2007.12.27: December 27, 2007: Headlines: COS - Namibia: the Third Goal: Uniontown Herald Standard: Mark Kampert returned to the area to tell students at Lafayette School about his experiences in Namibia through the Peace Corps

Peace Corps Online: Directory: Namibia: Peace Corps Namibia : Peace Corps Namibia: Newest Stories: 2007.12.27: December 27, 2007: Headlines: COS - Namibia: the Third Goal: Uniontown Herald Standard: Mark Kampert returned to the area to tell students at Lafayette School about his experiences in Namibia through the Peace Corps

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Mark Kampert returned to the area to tell students at Lafayette School about his experiences in Namibia through the Peace Corps

Mark Kampert returned to the area to tell students at Lafayette School about his experiences in Namibia through the Peace Corps

Kampert arrived in Namibia in November 2006. He taught village schoolchildren both math and English. His first major assignment was to raise funds to construct a water line to deliver clean water to the village. The people began raising money in March for the project and had enough to fund it by June. In August, the work began. Through video, Kampert captured students and adults hand-digging a trench the length of nine football fields and placing the pipe. When the job was completed about three months later, the video showed schoolchildren taking long drinks of water from the outside faucet and filling bottles with water they appeared to treasure. "In the village, they don't have much, but they are still happy," said Kampert. "They are happy with their lives the way they are. "They're trying to improve things, but it's a long process," he added.

Mark Kampert returned to the area to tell students at Lafayette School about his experiences in Namibia through the Peace Corps

Volunteer tells student of his experiences with Peace Corps

By Angie Oravec, Herald-Standard

12/26/2007
Updated 12/27/2007 12:06:04 AM EST

Through a series of images and videos, Uniontown Area High School graduate Mark Kampert gave Lafayette School students a glimpse into the foreign nation of Namibia, an African village without running water until the Peace Corps volunteer arrived.

The valedictorian of his 2002 high school graduating class, Kampert decided to join the Peace Corps after graduating in 2006 cum laude from Bucknell University with a degree in mathematics.

He said he traveled to Namibia, a country segregated by the color of people's skin, to help others. The 23-year-old presented his experience to fourth- through eighth-graders Wednesday.

Providing an overview of the country's history, Kampert said the Germans colonized Namibia, located in the southwestern part of Africa, until 1921.

The Germans left and turned the country over to the South Africans, who used Namibia's diamond resources for their own financial gain and segregated the nation's people, said Kampert.

"They wouldn't let the blacks live with the whites," Kampert said. He said the rule also applied to families and gave an example where a niece had to separate from her lighter-skinned aunt.

White people live in towns, Kampert said, and are afforded the luxuries of paved streets and churches, supermarkets and businesses and nice homes.

Kampert said black people were forced into rural ghettos, where there are no churches or paved streets and homes are tin shacks without electricity and without running water

Yet, the children still went to school.

Kampert arrived in Namibia in November 2006. He taught village schoolchildren both math and English. His first major assignment was to raise funds to construct a water line to deliver clean water to the village.

The people began raising money in March for the project and had enough to fund it by June. In August, the work began.

Through video, Kampert captured students and adults hand-digging a trench the length of nine football fields and placing the pipe.

When the job was completed about three months later, the video showed schoolchildren taking long drinks of water from the outside faucet and filling bottles with water they appeared to treasure.

"In the village, they don't have much, but they are still happy," said Kampert. "They are happy with their lives the way they are.

"They're trying to improve things, but it's a long process," he added.

Kampert said Namibia is a Christian country whose people believe in Jesus and celebrate Christmas, but not with Santa Claus and the gift giving American children are used to.

Unlike in town where children have televisions and listen to hip-hop music, the traditions of tribal dancing and hand pressing food continue in the village, he said.

Studying was important to school leaders, so much so that both boys and girls shaved their heads bald with a broken glass bottle to attend school, said Kampert. "They didn't want (the girls) wasting time on braids. They want them to study," he said.

Some students endured a type of corporeal punishment for misbehavior now outlawed in the foreign nation, Kampert said. They knelt, holding school desks above their heads until their arms gave out.

As a Peace Corps volunteer, Kampert is also working with the Namibia government to find different ways to discipline students. "We're working on detention and suspension now," said Kampert.

He showed video of the African schoolchildren using a jump rope Kampert's mother shipped overseas and playing soccer with a ball made from rolled up plastic bags tied together with a string.

Kampert plans to return to Namibia next year. His major project will be building a computer lab for Andara village students who have no access to computers or the Internet.

He's seeking community donations to help fund the project. The Uniontown Area School District was one of the first to donate.

Superintendent Dr. Charles Machesky said the district will give $250 to Kampert's cause in exchange for paying him for his presentations. Kampert asked that the money be given to educate the schoolchildren.

Kampert said Namibia's rural schoolchildren need computer skills to compete with the country's students who already have access to technology.

"If one of them would make it to the university, their first assignment could be to word process a 10-page paper. They would be behind since they have no computer experience," Kampert said.

Home for the holidays, Kampert established a fund to which local residents can send their donations.

Anyone donating should make the check payable to the Community Foundation of Fayette County (CFFC), a nonprofit organization that manages and distributes charitable funds.

In the memo line, write "Andara project" and send the donation to the Community Foundation of Fayette County, 2 W. Main St., Suite 101, Uniontown, PA, 15401. Kampert said every dollar will help and all donations are tax deductible for businesses.




Links to Related Topics (Tags):

Headlines: December, 2007; Peace Corps Namibia; Directory of Namibia RPCVs; Messages and Announcements for Namibia RPCVs; The Third Goal





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Story Source: Uniontown Herald Standard

This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; COS - Namibia; the Third Goal

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