Back to school in Namibia

Namibia facts:

Namibia is the 41st largest country in the world.
Life expectancy at birth: 51.24. It is ranked
205 in the world, it is due to HIV/AIDS.

Hello Kazakhstan;

Greetings to everybody and it's nice that you
are interested in chatting with us here in Namibia.
We are just beginning 10th grade and it is the
time of year where we will do some athletics, we
train some then we compete and if we do good we
go on to compete and keep going till we lose.
Our independence day is on the 21st of March.
We won our freedom from South Africa in 1990.

Some questions
- What sports do you do in your school?
- What music is popular there?
- Have you ever heard of Namibia before?

Rosemary and Martha

Hi Switzerland;

This is Nduva Ester and I was very glad to receive
your joyful response from our friends in
Switzerland. While me and my friends haven't
seen your country yet, I hope with the blessing of
God that one day we will meet either in Namibia
or Switzerland.
I saw the pictures of your school and I am sending
you one (above) off our buildings. Hopefully they
will finish painting it this year.
I was writing my exams before Christmas and was
panicked for the result but got excited when I saw
that I passed. It is a struggle to stay in school for me
because my parents left me when I was in grade 5.

I learned somethings about your culture while there
are differences between yours and mine.
In the olden days men married at the age of 15 - 20
but not only specifically. In those years some of the
men were engaged to a young girl of 12 years old
and at that time started supporting and feeding her
while not having intercourse until the time of the girl's
menstruation. Then the whole process began when
the man would go out to hunt then marry that girl.
This has changed as you were saying for now
"women marry someone of their choice" but the
main reason why they did that in the olden days was
to recognize a strong man who will feed his family
after marriage.
When you are 'bad' at your first menstruation you
go and hide in the bush or any safe place without
telling your friends. You will be missing in the area
and the adults will realize it and ask your friends
then look and find you and prepare a shelter and
put you in that shelter without anything much to eat
or drink. You stay 4 to 6 weeks in the house
drinking dirty water and eat dirty food until the
day of coming out. They will prepare special oil
and decorate you with beads and give you
medicine. They also prepare the man and then
put you two together and give an encouraging
speech.
In the olden days you got only get a child after
marriage but things changed so you can get a
child before marriage now. So the cultural
practices of the menstruation time of a girl
is no more.
In the olden days if a girl was not engaged at
the menstruation time they would go through the
process using a log as a husband symbol. Then
you get a man later and marry. This was a
training process for women to be strong so
that she cannot be greedy but feed the whole
family.
I have a boyfriend but I did not follow the olden
day tradition and the adults were not happy
with me because I didn't tell them when my
day came. They are of the generation that still
went through the old process.
I spent my Christmas vacation out of this village
and I was doing a little work like ploughing and
gathering veld fruit and foods. Us San people
were hunter gatherers for centuries and that
changed some sometime around the 60's.
My dream is I want to finish school and get a
job and fight for the development of the poor
San marginalized community, also for my own
family too.
We don't have the internet in our school but
I hope that soon they do so that I can get email
and we can communicate easily

Waiting to hear from you
Yours
Nduva

* As of now I have been doing the posting for
the school but one of the goals is to get the
students to learn to do it themselves. I have
seen a result of this project as that it is
creating a situation so that the learners themselves
are going to force the issue.

Namibia,
Hi from Switzerland. We’re really intrigued about what you said about your culture especially because it is so different from ours. In Switzerland, most girls menstruate around ages of 11-13, but life goes on as normal. There is no ritual and unless you tell people no one would know. In Switzerland, it is a very private matter. We also don’t get married until we leave schooling which is in your 20’s. Most women get married late 20’s, but it is not mandatory to get married, and many women choose not to. You also decide who you are going to marry regardless of the skills he has and his achievements. It is acceptable for women to have more than partner throughout their life, but not at the same time.
We have some questions about your marriages?
How old are the men that you marry?
What happens if you are ‘bad’ during your first menstruation?
When do you usually have children?
Can you have children outside of marriage?
We are writing during our last week of school, as we are about to go on Christmas vacation and everybody is really excited. We have vacation for three weeks and many people travel or go skiing. During Christmas, which is on the 24th and 25th of December, which is families come together to open present s and enjoy a big dinner which includes a turkey. Each household has a Christmas tree, which is decorated by the family and which where ‘Santa Claus’ leaves his presents. Santa Claus is a big fat man, who comes down the chimney with presents.
We look forward to hearing from you all soon!

