“It’s in not like (in America) where you see someone and say ‘hi,’ there you have to stop and have a conversation with people, and sometimes they invite you in and serve you food.” The same enthusiasm that thrilled Sears throughout the villages was also present in his classroom, with students eager to learn computer training. A challenge facing Sears as a teacher was that his students had no access to computers at home — all of the skill building had to happen during his limited classroom time. “Traditional teaching won’t work, because we would have such a mix of experience levels,” Sears said. “We ended up doing project-based stuff like making movies, and had the less-experienced students learn from the others. Unless they apply what they learn there’s no chance they will remember the skills.”
Peace Corps Volunteer Jason Sears has lived in Namibia for a year helping to spread technology
Idahoan helps to connect Africa
Goodwill: Jason Sears has lived in Namibia for a year helping to spread technology, and he’s ready for more
By Adam Ross - Idaho Press-Tribune
Jason Sears has fielded plenty questions during his holiday time back in Idaho, there’s just a couple he can do without.
“The worst is when people ask ‘what’s Africa like?’” Sears said. “There’s just so many things you can say.”
But Sears didn’t return from a vacation in Africa, he spent a year in the southwest nation of Namibia as a Peace Corps volunteer, and will soon head back to the land for another year of service. In Namibia, Sears is lending his lifetime of computer knowledge to a nation devoted to fixing its broken educational system.
“They spend a lot on education,” said Sears, a graduate of Boise State University. “Only 30 percent (of Namibians) graduate from 10th or 12th grade.”
Those who do get through the school system quickly find that there are few career options in a nation whose main natural resources — diamonds, uranium and fishing — are mainly exploited by foreign countries. As part of the Peace Corps’ Information Communication Technology (ICT) project, Sears gives computer training to young Namibians, teachings that are usually not available in a nation with widespread areas still without electricity.
Traveling across the globe to live in a country that is only 16 years old (after gaining its independence from South Africa) was a huge decision, but one that was not entirely unexpected.
“It’s definitely in-line with his character,” said Jason’s mother, Esther Sears. “It took a little getting used to, but we’re extremely proud of him. He’s accomplished a great deal and has made a huge difference.”
Sears’ life in Namibia began with spending a month with a local family, learning the skills that he would need on his own — such as washing laundry in a basin and taking a bath in a bucket.
Sears spent his introductory weeks in a city neighborhood, but would be doing his teachings in the poverty-stricken “locations,” areas outside the cities conceived during the apartheid era where the black population was once forced to live. The locations still remain, with neighborhoods frequently constructed out of crude metals and wood.
“It’s amazing to walk through,” said Sears, who attended Boise’s Capital High. “It’s in not like (in America) where you see someone and say ‘hi,’ there you have to stop and have a conversation with people, and sometimes they invite you in and serve you food.”
The same enthusiasm that thrilled Sears throughout the villages was also present in his classroom, with students eager to learn computer training. A challenge facing Sears as a teacher was that his students had no access to computers at home — all of the skill building had to happen during his limited classroom time.
“Traditional teaching won’t work, because we would have such a mix of experience levels,” Sears said. “We ended up doing project-based stuff like making movies, and had the less-experienced students learn from the others. Unless they apply what they learn there’s no chance they will remember the skills.”
The technology training is seen by the locals as a way out of the villages, which have no economy to speak of and a heavy concentration of AIDS infections and alcoholism. The latter is in part a result of Namibia’s beer culture, with residents frequently brewing their own beer and often setting up their small house as a makeshift
Back home in Boise, Sears was met with an unwelcome greeting — cold temperatures. Sears eventually grew accustomed to the constant triple digit temperatures of Namibia, heat so assaulting that pants and long-sleeved shirts become the preferred defense against the sun’s rays. Before leaving for Africa again on Jan. 2, Sears is busy raising funds for the ICT efforts in Namibia. Sears and his partners (a group of Namibian students who applied to teach alongside him) need financial help with their bus travel from village to village they make throughout the year.
Beyond a couple unanswerable questions, Sears has found it easy adjusting to American life again during his brief stopover at home.
“Some people were worried that I would be a totally different person,” Sears said. “But we’ve picked right up from where we left before.”
How to help
Jason Sears is raising funds to help with transportation costs related to his cause in Namibia. Any small donation will be greatly appreciated. To donate, visit Sears’ Web site at www.mindofjason.com
Copyright 2005 Idaho Press-Tribune. All rights reserved.
