SU Namibia Logo

Here in Windhoek, I have been placed in an internship with the organization called Scripture Union. I was very excited that this was my placement, because the goal of SU is to make the news of Christ available to young children. I felt as if I would be a really good fit for the organization, while at the same time learning a lot about a different culture. However, when I arrived at SU, I realized that my role within the group was not what I had anticipated it would be.  At this point in the year, the schools in Namibia are entering their third term, which means most of the students are going through exams. As of a result of the busyness of the students, SU does not have as many programs scheduled. Adam, one of the SU staff, explained to me that they have worked hand in hand with the education system  in Windhoek, and realize that it is very important for children. So when they need to focus on exams for school, SU will ease up on their programming. I was very pleased to hear that, because I feel that Christian organizations can often neglect certain aspects outside Christianity, such as practical life skills and education, to name a few. While I was agreed with SU’s stance on education,  there is not much to do at my organization for an intern, however there are tasks that need to be done by a full time staff member. Yet the problem is that the two full time staff members have new born babies in their lives. So the tasks that they usually do they need help with, but I don’t know if I feel qualified to do them. Every day that I go to my internship I feel that there is so much that needs to be done but I feel like I have no idea how to begin tackling it. Naturally, I felt a sense of hopelessness in creating my goals for the semester because everything that I had thought this internship would entail was false. I constantly would pull out my learning objectives sheet (part of the requirement for an internship here) and stare at it blankly, confused at what direction to take my learning in this internship. I knew that it was coming close to my meeting on Wednesday with my supervisor, so to the best of my abilities, I created what I hoped to get out of my experience.

I finally had the chance to sit down with not only my supervisor, Graeme, but also one of the other staff members,  Adam, and discuss my goals for the semester. I first had the chance to talk with Adam and I really appreciated everything that we were able to discuss. He really listened as to where I wanted to take my internship and asked questions as to guide me in how I wanted to attain my certain goals. Adam was also very cognizant of the reality of my goals and if I would be able to accomplish them. One of the things that I hope to achieve is being able to learn more about the issues that are facing the youth in regards to forming a relationship with Christ. Within my agreement I specified that I hoped to achieve this goal by spending time with not only students, but also with their teachers, because I feel that the educational system plays a very big role in teaching children about Jesus. Adam expressed that obtaining an understanding of how the educational system plays a role in teaching children about Jesus would be difficult if I stayed in the office. He instead has decided to set up multiple interviews with teachers at the local schools. He also said that he is going to get in contact with the local SU clubs in the high schools so that I can facilitate some of the meetings and get to know students in town. After talking with Adam I felt much more at ease as to what this internship holds for me.

I then had the opportunity to talk with my main supervisor, Graeme, and I don’t think that it offered any sort of guidance for my internship, but we did have a great conversation. It has been very beneficial for me to have Graeme as my supervisor, because he is also a foreigner in Namibia. He has been a real blessing in the fact that I am able to discuss issues as far as cultural differences or norms that exist here. We had a long conversation about how it is easy to judge a situation from afar in contrast to actually living some place and experiencing things first hand. We also discussed how both he and I are going to go back to our home countries with new perspectives on things, and back home people will most likely be unaware to what we have learned. I totally agree with him, because that is exactly what I experienced when I came home from Vietnam. However, one of the main things that I took away from our conversation is that part of my role here is to learn and share what I have experienced here with those from home. And while I might not be able inform every single person in America about the reality of the situation in Southern Africa, I can tell the people around me. I have really become excited about my time with Scripture Union; I think it will be a good time of learning and understanding, not only about how certain organizations function in Namibia, but also a time of learning about me.