Photos from around Zurich International School - Winter 2010

This is a collection of our artwork in an open area used for painting and drawing.

This is our fitness room, where many older students spend time working out.

This is our school's new triple gym. We can leave it like it is now and have one big gym or seperate it into three different gyms. Students have physical education classes three times a week.

This is another picture of our school field.

This is the front of our school. Currently we have lots of snow, and it just keeps snowing! Students often play in the snow at lunchtime. In Switzerland, we are able to go skiing, snowboarding and sledding from novemeber to about april!

This is our cafeteria, where all students eat lunch at 12.30. Students in Grades 9-11 must stay in school to eat, but students in grade 12 are allowed outside of school when they dont have class. Our new cafeteria can accomadate all students, and provides hot food as well as sandwiches.

This is our entrance to our school. It is Winter here now, and very snowy, so the floors get very wet and slippery.

Greetings to the Kazakh School

Hey people,

We are happy to have this opportunity to communicate with you. You know, in Switzerland all we know about Kazakhstan, is from the movie Borat. Obviously this movie is misleading when it comes to you culture. However, we would be happy if you could further educate us on how life is like there. Do you go to school everyday? And what do you do in your freetime? Here we play a lot of sports, but as it is winter now, we ski. There is a lot of snow outside and it is very cold. Our typical food is mostly with meat and cheese. What do you guys eat over there?

We will be glad to hear from you,

The Foster Advisory Students

Kazakhstan Independence Day

Kazakhstan declared its independence on December 16, 1991, from USSR.

Today the people of Kazakhstan receive 2 days off work and school for Independence Day- the 16^th and the 17^th of December. It is common for towns and cities to have concerts full of traditional music and dance. Another Kazakh tradition is the “ghosti”. This is the tradition of visiting friends and relatives houses. It is custom to receive tea and sweets when you ghosti.

Here are some thoughts from a few Kazakh students.

---------

My homeland Kazakhstan. This country that be in central Eurasia. This is country of free peoples. Kazakhstan- a wonderfully beautiful earth. Here exists stately mountains (Zailiski Alatau), heavy rivers (Irtysh), Amudarya, Syrdarya and bloodless steppes. Kazakhstan- this earth, where peacefully live many different people. --- Gulnar
--
My darling edge- Karkaraly. This is a very beautiful and a big city. There are here a beautiful mountains, a very much caves and lakes. There is well known area named Shahter. Shahter is a beautiful district- there are mountains, a lake, swimming pool. --- Anel
--
Independence Day celebrate 16 December. In Kazakhstan live very many people. I'm proud of Kazakhstan. -- Marhabbat

Welcome Kazakhstan - From Namibia

Welcome 7th grade English class to our blog and
thank you for participating. We are looking forward
to hear about how you live.

9th Grade English class
Omega Combined School
Namibia

Namibia Facts:
Namibia is the driest country in Southern Africa.
Namibia has 132 airports. 20 paved and 112 unpaved.
The Capital is named Windhoek and was named the
cleanest capital in the world.

At this moment the learners are on their break and
will be away until the middle of January. But there
are a few learners that live in the village. Hopefully
we will be able to participate a bit with them until
the school reconvenes.

Blog entry by Tsupa Nduva

I am a Khwe girl (one of the San - Bushmen tribes) and
I want to explain some of our older cultural practices
and give you some information on who we are.

The Khwe all originated in the southern part of Africa
namely, Namibia, South Africa, Angola and Botswana.
I am in the Kavango region of Namibia in the
Bwabwata National Park which is the ancestral lands
of the Khwe people.

In our culture and to this day, girls
and women collect veld fruits to feed to their families.
While boys and men hunted to support their families.In
the olden days the Khwe survived from bush food and
not buying food from the shops.
The veld fruits that we eat keep our bodies healthy
and give a long life expectancy.
For young girls their life changes when they begin
their menstruation period. For the girl it is a special
day. The girl hides herself and isolates herself from
others.
Old people make a special hut for her and make her
sit in this for a month without washing and eating
so as to stop her from being greedy.
The last day, if she is mature enough, she gets a husband.
But not a lazy one and he has to have the ability to chase
and catch springbok.
They prepare beads and medicine and sing around her
and then she is respected by the adults.
I hope that everyone is doing good in USA, Switzerland
and now Kazakhstan.

yours
Nduva

Here are some other facts about the San:

The San have lived in southern Africa for thousands
of years. Their culture may be one of the most ancient
in the world. In 2006 archaeologists reported evidence
of rituals practiced by the San around 70,000 years
ago—the oldest indications of human rituals ever found.

