2008.01.12: January 12, 2008: Headlines: COS - Namibia: Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: Mark Kampert is in Namibia for the Peace Corps, helping to bring running water to the school where he teaches
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2008.01.12: January 12, 2008: Headlines: COS - Namibia: Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: Mark Kampert is in Namibia for the Peace Corps, helping to bring running water to the school where he teaches
Mark Kampert is in Namibia for the Peace Corps, helping to bring running water to the school where he teaches
When he arrived in the village, he immediately saw the children's needs. "My school had no running water -- nothing for the kids to drink," Kampert said, adding that the school day runs from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. "It was a big concern. The river's not very far from my school -- about 300 meters -- but the river's dangerous, one, because the river's not clean and two, because of the crocodiles." Kampert said since he began teaching there, a third-grade student was eaten by a crocodile on the riverbank. He said the school had been trying to get water since 1977 by writing letters to government officials asking for assistance. Within a year after he arrived, the school was able to get drinkable, running water for the first time. "We did the work ourselves," he said. "We had to dig a ditch that was 900 meters long -- that's about nine football fields -- which connected our school to the community hospital where they have purified water."
Mark Kampert is in Namibia for the Peace Corps, helping to bring running water to the school where he teaches
Fayette teacher aids Namibia school
By Jennifer Reeger
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Saturday, January 12, 2008
Caption: A cultural festival n Namibia: Phot by Peace Corps Volunteer jesse55lv Flckr Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.0 Generic
Mark Kampert didn't think simply teaching mathematics and English at a rural village school in Namibia was enough.
So last year, Kampert, 23, a 2002 Uniontown Area High School graduate on assignment in the southern African nation for the Peace Corps, helped to bring running water to the school where he teaches.
And this year he's hoping, with the help of donors in his hometown, that students at the Andara Combined School will have a computer lab where they can learn 21st-century skills and hone their basic academics.
"They would be able to get some familiarity with the keyboard and with the mouse, but also, and I think this is the most important thing, they'd be able to get some extra software that would help supplement their mathematics, their science, their English classes," Kampert said via cell phone from Namibia.
While at home in Uniontown over Christmas, Kampert went on a speaking tour of Fayette County and got the ball rolling on The Andara Project Fund, his way of raising money to buy the needed computers for his students.
He spoke to students in the Uniontown Area and Laurel Highlands school districts and enlisted the help of the Community Foundation of Fayette County, which will accept donations and manage the fund.
Kampert joined the Peace Corps in 2006 after receiving a mathematics degree from Bucknell University in Lewisburg, Pa.
He became interested in foreign cultures and languages while at Bucknell and looked into getting a master's degree in international relations.
But the graduate schools he spoke to suggested he do an internship or join the Peace Corps to gain more international experience before applying.
He's been in Africa since November 2006 and began teaching in the rural village of Andara last January.
Kampert signed up for two years of service, with an option to add a third year.
When he arrived in the village, he immediately saw the children's needs.
"My school had no running water -- nothing for the kids to drink," Kampert said, adding that the school day runs from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. "It was a big concern. The river's not very far from my school -- about 300 meters -- but the river's dangerous, one, because the river's not clean and two, because of the crocodiles."
Kampert said since he began teaching there, a third-grade student was eaten by a crocodile on the riverbank.
He said the school had been trying to get water since 1977 by writing letters to government officials asking for assistance.
Within a year after he arrived, the school was able to get drinkable, running water for the first time.
"We did the work ourselves," he said. "We had to dig a ditch that was 900 meters long -- that's about nine football fields -- which connected our school to the community hospital where they have purified water."
He's hoping the computer project will be as successful for the school, which educates about 750 students.
Kampert would like to purchase 20 computers to put in a lab, so there would be one computer for every two students in an average 40-student class.
The school has electricity in most rooms, but not all. There is no copier machine, so teachers write their lessons on chalkboards and students copy them into their notebooks.
But with pen and paper supplies limited, that's not easy.
"The computers, I feel, will ease that burden of insufficient resources -- also because records will be able to be kept electronically," Kampert said.
He said his experience living and working in Andara, where HIV and AIDS infection rates hover around 25 percent, has made him appreciate growing up in America.
"People at home don't understand just how lucky we are," he said.
And kids in America don't appreciate the education they are afforded, Kampert said.
"Kids here (in Namibia), they appreciate school," he said. "They appreciate the fact someone takes the time to teach them. They appreciate school because it takes them off the farm. If they're at school, they're not herding the cattle. If they're at school, they're not harvesting the maize. So school to them is a relief from the life they would be dealing with."
So far, Kampert has pledges of about $6,500 for the project. He hasn't set a goal because he's hopeful that computers can be purchased for other Namibia schools if enough money is raised.
"If people get interested and they get generous, then we can do more," he said.
Jennifer Reeger can be reached at jreeger@tribweb.com or 724-836-6155.
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Headlines: January, 2008; Peace Corps Namibia; Directory of Namibia RPCVs; Messages and Announcements for Namibia RPCVs
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Story Source: Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
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