Sixty-six American volunteers were inducted into the US Peace Corps
Boost for education
CHRISTOF MALETSKY
SIXTY-SIX American volunteers were inducted into the US Peace Corps in a service at the National Institute for Educational Development in Okahandja Tuesday.
This group brings the total number of volunteers to around 500 and is the 12th group of volunteers to serve in Namibia since 1990 when the peace corps was invited by the Government to assist in its long range development goals.
The swearing-in ceremony was the culmination of a 10-week training programme that introduced the volunteers to Namibia.
The training programme included components on the history, cultures and languages of Namibia. Technical and medical training was also included.
Okahandja, Rundu and Oshakati were used as training sites while some volunteer teachers lived in the homes of Okahandja families.
The 66 Peace Corps volunteers were sworn-in in the presence of Under Secretary (Culture and Lifelong Learning) Justin Ellis and the United States Charge d'Affaires Peter Kaestner, Mayor of Okahandja, Dean Lesley Du Toit and officials from the Ministry of Basic Education and friends.
The volunteers will be assigned to posts where 29 of them will teach English, Mathematics and Sciences at selected secondary schools throughout Namibia.
Two will be involved in early primary education at the teacher training colleges and another 29 will serve as teacher trainers in clusters of primary schools in Ondangwa East and West and Rundu.
Four teacher trainers will be posted at teacher resource centres throughout the country.
The volunteers must have university degrees and relevant experience before acceptance by the peace corps.
They become volunteers at different stages in their professional careers, from relatively young professionals to retirees who have mastered a skill they wish to share.
They come from all parts of the United States and represent a wide range of ages and ethnicities.
January 6, 1999