Traditionally, the San lived as nomadic hunter-gatherers
organized in small groups, or bands, of about ten nuclear
families. Each group had exclusive rights to a large area
of land and usually moved around its rather desolate
territory as a unit, changing home sites about once a
month as the food supply became exhausted.

Greetings from Kazakhstan!

Hello America, Namibia and Switzerland! We live in a small town in central Kazakhstan named Karkaraly. Karkaraly nestles against a national park. We are in the 7th grade and have English 6 days a week. In Kazakhstan we have school Monday through Saturday.

We are very excited about communicating with you and look forward to learning about other cultures.

- Kazakhstan English Class

Montana Hello to Bloggers

Hello Namibia and Switzerland from Montana...

I wanted to let you all know that my students have been working on research papers so they have not responded in quite some time. However, we are all in discussion and hope to have another post before holiday break. Temperatures are getting cold with today at 5 and snow in the forecast- hopefully for us skiers.

I thought I would post some of the topics that students have been avidly researching- maybe some of you can offer words of wisdom or first hand input. The topics begin with History of Wild Horses, Southeast Asian Endangered Species, Reintroduction of Wolves in Yellowstone National Park, African Cats, Marilyn Monroe, Ghengis Khan, Alexander the Great, Global Warming, Psychology of Serial Killers, Kurt Cobain and the 27 Club, Multiple Personality Disorders, Savant Syndrome, Divorce and Effects on Children, Psychology of Self-Infliction, Juvenile Crime and Edgar Allen Poe. As you can see, we had an array of topics which demonstrate the academic variety of this class.

At the end of the week, we are wrapping up and will begin a poetry unit next week. Perhaps we will be able to share some of our poems with you. Hope all is well and my class will be in touch with the blog soon! Mrs. Nia Vestal

A greeting from Namibia to Switzerland

Namibia Fact: Namibia is the first country in the
world to incorporate the protection of the
environment into it's constitution; some 14%
of the land is protected, including virtually the
entire Namib Desert coastline.

The Omega Combined School is a rural school
that could be best described as, a school lacking
resources.
There is one Atlas for the school of about 225 learners.
These are some of the challenges we have and
are trying to resolve.
So, if what appears to be interesting statements or
questions please bear in mind the limitations these learners
are faced with and have patience.
But as an observer, I can say that the learners here are
just so excited every time they receive your communications.

Here are the learner's entries:

Hi everybody in Switzerland, welcome.
How is Switzerland?
Thanks for posting this letter to us, we were very much
happy when we saw your school faces.
I would like to ask questions about your country ...
* Where exactly can your find Switzerland?
* What do you usually do in your country?
* And I would like to know something about your culture.

Here in Namibia we do a lot of cultural dancing.

Thanks grade 9 English

Hello everybody in Montana.

Thanks for posting.
It is good to hear some of the things you do in your
tradition. We do not have Thanksgiving here, we never
heard of it before. In our tradition we do not have that.
Every January when it is time for harvest, elders are the
first people to eat what we have harvested, then after is
when the children eat.

Questions:

How is Montana?
Where exactly can we find Montana?

We are looking forward to hear your response.

Grade 9 English

Hello everybody!

Hello from Zurich Switzerland! The picture on the left is a photograph of our school. It houses over 30 different nationalities, with over 400 attending students. This blog account is shared by a small group of students, working on a project to raise global awareness.

We look forward to your next post, best regards

ZIS advisory.

Here is our advisory, from left to right.

