On August 31st 2017, we had our flight to Namibia. We had finally arrived in the country where we would be spending 3 months learning and exploring. It was nice to stop living out of a suitcase and get settled in our new home. The first few days included a tour of the city and catching up with family and friends from back home.
On September 5th, we had our Community Day with the students and staff. The students, one professor, and our RA are from the United States. However, our other professors, our driver, our kitchen staff, and cleaning lady are all Namibians. Our Community Day was meant to help us to get to know each other, but to also create conversations about topics we sometimes try to avoid.
We tackled the topics of race, religion, sexual orientation, gender, nationality, and class. While these can be difficult and at times awkward to confront, it was interesting to hear other perspectives. Overall, we discussed what it means to be a human in this world. Our driver discussed how he was a “global citizen,” caring more about the entire world than a specific nation. There were other bonding games and lunch, but I really enjoyed these conversations because they are the ones we need to have. It can be a challenge and frankly, it can be hard to know how to start a discussion like that. However, one of the things I’m hoping to bring home is how to have discussions that are important and relevant while diving into the topics that are the hardest and are the most interesting.