Frans Dimbare

So ever since finding out the language I would be learning, I had a general idea of the area I would be going to, mostly because Thimbukushu isn’t a language spoken in many parts of the country (or world). In fact, if you were to look at a map of Namibia, you would see that it’s only really spoken in the Mukwe constituency of the Kavango Region, which in terms of land area is about one percent of the country.

Other languages on the other hand, such as Afrikaans, KhoeKhoegowab, or Otjiherero had no idea where they would be placed since those languages are spoken in various random regions throughout Namibia. So on 3/5/2009 when we all found out our official site placements, those language groups were a little more surprised than I was.

In the parking lot of the training center, Peace Corps staff had made a huge map of Namibia with sand and rocks. They even had some of the major cities and site names on it to help give us an idea of where we were actually going, because we had never been outside of Okanhandja or Windhoek at that point. We stood around the border of the model country and one by one our sites were announced.

Lejeune, the Assistant Peace Corps Director, would announce the name of the volunteer and their site placement, the Peace Corps Trainee would walk onto the country, collect their site information from her while the other PCTs cheered and applauded, and then the volunteer would walk to where their site was on the map.

When my name was announced, I found out that I would be going to Frans Dimbare. I took my site information from Lejeune, shook her hand, and tried to find where my placement was on the map. It actually wasn’t on the map that Peace Corps made, nor will you find it on any map that I am aware of. That’s because Frans Dimbare is a youth centre, not a village, and it’s actually in a pretty remote and sparsely populated area of Namibia. The closest “town” is Divundu, and it is so small that depending on the detail of the map, you usually won’t find included.

I waited at the Divundu labeled stone while the other PCVs were being called. I have to admit that I wasn’t paying much attention, but when everyone’s site had been called I noticed that we were placed all over the country. I had mixed feelings about that. I was sad because we were all so far away from each other, but on the other hand it’s great if we ever get around to traveling since almost all of the major places are covered.

When the site placement ceremony was finished, we socialized for a bit, congratulating each other, talking about our sites and figuring out who was closest to us. Then the day was over and it was time to go back to our homes for the night. Some questions had been answered that day, and we had finally learned where we would be spending the next two years of our lives… but new questions arose. All we had were names and information, but until we actually saw our sites with our own eyes, there would remain an uncertainty, the mystery of what’s to come …