(Jake, Beni, Hannah, Mhairi, Matt, Bruce, Kate, Anina, Vladimir, , Oliver, Ziv, and Kristina{photographer})

Not here: Younes

Thanksgiving

Every year around this time we gather around a nice warm meal with friends and family. Originally started by our nation's pilgrims and Native Americans, Thanksgiving delivers some of the finer values Americans have. Traditionally a large turkey is cooked and eaten alongside stuffing, mashed potatoes, pumpkin pie, rolls, and many other classic dishes. After we are done gorging ourselves on the finest of foods we usually sit down in front of a television to see the game. The game would be football (not soccer, or futbol) and is the perfect compliment to the meal. Outside the weather is crisp and the sky dotted with beautiful fall foliage. Thanksgivings real purpose however is a time of reflection. Its a time to stop and look back in our busy lives and be thankful for what we have.

Ngepi Montana

Ngepi is a Thimbukushu word used to greet.
It actually means ... how are you. The answer
usually is ... thiwana (good)

Namibia fact: It is the second least populated
country on earth, Mongolia is the first.
Omega Combined School is one of the communities
located in the Bwabwata National Park,
formerly called the Caprivi Game Park.
Netball is similar to basketball except that there
is no dribbling. The ball must be passed and once
caught, the player cannot step. The hoop (in the
picture) is at about the same height (3.02 meters)
as a basketball hoop but as you can see there is
no back board. There are seven players per team.

Introducing a new learner:

Hi Guys;
My name is Mathews Incha. I am also a grade 9
learner just giving a big thanks to you for the letter
you posted to us. I would also like to see a
photograph of your school. Our photograph of our
school is coming. We would like to see your school
one day when we will be on a tour by 2012. The
weather here is hot because of summer. How is
the weather at your school? Do you used to go
out on a tour anywhere?

Here are the replies to your prior posting.

Hello Danielle;
This is Michael. Very soon we will start our final
exams on the 18^th November. They will finish on
3 December and then we will go on vacation until
the middle of January. We will miss one another
until next year and then we can proceed to chat again.
As for me I will spend my holiday in my home town,
Rundu. It is 270km away from school.
I enjoy singing gospel songs.

Thank you for receiving my passage and I'm happy to
chat or communicate with America. By next year we'll
start drawing with my friend and will send you some.
We'll start with examinations next week.
Which things do you draw?
And what is the weather condition in America? I mean
your place where you live.

Felistas

This is Johanna. I would also like to see photos of your
school or your town. It is hot here now and I like that
netball game. I was very happy when I received your letter.
Soon we will be receiving electricity as of right now
we get electricity from a generator that works about
9 hours a day.

Hello Cody Orr;
I am so glad to receive your letter. I am 16 years
old. Here it is summer but we haven't received
much rain. I like hunting immediately after rain
and I use a bow and arrow just like my ancestors
did. I don't do much hunting because in our country
Game Guides conserve the wild animals. Netball is
a sport played with 7 players per team and it is
more specially for the ladies. I like playing football,
I think you call it soccer.

From Simijon

Hello Cody Orr;
I am very much happy when I receive your letter.
I'm 16 years old. My hobbies are reading stories,
watching TV and listening to cool music. I don't
like hunting because I don't know how to shoot
animals with guns. Also, in our country the
Game Guides conserve wild animals because of
in the past there was a lot of poaching.
For my career I want to be a nurse.

From Filomine

Hi Sarah;
It is nice to meet you. I am so excited that
you posted. How is the life there? I'm 15 year
old too and play netball but what I enjoy most
is reading books and listening to music. I dislike
hunting, probably for the fact that I don't even
know anything about hunting. In our country
hunting is not allowed but some people hunt
illegally.
It is very hot here, the rain is taking some time
to come. I love the hot weather though.
My favorite music is Gospel. Netball is a
little bit difficult to explain but it is usually .
played by girls or women throwing a ball to
each other.
I am curious to know about life in your country.

Yours in education
Rosemary Shamwati

Hi Elizabeth Williams;
This is Anitha, I am 18 years old and I like to
listen to music from the 70's and 80's. I am a
gal who always likes to be free and likes to joke
with my friends. I like to tell stories too. Here
at my place it is very hot and we wait for the
rain to come. I dislike fighting because that makes
you get into trouble and also if the police see
you fighting with someone they will arrest
you and put you in a cell.

