name that really doesn't make you want to be a patient there. I am sure she will write about her experiences soon.

My meeting with Dr. Yuri went well. We began by walking around the entire hospital while he counted the locations he wants to put a computer. After that we went back to his office to discuss what steps to take in implementing the system. We talked about some specifics with the system and I focused on the importance to have the staff ready for the system with some general computer training classes. My main concern is to make the system sustainable and that means that there will need to be staff working along side me.

Julie and I are excited to go to the OVC project today. The OVC gatherings occur formally on Tuesdays and Fridays. This is a time that I get to play soccer or rugby (Blair's sport) with the kids and try to learn some Lucazi.

Please remember us in your thoughts and prayers as we continue to settle in and step out of our comfort zone to meet people and embrace the community.