Anitha

A big hello, I'm glad to hear that you are the type
of person who don't know talking so it's good to
keep on like that because I don't like people that
talk too much.
I also like some types of sports but except basketball
because I don't know it, I never played it since I
was born and I'm so surprised to hear that you
also play it, so that's good.
For football, I know that one because we used to
play women's soccer.
I also like watching movies and listening to music,
but not so much. I am learning for example about
toxic waste, business ethics...etc.
Yes, I like to read books, library books, textbooks.
I dislike fighting because I am not good at
fighting.

I have questions for you.
How many teachers do you have?
How many learners in your school?
Also, I want to ask you what is the cause of
you stating that you don't know talking?
Lastly, how do learners perform at your school?

Your friend Elina

Hi Akin;
It's nice to meet you. Here it is very hot and
it rained a very little last month, but nothing
since. We don't hunt because it is not allowed
but people used to hunt just illegally. If they
find you, you will be arrested.
We like different types of music but love cool
music like story of my life by Beyonce.
Some questions for you:
Do you like school and why?
What is your favourite subject?
What is your favourite sport?

Bye from Zitha, Susana and Reginah

Hi Sarah Weiser;
I am Tsupa Nduva Ester. So you can call me
Ester because that would probably be easier for you.
I like my town and school because I was born in
Omega town and grew up and started schooling
in this school, so, I like my town and school.
I like gangster music and sometimes I listen to
Gospel music.
Can you tell me more about the music you mentioned,
country western music? Because I don't know.
I like reading newspapers and books from the library.
And why do you hate or don't like writing poems?
You know I like our culture and it's all about Khwe
(San) culture. There is a dancing group that we are
having here. Let me write for you my favorite song
from our culture songs ...

//uvi ||uve ||uéé (sing this 2 times)
ashi ||uwo de kwana ||uve
||uéé ashi ||uwo de kwana
||uve ||uéé.

The || and // stand for click sounds. There are
four click sounds in my Khwe (Khwedam)
language.
This song is saying that ||uve means thumb and
thumb was killed because of food and I like it
very much. I usually dance it up to hell.
So do you like this Sarah?
I am a Khwe (San) speaking girl.
How is the weather conditions that side?

Ester

Thank you Montana for writing. The English
teacher has mentioned that it is the only English
homework/work/project that the learners turn
in ahead of time.

Questions to new friends

Today I wanted several students to respond to you. We are missing half of the class because of volleyball games and field trips, so only half of the students were present and able to respond. But we hope to get the students involved when they return. Each student below responded to your greetings below. Thank you for taking the time to do introductions. Here are some answers and more questions:

Hi Elina Manuta and Anitha Rione Lainda! My name is Elizabeth Williams. I am 16 ears old and a 10th grader. I like to listen to music, sing, read and be around my friends. I am the type of person who speaks her mind which means I am not why when it comes to talking to people I don't know. Or it means if I have a problem I will tell you, but I am a down to earth girl. I like some types of sports like basketball and football. I like to watch movies and listen to music from the 60s and 70s. I would like to know specific examples of what you are learning in school? And what is netball? What kind of game is it? Do you listen to music? Do you like to read books? Tell me what kinds. Also I want to ask you what is the cause of you all stating that you dislike fighting?

Hey Rosemary! My name is Sarah Anne and I am 15 years old. I am very into sports; I play basketball, volleyball and run track. I also enjoy hunting, it is hunting season right now. Do you hunt? So how hot does it get there? In summertime here it can get up to 100 but it can be below -10 or -20 in the winter. I love hot weather. It rains here a lot! Pretty much every month it rains or snows and it is green here too, all the time. I love to swim with my friends. Do you have a favorite book or music? Also, what is netball? It is going to be so educational and cool to see a response from you. Thank you. Sarah Anne

Hello Simijon and Filomine! My name is Cody Orr and I am 15 years old. My favorite sport is basketball and it takes place in winter which is right about now. I am the long haired kid with a Looney Toons shirt on. I dislike school but overall it is good for me. I am a better athlete then student. My favorite subject is math and I would like to be an engineer someday. A couple of questions for both of you: Do you hunt? What is netball? What sports do you play?

Hi Nduna Tsapa. My name is Sarah Weiser. I am 17 years old and and I am wondering if you like your town and school? Also what type of music groups do you listen to? I like country western music but I don't have a favorite group. Do you know this type of music? What types of books do you like? Do you like writing poems, personally I do not like writing poetry. Also you wrote about cultural dancing, can you tell me more about this? I don't know what this is and more about your tribe. Can't wait to see a reply.

My home boys Frans Eke Jackson and Joeseph Petrus, Sup Mista Jackson and Mista Petrus. How you doin: I bet it is really hot here you live. My name is Steven Erickson and I have black hair and I think that I am the most awesome kid in my class. I am 15 years old and we live in a area that gets very cold in the winter. I mean at the worst point in the winter it gets down to 30 below zero. I absolutely positively love music and all types are fine with me. What do you listen to and tell me more about the weather and your culture.

Hi Zitha, Susana and Reginah. I'm Jeremy Akin, 16 years old. Thanks for your response and filling us in about your coutnry. It is cold and rainy here in Montana. Every fall we have a hunting season for deer and elk. Hunting is super fun. Do people hunt where you live? I like different types of music but love crunk-core such as Hollywood Undead. How bout you? Life in Troy is slow but great. Hope you blog back.

Hello Michael, Johanna Hdjamba and Felistas Kutero. My name is Danielle Milles but just call me Dannie. I just turned 16 on October 23 and I got to travel to Jamaica. It was beautiful. I would love to see photos of your home town. It must be pretty. Right now it is getting cold and nearing the snowy season. I miss summer but my favorite season is fall when all the leaves on the trees change color. I love to play soccer. In school , I enjoy drawing, music, and math. I love to take photos though. I live differently than my friends. They live in houses with electricity. I live in a garage with a dirt floor but just last week we got electricity. My dad and I are working towards a real house by next year. I am looking forward to hearing from all of you. Your friend, Dannie


Thank you all for reading. We will post pictures of our town and school. I have been waiting for a day when it is not raining to take pictures but it has not happened as of yet.

Hello Montana

This will probably be a super long entry because in our
country greetings are very important. After seeing the
picture of your class together we decided to send you
a picture of our 9^th grade English class and greet you
and introduce ourselves.
English is the national language in Namibia but for us
it is really a second language. We all have our tribal
birth languages that we use all the time.
So let's start the introductions.

Hi to you all;
My name is Simijon Mpepo. I am a boy and I like
singing and reading and dislike fighting. My plans
are to become an electrical engineer and study in
America.

Hi;
My name is Filomine Ndjamba. I am 16 and a girl.
I would like a friend in America and my favorite subjects
are physical science and life science. I like reading and
watching TV.

Hi;
My name is Zitha Lhalunga. I am 16 and a grade 9
learner. I like cultural dancing and I dislike fighting.
I'm just a friendly person and I go to church every
Sunday. I like school because it is a key to my life.
I love u all. Enjoy your day and have good luck for
the rest of your lives.

Hi;
I am Susana, 16 and my hobby is playing netball.
I would like to be a business person because I use to
perform well in entrepreneurship. I like it and it
interests me. I would like to visit America to learn
how you live there.

Hi;
My name is Reginah, I'm 15 years old. I like playing
netball, listening to music. My favorite subjects are
life science, physical science, English and agriculture.
My hobbies are singing and dancing to music. My
favorite fruit are banana, apple and mango. I am a
person who likes school.

Hi;
I am Joseph Petrus a boy 20 years old. I am of the Khwe
tribe and I speak the Khwedam language. The Khwe are
people from the San (Bushmen) tribes.

Hi;
I'm Frans Eke Jackson. I am a San/Khwe speaking boy.
My plan is to finish school so I can have a better life.

Hi;
My name is Michael. My best subject is math, I enjoy
it so much. In school we read near every week a novel.
We play soccer every Wednesday. The weather is hot
in the day and warm in the evening.

Hi;
My name is Johanna Ndjamba. I am person who likes
singing and playing netball. I like singing very much and
dislike fighting and being upset from school. I like school
very much because I want to learn. I am very happy
because the learners in America are going to see the
grade us 9 learners at the Omega Combined School.

Hi;
I am Felistas Kutero. I am 16 years old. I like playing
netball and watch soccer. I dislike fighting. I live in the
west of Namibia and I am Mbukushu gal. I would like
to study in America. My favorite subjects are English,
math and physical science. Our country is in the rainy
season but it is hot. What about your country now, is
it hot or cool?

Hi;
I am Nduna Tsupa. I am a Khwe speaking girl and
I am 19 years old. I am good at reading English books
and writing poems and stories. I like dancing our
cultural dances. I don't like people to be jealous of
somebody's things. I am an orphan and struggling
to survive.

Hai;
How are you doing over there in your country? I am
Anitha Rionc Lainda. I am very proud of you American
people and want to go there to see how that country
looks like and see the conditions were you live. I am
a Khwe speaking learner and I involve myself in many
things. For example, Cultural dancing, playing netball,
watching movies and reading stories. And also we
used to challenge other schools in debating, composition
and sports like netball, spelling bees and soccer.
Namibia is a very nice country and it's got lots of
different animals like elephants, kudus, ostrich, lions,
cheetahs, hyenas and more. I like my country it is
nice and has good conditions and land to live on.
I have some questions for you.
First: How is the conditions all about where you are now?
Second: How many learners are there at your school?
Third: Who is the President of your country?

Hi:
My name is Elina Maruta a girl 18 years old. I am
from Chetto situated in the Caprivi Region. I am a
San speaking girl. I am brown in complexion, fat
and short. My best hobbies are reading books,
watching movies and playing netball. I dislike
athletics because I'm fat and I can't manage to run.
I'm so excited to learn more from others because
I need to know what is in and what is out of our
country. I'm looking forward to learn.

A big hello everyone, this is Rosemary and I am
glad to hear that you have homecomings. In our
country we have what we call home weekend. On
this day everyone is allowed to wear any type of
clothes they feel like but we have to pay $1 Namibian
dollar as a sort of fine. I've seen the picture of your
grade 10 English class, it is lovely and the appearance
of your area looks good and clean. We are learning
Thimbukushu and English languages at our school
but many people here speak different languages.
My tribal language is Subia but I am also learning
Thimbukushu. We have many different cultures in
Namibia. We have the Khwe culture, Mbukushu,
Subia, Silozi, Herero, Damara, Himba and many
others. The Khwe people wear animals hides when
they go to cultural dance competitions.
We have sports every week Wednesday but it is
seasonal. We do athletics early in January and then
we do sports and culture in August. We also have a
debate club and we debate once a week. I don't
know if you have a debate club too at your school?
It is hot here but it is green everywhere. Our schools
looks good right now because of the vegetation.
Right now I am in class reading a novel. I enjoy
reading books, telling stories and watching television.
These are my best hobbies but the problem is that
our library is very small and so we have few
resources to use.
I have a question for you. Which month does it
start raining in your country?

Montana, America

Hello Rosemary! Thanks for posting! We are also excited to learn more about your country and culture. This week is our Homecoming week... it is difficult to explain it but basically we show our school spirit by dressing up as different things and then we have a big parade on Friday, a football game and then a dance. I don't know if they have "Homecomings" in other countries or if this is an American tradition?

We will post some pictures of our school and the area next week. It is fall here so the leaves are changing and it is starting to rain more and become colder. For now, here is a picture of our 10th grade English class. We have a couple of questions for you...

What is the weather like where you are right now? What are you reading in/out of school right now? And finally, what do you like to do for fun?

Hi from Namibia

Hello everybody out there. How is the weather
there? I hope you are alright.
My name is Rosemary, I come from Impalila and
I'm Schooling at Omega Combined School in the
Kavango region which is one of the regions
in Namibia.
I would like to tell you more about Namibia. Namibia
is a very nice country and the region we are in is
full of trees. The weather is too hot, anyways, it's not
a big problem.
Right now we are in English class and we are reading,
it's going well.
There are many schools here. We do three national exams
in a year and right now grade 10 is busy writing their final
exams.
The most thing I like about Namibia is that everybody has
their own rights, so we do what we think is right for us.
I would love to visit America some day with my friend
Martha because it seems like a nice place.
Namibia is still developing so I wish to come there and
see how developed America is.
I also want to learn about other countries outside Namibia
because we live differently, so I want to know the kind of
life you live in America.
Our teacher also asked us to learn other cultures because
sometimes different cultures cause conflicts.
I look forward to hear more from you. Wish you good luck
in everything you do.
Pictures are needed, to be sent soon.

Rosemary

Hello Pando People

A big hello to everyone and a big hello to Martha from the United States. We live in the northwest corner of Troy, Montana in a small, quite, peaceful town. Our nearby mine supplies the little income we get. There are only two schools here. Most people enjoy sports, hunting and being outside. The town of Troy is surrounded by rivers and mountains.

Our English class is excited to hear more about life in other countries. We hope to get to know life outside of America. Our teacher has asked us to take turns writing on this blog so that each every other week a different student is highlighted. Right now in English class we are reading Hamlet... what are you doing?

Looking forward to learning more, Troy Sophomore (10th grade) English class
Pictures soon to come as well!

First entry from Namibia

All about myself

Hi everybody, my name is Martha. I come from
Divundu which is situated in the Kavango region
and I live in Omega. I am in grade nine at Omega
Combined School and I am 15 years old.
My favorite subject is English because it always interests
me most when it comes to spelling or debates, and I
guess that most of you know that English is our official
language. Without English we could not communicate
with other people who are speaking different languages.
I want to become a philosopher when I finish school

I am one of the people who likes education because it
is the greatest equalizer. I like good friends but I don't
like the friends who encourage me and influence me to
do bad. I like studying but I dislike quarreling with others.
There's something which interests me most about my school
and that is how it is built and how learning takes place. My
teachers use to do their level best to teach the learners and
guide them in their studies. I am always happy with my
school because it is having rules to follow. I'm now
planning to visit the USA because I want to know how
they live.

That's all about me and I will be eager to hear about others'
biography.

Byee! I guess you will enjoy it.

School #2: Karkaraly, Kazakhstan

The School

Karkaraly is a small town of 10,000 people in central Kazakhstan. The town is nestled up against Karkaraly National Park. The town is surrounded by mountains.

Kazakhstan Facts:

Capital: Astana

Size: 1,687,443 sq miles (2,717,300 sq km). Kazakhstan is the ninth largest in the world, equivalent to the size of Western Europe, four times the size of Texas, or five times the size of France.

Population: 15,399,437 people. Kazakhstan has the 62nd largest population in the world, though its population density is less than 6 people per square kilometer (15 per sq. mi.).

Languages spoken: Kazakh (state language) 64.4%, Russian (official, designated the "language of inter-ethnic communication") 95%

Religions: Muslim 47%, Russian Orthodox 44%, Protestant 2%, other 7%

Independence: December 16, 1991

Bordering countries: Russia, China, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and also borders on a significant part of the Caspian Sea. Kazakhstan used to be part of the Soviet Union and now shares its northern border with Russia- the longest land border between two countries in the world, 4,251 miles (6,846 km).

The Russian space program is based in Kazakhstan. In 1961 Yuryi Gagarin, the Russian cosmonaut, made the first manned space flight from the Baykonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Today, Russia leases approximately 6,000 sq km of territory enclosing the Baykonur Cosmodrome and still launches its space program from here.

The western border of Kazakhstan is the Caspian Sea. It is the world's largest enclosed body of water. Much of the Aral Sea is also in Kazakhstan. This was once the world's fourth largest body of inland water, but has dramatically shrunk since the former USSR diverted two rivers that fed the sea for irrigation purposes.

Geography: Mountains line the eastern and southeastern borders of the country. The tallest peak in Kazakhstan is Khan Tengri. It rises to 7,010 m (22,999 ft). But most of the country is steppe, a granssland prarie without trees. Historically, people of Kazakhstan were nomadic and lived in yurts on the steppe.

The Kazakhstani Flag

Zurich International School- Zurich, Switzerland

Zurich is the largest city in Switzerland with a population of 361,129 people (the metropolitan area has a population of 1.68 million). The city is Switzerland's main commercial and cultural centre. It is one of the world's pre-eminent global cities.

Switzerland Facts

Size: 41,277 sq km; slightly less than twice the size of New Jersey

Population: 7,604,467. Foreigners account for 20% of the population

Languages spoken: German (official) 63.7%, French (official) 20.4%, Italian (official) 6.5%, Serbo-Croatian 1.5%, Albanian 1.3%, Portuguese 1.2%, Spanish 1.1%, English 1%, Romansch (official) 0.5%, other 2.8% (2000 census)

It has the highest mountains in Europe, together with waterfalls, rivers and lakes set amid green pastures.

Switzerland is also known as "Confoederatio Helvetica", which explains the abbreviation “CH”.

Federal Republic since 1848.